Growing up so fast!

Its been 5 weeks and three days since Collin entered this world. He's growing up so quickly we can hardly believe it. This week I had to pack away all of the newborn sized clothing and switch to the 0-3 months sized clothing. It was actually sort of sad to put all of the cute little outfits away. But, as it turns out, everyone who bought him an outfit must have bought something in the 0-3 months range because we have TONS of clothes in this size for him. He could probably wear something different every day of the 0-3 month range and never have to repeat himself.

This week we had more firsts. So, as or weekly update goes- here's what we did.

Collin saw his first parade and even made it on the local TV station (much to mom and dad's disappointment)- we looked absolutely terrible that day, and of course it was the day we were zoomed in on in the local Roseville channel. People who were watching at home were probably thinking, "Oh, look at those new parents"...then upon a closer look: "Wow, they look like hell! Is that spit up all over her shirt? What is their dog doing? Don't they have better control of it? Why is the dad slumped over the stroller like that? Is he sleeping?"- oh, the joys of being captured in your finest hour.

We went for a walk, which has become our nightly stroll to the park to help soothe Collin during the 'fussy time' that he tends to get into in the evening. We take Samson (so he isn't such a nut case come 10 at night) and go around Lake Bennett.



We also started getting serious about the tummy-time. I don't think Collin likes this all that much, but he's got to be able to lift his head up at some point, so we push on. Sometimes he does get excited about the little rattles and weird monkey that seems to sing in Spanish.






To add to the stress in our lives we have started to try to get Collin to sleep in his crib during the day for naps, which he doesn't like at all. We are hoping that by getting him to sleep there for naps now he'll have an easier transition when he moves to his bed to sleep through the night (right now he is in the bassinet up in our room), but he seems to think this is an awful idea. Its like he has a small sensor that detects whenever we are even approaching the crib, alarming him to wake up, or if we actually get him in the crib, wake up after a few minutes of sleep. We're working on it....


We also made our first trip to the local Como Zoo. The zoo is so close and it was such a nice day out that we thought we should give Collin his first glimpse at the animals. Apparently, every other family in all of St. Paul had the same idea, as the zoo was packed, but still fun nonetheless. Collin even got extra close to the giraffes and we saw a super cute baby orangutan.








Otherwise, things are getting a little bit easier and we're thinking we are a little less crazy. Its amazing how your body can adapt to such a reduction in sleep. I'm starting to think that its not so bad sleeping only 3 hours at a time...er wait, maybe that's the sleep-deprivation talking...

Para Mi Padre

Its father's day making it Drew's first encounter with this new and fantastic holiday. it also happens to be the day that Collin turns one month. I don't think that it really feels very 'father's day' like for Drew quite yet because we are still so new at this parenting thing so today has been pretty lazy and un-celebratory-like, but Drew doesn't seem to have any special desires so we are just enjoying the day.

To put the whole parenting thing in perspective I probably should tell the whole story of how we got where we are today.

So, when I met Drew I knew that I wanted kids. It was a deal breaker for me and so, when we met and we were finding out about each other I asked him if he wanted kids. He was indifferent. He explained that he always happened to see those kids that are absolute terrors in public and just couldn't fathom having something like that of his own. This was a big deal for me, as I wanted children and even being with someone who was indifferent, rather than completely on board with the kids thing, was questionable. I thoroughly wanted to be with someone who had the same desire to be a parent, not just someone who would weather through it if their spouse wanted to. I became you're run-of-the-mill overzealous interrogator. I asked question after question about why he didn't know if he wanted kids about what he could see himself doing as a dad, all sorts of angles on parenting. As we continued our date I seriously questioned if I would see this guy again, but as the evening wore on, and we found ourselves talking until the wee hours of the morning I made the leap of faith to see Drew again and worry about the babies thing along the way.

Well, needless to say our relationship continued, but I never dropped the children thing. He knew that marrying me meant wanting children, not just being okay with it. It was a transition he had to make, and I assume when he finally got there that was the point it became okay to get married. Along the way I got to see more of Drew's habits and rituals, his mindfulness and patience and it occurred to me how great a dad he would be...

So, when we got married we talked about having kids, how many (with a compromise settling at 4) and Drew's concerns about parenting had shifted from 'kids are bratty' to 'can we afford that many kids?'. This made me smile. Drew had come around to wanting kids and now he was more concerned about providing for them. I knew this battle would be an easy one. I was more than willing to be poor if it meant having kids. Money was the last thing on my mind as I firmly believe a family can be fulfilled by those who are in it, rather than the possessions it has.

When we found out we were pregnant we were both very happy, but I still wondered about Drew's apprehensions about parenting- more specifically about his own lack of confidence in his parenting skills. I think he knew how much experience I had with kids and figured he wouldn't have as many skills. We learned a lot together through the pregnancy and read lots, leaving us at least partially prepared for Collin's birth.

So he arrived. And, believe it or not, Drew was a natural. He's a great dad. He said a couple weeks before the birth that he'd only changed a handful of diapers his whole life, but as soon as Collin was here to took right to it. I don't think I changed a diaper the first whole two days. At home, he's mastered the art of cloth diapering and never has complained about changing a diaper. He's taken on the parenting role with grace and always makes sure to help when he's not with Collin. I can't imagine going through this first month without his support and he has went above and beyond the call of duty to learn about parenting and development during the first year.

So, upon looking back, its almost funny to think that Drew was ever apprehensive about this parenting thing. He's so good at it that it makes me wonder how he didn't know he had it in him to be a fantastic dad. But here he is, making his way in the world with Collin in one arm and Samson's leash on the other....
So while Collin isn't big enough to recognize how great he has it, I bet if he were able to talk this is what I think he would say to his dad:

Dear daddy,
So far you've made quite an impact on my life. I've heard your voice for the whole nine months when I was in mommy's belly, and now its so soothing to me. It was so fun to finally meet you a month ago today. Besides mom, you are my favorite person (and she's really only my favorite because she's the keeper of the milk). You can make me happy and calm when I am screaming, which makes me feel good. I love to suck on your pinky finger and how your chest vibrates when you hum Swing Low, Sweet Chariot to me. I love when you hold me in front of the fan, sprawled out from your elbow to your hand. I still fit from your fingers to your elbow, which won't last long because I grow so fast, but I love it while it will last. I love when I get to fall asleep on you and how you read me stories, especially the one about Daddys. I love that you take me for walks in my stroller and that sometimes we bring my puppy Samson. I love that you take care of me in the middle of the night so that I get a midnight snack. I love that you are so quick with my diaper changes that I only cry a little bit because I hate getting them changed so much. I love that I get to have you as a dad because as I grow I know that you'll do your very best to make sure I am safe, happy and loved.
I love you whole bunches,
Collin

Look who's four weeks old!

We're almost to a month! Its hard to believe a whole month ago I was in labor. This week Collin has had lots of new experiences. He's beginning to be able to hold his head up more and spends much more time looking around and tracking things. He really likes to look at the mobile in his swing. Our favorite time is right when he gets up in the morning. He's really alert then and shows off his bright blue eyes.

Samson is also starting to take a liking to hanging out with Collin. Lately, when he is on one of our laps Samson comes over and nuzzles in so that his head is somewhere near Collin. Maybe he's just keen on his poop. We aren't really sure, but it makes for cute photos, nevertheless.


Collin also met some more new friends. Anna came and stayed with us while she was here for the HotList event. Lori came too, on her way through to St. Cloud. He also met Adrienne, Ann Marie and Sally.



Collin also really likes cuddling with Drew, maybe because Drew has the coveted Pinky finger, which is Collin's favorite pacifier currently, or maybe its because he can hold him upside down in the palm of his hand. Collin seems to really like this, and we found he enjoys the white noise of fans. When he's fussy we sometimes stand in front of the box window fan and he calms down. Maybe we are in for a kiddo who needs white noise all the time.





Collin continues to love sucking on things, and he even finds his thumb on occasion, but mostly he just sucks on whatever is available, such as his fist, arm, our hands, arms, knuckles etc. Here's a photo of him trying to suck on his own arm.


This week we also started another research study. Being the huge dorks we are, and the dedication we have to research we've be recruited to be in a handful of infant studies through the U and we're generally happy to be included as long as it won't hurt Collin. We won't put him at any risk so those types of studies are out, but harmless ones are okay. This week we started a neurobehavioral study that looks at kids ability to memorize things who are iron deficient. Since Collin is not iron deficient he's in the Control group. For the first part they measure his brain's response to him hearing me say "baby" and a stranger saying "baby". They do this with a net of receptors that he wears like a cap as he is sleeping. He did such a good job and slept through the whole thing.



Since Collin is growing so fast we also tried out the Baby Bjorn, which was okay for about 15 minutes. I think it was just a fussy day, so we'll try it again soon, but here is a photo of Drew with him in the baby bjorn chatting on the phone.

So its been a busy week! I never thought it would go by this fast, but here we are at nearly a month old! This Sunday we make the big leap to starting a whole new month! What a great way to celebrate Drew's first father's day.

3 weeks old!

Holy cow! Its been three weeks! I can't believe how much Collin has changed already. This we we had some more firsts. Collin had his first walk in the stroller, and loved it! We went to the park and walked around the lake. I had a good dose of 'this is what it feels like to be entirely out of shape', I was exhausted after walking, slowly, the whole way!

Collin also started sleeping a bit more at night, skipping his 12:30 feeding. He's been sleeping from about 11 to about 3, which is 4 hours! I never thought I'd be so excited about 4 consecutive hours!

We also got Collin's birth announcement photos back from Jenn, our lovely and amazingly talented photographer. She never ceases to amaze me! So instead of a weekly sampling of photos this week I've added lots of Jenn's photos. They turned out beautiful, as they always do. We LOVE Jenn!

So today, I finally ordered the birth announcements and baptism invitations after I finished creating them. If you read our blog on a regular basis, there is a good chance you'll get a birth announcement in the mail, but just in case you aren't on our list (we apologize) I've uploaded the announcement at the beginning of this post as well as the baptismal invitation (at the end) so you can see how cute our little guy is.

So far, Collin's been a pretty good baby, however he has been giving us a run for our money in the evening. Its interesting trying to figure out what is making him fussy every night, and it just breaks my heart to hear him cry when we don't know what to do but we're learning and with any luck he won't remember what a poor job we did once he gets older :)

Not only is Collin growing and teaching us about his needs, we're also learning a ton about baby maintenance. For example, I think we might consider buying stock in wipes and baby Oxi-clean. Its amazing to me how much he poops! We are washing diapers every other day and I had to order more just to get us through three days in a row. It makes me incredibly happy that we chose to use cloth diapers though, I can't even fathom how much waste we would have created if every one of those diapers was disposable. Its bad enough we are using disposable wipes, I'm feeling guilty about that amount of waste. Then, to add to the diaper duty, we are washing them, but pre-treating them with baby oxi-clean, which is magic in a container. Every day I am amazed at how it gets out all of the stains. The diapers look like new after every wash. I am waiting for the day to come when I look in the soaking bin and see stains everywhere, but so far we're in the clear.
We've also learned that its important to bring 2-3 of everything you can possibly need to bed with you. Sleepers, diapers, blankets, pacifiers, diaper wraps, sleep sacks, wipes etc. I can't tell you how many times at 3 am we've changed a diaper only to be peed on, then spit up on and then peed on again with not enough stuff on hand. Having to run downstairs with a screaming half naked baby isn't our idea of fun, and by the volume of his well-practiced lungs, its not Collin's either.

But hey! We've made it three weeks! Its supposed to only get easier, right?!?.

Errr..,,,right?!?!???