Feeding Our Big Boy

I'm fairly certain our boy will end up being well over 6 feet tall. Somehow this surprises me. For some reason, some weird part of my brain expected short little kids. To make that sentence even crazier, although I don't quite reach 5'2", I've never thought of myself as short.

Anyway. Our 5 1/2 month old boy is wearing 9 month sized clothes. He's awfully skinny in them, but he fills them length wise.

So in addition to figuring out the basics of solids, we're also trying to find the right amount to feed our little giant. We're downsizing his bottles and he's eating about two ounces of solids three or four times a day.

This means we spent a lot of time in the kitchen this weekend making him some food. We've got a decent supply of butternut squash puree in the freezer. We made a new batch of sweet potato puree and a batch of apple sauce. Then about every third day I make him a batch of oat cereal. He also eats lots of bananas.

I've always had a lot of mason jars to drink out of, so we got smart and used them for storing and freezing his stuff. Hopefully we've got two weeks of food. Although, we should probably find one new item for him to start eating next weekend.

So far he's happy with all of it. He's even a pretty neat eater so far - I'm sure that'll change the day he decides he has to be the one holding the spoon!!

The fun part is that he absolutely insists - rather loudly! - on eating when we do - even if he had his meal not that long ago and technically shouldn't be hungry. One afternoon at Chick-fil-A we discovered that a saltine cracker will placate him if necessary.

Nerdstar spent her entire pregnancy talking to him about food. It seems he was paying attention.

A Tip For Other Bad Moms

Sigh. We really suck at the fingernail cutting. I'd say at least half the time our poor, poor boy ends up bleeding at least a little. One day I really nicked it and, apparently, baby's blood doesn't clot very well, and it just kept bleeding. Two napkins later I remembered the little thing of Gorilla super glue and that there's this stuff called liquid bandaid and just went ahead and super glued the end of his little bleeding finger. And it worked.

We later bought some of the liquid bandaid stuff, called New-Skin. We had a chance to try it this morning. It didn't really work very well. It smells just like clear nail polish. I think nail polish would dry better. So, we just used the super glue again.

For little bleeding fingers I'd say use super glue, then clear nail polish, and then the liquid band aid.

Oh, and we're using these really cool baby nail cutters that have a l.e.d. light on the end and everything.

A Few Things

Today is day two of Noah waking up at 6:30, at least today I was much more ready for it. (I went to bed about 8:30 last night!) He seems to be happier this morning as well.

His squealing is getting louder and more frequent. It's hard to tell if it's due to frustration or just because he can. He's still mostly a mellow little fellow.

He still hates tummy time. I guess he's going to be one of those babies that rolls back to front first, and then figures out how to roll from front to back just to get off his tummy. I tell him he's got to learn to roll over, and then think - and fetch and play dead.

The poor boy has had skin troubles almost from day one. His cradle cap is gone, but there's still some dry skin issues on the top of his scalp. His face is 90% better, but he rubs it all the time with his fists. It's hard to tell sometimes it he rubs because he's tired, or because his face is itchy. I feel bad, because I'm sure he's getting at least a little lotion on his fists and then getting it in his eyes. This is one of the biggest reasons he sleeps swaddled up, to keep his hands off his face.

He still stares at his fist, looking at it as if he has to keep an eye on it so it doesn't sneak up on him. I still think it's cute.

We're also finally having him sleep in his crib in his room overnight. He just got too long for the bassinet. So that means moving all of his clothes and supplies from our room downstairs to his room upstairs. Which means a change in logistics in where he and I spend most of our time during the day. Really, the only thing downstairs is the tv. His room, the kitchen, and my desk and computer are all upstairs. There's a huge space of empty floor up here behind the desk for him to "play". Nerdstar's been more sad than I have about him not being in our room.

Twice when we've been out in public people have commented on how alert he is, taking everything in. I find that odd, are babies not usually alert when out and about? Although, even at two months we found he likes to people watch when we go out to eat. It's cute. We finally bought a stroller and I think he likes being in it a lot better because he can see everything.

That said, I'm not sure anything has made me feel more like a MOM than pushing him in a stroller at the mall. Weird, I know.

I'm not sure the boy will ever learn his name. I've mostly taken to calling him Shorty and Sweetie. I think Nerdstar still calls him Pinhead. I try to use Noah often enough.

He's still such a sweet, happy baby boy. Even when he's fussy he'll look at me and smile. Although, that said, one of the hardest things is when I'm holding him up facing me and he looks right in my eyes and screams. So far the screams are because he thinks he's dying of starvation, and because I know that can't possibly be true, the screams aren't heartbreaking.

9 Weeks

Our poor boy had his 2 month check up today and his first set of shots. He did great getting his shots, only cried for a minute and then was fine. I swear this kid is going to be all - ok, you can cut my fingers off, just don't make me late for dinner!

He now weighs 13 pounds 10 oz. Chunky. He's 23 1/2 inches long.

We're well into week 2 of me being a SAHM while Nerdstar gets into her new job. While this is certainly the most tiring job I've ever had, it's also the best. I've never been a "baby person." I don't love babies in general. I'll probably like yours if I know you, but have never oohhhed and awwwed over them. I always said if I had a kid, I wouldn't mind starting out with it once it could walk and talk. Nerdstar's just the opposite, she likes them at this age and would hand them over at the age I prefer.

So, here I am at home with this absolutely adorable little boy - and in some ways I think we're both bored. He can't sit up yet. He can't play with toys. He doesn't really care about story time. He does "talk" a lot. When I read him stories he usually babbles along more than he listens. He's not into music, which is just as well for the poor thing, neither of his mothers can sing. He does love to be held so that he can stand on his legs, or so that he can sit up and look around. Thankfully, he still likes the swing and will nap in it. He still sleeps fantastic at night, but isn't too interested in naps during the day. I still get the feeling he's just waiting until he can be mobile. He's not hyper or restless or anything, just not into laying around. I'm so glad the warm weather will return at just the right time for him in the spring.

One thing I wish we'd done before he got here was to learn how to go to bed early. We've both been night owls our whole lives. It's very hard to adjust our bedtime from 11 pm or later to even 10, much less the 9 pm we should be going to bed. I guess enough of these early mornings will eventually reset our clocks.

He's still the cutest, sweetest little thing we've ever known. We can't believe he's only been on the outside with us for two months, it's like he's been a part of us forever.

Buzz Cut

We have a picture of Nerdstar from when she's a few weeks old and they're shaving her head with shaving cream and a straight razor. It's the cutest thing! I had hoped to shave his head completely, so that his hair will grow back in even thicker, but that wasn't to be. His cradle cap is getting better, but not great yet. So we just shaved it really short. I absolutely love it!!

Six Weeks

Our little Noah is six weeks old today. And I know I use the word adorable all the time, but he is truly so very adorable. He's "talking" to us and smiling sometimes - although he smiles the most and the biggest as he's falling asleep. If we only knew what he was dreaming of.

We put him in his bed last night while he was mostly awake and he put himself to sleep, that's cool. He's on a decent schedule for eating and sleeping, in that we couldn't be any luckier. He had a rough time of it last night, not sure if it was gas or constipation, but even in his fussiness he would calm down and sleep a little while I held him.

I find it fascinating that it takes babies so long to trust us. That he cries every time he wakes up and is hungry and doesn't stop until the boob or bottle is actually in his mouth, even picking him up isn't enough for him to know food is coming.

It's nice that he can see better. He's still not crazy about tummy time, but he'll lay on the bed and stare at the ceiling fan. I put him on his back on the floor this morning and he wiggled and stretched and had a good time. We don't want to buy one of those little things babies lay in that have the toys over it because I think he's too wiggly and will outgrow it too soon. So we're trying to find a way to hang some toys across his crib - it's got lots of room for him to wiggle and would be a good height for him to reach out to when he starts doing that. He finally paid a little attention to the mobil this morning and seems to like looking at the bumper in the crib. I can't find anything I like, so I think I'm going to get a stick to put across the crib and then find some neat toys to hang from it. I'd love any suggestions.

So Far

Today he's five weeks old. So far he's like his mama Nerdstar.

He loves to eat, or at least, the only time he cries and then screams is when he's hungry. Other than that he's not fussy. She said she doesn't cry when she's hungry, but I said she would if someone else was in charge of her meal times! She's still complaining that after being in labor for around 17 hours, the first thing the nurses told her was that she missed dinner and all they had was crackers and ginger ale.

He loves baths. He loves to just lounge in his little plastic bath tub and let us run the warm water over him. He's even starting to like having his hair washed. It'll be fun when he can sit up and sit in a bigger tub and splash around!

He's still so mellow. When he's awake he still prefers to just sit on our laps and stare into space. Nerdstar can do quite well at staring into space.

And, of course, to me they're both just so, so, so cute.

Peace

I've always had an evil brain. It races around non-stop ninety miles an hour.

When I was in middle school and high school I played trombone in the band. In high school, I was fortunate enough to be in the jazz band. It was the one hour a day I didn't think about anything other than playing the music. By my senior year, that one hour a day probably saved my sanity, if not my life.

Several years ago, when we lived in Austin, I finally bought a motorcycle. Riding out in the hill country is fun and beautiful. Like playing music, riding takes up all my thoughts, and also seems to drive the unnecessary ones out. I don't ride very often here in the DC area, but every once in a while I'll still take it out for a ride and enjoy the blue skies and green trees.

And now, sitting and holding little Noah Maxx not only brings peace to my brain, it brings a joy to my heart.

One Month

We honestly feel like he's been with us forever. In fact, to us, he's been with us for over 11 months, he's just been on the outside for one month! I'm glad time isn't flying.

It's been a whirlwind month. Lots of visitors. I'm so glad everyone got to come and see him as a newborn. He handled it all like a trooper. He's great with anyone who holds him. And so far he's been great running errands and eating out.

We were also talking the other night about how having him is pretty much exactly what we expected it would be like. That's mostly because we're just so lucky that he's such a great little boy. He's still sleeping great at night. He eats like a champ. In fact, the only time he fusses is when he's hungry - so at least we're not always having to guess why he's not happy.

We know we're in trouble when he starts smiling at us and charming us. It melts my heart now when he smiles in his sleep.

When he's awake he's usually pretty happy to just "sit up" on one of our laps and look at us or look around. He's not crazy about the swing, he'll still spend about five minutes in it and about five minutes doing "tummy time." I feel bad we're not entertaining him more, but he seems so content. And we're pretty content just staring at his adorable little face. We read him Pooh stories sometimes. I need to take some of the Seuss books downstairs, they have the better illustrations for him.

It's fun trying to keep everything we need for him within reach - bibs, pacifier, a book.

My favorite thing is when he wakes up and I unswaddle him and he spends the next couple of minutes just stretching all he can - it's so cute.

The pets have mostly taken it well. Thankfully Ramen dog isn't into toys, so he doesn't bother the few things Noah has. The girl cat acts like he's not even around, which is typical for her. I think the boy cat has been the most affected, but that could also be because we moved their "door" from downstairs in the laundry room to upstairs in the kitchen. Ramen will usually go and see what's up when Noah cries, but sometimes he's just too worn out to bother!

We know it can't go this smoothly forever. But I'm more grateful to God than words can express that's it's go so well so far.

It's bath night, so I'll try to get a pic later.

Nights and Days

Our little fella is all of 3 weeks old. It seems like an eternity. We were trying to imagine what a whole year will feel like!

He's still sleeping fantastic at night. One night there was even a 7 hour stretch of him sleeping. Usually it's still in 4 hour blocks. Days have become a different story. He's awake more and I'm not sure he's happy about that. We do about four minutes of swing time, four minutes of tummy time, a few minutes with one of his toys. I think he wants to be moving around on his own. But mostly, he wants to sleep on my tummy. At night he sleeps just fine swaddled up on his back. During the day not so much.

Still screams through most diaper changes. Still hates baths - although he hasn't had that many to get used to them yet.

But he's as adorable as ever. There are still lots of quiet times holding him when we're both just quiet and hanging out together. Those times almost bring tears to my eyes.

Hopefully Nerdstar will do an update soon. Her sister will be in town the next 3 days, though, so we'll see.

Pics

He's a little scrunched up here, he's propped up on Nerdstar's legs. He's often got his arms out and about, sometimes it looks like those ballet poses. Oh yeah, and we love his little man boobs.

I love his cute little feet. When he's breastfeeding, I'm usually on the side where his feet are dangling and I always rub and play with them.

Big Boy Big Day

He's two weeks and 4 days, but today was his "two week" ped appointment. We pretty much found out what we already knew, he's a big, skinny, strong boy. His height is 73% and weight 76.4%. He's gained a pound since his birth weight. He's already pretty good at holding up his head a little and wiggling all over the place.

After the ped apt. we went to Red Lobster for lunch. Yum. We're not so great at the home cooking, and having to find something to eat in this house three times a day isn't always fun. But, we're getting better at it. As if that wasn't enough fun for one day, we then took him to Walmart with us.

I can't tell you what a good baby he is. The couple of times he cried in his car seat in the restaurant or wally world, we just had to hold or carry him for a few minutes and he calmed down and usually went back to sleep. When he's awake he just looks out into whatever it is he looks at and is so calm.

He's eating and sleeping on a pretty good schedule. During the day he usually eats every 3 to 4 hours, and at night he eats about 11 pm, 3 am and 7 am. This has allowed us to stay fairly well rested.

We (ok, probably me) almost feel guilty - but more than that we feel so very lucky. And we love him so very much.

Rain Songs

It was pouring rain this morning and Noah was sharing some fantastic awake time with us, so I thought, hmmmm, what little songs about rain do I know. Um, couldn't remember all of the lines to any. Not "it's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring", not "itsy bitsy spider", nada. I haven't even been able to remember what the heck all five little piggies do.

Thank God for google! Now, if only I could order a better singing voice on amazon.

Two weeks- the run down

Exactly two weeks ago little Noah was making his way into the world. It seems like an eternity ago - like he's always been with us. I think that's the sleep deprivation talking!

Today was his first sorta fussy day. Apparently he's a tight ass and does not like to poop. Today was the first day after riding himself of all that "first poop" that he pooped unassisted. It made him cranky all day. We sure hope he gets used to it soon.

Other than that he's still simply amazing. We can't get over how downright adorable he is. I know we're in real trouble when he can smile at us - I'm not sure we'll ever tell him no. (Ok, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to, but Nerdstar - not so much.)

We're going to continue the breast feeding and the formula supplements. He seems happy with both.

He generally sleeps like a champ at night. We feed him around 10 or 11, then around 3 or 3:30 then he wakes up about 7:30 a.m. We knock wood this keeps up.

He's starting to spend more time awake during the day. That's cool! We've read him some Dr. Seuss and Pooh so far. He seems to like them. But really, he's always so chill and quiet and serious looking.

Anytime we've had to take him places, he sleeps in the car, and usually through us grabbing a quick lunch. He was great with my family, never cared who was holding him.

We mostly chalk it up to be very, very lucky. And I often wonder how long this good life can last. I spent ten months of him in Nerdstar's belly, rubbing her belly telling him to be mellow and happy. So far, he couldn't be more mellow. I just hope he's happy!

After almost 2 weeks....

Hello everyone! Nerdstar here and I just wanted to do a bit of my own update since Noah Maxx was born.

For starters, he is so cute that I'm still finding it hard to believe that he's at least one-half of me! While the GF's parents were here (they just left early this morning), her parents had as much of bonding time as possible with Noah Maxx. He was such a good baby and didn't fuss when it came to being held by people that he didn't know.

However, I am not so sure that hosting a family while we are still trying to get to know Noah Maxx, his schedules and other tendencies was such a good thing. Throughout the GF's family's visit, I was mostly tired and the effect of it was quietness. The GF tried her best to show her family around town a bit and made sure that they've got what they needed when it came to meals and everything. Now you know how family can be, in all its good and bad, and I think in times like this the good and the bad just seem to magnify themselves a bit more. Nevertheless, I am glad that her family got to meet the baby!

So far, Noah Maxx has been starting to cluster feed some, and we're feeding him with both formula and breastmilk. We suspect that he has a clogged tear duct in his left eye, and have been "spot treating" it with breastmilk, since it's got sufficient amount of germ killing antibodies, the GF found that out on the internet. Now only if he can produce poop like he should be, if you remember the GF talking about it a few entries ago, Noah Maxx has been having some trouble pooping, and that was why we have been feeding him both formula and breastmilk so he'll eat enough. Earlier today, after about 39 hours since his last poop, we finally had to get glycerin suppositories for him so hopefully, he'll be able to poop soon. Let me tell you! Inserting anything in the rectum is not my cup of tea!

I'm really looking forward to be spending a few quieter days with the GF and Noah Maxx before I'll have to drag my ass back to work. I got a few extra days of maternity leave time thanks to the fact that Noah Maxx was born a week late.

Bumps and Family

It's been a little crazy since the last update. Noah's still amazing. He's eating pretty much every 3 - 3 1/2 hours. But, he stopped pooping Monday night, so we took him in to the doc yesterday morning. A little q-tip up the butt seems to have helped. Which is great because we really didn't want to put suppositories up there!!

We've had some trouble with breastmilk coming in enough. We had a lactation consultant come by, and while she was mostly helpful, it also felt a lot like a sales job. Ugh. The doc yesterday said to keep up with the boobs and to add in an ounce or so of formula with the feedings to keep him gaining weight and pooping. That seems to be working well. We're not picky as long as he eats enough.

It's a little hard adjusting to sleeping in two hour segments. We both sleep much better in the mornings, but this is morning number 2 we've had to get up instead of getting to sleep in. Again, thank God for naps!

Last night I felt a weird bump on the back of his head, so this morning while I go pick my family up from the airport, Nerdstar will take him back to the doc just to check it out. I know their little skulls are still forming, but better safe than sorry where heads are concerned.

I'll do a quick update about the bump when I can.

UPDATE: Apparently the bump is a lymph node and is fine, we just have to make sure it, or others, doesn't get any bigger. The joy of parenting is all the unknowns - and there is no "normal" really.

It's been a good, long day.

Week 1

Well, we're on day five and so far it's been wonderful. He's our handsome little fella, and is as mellow as can be. I spent ten months rubbing her belly and talking to him and telling him to be happy and mellow. So far so good :-)

The doc said his jaundice is better. He loves to sleep more than anything, even eat. He sleeps very soundly and wakes himself up a lot less if he's swaddled. He's been awake 3-5 hours a day I'd say. He just lays in our lap and stares out at everything as quiet as can be.

We were doing formula supplements due to the jaundice and dehydration of the first couple of days. Nerdstar's milk finally came in last night, now if he can just stay awake long enough to drink it. She's finding her breasts kinda painful. We've got a lactation consultant coming in the morning just to get a better handle on how it all works over time and how to take care of the boobs.

The cats seem pretty resigned to his presence. For the first couple of days they lived out on the deck, but they've come back indoors. Our friends were keeping Ramen for us and brought him back home today. I think he's going to do just fine with Noah.

Nerdstar's healing pretty well. I try to make sure she does all she's supposed to for herself. I have no idea how new moms without help take care of themselves and their babies.

Speaking of help. Ugh. Nerdstar's aunt showed up Saturday not long after we got home from the hospital and took over the kitchen. She spend all day for 3 days cooking all sorts of Chinese soups and stuff for Nerdstar to eat for the next two or three weeks. I'm sure it's all very healthy, but boy did it stink up the house! So while that's the good part, her overbearing personality makes it hard to have her around. At least when she nags and such it's in Chinese and I don't understand a work. That's always been for the best.

Evidently, there are "ancient chinese secrets" to recovering after giving birth. It mostly consists of doing nothing for a month, eating lots of hot things, and absolutely avoiding anything cold. Nerdstar was under strict orders not to drink anything cold, to not open the fridge or freezer, and to not run any fans in the house. Um, yeah.

We're learning just how much naps are our friends. I've felt pretty rested so far, Nerdstar maybe a little less so. I've made her go nap now.

I'm amazed at just how content I am. I love holding him and watching his face. I love all his little clothes. I just love him. He's just perfect.

Fantastic!

We've had a fantastic first day. Nerdstar is obviously sore in all those places, but it's not too bad. We've all slept off and on all late last night and today. We've had some decent snacks.

He's pooped 4 or 5 times today, latched onto the breast some - but it mostly puts him right back to sleep. We gave him a little formula about 8 so hopefully he'll finally pee.

We love all that hair. But I keep asking him if he could grow all that hair on his head, and then a little on his thighs and back, why he couldn't manage to grow some eyebrows and eye lashes. Heh.

8 lbs 13 ounces sounds like he'd be a fat little thing, but he's really just long and skinny. His head and face seem kinda tiny, but his legs go on forever. His feet aren't really very big either.

It's all just so amazing. We love our little fella so much. Content doesn't even come close.

We're looking forward to going home tomorrow afternoon and having friends come and visit.

Cynical

At lunch today I was talking with Nerdstar about how one disadvantage I see to being an older parent is our cynicism. We know that not everything lasts forever, that people usually disappoint you, that most things are motivated by money, etc. But it is so very important for kids to believe. To believe in fairy tales and ever after and good triumphing over evil.

So my hope and prayer is that our hearts will be changed by his. In so many ways mine already has been.

Juicy and Tender

While eating dinner the other night, Ramen dog was lying there in his usual "I'm so miserable" way. Nerdstar told him that very soon he'd have a new playmate that was - and I quote "juicy and tender."

I let that sink in and then told her she'd basically just told Ramen that Noah Maxx was a nice steak we'd be bringing home for him.

Today we were still laughing about it and I finally asked just what she meant by juicy. She said it had to do with him being all drooling and leaky.