First (Trial) Day of Daycare

In order to prepare myself (and Nolan), we scheduled for him to have a "trial run" at daycare today.  I have been literally dreading this day for weeks, and usually shed tears at night just thinking about having to leave him.  I am not saying that I find staying at home everyday to be the most exciting thing in the world, but I would rather stay with him than go to work.  I actually never thought I would be this way, but oh man it has hit me like a ton of bricks.

I hate the thought of not being able to feed him all day, and the fact that he will just be thrust into a new environment and have no idea what is going on.  I know that socialization and daycare is a good thing for his development, but there is no place like home.  Plus, I am sure I am much more attentive and responsive than what he will be able to receive at daycare, and that makes me anxious.  We have tried from day one to respond to him as soon as he cries, and now he doesn't really cry at all unless he is tired or hungry.  Even then, he calms down almost immediately, so the thought of him crying and not being tended to right away kills me.

I also wanted to get a feeling for how it would go getting both of us ready in the morning, so the trial run was a big help.  I decided to get up before him and go ahead and get myself ready, then get him up and feed him.  Then, after he was dressed and fed, I got myself dressed.  It ended up working out pretty good, and Anthony and I dropped him off a little after 9:00 a.m.

I wasn't planning on leaving him all day; just enough time for me to run the bazillion errands I needed to run to get ready to go back to work on Thursday.  Leaving him was terrible, and of course, I cried.  Not too much, but I liked knowing that I could go back and get him whenever I wanted!  Daycare was not as crowded that day due to it being New Year's Eve, so he had more attention than usual.

So, I ran all of my errands and got some things done at the house, and then picked him up around 1:30 p.m.  He was still in one piece, and had taken two bottles.  I was so glad to hear this, since I wanted to make sure he would do well with the bottles and someone else feeding him.  I shouldn't have been surprised, though, since this boy will do anything to eat! :)

Overall he did great, but I was so happy to pick him up!

 

He had on an outfit from his G and looked so cute!

New Year's Eve!

This year was a very casual New Year's Eve (I mean how much can you do with a little person?!)  I loved every minute of it, especially since New Year's Day was the last day of my maternity leave meaning I had lots to do!

My cousin Joseph came over to meet Nolan for the first time, and we had a simple dinner of roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and salad.  Nolan didn't make it all the way to 12:00, but we made sure to go in and kiss him when the clock struck midnight.  I also didn't enjoy any champagne, but made sure to toast my O'Douls :)

I couldn't help but be so thankful and a bit sentimental about this past year.  2013 will be by far one of the most exciting and wonderful years of our lives.  In just a short calendar year, we lost a baby, got pregnant, and had a baby!  God works in some wonderful ways, and never would I have thought that I deserved so many blessings.

Come on, 2014; gimme all you got!

Nolan: 11 Weeks

We got to celebrate Nolan's FIRST Christmas this week!  This was one of the most exciting "firsts" we have had with him so far.  Of course, he had no clue what was going on, but there is something so sweet and beautiful about a baby at Christmas.  I hope to be able to develop some traditions that we will be able to do each year together. 

This is a duplicate picture, but it cracks me up!  Anthony didn't button his shirt, so he looks like a little guido, and he couldn't be more spread out if he tried!

N = (Now weighs)  I would say still somewhere in the high-12 mark.

O = (Oomph!)  Preparing for Christmas and having guests in town with a baby takes lots longer and tons of pre-planning!  I ended up going to the grocery store at 11:00p.m. one night, since I couldn't make it there before he went to bed and Anthony got home!

L = (Loves) Bath time, and eating. 

A = (About this week)  Nolan has been introduced to lots of new people this past week, and seems to be cool with it.  As long as he is comfortable, he is happy to be held by anyone and everyone.  However, nothing makes him more calm or happy than being in Anthony's arms.  He also likes to just lay on his playmat and stretch out his legs.  Sometimes, especially when he is tired, he will only want to be held for a short bit and then be laid down to sleep.

N = (Not a fan of) Poor little guy - when he spits up and it comes out his nose.  This doesn't happen often, but I guess it burns and he will usually wimper when this happens.  It makes me feel so bad for him - I can't imagine how that feels!

CHRISTMAS!

To be honest, it was pretty hectic to prepare for Christmas this year, because we had just gotten back into town two days before, and we were preparing for my family to come to visit. We didn't go all out with presents, but got just a few and also some keepsakes that we will keep for years.

It was so fun to set everything out and pretend to be Santa Claus. We added some of his gifts from others to the pile, just to make it look more festive, and went to bed!

On Christmas morning, Anthony and I got up and got ready then woke little man up for his big reveal. I hope to always be able to spend Christmas morning in our jammies and open presents together.  Nolan had no clue what was going on, but we took pictures for him to look back on one day.  I am sure he loved his diapers, books, clothes and especially his "My First Christmas" ornament.  Anthony actually surprised me with this, since I had wanted to get one, but did not have the time and could never find one that I really liked.  It's beautiful, and I will always cherish it.  I couldn't get a good picture of it, but it's a silver baby rattle, and the rattle part looks like a snow globe.  It has snowflakes inside and a little charm.  It's just precious.

After we opened presents, we scurried around getting the house ready for my family and the huge meal I was planning.  Dad, Leslee, Paige and Cade arrived and then it really felt like Christmas. Not a year has gone by that I remember that I have not seen them on Christmas day, so I was so happy to have family in town to see us.  Just like Thanksgiving I had a new menu I wanted to try out.  I made a bone-in roast beef with red wine gravy, sauteed spinach, twice-baked sweet potatoes, rolls, and rice.  It was my first time cooking such a big piece of meat, but it turned out fantastic!

We spent the rest of the week with them shopping, playing games after dinner, and doting on little man.  Paige, Leslee, and Cade even got the chance to feed him with a bottle, and I left him for the first-ever 4 hour stretch one day to go shopping with Paige.  Leslee (aka Nani) watched him and he just slept and ate his bottle.  I still didn't like leaving him, but I was thankful for the time with my sister and that Nolan was adjusting well to spending time with Nani and Papa!

Nolan: 10 Weeks

This was a big week for little man because we took his first big trip out of town to Concord, NC to see my family.  I hoped he would do well on the car ride there (which he did), and that he would adjust to a completely different atmosphere for five days.

Poor Anthony - I had everything in the world you could imagine packed - my car had not one square inch of available space left!  But, I wanted to be a prepared Mama, and I think that for our first trip out of town with a 10-week old we did pretty good!

The drive there was not too shabby, and we only had to stop twice for Nolan to eat (we could have made it all the way, but ran into some pretty heavy traffic about 20 minutes before our arrival, and I didn't want him to wait that long).  Our hotel was nice and had a little kitchen area and living room area, so we had lots of room to spread out, and the kitchen made things easy for me with pumping and whatnot.  Plus, they allowed pets so Vegas got to come too!

Nolan struggled a bit with his first diaper rash, but sweet little guy didn't complain at all.  I guess it was something I ate, because from one diaper change to the next he was so red.  We tried to smother him in Desitin, and then ended up buying some Butt Paste (lovely name) to try and ease it.  Luckily, it calmed down after a day or so and he was as good as new. 

We stayed in Concord since it was close to my Aunt Mo's house, and my mom came and stayed with her.  We spent some of our days shopping and introducing Nolan to Granny for the first time.  It was so awesome to have three generations together.

On Saturday night we made our way to my Mom's side of the family's Christmas celebration.  It has been years since we have made it to this, and I was so happy to be able to make it this year.  It was also Nolan's first time meeting everyone there.  He was spoiled with lots of gifts (we only do gifts for the kiddos of the family), and was a little trooper. 

He was also able to hear his first real Christmas tradition: Granny reading the Christmas story from the Bible to everyone, like she has done for years.  I hope Nolan will learn that even with all of the excitement of presents and Santa Claus, that there is a wonderful TRUE meaning to Christmas.  It is our goal to always teach him the true meaning behind the many blessings we have, and not to just focus on the worldly aspect of life.

He slept a good bit of the time, and got lots of hugs and cuddles from everyone.  We made it back to the hotel pretty late that night, but after his bath he fell right to sleep in his pack and play.

Sunday was my 32nd birthday (eek!), and it was very low key.  We met Mom and Tom for brunch, and then got on the road.  Our drive took an hour longer than usual since it rained like crazy, but we only had to stop once.  It is an adventure to change Nolan on those little fold down things in the public restrooms (ICK).  He peed all over the place, and I had to go through two diapers and his changing pad to get him clean!  What a mess - haha.  I nursed him sitting right at the gas pump (so classy), and then we were on our way!

We made it home safe and sound and that was the end of my birthday!

N = (Now weighs)  Probably inching closer and closer to the 13-pound mark!

O = (Oomph!)  Packing with a little one is a very involved task! :)  I already overpack as it is, now with a baby I am out of control!

L = (Loves) Car rides.  He isn't a huge fan of his actual car seat, but will zonk out if we drive long enough and sleep for hours.

A = (About this week)  Nolan is following this week's development pretty well as far as sleep goes.  It's normal for him to not be sleeping through the night yet, and he has longer and longer periods of being awake.  He has a great bedtime routine, and will wake up a couple of times a night (depending on how late we sleep) to eat.  Thankfully, he goes right back to sleep after eating!

N = (Not a fan of) A lot of things I eat apparently - or his butt is, anyway!

 

All of his big boy cousins checking him out...

Nolan's Two Month Doctor's Appointment

This is the appointment I was dreading; the shot day!  Anthony went with us thankfully, and it was so great to have him with us.  I knew that shots would be rough, but it's important for us to get these done on time and all that good stuff, so we did!

The appointment started off a little bit concerning.  He was on a normal stage of growth at his one month appointment, but obviously he was a little on the short side :)  So when the nurse read out his length this time, I wanted to pay special attention.  When she read the length, I was a bit surprised.  I was pretty sure it was the same as last time!  She said 21-something, and I knew he was at least 21 inches at his last appointment.  That officially put him in the 5th percentile for growth at this point.

When the doctor came in, that was the first thing I asked her about.  She wasn't concerned and said that she would measure him again just to be safe.  Otherwise, we would have to do a little bit more investigating to figure out why he wasn't growing.  I knew something was up, since he was growing out of all of his little sleep and plays with the feet in them!

Once she re-measured him (in a more accurate way), he came out to 23 inches!  Phew!  That put him directly in line with where he should be, so I was so relieved.

The rest of the appointment was quick, and then it was time for the dreaded shots.  A nurse came in with the four shots.  The first one was given to him orally, which I thought was really odd.  I told the nurse that it would be so great if all shots could be given that way, and she said that it was mostly because it was too strong for him to have it directly in his blood system (insert minor freak out there).

It looked so painful the way she held his legs down at the edge of the table, but the shots only took all of about 5 seconds.  That was it - 3 shots in 5 seconds!  But bless his heart, I have never heard him scream so loud or so hard in his life.  It only lasted a few minutes, but it was heart wrenching!

Once we got home, he was only slightly fussy that night, and we gave him a couple of doses of Tylenol just to make sure he was comfortable.  However, the next day he slept for hours.  It was kind of nice, since I was able to catch a much needed nap with him!

Some stats:

Weight: 12 lbs., 11 oz. (71st percentile)

Height/Length: 23 in. (?th percentile).  The paperwork had already been done before she measured him again, but I think she said something about him being in the 40-something percentile for height now.

Head circumference: 15.98 in. (64th percentile)

Nolan: 9 Weeks

These weeks are going by faster and faster.  We have a really good routine going, and I am also starting to feel a little more comfortable with the whole "mommy" thing!  I had a couple of weeks of "mommy blues" that took me a bit by surprise, but I have finally gotten over that. 

 

N = (Now weighs)  We find out very soon!  He has his two month appointment tomorrow so we will have some official stats.

O = (Oomph!)  Pumping definitely takes a lot of commitment, but I am finally starting to develop quite the stash and feel pretty darn proud of it!

L = (Loves) Vibration - we discovered this right when we came home from the hospital.  The co-sleeper that we bought had this little contraption that vibrates and plays music.  It immediately calmed him down when he was a baby, and to this day we keep that little contraption attached to anything he sleeps in.  It has gone from his co-sleeper, to his rock and play, and now to his pack 'n play.

A = (About this week)  Nolan is continuing to learn our voices, and will turn his head to find us when he hears us.  He stares at us pretty intently now if we carry on a conversation with him.

N = (Not a fan of) To be held too much if he is tired.  He can get tired of being held all the time, and loves to spread out flat as a pancake sometimes!  His play mat is beginning to entertain him for longer periods of time now.

Nolan: Two Months Old

It's amazing how much these little guys can change in two months!  Some things are hard to notice since I see him every day, but looking back at pictures you can see just how much he is growing and developing his little personality.

I would say his little personality is sweet and pretty easygoing.  He doesn't have screaming fits or anything like that.  He seems a bit timid with toys and stuff, and still doesn't really reach out for things, but really enjoys Anthony's games with them and those gets lots of smiles.  He will occasionally grab onto something by accident, but I don't really think he knows what he is doing... :)

He is about completely out of his Size 1 diapers, and I have already had to start getting some bigger clothes!  It's hard to imagine that he is wearing 3-6 mos. clothing now.  I have started to give away some of his smaller clothes, but can't bring myself to get rid of some of the cuter ones.  I can't even fathom that he was as small as some of those clothes!

Nolan: 8 Weeks!

This has been a great week!  We are finally beginning to see some real, intended smiles, and it just  melts my heart!  Nolan is also becoming better at entertaining himself for small periods of time.  There still aren't a lot of toys or gadgets that will entertain him, so it's up to us to do that!  I tell you, I am not sure if I will ever develop strong enough back muscles to bounce him for as long as I would like.

He is super happy in the mornings, and has been doing pretty darn good with sleeping at night.  Sometimes it takes just a second to get him down, but he is still getting 4 hour stretches for the most part, so I am not complaining at all.  We still have our cuddle time in the morning where I get my best 1.5 - 2 hours of sleep, and I love it.  I am already dreading having to go back to work and giving that precious time up!

We also had another daycare development today.  As I mentioned in my 5 week update, we signed Nolan up to go to a great daycare at the other side of town.  Well, I ended up getting a call on Monday that one of the daycares we were waitlisted for was going to make a space for him in January.  I was very thankful that they would do that for our little guy, even if it wasn't the #1 place I wanted him to go.  Don't get me wrong, it's an excellent daycare and I know he will be in great hands, but it wasn't my first choice.  However, I knew the commute to the other daycare would be super stressful and would eat up precious time with him in the mornings and at night, so convenience won.  The new daycare will be just about 2 miles from our house, so that is a great plus!

He was not having his picture being taken tonight - haha.  But check out that double chin!

N = (Now weighs)  Not sure.  I would guess maybe 12 pounds?  He still eats like a horse, and is slowly getting a bit "rotund" for his Size 1 diapers.  He is also out of his newborn clothing (sniffle) and is filling out 0-3 month clothing for sure!

O = (Oomph!)  I have begun pumping to return to work - this should be interesting.  I guess it will be nice for Anthony to be able to give him a bottle now and then, but for me, it marks the beginning of the end of my maternity leave and I am not adjusting to that so well...

L = (Loves) Baths; I mean, he doesn't cry and just lays there and looks at me the whole time, so I think he likes it!

A = (About this week)  He is beginning to focus on us more, and you can tell that he recognizes us.  He also has some pretty strong neck muscles, and can turn his head from right to left while on his stomach and lift his head up to a 45 degree angle from his stomach too.

N = (Not a fan of) A noise I made yesterday!  It was kinda funny though - I was making a sound with my mouth (where you pat your hand over your mouth while going ba-ba-ba), and he made the saddest frown face and started crying!  It was so sad!  I guess I learned not to do that again. It was the first time I had really seen him react negatively to a noise - usually, he just sits there and looks at me like I am crazy :)