2 Months already...wow!

I can't believe 2 months are here already! What a difference a month makes - actually, what a difference just a couple of weeks make. Micah will be 9 weeks in a couple of days, and I feel like I am finally figuring this baby out. I'm sure all you mothers out there reading this are laughing because you probably NEVER really figure your child out...just when you think you have, something changes! I do feel, however, that the last 2-3 weeks have been much easier than weeks 3-6(7). We definitely had some challenging days, with lots of crying, and lots of attempts to soothe and help Micah sleep. Stroller rides, car rides, swings...nothing worked. And not that those really work now, either, but I do feel that it's getting easier and/or I'm getting more confident in my abilities as a mother.

We had our first doctor appointment since his 2 week check-up yesterday, and Christian and I were both really excited to see how our baby has grown. We know he's a big boy and not lacking in nutrition, but we were surprised to find out just how big he is. He weighed in at 13 pounds, 13 ounces and 23.5 inches long, equaling the 93 and 75 percentiles. Good job Micah! He also passed all the other well-baby checklist items, although our doctor did recommend getting Micah to practice turning more to his left, because he clearly favors his right side and she could see it in the flatness of his head. I also asked her about certain gagging issues I have seen from him as well as his fussiness during some eating sessions. She said both of these resembled signs of silent reflux (because he rarely spits up) and gave me a few possible suggestions that might help reduce those. Overall though, babies just tend to outgrow their reflux issues, so we'll just wait and see. He also received his first shot (horrible to be there for as your baby, on a 2 second delay, burst out in murderous screams) but slept for most of the afternoon. He did seem to be in a bit of pain last night, but after a little Tylenol I think he settled down okay.

Oh Micah, how we love you so! Thank you, Lord, for blessing us with such a precious little boy.

Things to remember:

• How well you did on your first road trip to St.Louis at the beginning of the month
• How your ability to sit in your bouncy seat is increasing, giving me a break from constantly holding you while you are awake (and asleep:))
• How you had 2 nights in a row when you slept for 7-8 hours at once, and I thought you had turned a miraculous corner (only to find out you just were teasing me for those two nights, haha!)
• How well you did with the various environment changes/babysitters you had: volleyball camp, wedding night, birthday celebration, work day. I was so worried you might be a terror for those watching you, but you were quite good, all things considered!
• How much more smiley and interactive you have become - you make your Dad and I laugh so much with your sweet, sweet smiles!
• How Miss Noelle tried you in a 1 arm swaddle, it worked, and we have been doing it ever since! We will be trying the no swaddle at some point, but no idea when.
• How you enjoyed being jogged in the BOB versus walked...that's my boy:)
• How we thought you were colicky, and now realize you are just an adorably sweet baby that is fussy at times, ha!

We love you so much Micah baby. Looking forward to month 3 with you:)

Bye Aunt Kari :(

Kari's friends threw a good-bye BBQ for her tonight and we were invited (to show off her nephew:)).  She will get to see Micah and myself Tuesday - Thursday this week because she is going to be a nice aunt and babysit Micah for a couple hours each day, but it was the last time she'll see Christian for possibly a year - sad stuff.  The BBQ was nice though, and Micah did a great job, despite the fact that it's been a less than ideal sleep day.  Bye Aunt Kari!  :(  We will miss you, but know you are going to do a great job teaching those 2nd graders in Senegal, West Africa.  Come back and visit though, or you won't recognize me the next time you see me!

Videos of Micah

I've been wanting to post a video here and there, and finally downloaded the ones we have taken since Micah's birth. Hope you enjoy them, and hopefully I can keep posting current videos periodically.

  

Micah at the hospital - 2 days old.  Even at 2 days he was as alert as can be, and that hasn't changed one bit in 7 1/2 weeks!

Coming home from the hospital - 3 days old

Ready for bed and getting kisses from Daddy - 7 weeks old

Smiles from Micah - 7 1/2 weeks old

Bath-time

Our little boy actually loves his baths.  He was not a fan of the sponge bath we had to give him when he was pre-stump removal, but since he's been able to get in the tub and be warm, he's taken quite nicely to the little cleansing.  Love these pics, and love the bathrobe (which is essentially pointless, as it's more cumbersome than a towel which does the same thing) but so cute!  

He loves eating his hand.

Look at that belly!  Definitely not undernourished:)

"Mom, really, you had to put me in this robe?"

First Night Out

Christian and I went to one of his co-workers wedding last night in Chicago, which was my first night away from Micah (and first time for more than 2 1/2 hours). I was excited to go, knew Micah was in good hands as Aunt Kari was babysitting him, but was also apprehensive about being gone for 8+ hours. He's not even 7 weeks yet! All in all, however, we had a great time and it was nice to get out and socialize without the little guy. It helped that the wedding was the nicest wedding I have ever been to BY FAR! And I only called/texted Kari once each while there, which I thought was pretty good for me. It was still comforting to get home and see Micah sound asleep in his crib. Might I mention that he also had his best night of sleeping yet - going from 8:15pm-1:30am and then 2-5:30. Good job buddy - and thanks Aunt Kari.

Below are a couple of recent pictures of Micah at 6 weeks. We just love this little guy, and can't believe how quickly he is growing. In two weeks we'll be at the doctor for his 2 month check-up. Wow, time flies by!

Running...with Micah

I wish I had a picture to post along with this, but today was the first attempt at running with Micah in the BOB stroller. Actually, we did try last Saturday, but the BOB was quite wobbly and we didn't feel comfortable running - as we barely felt comfortably walking. A blow up of the tires though, and (I think) we were good to go. I had originally not planned on getting the infant car seat adapter for the BOB, but realizing that meant the BOB wouldn't be used until December, I wanted to be out sooner, and we got a nice gift card to Target (thanks Jeff and Liza!!) I decided it was worth trying.

As most of you know, I'm a pretty dedicated runner. I have even signed up to run a marathon at the end of November (crazy, I know, and something that may or may not happen, depending on how my training attempt goes!). Saying I was ready to get started running again after Micah's birth is a bit of an understatement. Never mind the fact that I had a c-section less than 7 weeks ago! I attempted my first run (of only a mile) while I was at my parent's place over July 4th weekend (at 4 1/2 weeks post-birth), and feeling great, I thought I could try more. So I tried a 3 mile run a couple of days later. I finished the run feeling good, but was definitely bright red from heat, hills and being out of shape...don't get me wrong, I'm very happy to be able to run 3 miles as soon as I did after giving birth, but 3 miles for me is (was) not that much when you're used to training for marathons and maintaining a 10 mile base. At my 6 week check-up this past Monday I got the official clearance from my doctor to resume all normal activity. So this weekend, we decided to try another run with Micah in the BOB.

A little background - Micah doesn't particularly like being in his car seat and/or stroller rides right now. Which means I'm quite gun shy about leaving the house (at least by myself) as he screams bloody murder in the back seat of the car. If Christian and I are together, and someone can entertain him, then it's a little different story. And while strolling around, he normally screams off and on, and eventually (hopefully) goes to sleep if it's a long enough walk. So when we started out today, crying he began. I had Christian run just a few steps with the stroller to see if it seemed better, and believing that it was, we started running. Almost instantaneously, no joke, Micah stopped crying and within 5 minutes was asleep. And while I ran around the trail (2 times) there was sporadic crying, but for the majority of the time he stayed asleep and/or content.

So, here's my conclusion...running 5.25 miles today was not part of my plan, seeing that it was already 80 degrees and I was pushing a baby in a car seat in a stroller! But, seeing that Micah was content and/or asleep while running and would start crying when walking my plan was slightly modified. If that's not great motivation to run, then I'm not sure what is. Let's just say that I was absolutely exhausted at the end of the run today - and that it was probably one of the most difficult runs that I've had in a while! But it was also great to be out, with my content baby (#1 and #2 including my husband) and I look forward to hopefully more pleasant runs.

4th of July

We went to St.Louis for the 4th of July.  It was a great trip, and I was thrilled to be able to show off Micah to everyone, but it certainly sent him into a little bit of a fussy spell with the change in scenery for the first couple of days.  After some infant gas drops to get rid of the "collywobbles" he was having (as my Nana would say) and some time to adjust, the last 2 days there Micah did amazing.  We didn't partake in any fireworks this year, but were still able to experience the sounds, as we could hear some going off from the house.  

Micah got to meet his 2 great-grandmothers as well as his Uncle Mike and Aunt Deanna.  He also got to meet my friend Kristin and her 3 kids - what a long way we have come since playing basketball together at St.Charles West High School!  We had a great time, and Micah did absolutely amazing in the car, sleeping all but 11 miles on the way down.  The way back was a little different story, as he only slept the first half, but he still did a great job.  Looking forward to next year's celebration as well!

Meeting Uncle Mike

And Aunt Deanna

Taking a bottle from NanaKay, with great-Nana.

Kristin and her 3 - Maya (7) and Tyler and Jacob (2)

Aunt Dee burping Micah.

Four generations on my mom's side...

And on my dad's side.

A rare family picture these days:)

Tired after a long, fun-filled weekend!

Happy 1 Month Sweet Baby Boy!!

Wow - where does time go?? I swear it felt like just yesterday that we were coming home from the hospital with a precious bundle of joy, and all of a sudden Micah is a month old!! Now, seeing that he's born on the 31st, Christian and I questioned when he would turn a month old. Would it be on the 30th of the month, if there was no 31st? Would it be the 1st of the next month? Then what about February? Would we have to wait 3 days? But then we realized we were making it too complicated. We are just going to celebrate his "new month" by celebrating the last day of every month...and that day was Wednesday! I know there aren't many pictures up yet - that should change - but we were having difficulties downloading the pictures because Christian was using a new camera and we didn't have the right cord. We have now solved that problem, so expect more pictures to be loaded...but I wanted to share just a couple of his 1 month pictures here. We love you sweet Micah! Oh what a wonderfully challenging but absolutely amazing month it has been! We can't wait to see what new surprises you have to share with us this month!

Things to remember:

• How hungry you are and how much you love to "suckle"
• How you like to fight sleep, constantly!!, because you don't want to miss a thing
• How you struggle to take long naps in a nice cozy crib all swaddled up, but when you get in your carseat, for any amount of time, you are out like a light and not much can wake you...that is until the need for food strikes you again
• How you love to take naps on mom and dad's chest and shoulders
• How alert you are, looking over your shoulder, at what we haven't figured out yet
• How some days you can go though 4-5 outfits because your diaper just can't seem to contain all your activity...or you have decided to pee all over us in the midst of changing
• How strong you are, right from birth! You are able to lift your neck up for a few seconds, and fight mom and dad swaddling you with your arms, and sometimes fight mom when it's time to eat (even though once you start eating you LOVE it:))
• How easy it is to put you down at night (thankfully!) but the day tends to be a different story
• How you smile so innocently as you drift off to dreamland
• How you were able to focus on mom and dad at about 2 1/2 weeks and sometimes even give us genuine smiles, which are heartwarming
• How precious and sweet you are and how you make me smile on a daily, hourly, "minutely" basis

You were absolutely worth the wait Micah! Here's to many, many more months to celebrate with you.

Kitchen Disaster

Remember the earlier post I wrote about our water line leaking?  Well the damage was larger than I thought...we have had people out here the last two days tearing up our flooring, base boards, pulling out cabinets all from the stupid water leak.  Ughh!  Most of the above pictures are our kitchen, but the first shows all the flooring and base boards torn up from our half bath as well.  If it's not dealing with a c-section, a new baby, an emergency appendectomy, then it's this!  I guess things were getting too easy for us, and we needed another challenge...haha!