Growing up...and a call for advice

Our little boy is smiling!! He's been smiling sporadically for over a week and I finally caught it on camera today. I know it's a little blurry, but the camera distracts him so I have to get him to smile and then hurry and take the picture. I'm surprised it turned out as good as it did. These smiles (and the dimples that come with them) make my day:



But I'm afraid this new social awareness has brought with it some sleeping problems... You see, at almost exactly 6 weeks old Dylan magically started having at least one longer sleep period at night (I'm talking 5-7 hours of sleep!!) that usually started around 7 pm and went until 1 or 2. Then he'd eat and go back to sleep until about 5. Then he'd eat and sleep until about 8. It was pretty predictable and I really didn't mind it because I knew that I'd at least get some form of sleep.

Well, on Tuesday night something strange happened. We put him to bed around 8 like we normally do, but longest he slept at any time was 1.5 hours. He'd generally be pretty easy to soothe back to sleep (or he'd go back to sleep once he ate), but there was no long sleep period anymore...and he's never ever woken up that frequently...not even when he was a brand new baby. The next night he did the same thing, but we put him in his bouncer at 11 PM and he actually slept until about 4:30...but when I put him in his crib after feeding him, he only slept for an hour, and then for only 30-minute intervals after that. Last night he did almost the same thing, but the bouncer only held him off until 3:30.

Because it came on so suddenly, I have an appointment with his doctor today to see if maybe he has an ear infection or something that's causing him pain. My other guess is possibly reflux because he spits up A TON and pretty much any time of the day (even 3 hours after eating) and we often find his poor little head surrounded by a spit-up stain after naps. If not, I'm wondering if we taught our little boy that we'll come every time he cries...but most people say he's too young to have developed that habit.

We're almost to the point where we just want to let him cry and see what he does, but does that make us bad parents since he's only 8.5 weeks old?? Do I just let him sleep in his bouncer at all times? That makes me feel like I'm only developing a different kind of sleep problem...

Shane keeps asking me what I think is best and says, "You're the mom," but I have no idea what I'm doing. So, all you seasoned parenting veterans out there...any advice? I'm learning that most moms tend to forget this stage of the parenting process, but any advice is appreciated...

**UPDATE: The pediatrician says he looks pretty healthy aside from a little nasal congestion, which he's had for about a week. But, while we were there, the pediatrician noticed the number of times Dylan had spit-up coming up his throat. He mentioned that he might be a reflux baby. I explained a few other things (the spit-up circles around his head after his naps, that he sleeps better in the bouncer, his back arching sometimes when he eats, etc.) and he gave me a pamphlet on reflux. He said to try and prop up the mattress (good idea, Cath) and see how things go until his 2-month appointment (which is next Monday). I think a combination of reflux and just being a more alert little boy is what's making him wake up so much. We'll try the suggestions and see how things go...

Daily Dylan

As promised, here's the last week of photos I sent to Shane at work. I'm beginning to think I need to mix up the poses a bit...

January 20

January 21

{Someone at Shane's work requested feet pictures}

January 22

January 22 (the other outfit didn't last long...)

January 25 (Dylan attended a pirate-themed party at Shane's work so he wanted to be sure to dress the part)

January 26 (Dylan hoped that another pirate shirt would mean he got to go visit Dad at work again...)

As you can see, he's still quite healthy. We're still working on regular smiles (we get a few random ones...and he really likes to smile at ceiling fans) so we haven't caught any on camera yet...but hopefully soon! We want to see more of those dimples...

The Daily Dylan

As I mentioned in my post below, I send Shane a picture of Dylan every day at work. For the sake of family and friends that don't get to see Dylan very often, I may begin posting his daily photos as a group... Here are the most recent ones, with their respective dates:

January 14

January 15

January 18

January 19

{Yes, I do realize that in the last two pictures my child is wearing short sleeves and shorts...and yes, I know it's the middle of winter. In my defense, (1) "winter" has recently meant temperatures in the 70s meaning our heater doesn't even have to turn on once during the day and (2) we rarely leave the house...if ever...and the weather is quite pleasant in our little world inside. Plus, he looks so cute in the clothes!}

The end of an era...

I just finished packing up Dylan's newborn clothes to make room for 0-3 month old clothes. Thanks to two big bags of brand new baby clothes forgotten by our friends with a 10-month old, we now have a lot of clothing for the boy and since he hasn't worn his newborn clothes for at least a week now, there's no need for them to be in the closet.

This was quite a sad moment for us. Last night, Shane tried to put Dylan in one of his roomier sets of newborn pajamas. Sadly, Dylan refused to go to sleep since they were so tight he really couldn't move much...(once changed, he fell fast asleep). It's hard to believe that he's changed that much from the little tiny baby that we brought home just 6 weeks ago!

Luckily, before she left, Grammie Jen bought Dylan a set of his favorite pajamas (his dinosaur ones seen in the picture below) in 0-3 months size as well! At least we have a little bit of crossover to help us through the transition...


In other ways we're glad our little boy is growing up. He's definitely starting to notice us more. He still hasn't quite mastered smiling (although I think I got one mini smile out of him this morning), but he will occasionally stick his tongue out at us if we show him ours first...that's progress, right?

And best of all, our little boy is figuring out the difference between night and day! That's right, last night after he ate at 10:45 he slept until 5:00 AM!! That's 6 hours of sleeping with no need for parental intervention. Sadly, I woke up at 3:00 on my own to some of his sleep noises and waited for them to turn into crying...and ended up waiting until about 4:30. Needless to say, I didn't get as much sleep as I could have, but at least now I know to ignore him until I hear genuine crying. I realize this has only happened once so I'm not expecting it again tonight, but at least it reminds me that eventually I will get more than 2 continuous hours of sleep...

In other news, Dylan had an awesome weekend with his friends Carly, Natalie, and Lahdan who just left today...but that'll be a post of its own soon.

Guilty pleasure

I must admit that there's a part of my day that I enjoy much more than I'm sure poor baby Dylan does (or at least he'll probably hate looking at the evidence when he's older). You see, ever since Dylan was very very little, he's been a very calm, alert baby--especially in the morning. Well, during this morning awake time while my mom was still staying with us and Shane went back to work, we started dressing Dylan in a new outfit each day and taking pictures. Once taken, these pictures were then sent to Shane with a little email from Dylan. It was a fun way to let Shane see the boy even while he was gone all day. When my mom was involved, these pictures included props and backdrops...and lots of clapping and cooing to get Dylan to look somewhat at the camera.

Once Dylan had worn all of his newborn outfits at least once, the holidays were in full swing so the picture taking kind of fizzled out. However, we recently have switched from Dylan's newborn outfits to 0-3 month clothes (I know, it's hard to believe that an 11 pound baby still fit in newborn clothes, but he's so short!!), and I've received many requests from my mother for updated pictures of the boy, so the picture taking has resumed.

I must admit, my photos aren't near as elaborate as my mothers (no more props or clever poses), but Shane still gets fun emails from Dylan almost every day at work, usually detailing his sleeping and pooping habits that day and how bored he is hanging out with just Mom :)

I thought I'd post a series of the best of each photo shoot thus far along with Dylan's age at the time, just to give you an idea of what I put this poor boy through! (And to show how much he's changed in just over a month...) Enjoy!

6 days

1 week

1 week

1 week 1 day

1 week 6 days

3 weeks 1 day

3 weeks 1 day

4 weeks 2 days

5 weeks 1 day

5 weeks 2 days {Okay, so maybe some days he isn't so calm...this photo shoot occurred a little too close to nap time}

5 weeks 5 days

5 weeks 6 days {Dylan chose to wear this shirt yesterday because somehow each time he woke up in the night it was right when I was in my deepest sleep. He just wanted to remind me why I'm willing to give up my sleep...}

6 weeks (today) -- Notice the ever-growing belly and cheeks!

This last one helps me remember how close he is to smiling for real. He has the cutest smiles when he's sleeping, but we're still working on awake smiles. I think this one was a fluke, but it's so cute!

Anticipation...

What am I anticipating, you ask?

A visit from three of these lovely ladies this week, and a visit from the other lovely lady in June!!















I haven't seen these girls since March, so a reunion is long overdue. I can't wait until Friday!

5 Weeks

It's hard to believe it, but our little boy is 5 weeks old today!! In some ways it feels like he's been a part of our family forever (maybe that's the sleepless nights talking), and in other ways the time has just flown by!

We had his 1 month appointment on Monday and got some update stats:

Height: 21.5 inches (+1 inch from birth)
Weight: 10 lbs 15 oz (+3 lbs .5 oz from birth and +2 lbs 11 oz from his 2 week appt--let's just say the kid isn't starving!!)

That puts him in the 75th percentile for weight, the 50th percentile for height, and the 25th percentile for head circumference (who would've thought Shane and I could possibly make a baby with a tiny head??)

All in all, he's a very mellow baby. He likes to nap and gets quite grumpy when he's tired (who does that sound like?)...and he really likes to eat. I think this boy would eat all day if I let him (thank goodness for pacifiers!!).

Here's an overview of his life since the last post:

He spent time monkeying around with his new friends

Took up baseball as a new hobby

Met Santa (obviously he was VERY excited for the occasion)

Met Grampie Jon

Starred as Baby Jesus in the Christmas Eve nativity

A close-up of his starring role (didn't you know Baby Jesus wore a baseball uniform as his swaddling clothes?)

He got all dressed up for Christmas morning...

...and made out like a bandit!! This was even after a few were opened, and there were more at Grandma's house later!

He spent Christmas day posing for pictures...

...and sleeping...

...in the arms of anyone who would hold him (shortly after this picture he proceeded to pee all over Grandma's apron!)

He received a name and a blessing...

...and got all dressed up for the occasion.

Thanks Amy for the cute onesie--it was perfect!

He met his Richards cousins (and Uncle Jared and Aunt Jessie).

Said goodbye to Grammie Jen. As you can see, after 4 weeks with her, he was sad to see her go.

...and had his first sleepover at Jackie & Brad's for New Year's Eve!

It's crazy to think over a month has gone by, but for reference, here's a comparison of our little boy at 8 days old...

...to him today, at 5 weeks old. Yep, that's the same bath sponge... Let's just say he's expanded a bit :)

I'm hoping to keep this blog about our whole family, and not just a baby blog...but honestly, right now, he is my life. Everything we do pretty much revolves around him...and most of my days are spent just like this:

(...and I don't mind a bit!!)