14 Weeks with Drake

Our man is 14 weeks old and thriving! He's gigantic and happy and awesome.

Good- On Friday I was double booked with walks..I had a noon walk and then another one around 2:30. I knew it would be a long day in his carseat if I used the stroller for both walks and he hasn't been content in his car seat recently. He's fine if we put him in once per day but he never likes getting in it again which is kind of a catch 22 when you used it to get somewhere. Anyway, for our 2nd walk I used our lillebaby carrier and he loved it! He was holding his head up, looking around and taking everything in. We did two full loops around the lake and he stayed awake for the first loop and slept for the second. I loved seeing him so much more alert and I think I'll be utilizing the carrier more often!

Another good is he's starting to smile for other people now. Jack got some great ones earlier this week and he's been smiling at friends and even at a check-out lady. He's been giving Derrick and I good smiles pretty easily for a while now but was pretty stingy otherwise so it's fun to see his personality start to show.

Bad- Sleep. Sleep has been bad this week. I guess it's the 3 month sleep regression but earlier this week we were up ever hour and a half or so and it was rough. He's also been a lot fussier going down and he's been fighting naps. Yesterday we tried to get him to nap in his crib for an hour and a half (not an hour and a half of straight letting him cry, but an hour and a half of going in and out and in and out and crying and soothing, etc). Eventually, he won and slept on Derrick's shoulder for an hour and a half. It's getting a little bit better the past couple nights so I hope we're getting over it but it was rough.

Secondly, we went to the doctor today because he's had a rash since Wednesday. Turns out it's nothing to worry about but his sweet baby skin is bumpy all over his belly and back. The doctor said it could just be dry winter air and if it's not bothering him than not to worry.

Funny- We had winter league this past Saturday which was our first time where Derrick and I were both playing on the same team and juggling Drake. The weather was amazing and their was a sweet woman on the sideline that jumped at the chance to hold him the whole game so it turned out being awesome! Anyway, the funny is I came off the field after playing a point and Derrick goes "so jumping must be the last thing to come back, huh?"  Thanks babe! It was hilarious and no offense taken...yes, jumping is the last thing to come back for me!

In other news we have a couple friends due with babies in the next couple weeks so yesterday we had some people over for pizza and play as a chance to see them before their baby girl gets here. They did this for us and we weren't able to attend because Drake came early. I was trying to return the favor but no such luck...still pregnant. Soon there will be four babies on the couch!

Drake is sitting solidly in the 81st percentile for weight right now measuring in at 16 lbs 7 oz. Gigantic. He's just gigantic. We love him to death and wouldn't have him any other way!

13 Weeks with Drake

Drake turned 13 weeks yesterday and 3 months old today. That. Is. Crazy! He's officially not a newborn and I feel like the 3 month mark hit today and all of the sudden he's doing all of these new things. Just like that! For instance....he killed his last photo shoot!

Good: So many goods this week! Tonight we flipped him over for tummy time which is usually a pretty scream-y time and, instead of screaming, he lifted his head higher than he ever had before and he rolled over! He rolled over twice in a row and he actually seemed interested in tummy time because he could start to look around and see things instead of face planting into the mat.

Good Again: Today was the first time I put him in the carseat awake and gave him a toy that he actually used to entertain himself on the drive. Usually the car puts him to sleep or, if he's not sleepy, the red lights make him cry. We drove for 20 minutes including a 5 minute sit in the parking lot and he just chewed on his carrot the whole time. It felt like a huge milestone.

Bad- Derrick went back to work last Tuesday. I enjoyed our family time so much and 13 weeks ago it seemed like Derrick was going to be off work forever. The first day he was gone was a bit of  a shock to the system but Drake and I have gotten into a bit of a flow and I'm working on crib naps to give myself a break during the day. I think Derrick is glad to be working again but I know it's hard for him to leave in the morning and he's very excited to see Drake every evening. We're lucky to have him working so hard for our family. 

Funny- Our current favorite kids song: Bird and Rhino. Derrick and I stomp around with Drake to this song and it's ridiculous and hilarious. Jack told us we were total parents tonight when he saw us singing and dancing to it with Drake. It's the current front runner for 1st birthday party theme. 

Overall, life is really good! We're obsessed with this kid and I'm pretty sure the milestones are just going to keep coming! It seems like the first 3 months go pretty slowly as far as development and now, just in the last week, he's developing like crazy. I want time to slow down but I'm also excited to see him grow and change. You'd have thought he won a gold medal in the Olympics by the way Derrick and I were cheering for him rolling over tonight :)

Our nighttime routine:

Bath (try to keep Drake awake)
Chill time with Dad (5-10 minutes of towel time on the couch with Derrick after bath. Lots of cooing and smiling)
Pjs and eating with Mom (up in the nursery with lullabys and and dim lights)
Bedtime (Derrick zips him into his swaddle, sings him a song, and puts him to bed for the night)

Have a great week!

12 Weeks with Drake

Drake turned the big 1-2 yesterday! Time is absolutely flying and I can't believe Derrick's paternity leave ends tomorrow. When Drake was born it seemed like Derrick had eternity off of work but we're losing him tomorrow and hopefully I can handle it. 

Good- We figured out which diapers contain the blowouts! It seemed like at least 75% of his poops were coming out of his diaper so we bought 4 different brands of diapers and started testing. 7th Generation was the winner! He's had some real doozies (dooties?) and the clothes have stayed clean!

Bad- Cutting his fingernails could be a bad on it's own. It's so hard and I worry I'm going to cut him every time. We started doing it in the bath because he's more relaxed. I was cutting them tonight and looked down to see his thumb covered in blood! It was awful. I cut the nail too short and knicked the skin on the end. He didn't cry when it happened so I didn't notice until I'd finished a few other nails but we kept seeing tiny little blood drops on his towel, pjs, and burp cloth while getting him ready for bed. It was terrible.

Funny- We've decided to start doing a dream feed. Essentially, it's a feeding right when we go to bed so hopefully his long stretch of sleep lines more up with ours. Currently he goes down around 7:30 and sleeps until around 1:30 but we don't go to bed until between 10 and 11 so we only get 2-3 hours before he wakes up again. With a dream feed, we put him down at 7:30 and then we wake him up again at 10:30 to eat. The first night we did this he slept until almost 5 so we got a 6 hours stretch! The trick with it is you're supposed to feed them without waking them up, as much as possible. Both nights we've tried this he has been out and we have not been able to wake him up. His head is lolling off the back of his shoulders and I'm rubbing his belly, stroking his cheeks, opening his mouth and he's just sleeping like a log. The only reason we were successful the first night is because he started stirring when I finally gave up and put him back in his pack-n-play. When we tried again he did eat, without ever opening his eyes...success! Night two, I couldn't get him to wake up at all, no matter what I did. It's hilarious and definitely makes Derrick and I wonder why we're tip toeing around our room before bed at night! We'll try again tonight and see how it goes!

In other news, he's officially almost grown out of 3 month clothes. A few still fit but we have to retire a lot. He's in 3-6 month pajamas right now and they are only a tiny bit long. He's a big dude.

He's getting a lot more interactive and greets us in the morning with giant smiles :) We've taken him out to dinner a few times recently and he's fairly content to sit on our lap and take it all in. Worst case, we stand next to the table with him and he's happy as a clam. He appears to be hanging onto that laid back personality.

We started crying it out in the evenings and the first night was torture even though he only cried for a total of 15 minutes. The second night he cried for 3 minutes and tonight 5. As hard as it is, it's validating when he puts himself to sleep and still wakes up smiling in the morning. Crying it out isn't for everybody, and I can definitely see why, but Derrick stays strong for us and I'm glad we're getting some evening independence out of it. If naps are any indication, I think Drake would have us up there every 5 minutes holding and rocking him if we didn't make him cry it out. Naps are still a struggle that we're working on. He's happy to nap on my chest but we're trying to work on crib naps. Wish us luck!

11 Weeks with Drake

 Drake turned 11 weeks old yesterday...on the same day that the Bills played in their first playoff game in 17 years. He wore his Bills pajamas for the morning in celebration.

Good: We took him to our indoor ultimate league last night and it went better than expected in all aspects. We've pretty much solidified a bedtime routine which includes bath time 6:45, eating at 7:15 and in bed around 7:30. Indoor starts at 6:30 and we don't get home until 9:45ish. He continues to amaze us with his flexibility. I fed him on my bye and we came home and popped him in the bath, fed him, and put him down. Easy as ever! It was also my first time really exercising hard since having him (and really since getting pregnant) and it went way better than expected. I was really happy to be back out there and I felt really good!

Bad: I went to a DPAC show on Saturday night with my friend Lauren. Derrick took care of Drake and called me around 7:15 because Drake was absolutely refusing the bottle and screaming his head off.  While I was pumping he had been taking a bottle every other feeding and never had an issue with it. He hadn't had a bottle in about a week but apparently that was long enough for him to forget. Eventually he figured out the bottle againbut I think Derrick was worried I'd have to come home before my show even started and, even if I did, I was 30 minutes away so it would have been a rough evening for Derrick. 

Funny: Drake fell asleep during his bath tonight! He has always really enjoyed bath time and he lays spread eagle in his hammock and just chills for 15 minutes. He can be screaming before bath time and immediately goes into the zone when he gets in the tub. Tonight, he was so relaxed he fell asleep! 

Derrick goes back to work next week, which will surely be our bad next week, so this week we are soaking up family time and enjoying our last week of paternity leave. Drakes getting more and more interactive and he's being so vocal and experimenting with noises. It's a really fun stage and I think time is going to really start flying soon. 

                 

New Mom Wheels

Derrick and I pulled the trigger on a new car last weekend! Thanks to Nana for coming up to watch Drake while we did some test driving and handled paperwork. Our Rogue has treated us so well but we knew, down the road, two kids and a dog would be tight in the Rogue. It was already tight with Drake and Crosby and our Christmas load. The plan was to trade the Rogue for something bigger either now or when kiddo two is on the way but the timing worked out for us to do it now. Derrick's cousin Trey turns 16 in February (crazy!!!!) and the rogue will be the perfect first car for him.

My hopes and dreams included blue tooth and a passenger seat visor mirror. The Rogue is about as basic as it comes so any sort of features would have been an upgrade. We ended up with a new highlander because of the value and amazing consumer reports score. I LOVE it! I feel so fancy and adult driving it but not too fancy that I'll worry about kids and dogs in it. We also paid for full interior protection against stains and rips/tears so we have the peace of mind that it will last us for years and years. 

Two of my absolute favorite features are in this picture. The built in sun-shades are so awesome and fully cover the window to keep the sun out of Drake's eyes. Second, the second row captains chairs are my favorite! I was eyeing these for a few months as we contemplated car shopping. A lot of the newer large SUVs offer them and I love the idea of easier back seat accessibility and it gives Crosby a place to sit in between the seats if there are ever two car seats back there.

How long does the new car happy feeling last? I'm loving it!

10 Weeks with Drake

Drake turned 10 weeks on Sunday and this is one of my favorite weekly photos yet. Look at that smirk he's giving us. He's growing so quickly and we've really started seeing some big developments over the last couple weeks. 

A podcast I listen to starts every weekly show with their good, bad, and funny from the week before and I thought that would be a good way to give updates on Drake.  I can't take credit for the idea, but I'm going to try to start popping in with my good, bad, and funny. That way, even if I'm short on time, I can drop in to give an update. This is kind of like my baby book so I want to make sure it's updated.

Good: (I've got a couple goods this week)
- We started breast feeding on right side on Sunday night. Two days in and it's going well! I don't want to call it a success until we've been going for a week but it feels like we've finally hit our stride after 10 weeks and I am so relieved!
- Drake is talking so much! He is starting to coo and babble and it's so much fun. He likes laying on his back and playing/talking with us so we spend a lot of time like that.
- We bought a new car! I'll do a separate post about it but I definitely have my mom car and I love it!

Bad- It's hard to figure out a bad but I think it's probably just life catching up with us. We've been in this bubble for the last 10 weeks and I think I'm starting to get anxious about Derrick going back to work in two weeks and having the realization that I'm going to be on my own. Derrick and I are very much co-parents and bounce things off of each other all day so I'm going to miss that sounding board to discuss things like nap schedules and if he's hungry or just tired. I'm also having a hard time adjusting to my inability to get things done. I used to get things done during the day and now everything takes 10 times as long. It's so worth it and I know it will pass and get easier but it's something I'm working through.

Funny- I think we got our first laugh this week. He was laying on the table with Derrick and I popped in with his giggle monster and Derrick and I both swear he laughed. He did it twice in a row! It was the cutest, funniest thing ever and I can't wait for more!

He turning much more into a baby and becoming less of an infant and it's super fun. I really like this stage we're in!

First Christmas with Drake

Our reindeer turned 2 months old the day our Christmas celebrations started. We had our best Christmas yet now that he's in the picture and he got spoiled to the max by friend and family. 

Before leaving town we met friends for brunch at First Watch. This is the first time I'm really looking at this picture and Drake looks ridiculous. 

After brunch we hit the road to Winston for Derrick's family ornament exchange. All hands and eyes are on Drake as soon as we walk through the door.

He opened his firs Christmas present while we were there.

And this adorable Christmas outfit that led to an immediate melt down. I promise he loved it!

Derrick and I won the ornament exchange, as usual, but I forgot to grab our annual picture with our ornaments. Priorities shift with a baby in the picture. The following day we headed on to Hickory for Christmas eve and Christmas day. I have a very similar picture to this from Thanksgiving.

I have a lot of pictures of Jack with Drake because he calls dibs anytime Drake is up for grabs :)

Thanks for the cute Christmas outfit Grandma and Grandpa!

Christmas morning was so fun! We made Drake wait at the top of the stairs until everything was ready for him to come down. We told him Santa hadn't come and really made him sweat.

His stocking is bigger than he is!

His smiles are getting so good! We're getting smiles in the morning pretty regularly and even getting some evening smiles...especially post bath time. This is one of the best ones we've caught on camera.

Drake got some shades in his stocking because he gets so squinty in the sun.

Derrick's mom and Grandma came over on Christmas afternoon to visit so Drake got time with all his grandparents on Christmas day.

Uncle Jay and Uncle Jack got Drake a pair of timberlands and they are hilarious. Drake's first pair of shoes :)

Merry Christmas everyone! I'm really trying to get back on the blogging bandwagon but it's hard to find the time during the day. I'm working on it!