Really amazing

We've been taking pictures of Tucker on the couch to see how much he's changed in an objective way. I recently looked at a picture from early April and compared to last week. It's truly amazing that babies grow so much in their first months of life. He's probably doubled his birth weight at this point. We don't know exactly what he weighs since he doesn't have another Dr. appointment until July. We're thinking about taking him to the do-it-yourself post office and weighing him on the scale there. My guess would be he's about 11 pounds right now. He just keeps getting cuter too!

Who's more stubborn?

I am officially more stubborn than my 11 week old. After a somewhat promising day last week, getting Tucker to nap in his crib has proved extremely difficult. We've kept at it and today he actually took a couple of naps sans arms. Of course he's also been unusually sleepy this afternoon, so I can only hope he's getting used to the crib and this isn't a fluke.

He may look more like Ryan, but he certainly gets his stubborn streak from me.

Notes on a crying baby

I'm reading a book called "The Baby Whisperer" (yeah, I know), and the author seems to have a very no-nonsense, practical approach to dealing with babies. The problem we've been having with Tucker is that he will not nap unless he's being held. The cause of course is that we've had visitors almost non-stop for the first 9 weeks of his little life who wanted to hold him all the time (not that we don't love you). The result is that when they all leave, I have an infant who needs 24/7 attention, leaving me no time for indulgences like, oh, showers.

So anyhow, I don't have the heart for the Ferber, "Cry It Out" method. Instead, she recommends that you pick them up when they're crying, comfort them, and when they're quiet, put them back down. When they start crying again (as they inevitably will) you repeat the scenario until they're confident that a crib is a safe and OK place to nap.

Since Ryan is out of town for the next 3 days, I thought it would be an ideal time to start weaning Tucker from constant holding. It took 45 minutes of crying and up and down this morning, but he took a short nap in his pack-n-play. Then, because he was so tired from not really getting a nap this morning, he went right down for an afternoon nap in his crib (and has been asleep for nearly 2 hours now). The fact that I'm blogging right now is evidence that this woman knows something about babies. Maybe it's common sense, but I sense that mostly it's about persistence and consistency. I had to be willing to listen to him scream at me for 45 minutes and pick him up and put him down many many times this morning because he wanted to be held. Had I given in and just held him for his nap, it would have made the behavior even harder to extinguish, because he would have learned he could outlast me.

I've read a lot that says you can't spoil a less than 3 month old baby, but that is certainly where it begins. He's just doing what I (and my well meaning family) taught him to do ... nap while being held. As I told a couple people this weekend though, babies should be a wonderful part of your life, not dominate your life. Anyhow, it was nice to take a long hot shower, throw in a couple of loads of laundry and eat a meal with both hands. Now I want him to wake up so we can play! :) Guess I'll let him sleep.

Chubby bunny

It's gratifying to me to see Tucker getting chubby and round. Take a look at those chubby little arms. It means that we must be doing something right to be making our skinny little boy a fat baby. He has a doctor's appointment on Tuesday, so we'll get the update then on how much he weighs and how long he is. We considered taking him to the post office and weighing him on the postage scale, but decided that the logistics just wouldn't work out, since we'd have to strip him down to his diaper. Oh well, two more days and we'll have the official poundage.

A week of many babies

Autumn has been visiting since last Tuesday. It has really been wonderful having her around to do girly stuff with. I miss having girlfriends. It's also been a glimpse into our lives in about 14 months. Zachary has really been fun. He's at a great age where everything is a toy and a whole meal is a slice of deli meat and some bread. Fun times are ahead.

I have a thoughtful son already

Today was my first Mother's Day. It was a good one. Tucker got me a massage (with a little help from his Daddy). What a thoughtful son I have! Perhaps the better gift was from Ryan, who gave me 2 extra hours of sleep this morning when he took Tucker downstairs after he was awake from 5:30 - 7 am. What a thoughtful husband I have!

Unemployed

I am officially unemployed. Today I turned in my resignation letter to work. It was really nice to see everyone at my office. My boss was disappointed that I was leaving, but not surprised. It's weird to be without job ... and especially without income. Wish us luck!

Shoes on babies are silly

Tucker has really big feet for his age. The socks he wears are 3-6 months, and these shoes actually fit. His Tantie Cathy just couldn't pass them by.

We had a really nice weekend with Jo, Mike and Cathy. It was beautiful outside all weekend and Tucker went on his longest outing yet.
Diaper Count: 498

Hehe

A week of firsts

Tucker was finally big enough this week to ride in his Baby Bjorn. He also tried a bottle for the first time since he was in the hospital. I have to say that using a breastpump is by far one of the more humiliating experiences I've ever had. Anyway ... he's getting older.

How big is Tucker?

Sooo big! As of his one month appointment on Tuesday, Tucker is 7 pounds, 6 ounces and 21 and a quarter inches long. If you consider that his lowest was 5 pounds, 2 ounces, that's a pretty impressive weight gain.

Joys of Parenthood - Explosive Pooing

I swear I'm not making this up (and why would I?). Those of you who have been around Tucker know that he can be quite noisy when filling his pants. Those of you who have changed baby boys know you need to be careful when changing said pants, as they are loaded.

Nothing prepared me however for the events I'm about to relate. I was changing Tucker in his pack and play (the changing table is the blue in the picture). He had been quite gassy all day, so I was trying to be diligent about keeping him covered up. Apparently I wasn't careful enough, as he pooed so explosively that he hit the baseboard of the bed (again, see the picture for the visual). He also soiled a good portion of the changing table and the carpet below. He also got my jeans. I had no idea that a person could poo a good yard, yard and a half. I started laughing and couldn't stop for at least 20 minutes. I also decided that this was Tucker's subtle way of requesting a bath.

Getting cuter

I swear he gets cuter each day. Yes, I realize I've become one of those people who talk incessantly about their kids, but to be honest, my days are taken up with him, so there's not a lot else to share right now.

Tucker was 5 pounds, 15.5 oz at his last check up (a week ago). He must've seen that as a challenge because he's been eating almost nonstop for the past week. He doesn't go for a weigh in again until the 17th, so I don't know how much he weighs now. I do know that a lot of the clothes that were insanely big on him 3 weeks ago are starting to fit. They really do grow quickly. They should really make disposable clothes, since they only get a few wearings anyway.

Diaper Count: 262

My kind of company

This makes me smile. The best part is that the website is www.buttpaste.com. Apparently, it's good stuff. Maybe Boudreaux's and I should get together to expand their product line. They could get behind some of my products, I'm thinking.

If I owned a baby stuff company ...

It would have a "unique" marketing plan. The first item for sale would be the Baby Box of Crayons, complete with "Angry Baby Red", "Merconium Green" (if you don't know, don't ask), "Poo Yellow", "Baby Eye Blue", "Jaundice Yellow", "Spitup White", and "Baby Bottom Pink."

Diapers would be marketed as "Doo Rags" and instead of coming in Regular, Jumbo and Mega sizes, they would be packed in Little Squirt, Streams of Poo and Sh*t Storm sizes.

More to come ... crying hungry baby.

Diaper Count: 207.

Tucker found his thumb

This had to be the cutest thing ever. Tucker is starting to be alert for a lot more of his day. He found his thumb a few days ago.

Diaper Count

Current diaper count: 158

Our little burrito

He looks like a little russian man ... or a burrito.

Baby looks good on him

Ryan has been glowing for 4 days. He's going to be a terrific Dad.

New Mommy and Baby