We have a two-month-old baby boy.
SHTAAAAP.
He's our best little bud.
He has a number of nicknames but my favorites are Punk, Pumpkin, Peanut, Baby, and occasionally Naughty Baby which I say in a happy cheerful tone to make it funny...even when he's being a crab refusing to nap when we know he's tired. Josh's favorite nickname is Little Buddy. That's almost exclusively what he calls him and it's adorable. We realized we rarely call him Maverick or Mav but Josh and I don't really call each other by our names when we're together either...it's always Babe. Always. So we need to get better at the name thing or this kid will grow up thinking his name is Punk and I don't think that would win us any parenting awards.
A few stats for your enjoyment...
Maverick is 22.5 inches long. Let me explain this one. We announced that he was 22 inches long when he was born then went in for his one-month visit and he measured 21 inches. Which was confusing. They said he was probably measured too quickly at the hospital which means our birth announcements were a lie but it's whatever. He's now officially 22.5 inches long.
Mav is 9 pounds and 14 ounces...which means he's a little peanut like his daddy was. And I'm fine with that. His newborn clothes are fitting longer (when eeeeeverybody said I wouldn't even need newborn clothes...HA!) which makes me happy. But what's crazy is that from his appointment last week for his cold to his appointment this week he gained TEN OUNCES. Ya. So last week when he was naughty and sleeping weird and his acne was exploding for a couple of days...it WAS a growth spurt just like I suspected.
On the paperwork I filled out before his visit, I was thrilled to check 'yes' on all the developmental questions...cooing, moving arms and legs at the same time, smiling, focusing/watching us, holding his head up...all that good stuff. He's a PRO. We're annoyingly proud first-time parents. We often comment on how annoying we are but I desperately try and keep the over-the-top 'Oh my baby is the cutest baby ever!' comments to the privacy of our own home. And I also try to keep the Instagram captions more sarcastic and funny instead of bragging about how adorable our baby is. No one cares about that crap but us. And probably the grandmas.
He's wearing newborn/size one diapers. Newborn and a few 0-3 month clothes. Enjoys tummy-time for five minutes before he gets stressed. Likes his car seat and happily rides in the car for short and long distances (within reason...our recent trip to Chicago and back was a little much). Also likes his seat during walks in the stroller and LOOOOOOVES when I carry him in the Baby Bjorn carrier. He likes it too much, in fact...so I only wear him in extenuating circumstances (ie: football games, apple orchard, antique stores where a stroller would be a catastrophe). You won't find this mom wearing her baby while cleaning the house because I'm a pretty firm believer that he needs to learn to sit and entertain himself without being constantly held. He likes his swing, likes sitting in his boppy, basically likes laying anywhere...and I try to switch it up so he doesn't get too dependent on any one thing. Last night he laid on our bed craning his neck to see the TV so he could watch The Hurt Locker. Daddy and Mav had their first War Movie night together. It was precious.
Mav is still a champion at sleeping in his crib but he usually uses a sound machine for the first half hour to get him to sleep (approximately one screaming ambulance per nap drives by our house, so believe me when I tell you...this is necessary). Bedtime is still around 10:00 because Auntie Jill suggested working on getting him to sleep through the night before moving up bedtime in 15-minute increments and since she is the Baby-Sleep-Goddess, that's what I'm doing. When/if he wakes up in the night...I usually go in his room and find an instantly smiley baby. At 4am. It's just ridiculous and I tell him that. Mav had an amazing couple of weeks where he slept from 10-5 or 6 (so I KNOW he's capable of doing it). But then he was sick for a week, got all wacked out during that growth spurt, had some shots on Tuesday, not to mention Daylight Savings Time...so his new 'normal' for the past two weeks has become bedtime at 10, then sometimes he wakes up whining at 1, 3, or 4 needing his paci to get back to sleep...and I give in and feed him around 5 or 6. Then its back to bed until he eats at 9 to start our schedule for the day. My goal for this month is bedtime at 9 and sleeping until 6, which I think will be attainable since he should be hitting 10 pounds any day and Jill said that's the magic sleep-through-the-night number.
What I'm proud of accomplishing this month...Mav goes down without fussing about 85% of the time. And he's gotten REALLY good at his day-time nap schedule. Right now he's up to eat at 9, noon, 3, 6, and 9...then awake for about an hour and a half (sometimes two hours) after he eats before he goes down for a happy nappy. And that's pretty much our schedule every day except Sunday's when we have church at 11. I'm trying to stay consistent during the day so he can figure out what he's supposed to do at nighttime.
I'm not super strict with the sleep training because I haven't read a single thing. Instead I prefer to let other mom's do the research and then I pick the mom's I want to copy. ;) And for sleeping, that mom of choice is my sister-in-law, Jill. Her babies all sleep through the night by 10 weeks and they sleep HARD. Once we stood on Brecken's bed while he was sleeping in it and hung curtains in his room because when we start projects we finish them no matter what time it is. ;) He slept through the whole thing.
I'm writing this for no other reason than to remember it for the future. Because I'll be the first to admit that it's really not interesting.
We get TONS of smiles out of Maverick, especially in the 30-45 minutes right after he eats. He's also starting to get reeeeeally chatty. The other night we let him stay up with us until 10:30 because he wouldn't stop talking and it was hilarious. Then we put him in his crib and could still hear him talking to himself while he fell asleep. I think this means he will be a talker like his mom and Auntie Jamie...probably because that's who he spends most of his time with during the day. ;) I love spending my days with him, but also love leaving him with dad while I run to Fareway or do errands. It gives Josh time to have Mav all to himself and I can get a lot more done a lot faster without having to haul that carrier around.
I think Josh and I went on our first date when Maverick was two weeks old? My mom and sister watched him and we went to Cafe B and The Other Place. We've gone on a couple drives around the lake when we've been home, and a few weeks ago went to Hu Hot while my mom and Jamie watched him again. Leaving him hasn't been a big deal to me and I never really thought it would be since I'm not exactly an overly-emotional person. That, and I know he can't live without me for more than three hours at a time. ;)
We're still rocking and rolling on the breastfeeding thing...I shared some of my thoughts about breastfeeding in my last blog and at some point maybe I'll expound. But for now I'll leave it at that...it's creepy and weird and everyone said, "You'll feel different about it when you're a mom because it's a beautiful bonding experience!" That's what all the books I skimmed said too. But I can officially say I don't. It's just a weird, necessary part of this first year of motherhood. I came to terms with it's weirdness before Mav was even here so it's all good. And I'm glad it hasn't been hard because I would have definitely given up if it had been. He's a good eater, isn't allergic to anything, doesn't seem to have weird reactions to the things I eat, etc. so all good news there.
Baby acne reared its ugly head this month and by that I mean, Maverick had a pretty ugly head there for a couple weeks. He was reeeeally red and splotchy and it's always the worst right after he eats. I didn't panic about this but grandma and Josh definitely did. Josh made me call First Nurse, who told me to tell dad that it was all normal and nothing to worry about. Which I keep reminding him every time it looks bad and he is sure something is wrong. You probably didn't know this, but Josh can be a little high strung sometimes. lol.
A few funny random things to report...Maverick has discovered how to get his hands in his mouth. He will lick on anything remotely near his face...blanket, shirt, hood, etc. He watches TV with big, wide-open eyes. He farts a TON and we laugh at him every single time. Uncle Nathan is the only person who calls him Mav-Rico and I think it's hilarious. He has a big of a mullet at the back of his neck and has started running his fingers through his hair and holding on to it while he eats.
That is pretty much everything I can think of for this month! I love spending my days with this little human. People keep asking me about my transition to staying at home and being a mom and it really wasn't much of a transition. I still see plenty of our friends and family...Josh has been home to cuddle us on a few recent rainy days. Jamie lives in our basement and leaving the house for errands hasn't really been a challenge either because Mav is such a content kid. Church has gone well 4/5 Sunday's, which I've been happy about too.
We are approaching the Most Insane Weekend of 2015...where I will attempt to decorate and attend a Women's Conference, practice for and dance in a Sunday D6 Gathering, and plan and host family for Maverick's Baby Dedication, aaaand celebrate my birthday...so if you think about it, PRAY FOR US. ;)
MmB
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