Week 11 and 12

My mom ain't kidding when she says I grow like a weed. She put me on my baby scale and I'm over 17 pounds. Let me just remind you that I'm only 3 months old. I'm the same size as some of the 6 month old girls in my daycare room. I'm sporting 6-12mo and 9mo clothing. In case you missed it earlier, I'm only 3 months old!!!!

Daycare is going well. I'm one of two boys in my room and the four other girls really dig me. When I come in in the morning, they stop chewing on their books and toys to check me out. One little girl L. really digs me. My mom thinks she's a cutie because she looks like a little doll. However, I'm too young for girls so I just enjoy hanging with them for storytime and tummy time. My mommy really like my afternoon daycare teacher. I don't think she even clears 5 feet and when she holds me, my mommy jokes that we're almost the same size. She's really grandma like with white hair, a tiny voice, and gentle ways. I really like her too. My morning teacher is awesome. She too is a grandma and gets us all moving in the morning with stretching our legs and arms, tummy time, reading, and playing. I'm never left in my rocker or crib for too long outside of naps. And to boot, they are also really cool about cloth diapering me.

Speaking about cloth diapers, I think my mom has developed an addiction to buying them and asking Nana to sew more. Nana's awesome and sent some 4th of July dipes in the mail last week. I'm cloth diapered pretty much 95% of the time now and only wear a sposie to bed.

At home, Mama puts me in my bumbo seat every once in a while but I can only tolerate it for about 5 minutes. I've almost outgrown my swing. I know both my moms were hoping to get more use out of it, but I'm a growing boy (remember 17 pounds, 3 months old). I really enjoy my Ergo carrier though. I love snuggling up to mama and enjoying some aromatherapy with the smell of breastmilk. It usually lulls me to sleep within 5 minutes.

I'm squealing and smiling a lot now. This always brings a smile to my mommy's face (you know, I do what I can do to make their day).

Well that's it until next week.



Gracie loves hanging out with me.


Mama and I at 4th of July event.


Mommy and I.


Thanks nana for the new dipe.

Searching for Balance

I'm having a terrible and I mean terrible time transitioning back to work. I'm sleep deprived for the first time since giving birth but I'm even more consumed with guilt because the time I spend with Preston each day has dramatically decreased. I'm really mourning the days of my maternity leave. I'm not sure how to balance being a mom, going back to work full time, handling the day to day activities, in addition to preparing dinner and getting us ready for the next day. I'm utterly exhausted by the time I get home from work that sometimes I have to work really hard at mustering up the energy to play, sing, and read to my baby and if I'm honest, there have been days where we only get one book in and some snuggling time before he's off to bed.

Preston wants to be nursed as soon as we get home. Seeing him at the end of my work day and sitting to nurse him is a true joy. But after that, it's off to wash diapers, bottles, make bottles for the next day, storing pumped milk, making dinner, getting lunch and clothes ready for the next day. Preston enjoys being toted around in the Ergo while I do some of these things. He looks around for a while and then snuggles in and goes off to sleep. Daycare really tuckers him out and shortly after we get home he's asleep for the night. I feel like I get 1 quality hour with him after work and 30 minutes of that is from nursing. Something has to give.

I really want to be a stay at home mom but it's not an option so I need to stop wishing and hoping for it and problem solve through my current situation. I feel guilty that he's at daycare from 8:30am-5:45pm Mon-Fri. I feel guilty that he's the last kiddo to be picked up in his classroom because I work 8.5 hour days. I'm jealous that his daycare teachers, as wonderful as they are, get to spend more quality time with him than I do during the day. I miss him during the day and I have to will myself not to cry at work. I've considered working evenings so I can be home with him during the morning and day. It would save money on daycare which isn't really an issue (quality time is) but then it would be like playing tag with Danielle and we wouldn't see each other until the weekend. I waited so long to be a mom and now I feel like we're being cheated. Does it get any easier?

Too cool

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First day of daycare

We, okay, I made it through the first day of daycare yesterday. I stayed for about 3 hours to see what their morning looked like. I also spent some time showing his teacher how to use the cloth diapers, the wetbag, reviewed his likes (swaddled to sleep), put away his stuff in his cubbie, and taped a pic of Danielle and I to the inside foot of his crib (suggested by my friend's husband).

By 11:30am I was ready to transition and went to get my hair cut by a scissor happy stylist. It's shorter than expected but I still like it.

Picking Preston up from daycare is definitely the highlight of my day.

And so as I transition from being a SAHM on maternity leave to a full time work outside of the home mom, I think we will be okay.


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Week 10

We've decided to let "Preston" write his weekly updates from here on out.


I'm becoming a seasoned traveler. My mommy (Danielle) jokes that she didn't leave Pittsburgh until she was 19 years old and here I am, 2 months old, and already I'm traveling here and there, flying on planes and staying in hotels. This week I went to Washington DC to see my godmother and then a day later I took my first airplane ride to visit Nana and Grandpa. Mama said that I was the best little boy ever because I did so well on both trips. You should have seen my mama working all of our gear by herself like a pro. She had me in my Ergo while we went through security and on to the plane so that her hands were free to carry our suitcase and diaper bag. I think people were quite impressed with how she was able to handle everything and if they weren't, well I was. I slept most of the time, because lets face it, I love being in the Ergo snuggled close to mama or in her arms. She nursed me during take off and landing to help prevent my ears from popping.

I had so much fun at Nana's and Grandpa's. My mother's cousin's 7 year old daughter was there for the summer and we went to the beach for my very first time. The warm water felt great crashing on my skin. Grandpa even took me and my cousin to the park one evening when the sun started to set. It was 100 degrees one day- yikes! Nana is awesome. She made all of mama's favorite foods and showed mama how to sew paci clips for me. Nana even made me a new wetbag for daycare and some new diapers. I can't wait to go back.

Milestones:
- I've started to take a pacifier. I would much rather use mom as a paci but she said she won't be there with me at daycare so there are times I will have to rely on the paci to help me sleep and soothe.
- I'm losing some hair on the side of my head. I'm still a stud muffin though.
- I can hold upper chest and head up for a long period of time when I'm on my tummy.
- I can use my legs to "stand" when held in that position.
- I'm growing out of my small cloth diapers.
- I consistently smile in response to others smiling and talking to me.
- I know how to bring things to my mouth and love to suck on my hands.

Week 9

This week brought about envy and other conflicting feelings. I've met some other new moms during my maternity leave. We've met for music time at the library followed by lunch, frozen yogurt, jaunts at the zoo or picnics in the park. It's been great. However, I'm reminded that this will not last and soon I'll return to work while some of my new found friends will remain home with their babies. On the one hand I know I will be grateful for the intellectual stimulation work brings. But on the other hand I desperately long to be home with my son.

Unfortunately, being a SAHM is not an option for me. However, working different hours is. Working the evenings 3:30pm to midnight would allow me to be home during the day with him but then it takes me away from my Danielle. Working 9am to 5:30pm as I am now allows me to be home in the evening with everyone but not spend as much quality time with Preston as I would like. How do you 9-5pm moms feel? Do you feel cheated by the small amount of time you get with your child during the week? Maybe this is just my anxiety about returning to work and separating from him. However, I am annoyed that a lot of enrichment activities are limited to morning and afternoon hours such as diaper gym, baby lapsit, swimming lessons, etc.

We had another exciting road trip this past weekend. This time we drove to Washington DC to visit Preston's godmother and her mother. I haven't partied like that in a long time and my body reminded me of that the following day.

And as always I'll leave you with a picture of my little stud muffin from last week's photo shoot.






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8 Weeks

My darling SugarPlum survived his first round of vaccinations. He was fussy in the evening and insisted on being cuddled while he slept. Of course, I eagerly obliged as cuddling him is one of my favorite past times. By 8pm he woke up and was back to his bright, bubbly self.

I feel like I write this every week, but he is truly growing like a weed. At his 8 week check up, my beautiful baby weighed in at 14 pounds, 12 ounces and is 24 3/4 inches long. He easily fits in to 3-6mo clothing and has grown out of his newborn prefold diapers. I remember not too long ago he had plenty of space to stretch out when we breastfed in the nursery rocker. Now, we have to find somewhere to put his legs and keep him comfortable. I can only imagine the scene when he's like 5 months old and still breastfeeding.

Speaking of breastfeeding, it is going unbelievably well. Preston is going about 3 hours now in between feedings and wakes up once between 10:30pm and 6am to eat which we both do half asleep while laying in bed. We are not starting solids for a while but I've already researched the food processor that I want and I'm excited to make his own baby food.

In other news this week also brought about Preston's first road trip. We went to visit my brother and family in Ohio. The little ones had a photo shoot which went incredibly well. It's very easy to get suckered in to buying lots of pictures. The kiddos had a great time, especially my 5 year old niece who hammed it up for the camera. However, note to self about going away for the weekend... ALWAYS remember to pack a pump, even if it's your manual pump. I woke up so engorged on Sunday and hand expressing helped but is not nearly as powerful as a pump.

We are gearing up for another road trip this weekend to DC to visit Preston's godmother and attend her mother's 55th birthday party. We've been looking forward to this road trip for a while. I hope Preston does well with this trip as well. The hardest part of a road trip with an infant is not being able to pick them up out of their car seat and hold them when they cry.

And as always, here's a picture of the little tyke: