Grant- 2 Months Old

Grant is 2 months old!!  This baby boy is too sweet and too cute!



It amazes me how he grows and changes every day.  He is becoming very alert, especially in the mornings and late afternoons... he will just smile, coo and kick his feet.  He moves his little mouth around like he is trying so hard to talk.

Grant's first tractor ride!



When he was about 3 weeks old until he was 7 weeks old we had a little rough time in the evenings where he was fussy and just not content no matter where or what I was doing with him.  I thought it was a touch of colic, because it was most nights of the week and would last for about 3 hours.  I tried multiple things: babywearing (carrying him in his little carrier on my), lavender essential oil, mylicon drops, Gripe Water, baby massage, and the 5 S's (swish, suck, stomach/side, shush, and swaddle).


The lavender oil, baby massage and 5 S's seemed to be the most calming for him.  I think ours maybe contributed to a little "fourth trimester."  I was reading where babies can often act "colicky" because it is very disorienting for them to be out of the womb where it is dark, swaying, warm, and special noises.

He quickly adjusted though, but man that was a trying couple of weeks because NK was cutting a few teeth during this time and was extra clingy.  There were honestly some evenings when I would just be in tears by the time Matt got home to help me with them (which he was planting/transplanting tobacco during this time so if was often 9-10 at night!!)





NK thought Grant needed decorating with some 'tickers!



We made it through that time and NK is adjusting better and most importantly I am adjusting better.  Poor little Grant- he probably thought his Mama had lost it there for a little while.

Grant still isn't sleeping through the night.  Last Saturday he gave me the longest stretch which was from 11-5:35!  That was impressive.  He will at least fall asleep at 8:30-9 then wake up to eat again around 10:30-11 and then sleep until 3:30.  BUT he then wakes up again at 5:30-6.  I would love to either get a longer stretch at the beginning or skip that 5:30 feeding.  Hopefully soon :) 
He is still sleeping in his monkey cradle beside our bed.  I usually put him in his crib to sleep at 8:30 or so and he takes a short nap, but he don't sleep long in there so I am letting him sleep in the cradle (ensures longer sleep for us all... I just don't have the energy right now to fight it).  He also may or may not end up in the bed with me during some part of the night (I honestly try not to!)  I go back to work next Tuesday so I am hoping for better nights soon!

He nurses about every 3 hours during the day and is still only nursing on one side at a time.  He takes a bottle several times a week and does great with it.  (Him and NK just started going to the babysitter last week to adjust before I go to work, so he is taking bottles a little more).

He started smiling a lot about 2 weeks ago and it is SO sweet.  His whole face lights up.

Grant has also learned to pitch a fit...he started when he was colicky.  I mean he would scream so hard and loud he would turn almost purple and gag and cough.  He also gets sweated down... poor baby.  I hate when he does it, but sometimes I can't get to him right away (i.e. when bathing NK) so he just cries it out a little.

He loves his swing and laying on the floor looking a ceiling fan.  I put him on his tummy some, but he don't like it for long.

He also likes to be held up on my chest and carried against my chest in his carrier.  I have a Baby K'tan carrier and he goes to sleep in it every time.  Babywearing is definitely the way to go with baby #2!

For the most part Grant is a mellow baby... other than when he was colicky, he is pretty content any way/where I have him.

He still isn't crazy about a paci but he will take one. He also sleeps less/lighter than I remember NK doing.

He is filling out 3 month size clothes and I am about to switch to size 2 diapers when we finish this pack of size 1's.  He is growing, growing, growing!

Also, just a note to my future self... don't stress about a schedule.  I started trying to get Grant on one when he was about a month old and it was a disaster (it did nothing but stress us all out).  He is slowly forming his own schedule, and it is working out great!

7:30- wake up, nurse, play on floor
8:30- get in swing for nap
10:00-nurse then nap again
12-1- nurse and play for about 30 minutes, then nap
3-nurse, he is getting to where is stays awake some days from now until bedtime other than cat naps and sometimes he sleeps hard... depending on his mood.
6-nurse then play in bouncy seat while Mama cooks and me and NK eat supper
7-bathtime then settle down for bed
8-nurse and rock for bed
8:30-lay down in crib for bedtime.

Grant,
You are growing up so fast sweet boy... again reminding me how precious this time is.  I love you so, so much and pray daily that I am a good enough Mama for you and Norah Kate.  I pray for God to guide me to teach you and  your sister the right things and to most importantly show you the love I have for you both.  Hang in there with us, Buddy, Mama is still learning how to be a Mama.  You two are my whole world and my whole heart!  I love you so much already.

Love,
Mama 

 
 

 

 

 

 

Grant- 1 Month Check Up

I took Grant for his one month check up May 9 (he was technically 6 weeks old... stupid insurance). 



 

 



Everything checked out perfectly :)

He weighed 11lbs 4oz.  Big boy had gained more than 4 pounds since he was born!!  That is amazing!  (Average weight gain is usually 8oz a week.)

He was 21.5" long!

Dr. Griffin even complimented on how strong his neck/shoulders were because he pushed himself up on the table and was holding his head SO steady.

So proud and blessed that he is growing so healthy!!

We go back in June for his 2 month check up and poor baby gets shots. :(

Conversations with My 2 Year Old: Miss Southern Belle

Norah Kate has acquired some true southern language... and I LOVE it!!

NK:  Bless his heeeeaaaarrrrttt.

NK:  That's pitiful (with pouty lips).

NK:  Oh my gracious/goodness.

My little southern belle :)

Some other cute things she is saying-

"Daddy, ye got kentils (chemicals)" Because make walks in a lot and can't pick her up because he has chemicals on him... so she has learned to ask.

We laugh and say she talks like an Amish or Old World person... everything is "ye."

Everyone needs a check up, and she knows we go to Dr. Griffin for check ups :)  When I was talking to my friend the other day, she was talking about her little boy being sick and NK was asking me about it afterwards.  She said "He go to Dr. Griffin for a check up?"  Smart girl.

"Who you talkin?"  "What you talkin?"  "What you sayin?"  When I am on the phone she is a nosy-rosy.

Conversations with my 2 Year Old: Princesses

While reading a book before bedtime tonight:

Looking through the Disney Princess Book, 

NK: She's a princess! Like me!

Me: Yes baby, just like you :)

Because all little girls should grow up believing they are princesses, that's all part of the fun!

Conversations with My 2 Year Old: A Trampoline

Norah Kate is really talking... I mean REALLY saying a whole lot of sentences, stories, and she is also listening to a whole lot of stuff too (time to start spelling out words and watching which conversations we have in her presence!)

It's funny to me how she will ask questions or make remarks that let me know she was listening to a conversation I had with Matt or my mama... Of course not that it's bad stuff or anything but she is very observant.

She has starting asking me:

What you looking, Mama? What are you looking at, Mama?

Who you talking? Who are you talking to?

Why you laughing?

I don't know why but it's so funny to me when she asks me this stuff.  Curious little girl.

It shouldn't surprise me that she talks so much because, bless her heart, I have talked to her pretty well non stop since she was born... Just about any and everything.

Anyways, the most recent conversation that really tickled me went as follows:

Earlier that day she was looking through a flyer that came from Toys R Us with the trampolines and pools and outside toys. Later that night I was getting out of the shower and she was walking in the bathroom.

NK: you hear me, mama?

Me: what is it baby?

NK: I want a trampoline! (Imagine the sweetest little face and voice asking you this.)

Me: you do?

NK: uh-huh. And a pool. And a balloon. A Mickey Mouse balloon!

Me: Oh wow. Ok then. Anything else?

NK: a BICYCLE!!

Uh oh Daddy! We are in BIG trouble now. She has learned to ask for what she wants! I sure love that little girl and my funny conversations with her!

Grant- One Month Old

I can't believe my sweet baby boy is already a month old!  At least I was forewarned with Norah Kate how quickly time goes by when they are babies.  I was telling a friend of mine how it is so sad that it goes by so fast, even though you are looking forward to more sleep at night, a healed body, a more rested mind, and a glimmer of a routine, the first few weeks are SO precious and the babies change drastically through that first month!



Coming home from the hospital (1 day old)

Grant is a great baby!  Really, I mean, if I knew it was gonna be this easy the second go around I wouldn't have been so nervous.  Of course, there is very little sleep and a lot of eating going on around my house, there is no sign of a routine even in sight, and we have our moments of exhaustion, frustration, and desperation, but overall it has been much easier (for me anyways) this time.

I had a terrible time with my hormones after Norah Kate, I mean, those baby blues made me slap crazy, so I terrified this time that they would come back or be worse.  I honestly don't think I have even had a touch of them.  I have only had a few moments of tearfulness or moodiness.  It was actually weird/scary how GOOD I felt after I had him.  I was so happy and had energy and my body felt great (my body appreciated 7lbs of baby SO MUCH BETTER than almost 9lbs of baby with NK, I have healed faster/easier.  Heck, I was cleaning house when he was days old, walking when he was a week old and went for my first "run" at 2 weeks).  I felt so much contentment and love towards my babies.  I kept waiting for those "blues" to hit, but fortunately they never did!!

Now, don't let me paint this beautiful picture of motherhood with an infant and a 2 year old.  I have struggled keeping up with both of them because a lot of time Norah Kate gets a little jealous (she is still a baby after all, and for those that know about mine and her relationship she is very close to her mommy).  I try to spend time with her when he is napping or content, but usually she don't want anything to do with me until he is crying or hungry or needing something. I get overwhelmed sometimes when they both need me at the same time.  And bedtime around this household... holy cow... I just hang on tight and pray fervently until they are both asleep.  A lot of times I am wishing I had a nerve pill and a glass of wine to help me through those crazy hours.

I told my mama the other day that bedtime around here feels like a marathon.  That I usually want to quit, but I can't, I have to keep going and that I am trying to beat my "time" from the night before.  Or at least try to get it to go "smoother."  Ha!  I am hoping that with time we get more of a routine down. 

Also, it hasn't helped matters that for the last two to three weeks my husband has been transplanting tobacco, so bless him, he has left the house around 6:30 and not been home until well after bedtime (9:30-10).  Which means I have been manning this ship all by my lonesome.  He has been home this week and it has been WONDERFUL!!  I don't see how single mamas do it.  I dread the summer months when he gets real busy again.

Back to Big Boy Grant.

Eating:

He is eating wonderfully!  He treats his mama like an all day, all you can eat buffet.  His eating habits are still unpredictable.  Sometimes he will go 3 hours without eating, then he will nurse every hour for 3 hours off and on, basically though he eats around 10-12 times a day.  I just nurse on demand regardless of if it has been 30 minutes or 2 hours... just when he wakes up and acts hungry.  I am not complaining though because I haven't gone through any latch issues, rejecting issues, etc like I did with Norah Kate.  No sir, he nurses like a champ.  You can tell it too in his clothes.  Some of his newborn stuff is too tight and we outgrew newborn diapers when he was a little over 2 weeks old.  He can wear a few of his 0-3 month clothes but they are long.

It's funny because I bought nipple shields, manual pumps, bottles, etc in case I had all the issues I did with NK, but haven't needed any of that!  I have used the pump though, only to relieve some engorgement, and I just introduced a bottle last week.  He takes a bottle good (3 oz, but I can't tell if it satisfies him or not because I usually end up nursing him again within an hour).  So far he takes a NUK, Avent, and Medela bottles/nipples without any trouble.  He is not a big fan of a paci right now either.  He gags and spits it out.  Poor thing has a very sensitive gag reflex.

Grant lost down to 6lbs 11oz right before we left the hospital that Friday, but he had gained back to birth weight (7lbs 1oz) by Monday when I had to take him for a weight and bilirubin check.  He was slightly jaundiced, but nothing requiring a hospital readmission.  We had to go back to the doctor for another weight check and check up the following Monday and he weight 7lbs 13 oz.  They told me then that one of his lab results came back abnormal from his PKU/metabolic screen so we had to have more blood drawn but everything came back perfectly normal after that :)

At our 1st doctors visit (4 days old)

I have weighed him at home and he weighs about 9.5 lbs according to my scales... We don't go back to the doctor until May 2nd so I am curious to see how much he has gained.

Sleep:
Sleep?  What's that?  Routine?  What?!
Right now, its sleep when we can, where we can, for as long as we can.  Ha!

Usually I start winding the household down at around 5:30-6 with supper for NK and a bath for Grant.  Grant usually nurses and then FIGHTS sleep.  I mean, that boy, he will fall asleep for about 10 minutes and just when I lay him down he starts fussing.  Usually its about 9-9:30 before we are all asleep for a good stretch.  I haven't really even tried to establish a routine until the last week or so because we were all just figuring things out. (Which of course that first week, before he became alert, was a piece of cake because I could just nurse him and put him down wherever and he would sleep... now that he is more alert it's a little more difficult) It would probably run a little smoother if I could rock him longer or if it were more quiet, but with a 2 year old running around who needs to eat, get a bath, and trying to settle herself down as well, it just ain't happening.

Sleeping in the cradle/rocker

Also, he doesn't like sleeping flat.  When I had him in the basinet flat he was up almost every hour at night. Whew, talk about exhausting.  So I borrowed the SnugAMonkey cradle rocker thing from my sister in law and that is where we start out the night.  Then we sleep in the recliner for a little bit because I fall asleep while nursing him, then we move to the swing or couch in the living room.  Crazy right?  It will get better.

He has just starting giving me 3-4 hour stretches some nights though, then we will have some nights were we are up every 2 hours.  This too will get better.  I know he will sleep through the night eventually :)  For now, I will be grateful for those 3-4 hours of sleep I get at a time!

(I think that's why it might be easier the second time- because you are prepared, you know that the sleepless nights will end, that tomorrow is a new day, that this time passes quickly, that it is okay to answer the door for your neighbor in your pjs at 2pm, it is all ok.  This is normal, for now.)

Personality
He has started to act like he notices me when I pick him up or walk in front of him.  His expression changes and I have just started getting a slight smile from him.

He isn't too crazy about tummy time, but we are working on it.

He will just sit and stare at NK when I have him on the floor.  She entertains him and I know he will enjoy watching her even more as he grows.

Grant is developing a temper.  He don't cry much, but when he does he will get sweated down and almost turn purple from holding his breath while crying.  He might just be a spit fire like his sister.

Things he likes
The swing
Being worn in the Baby K'tan baby carrier (I have started "wearing" him so that maybe he will like being in the carrier more than NK, it sure will make housework/cooking/taking care of NK easier.  So far he likes it)
Laying on mommy's chest (and I love letting him snuggle there!)
Nursie (Matt's name he gave feeding/eating time when I had NK)
Riding in the car
Sleeping with mommy (while I do not agree with letting them sleep in the bed with you while they are super little, there have been several instances where I have fallen asleep nursing him in the bed or on the couch and he sleep SO good while he is next to me... so I can see where it is tempting just to let them sleep in the bed with you.  It scares me though, because I know its not safe.)

Things he doesn't like
Not being held or rocked to sleep (spoiled already)
Goings to sleep at night time
a pacifier (although Norah Kate swears he should have one.  I have caught her shoving/forcing it in his mouth more than once!)
cold wipes (poor baby will almost crawl out of his skin!)

Grant,
Mama loves you so much and you have already brought so much joy to our life.  You are such a blessing to us and I can't wait to watch you grow.  I know this time will go by way too fast and am trying to cherish every moment!  You are such a good baby and thank you for being patient with me while I juggle you and your sister.  You are a sweet boy and a precious addition to our family!

Love,
Mama

Yes, that is both of my babies in our bed.

Wee morning hour snuggles.

His favorite spot!

 

Big Sister NK

Norah Kate has been a wonderful big sister.  She really is helpful and already amazes me with what she knows about Grant.

At the hospital she had to check him over good.  It was so sweet.  She asked a million questions about him.  It also amazed me that once he was here she never looked or talked to my belly.  She immediately made the connection that he was here now and not in my belly anymore.

She was very curious about him nursing.  We told her from the beginning that he could only have "mommy's milk."  Since then she is still curious when I feed him or when I have to pump.  She wants to watch and I let her... hopefully I am setting a good example and she will want to breastfeed her babies (way later down the road).

When he is crying she comes running to me- "mama!  him hungry!"  She don't like for him to cry either.  If I am getting a shower, or cooking and he starts to fuss she will yell to me that he is crying.  The other day he started crying in his carseat and she was trying to unbuckle her carseat to get to him.

She will turn his music on his bouncy seat for him and talk to him in the sweetest voice.

"Heeeeey brudder/buddy/big man/baby Grant!"
"Ahhh boo"

She gives him lots of kisses.

Several times I have caught her trying to "get" him.  She will say "I get you." when he is crying.  Poor Grant.  I have to rescue him.

She loves to help me.  She has put a chair in every room so that she can help me bathe him, change him, feed him, etc.

She can be helpful about going to get things for me (socks, burp cloth, diaper, wipe).  She also likes to take the liberty of changing his socks, wiping his face, putting his hats on his head (all these things are within her reach so she will go get them).  She forces him to take a paci.  She has tried to share her food several times but we just keep reinforcing "only mommy's milk."

She is still very protective over him and don't like to share him too much with other people.  She also gets a little jealous if people don't address her first. When people came those first few days at home and asked how they could help I would get them to take her outside or spend special time with her OR watch Grant so that I could go play outside with her for a few minutes.  It seemed to really help her feelings that first little bit.  We had a tough time the first day or two because my body wasn't quite ready to pick her up or hold her...and she just didn't understand that... but fortunately I healed quick!

I usually am nursing him or rocking him with them both in my lap.  Morning times are a little rough because she wants my direct attention.  No sharing.  Good thing Grant goes right back to sleep after nursing because then me and NK get to watch cartoons and drink our coffee together.

Other new/interesting things with NK:
-She is suddenly "scared" of things (the dark, the wreath on the front door, monsters).
-She is cutting her bottom two 2 year molars (bless her and my heart!)
-She will tell stories "The other day... ummm... so, but," it is quiet hilarious.
-She can still be very defiant and will act out for attention.  Time out has been re-introduced.
-She thinks she can sleep in the basinet or the baby swing.  She also likes Grant's bouncy seat and car seat.
-She likes to be told stories.  This has started this week.  We had gone to Valdosta and she was extremely ill on the way home (seriously her and Grant both were SCREAMING) so I said very dramatically, "Norah Kate, let me tell you a story!" and she was instantly distracted... now I have to tell stories a lot :)
-She likes to give kisses and hugs.  She will tell us she loves us and misses us.
-She will sometimes tell me thank you for sweet/random things.  "Mommy!  Thank you SO MUCH for washing my blanket!"  Haha!  Never a dull moment.
-We went a few weeks of me being "Mom" and Matt being "Matt/Dad" (this was before Grant was born).
-She wants to "save" stuff.  "Norah Kate, that is enough candy."  "Okay, mama, I save it!!"  So then she goes an puts it in her kitchen where she has access to it when she wants it.  Which is usually a few minutes later.
-Everything is "my do it" "norah kate's turn" "norah kate's toy" "that's norah kates" (hence the chairs and stools in every part of the house, so that she can "do" stuff)
-Potty training is a disaster.  I may have to do a separate blog about this.  She is just stubborn and sometimes will be dry all day and then there will be days where I am carrying her kicking and screaming to the potty.  It is still a work in progress.  This week is a good week to potty train per the Almanac so wish me luck!
-She loves to exercise.  I did Insanity yesterday only because all day she kept saying "Exercise Mama!  Exercise!"  Talk about motivation!  She even ran and put her tennis shoes on and exercised with me.  She was super pumped up about it. 
-She enjoys putting puzzles together (or rather watching someone else put her Minnie Mouse puzzle together).

Norah Kate,
You are being a wonderful big sister!  Mama is so proud of you and loves you SO much.  You are such a great helper.  Thank  you for being so sweet to mommy and patient with mommy while I have to take care of baby brother.  I know this time has been hard for you too.  Things will get smoother around here I promise!

I love you Baby Girl!
Mama