Mommy Wise

So it seems the consensus on the "Babywise" stuff is that its mostly junk. I am surprised by the amount of animosity that book raises. Did you notice in the comments section, how a random person (who I guess searches the net for blogs that mention "Babywise" in them) just had to mention how terrible the book is?

Here's my thoughts. I think there are some helpful ideas in there. Noah actually adapted very well to the schedule. And I never actually starved him, but I don't offer him food everytime he cries. The book does not advocate starving children. But I was not OK with letting him cry it out as a newborn. Although, now at 2-and-a-half months, it is tempting. :) The main problem I found with the book was the grand promises followed by the guilt when your baby doesn't achieve those promises or won't follow the guidelines exactly. It's hard enough to feel confident as a new parent, without the added guilt and expectations. My consensus on the book: take what is useful and toss the rest.

He is sleeping some better at night, sometimes going as long as 6 hours after his bedtime feeding. Some nights bedtime has been 6:30 lately though! He just gets so irate in the evenings these days. My sweet-temperament boy has turned into a bit of a fussbudget (however you spell that non-word). I read somewhere that fussiness should peak around 6 weeks and his definitely picked up around 10 weeks. Also, naptime is kind of a battle. Once I finally get him to sleep in his crib, he typically only sleeps between 30 and 45 minutes, just like clockwork, although he is perfectly capable of making it 2 hours in the baby swing. I hope that as he gets older, he will be able to do it? I am going to make it to at least 12 weeks exclusively breastfeeding and then think I will start supplementing and getting him used to formula. Breastfeeding issues are a whole nother blog!

Nobody really warned me how challenging an infant could be and I don't think I started to get wind of it until the last month of my pregnancy when the anxiety began to set in! Of course, when you are in "baby mode" I don't think you ever really hear anything other than lullabies and happy baby coos. :)

Here are some of the latest pictures and a video.

Trying out his Bumbo for the first time! Jeremy & I cracked up. He is so funny in it.

Posing with Mom and her new "hot mama" haircut. The Texas heat and spit-up tips got the best of me.

Two Month Portraits

The one with the "dress" is actually a christening gown that belonged to my grandfather and is over 100 years old. Those pictures are for Mimi's benefits, as she is really into having her grandchildren photographed in it, so we indulged her.

One More Time!

OK, Noah finally rolled over again on his own today! And when he does things, he does them big. Mimi was playing with him during tummy time and he rolled over about 5 times in a row! Such a big boy! Speaking of, I have been packing away all the newborn sizes, along with some of the 0-3 month clothing. It's a little sad! So many things he never got to wear because people gave us things that were too warm by the time he was big enough to wear them. Summer did seem to move in when he was about a week old. Hence these pictures in this cute sweater suit! Only time he was able to wear it before I had to pack it up.

Mommy is thrilled to have company this week. Mimi came to help out while Mommy has a doctor's appointment and haircut. We covered the nursery windows with black trash bags in an effort to improve Noah's napping abilities! He is now sleeping about 5-6 hours before needing to eat again, then wakes up every 2 to 2 hours after that, hungry or not.

Last week, to save my sanity while Jeremy was working late, Noah and I visited our cousins, Allison, Jake, and Mallory, at their new house in Garland. This was the best we could manage for a group picture!

Here is a slightly blurry one from a Father's day lunch for my Pop over at my aunt's house last Saturday:

Happy Father's Day!

Jeremy joined the dad's club this year too! He is doing an awesome job and takes such good care of Noah and I. It is so fun to watch the relationship between father and son develop. This is his slightly grumpy picture I took to put in the "daddy&me" frame Noah gave him for Father's Day. It had been a long, sweaty day. :)

Happy Father's Day to Daddy, Papaw, and Papa! Noah and I love you all!

Help Wanted

Let's celebrate!! Miraculously, Noah slept from about 9:00 last night until 5:00 this morning! Then he went back to sleep from 5:30 to 8:00! I can hardly believe it and desperately hope it was not just a fluke. We have been working on his bedtime routine to help readjust that internal clock, and hopefully we're on the right track!

I am writing because I am starting to feel a bit anxious. In just 2 months, I go back to work part-time. I have no clue who is going to provide child care for us. I am certain that God has it taken care of and that he foreknew (fancy wording, huh?) his plans for this. I emailed every mom I know in the area to see if anyone had suggestions and nobody answered. I am pretty much opposed to day care centers at this age, so I'm hoping for a stay-at-home mom who would have some attention to share with him. I'm also a little sad because I'm working so hard to move him towards his own little schedule, which will probably change completely as soon as he is settled into it. I know I needn't worry about it but still...

Two Months Old!

Who could resist this face?

I think this one is funny. "I shake my fists at you!"

Stats from his 2-month checkup today:

• Weight- 11 lbs, 10 oz (50%)
• Height- 21.75 in (10-25%)
• Head- 15.5 (25-50%)

Dr. Badaracco was impressed by him holding up his head and remarked about how active he is. She also commented that he is trying to crawl already! I think we're in trouble...

He also received an oral Rotavirus vaccine, DTaP, Hib, Prevnar, and Polio vaccines. I don't even know what all of those things are but he really hated it. I've never seen him turn so red. He fell asleep for about 3 hours then woke up screaming inconsolably. I couldn't get him to stop crying or to eat so I called Daddy and sobbed, "Come home now!" Telling me that he might be fussy this afternoon was not enough of a warning.

I have been doing a little celebrating lately. To celebrate turning 2 months old, Noah has had two long stretches of sleep in the night. He has gone exactly 6 hours between two of his night feedings! Yahoo! Now if we can just get the times adjusted so that he has this stretch a little later in the night, rather than 6:30pm to 12:30am. This is also why I am so excited about him hitting 11 pounds because I have been told babies need to be at least 11 or 12 pounds before they can skip a feeding a night. Here's to progress and Noah sleeping those awesome 12 hour stretches I've heard about!!

He is such a sweet little guy and we have been enjoying his budding personality. We get lots of smiles, coos, "talking", and I'm sure he'll be laughing out loud very soon. He loves his bath (even though he pees in the water everytime!) but gets soooo mad when we take him out and he gets cold. He is never still when awake and is ready to be on the go. He only tolerates being strapped in the car seat for about the first 15 minutes, although he enjoys our morning walks to the park in the stroller. Noah still maintains a love affair with the baby swing. Everyone remarks about how strong he is and how well he holds up his head. Last week, Noah went to church for the first time (but not the nursery yet!) and did really well, even with the loud music. It is so cute how attentive he is to mine and Jeremy's voices.

Noah's dad is becoming quite busy at work (in good ways) and grandmothers have been visiting to help out and keep the Mommy company. Feel free to come hang out with us; I tend to get a little stir-crazy! ;)

It's a Twister!

Gotta love Texas. We had some unexpected severe weather last night that kept Jeremy at the hospital until 9:00pm and my mom, Noah, and I on the laundry room for a bit. we heard reports of a funnel cloud Noah rode out his first "tornado" very well actually. It was the continuing storms throughout the night that seemed to trouble him. He was up about every 2 hours. This came after the night that he went 6 hours between feedings and Mommy celebrated! I guess I shook my pom-poms a little too soon. Oh well, its bound to happen again right?? I'm just a wee bit worn out today but Mom and I took Noah to have his 2 month pictures made and they turned out super cute. I will post them next week when I get them.

Here's the damage in our backyard. We don't normally have a willow tree. The neighbor's tree caved in the fence.

Earlier this week, Aunt Mandi successfully defended her dissertation and will soon graduate with her PhD! Yahoo! Here is Dominick feeding Noah at the defense party. Noah really likes Dom and Dom is very good with Noah.

"I Thought I Loved You Then"

Jeremy and I have been married two years today! I am smacking my lips over the coconut anniversary cake that his mom made for us :)

Well, I have to say that our first two years have been a bit of a whirlwind. Actually, it's only been just under three years since we met, so life has been fast-paced since that time. Since we married on June 2, 2007, we moved into our first apartment together, honeymooned in Tortola (British Virgin Islands), bought our first house, Jeremy was promoted at work, I changed jobs twice, went on two cruises, got pregnant, and brought our almost two-month-old son into the world! We don't waste any time! And I'm not sure where the time went. Our wedding day seems like so long ago and just yesterday at the same time.

Since the official gift for the two year anniversary is cotton, what better gift to each other than a new set of king-sized 1000 thread count sheets! ;)

I named this blog after the latest Brad Paisley "babymaker" (my name for very romantic songs). The song talks about how he thought he loved his wife at each stage of their relationship but with every milestone, he realized he loved her even more than he thought possible. Exactly how I feel. Love mixed with commitment evolves into something so amazing. I miss him when he's gone. And I still get butterflies sometimes when I look at him. I could not be more blessed and I know we are exactly as God designed.

Picture by Newsom's Photography...back in the day when she did weddings :)

Babywise or Not-So-Wise?

This is the question. I am reading "On Becoming Babywise". Has anyone else read this? Its all about feeding and sleeping schedules basically. It seems great and so practical but it makes me feel like I am not so good at this mom stuff sometimes! I just don't feel capable of leaving Noah screaming in his crib until he falls asleep while he is so little. I also tried "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" (Kerry's recommendation!) and liked it but thought it wasn't a really easy read, a bit hard to follow or something.

What's the consensus?