3 months old!

Oh my!  Calvin is 3 months old (yesterday) and to celebrate I ate some jelly beans.  I hope Calvin enjoyed them.  I did.

He is really enjoying finding his voice.  He squeals and coos nonstop.  Sometimes it's hard to tell if he is happy or frustrated, but the sounds keep coming.  He even said "da" in Chris' general direction.  He's a boy genius!

He also kicks nonstop.  This is a very physical little guy.  He can kick himself all over the crib, often ending up sideways or reverse of where he started.  He's definitely at the point where he can't be left alone anywhere but crib or floor for a second.  The other day I put him down on his mat to yell at the toucan and came back a few minutes later to find him on his stomach working his legs our from under the media console.  We have since moved his play area away from the furniture.  He's rolled over at least 2 other times.   Chris said he rolled from his stomach to back a few times in January, but he never seemed to be in the mood to perform when I was around.  I witnessed this back to front roll, sort of.

Other new things Calvin is trying and not sure he likes just yet:

Sitting upright in the bumbo 

resting during tummy time

bouncing in the jumperoo

Parenting Note:

I finally started using cloth diapers yesterday (see cute blue diaper in the first pic).  I don't know why I was so intimidated by these overstuffed bits in the drawer.  Now that I put one on him, I see that it really is as easy as disposables and cheaper in the long run.  Right now, we only have 5 so we aren't totally out of Pampers.  I was putting off buying additional diapers until I tried the 2 brands we had and got a chance to see what we liked.  My biggest fear was that his clothes wouldn't fit over them, but they do - now anyway.

Health Note:

Calvin is feeling much better.  His illness has seemed to subside and we are left with a bit of left over congestion and cough, but not much.

12 weeks

Calvin is 12 weeks old today, which means my time as a stay-at-home mom is over.  Today is my first day back at work.  I work from home and always knew this would be a challenge on several levels.

With both daddy and baby in the house I may have trouble getting work done because they are bothering me or that I want to play with them instead of review reports.  Calvin may be crying during meetings.  I can only mute the phone if I'm not talking - obviously.  I have an office door, but it certainly isn't sound proof.

Then there is the breastfeed vs pump dilemma.  It seems silly to pump since both Calvin and I are right here, but I may not always be available when he is hungry or it could simply take too much time away from the work day.

All of these things will work themselves out over the next week through trial and error.  Luckily I can take it a bit easy today as I wait for my system privileges to be restored.

We still have a sick baby and most of my time since we returned from Illinois has been spent cuddling our little guy.  I have spent about 20 out of every 24 hours with him glued to my side, so very few new pictures are available.  He's sleeping right now (above) with his mattress slightly inclined to help him sleep better with all of his congestion.

11 weeks

Baby's first plane ride

We just got back from a trip to visit family in Decatur, Il and of course Calvin had many exciting firsts: first plane trip*, first snow, and most importantly right now, his first cold.  I guess breast milk isn't invincible.  I have to have been exposed to whatever he encounters first.  Oh well, it had to happen sooner or later.

So let it be known far and wide that CALVIN NOT HAPPY.

An interesting thing with Calvin being sick... We are starting to see a basic parent preference that I thought was a false stereotype.  Calvin seems to prefer me when he wants comfort and Chris for play.  On the plane ride home I was being pouty because Calvin didn't smile at me and was all giggles for daddy.  I guess my turn came today when he was inconsolable in Chris' arms and shut up when we switched.  It may be a coincidence, but interesting just the same.

We did have a great time with family last week.  Everyone was excited to meet Calvin.  Even Chris' aunts came to meet the newest VanZant.   Aren't they a good looking bunch?

I had bought him a little coat and hat since they were on sale, but he cried every time we tried to put them on and since we are push overs for our special little guy we let him be shuttled from house to car in blankets.  That worked out fine, but a super cute photo op was missed.  We also neglected to sit him in the snow for a quick pic, which surprised me since Chris and I are big on torturing the baby in the name of photo genius (Christmas fun with baby - under the tree, in a box, etc).  In fact we took very few pictures last week, but here are few...

Cousin love 

Calvin and Grandpa

Calvin and Debbie

Three generations of VanZant men

matching outfits with Grandma

* Calvin was a great little flier.  He slept the whole way going and most of the time coming back.  Flying is definitely more hectic with baby in tow.  I always had sympathy for women I saw flying with 1 or more kids on their own.  I now think they must have magical powers, because there is no way I would have survived without Chris to help carry and organize.

10 weeks

My little terrorist is transitioning into a smiling, giggling, delightful little guy.  All of the books, blogs and others said the "colic" would peak at 6 weeks and get better by 2-3 months.  I didn't have faith.  It's hard to believe there is light at the end of the tunnel as you bounce around the house with a baby screaming like he is being tortured, but then there it is.   and not a moment too soon.  Our sanity and hearing was at risk.

Our sweet little guy now bats at the toys on his gym or just has long thoughtful conversations with them about politics and philosophy (or Demi Moore).  The monkey tells him jokes.  He can be put down on a blanket or in his crib to play with success most of the time and it's much easier to interact with him.  Right now, his favorite little song is "itsy bitsy spider".  He giggles when the spider crawls up his chest.

Chris swears he had rolled over several times, but I have yet to see it.  Every time I put him on his stomach he starts to cry in frustration so I put him back on his back.  I think he has figured out that I'm a sucker and plays it up when I'm around.

Bed time is also easier.  He still prefers to got sleep at 10 despite my best efforts for a 7:30 bedtime, but we enjoy a few rituals:  bath time and massage being his favorites and singing the balloon song one of mine (I like bath time and massage too).

Don't get me wrong, he definitely still cries, but the intensity, frequency and volume are all much less.  The entire family is much, much happier and our collective cortisol levels are much decreased.  I guess we will keep him after all.  Sorry fireman, your loss.

Sunny Days

You may have noticed from my posts that I don't seem quite on my game these days.  Lack of sleep and control over my life have left me feeling a little on edge.  I spend most of my days sitting on the couch waiting to feed Calvin again, watching bad TV and making up things to worry about.   He's been a bit of cranky baby and too much time with him can be, well too much.  

But today was a new day.  It was warm and sunny.  I got my work out in during his morning nap and decided to get dressed up for my outing to buy nursing bras.  With the high temp of 82, I put on my new spring dress with green shoes and orange lipstick.  I was feeling bright and snazzy.  

I had big plans for the afternoon.  Bra shopping, coffee on a patio with my favorite little guy and maybe a little visit to say hi to my favorite big guy.  

I made it to the bra shop.  Things were going well.  And then he wanted to eat in the middle of my fitting.  No problem.  The bra store is also a mecca for all things lactation so I was welcome to sit in the dressing room to nurse.  Except that when I picked him up, I noticed his diaper had leaked.  Logic says feed the screaming baby first, change the diaper 2nd.  That works great until the baby poos in your lap.  Needless to say I wasn't feeling pretty anymore.  But I walked out of the store with 2 bras, a naked baby and a poopy dress.  I guess it's obvious that we went home afterwards to play in the yard.  It was still a beautiful day and I learned a few  lessons.

1. Never leave the house without a clean onsie
2. Don't use the crappy diapers just because someone gave them to you
3. Children exist to teach us

• don't be running around all cocky like yea, that's right, I'm rockin this dress.  Because they will poop on you.
• who cares that there is poop on your dress.  It's still a great day

unicycle