Lane: 4 Months

Dear Lane,

 You are now a third of the way through your first year of life.  Unbelievable!

You are changing weekly now, always gaining some new skill or losing one of your newborn attributes.  Every time someone sees you now that hasn't seen you for a week or two, they are so surprised by how quickly you are becoming a little man.

You are so much more active now, and have a near-constant need to be entertained by someone.  You want to be held much more now, but that's just so you can sit upright, or stand on your feet.  You love being quickly lifted into the air, as it tickles your tummy.

You have almost figured out how to roll from your back onto your tummy, but all the necessary motions haven't quite come together yet to make you successful.

At your 4 month checkup, you were 26 1/2 inches long (5 inches longer than your birth length), 15 lbs 1 oz (about 6 1/2 lbs more than birth weight), and a little advanced in your development (way to go buddy!!).  Dr. H suggested we start feeding you rice or oatmeal in a few weeks, just to see how you like it.  We're going to hold off on any other foods until closer to 6 months though.

Sleeping is going just the same- you're still in your bassinet at night, as Mom isn't ready to move you yet.  We're still swaddling you most of the time, but sometimes you fall asleep without it, so we don't risk waking you to do it.  You would still much rather sleep in our bed though!

You still love the TV, and are becoming more and more aware of your surroundings.  You now notice Molly and Maverick, although you're not too sure about them yet.  You also really like your hands, and they are always stuffed in your mouth.  You love chewing on anything you can find, and I don't think it'll be long before you're teething.  You often pull on your legs down, and lift them up into the air.  You're slowly finding your feet, but they still aren't as neat as your hands.  

You've slowed down on your growing, and I think you'll be in 3-6 month clothing for a little longer than any of the other sizes you've worn.

You love to cuddle your teddy bear now, and also your "lovie" or "snuggly", which is a small blanket with a teddy bear attached.  You cover your face with your blankies now, and rub your face into them to fall asleep.  It's adorable!

You survived your first cold, and boy was it a doozy!  You had a horrible cough, a congested chest and head, and to top it all off, Mom had it too!  We spend many hours sitting in the bathroom with the hot shower on, making our own steam room.  We had to take you to the doctor once, and then to the Emergency Room when you started throwing up from coughing too much.  Luckily, it was just a virus that ran its course, and you were soon back to being our happy, healthy baby.

Lane, we are so proud of the little boy you are becoming.  You are giggly, flirty, happy, active, cuddly, and just all around perfect.  We are so blessed to be your parents!

Love,

Mom and Dad

 

What Did I Do to Deserve This?

I find myself asking this question whenever things get tough.  Whenever life throws me a curveball that I'm not prepared for.

We've had a string of bad luck lately, and that question has played over and over in my mind.

Josh's truck breaks down - What did I do to deserve this?


We need to unexpectedly remodel our master bathroom - What did I do to deserve this?


I'm off work without pay due to the winter storm - What did I do to deserve this?

Our washing machine dies - What did I do to deserve this?


It often feels like karma is trying to catch up to us lately, in the form of things not going our way, or going the exact opposite of how we'd like things to go.  I start feeling down, and majorly overwhelmed.  Like we won't ever be able to overcome these obstacles.

But then, a certain little brown-eyed boy smiles at me.

And I think to myself, What did I do to deserve THIS?

I start remembering just how blessed I am.  We have a safe, warm home of our own to live in.  I drive a safe, reliable car to chauffeur my family around in.  We have plenty of food in our cupboards.  We both have great jobs.  We both have medical benefits.  We have money in our savings.  We have incredible families close to us.

And the most incredible thing of all- we have Lane.

How on earth is it possible that I get to be the mom to such an amazing little boy?  A son who melts my heart with his big, gummy smile.  Who's big brown eyes look just like mine.  Who has his dad's tiny ears.  Who is healthy, happy, and my entire world.  What did I do to deserve this?

Even though life is rough sometimes, I need to keep reminding myself of all of the great things in my life. 

Because really, all of the blessings trump the rough patches.


  

Winter Storm 2012

A week and a half ago, on the 15th, big wet snowflakes started to fall around the South Sound. Nothing too exciting; just some small flurries. The next day, the snow started to pile up, and by Wednesday morning, everything was coated in white.

I spent last week at home, not going into work due to the amount of snow in our area. It was so nice to have extra time home with Josh and Lane! We played board games and card games, read, napped, went for walks in the snow.

And then Thursday morning, our power went out.

We still don't have it back.

The South Sound was hit with snow, and then ice, and then wind. This resulted in trees falling/branches breaking for two straight days. Over 300,000 people were without power for some length of time. The power company has been working like crazy to get power restored, including bringing hundreds of workers in from other states. They have done a great job of keeping people informed, working around the clock, and still being friendly no matter how many times people call to complain.

Here are photos from around our house on that Wednesday morning, when we had the most snow.

 Josh and Lane, all bundled up.

 Molly LOVES the snow.

 My favorite monkey and me.

  Here's the proof- 12 inches of snow!

 I think he likes it!

 The power company has promised us our power WILL be back on today at some point, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is true.  All I want to do is take a shower in my own bathroom and do laundry!!

Sleeping Schedule: Interrupted

Up until about 2 weeks ago, we had a great sleeping routine.  I even blogged about how well it was going in Lane's 2 Month letter.  But then he got his first cold, and our entire routine went down the drain.

Because he was so congested, Lane and I spent much of the night sitting up, in the bathroom, with the hot shower running.  The steam/humidity helped up both breathe easier, and we often times fell asleep in there.  Or, we'd sleep together in our bed, both of us propped up more upright than usual.  This means Lane got very used to being held, snuggled, and upright rather than swaddled, horizontal, and in his bassinet.

Now that we're both over our illness, we're trying to transition back to our old ways.  And man oh man, is it tough.  Lane wants to be held, rocked, in our bed.  He wants to snuggle, and feel a warm body against him.  And while I LOVE snuggling him, I know he needs to learn to sleep on his own.

Last night was ROUGH.  Lane went down okay the first time, but then was awake again at 1 AM.  I fed him, changed his diaper, reswaddled him, and put him back in his bassinet.  Cue the SCREAMING.  So I got him out, rocked him, and tried to put him down when he was almost asleep.  Nope, not having it.  To make a long story short, we ended up being awake for 2 hours in the middle of the night, and Lane ended up in our bed.

Its really tough for me to stick it out in the middle of the night, especially when I have to work the next day.  It just always seems easier to put him in bed with me, and tell myself, "I'll work on it tomorrow night".

We've used Dr. Harvery Karp's book "The Happiest Baby on the Block" since Lane was born, and its amazing how well the techniques work.  Even Josh, who was hesitant to buy into the hype, now uses the 5 S's on a routine basis.  (I'm totally recommending this book to ALL new parents- SO worth reading!)  Lane is pretty dependent on 4 of the 5 S's, those being sucking, swinging/swaying, shushing (or white noise), and swaddling.  Sometimes when he's just upset and not really sleeping, the stomach/side positioning really helps.  I'm hoping that since Lane is now considered out of the "4th Trimester" (read the book to find out what that is!), we can slowly transition some of these S's out.  I would love for him to be able to sleep without being rocked/swayed to sleep, and I'm fine with him keeping the swaddling (he stays safely warm without blankets, sucking (self-soothing), and shushing (because we have a white noise machine). 

Josh wants to transition Lane into his own room soon, but I'm just not ready.  Its so much more convenient to feed him in our room, and to be able to just reach over into his bassinet to replace his pacifier or to check or eyeballs that may be awake. 

So, as with all other challenges, this shall pass soon.  I know in a few weeks or months when I'm looking back at this post, it'll be hard to remember Lane not being a good sleeper, and this phase won't seem all that bad. 

Lane: 3 Months

 

Dear Lane,

 

This has been a big month for you!  Your personality now shines so much, and its neat to see you becoming your own person.

The weekend after your 2 month checkup, you decided to roll over from your tummy to your back.  It was so exciting to watch you accomplish this milestone, and now you hardly stay on your tummy at all.

You are still sleeping well in your bassinett, with the exception of some late-night snuggling that Mom likes to sneak in.

You also LOVE the TV- anything that's on catches your attention.

We celebrated your first Christmas this month, and you were spoiled with lots of new toys and clothes.  One of your favorite toys in your new activty mat from Great Grandma Caroline.  It has toys that hang down that you can reach, and a "piano/keyboard" at the bottom for you to kick with your feet.  You'll spend up to an hour there if we let you, kicking your legs and grabbing at the toys.  It brings all of us lots of entertainment!

You are now mostly in 3-6 month clothes, due to your long legs.  We believe you're around 13-14 lbs, although we haven't weighed you recently.  We're getting better at staying happy when clothes are put over your head, and when its bathtime and time to get dressed.  You've taken a few showers now with Mom, and are slowly becoming used to the spray of the shower on your little body.

Dad is still staying home with you Monday-Friday, and he's really enjoying getting to spend one-on-one time with you.  He takes great care of you, acts goofy to make you smile, and loves to cuddle with you at naptime as much as Mom.

As you transition out of your newborn phase and into a more mature infant, its hard to believe you were once so small.  Packing away too-small clothes makes us miss that tiny, sleepy new baby, but we also love how fun you're becoming, and how much you interact now.

We love you, Baby Lane!

Love,

Mom and Dad

 

 

 

 

Christmas Prepping

I can't believe Christmas is only a few days away... I feel so behind!

Josh and I agreed to no go overboard with gifts for Lane this year, as a) he won't remember it, b) there's nothing he really NEEDS, and c) all of our family is flooding him with gifts already.  But, we did want to get him a few small things.  So, I bought him a book, a CD, and some adorable camouflage boots, plus things like new pacifiers, Level Two bottle nipples, etc. for his stocking.  Josh bought him a CAT hoodie (grey, not blue) and Carhartt overalls.

We have yet to get a Christmas tree, and if it weren't for Lane, I probably wouldn't.  But I feel guilty if we don't have one this year since its his first Christmas. 

I (of course) waited until this week to start Christmas shopping, so I'm now rushing to get everything done in time. 

I'll post Christmas photos of all of Lane's new loot after this weekend!

Maternity Photos

I'm just now getting around to posting them, but here are a few of our maternity photos!  These were taken by my amazing cousin Amanda, from Amanda Kay Photography. We took them at the Saint Martin's Campus, a place near and dear to my heart.