Three Months!

Three months. Holy cow, my baby is three months.

I am really not quite sure where all of this time is going. It still feels like yesterday that this little guy came into the world with a bang. And now here we are -- Thirteen weeks later and no longer a newborn.

This guy is straight up a little man. It's amazing to me the changes that have occurred in the past month. He continues to grow every single day, and makes strides in his progress. I swear this kid is days away from walking. Ok, not really, but I would not be surprised if we had an early walker. All he wants to do is either sit up or stand. Our [and by that I mean his] favorite game is to sit down. stand up. sit down. stand up. Repeat over and over again. His legs are unbelievably strong. It is only a matter of time before this guy starts moving on his own. He has started rocking from side to side just a bit when he is on his back, and he kicks his legs like crazy when he is on his tummy.

His personality also continues to shine! We had our first real giggle on Father's Day, and I do everything I can to make him do it again on a daily basis. Hearing that sweet little laugh [because it is still little!] melts my heart! We are working on grabbing and holding, and he is every so slightly getting the hang of it. His favorite toy is the sweet giraffe rattle that he has in the above picture. It's just small enough that he can get his hand and arm around it. Of course, his favorite thing to stick in his mouth is his hand. He cannot get enough of those things.

Little man is still sleeping in our room with us, in his bassinet. This one is completely on me. With me going back to work three weeks ago, I am not ready to have him in his crib yet. I get so few hours with him a day that I find comfort knowing that he's in the room with us, even if I'm not holding him or spending time with him. I don't know when I'll be ready to give that up, but I do know that M is pushing for it sooner rather than later. We have a one story home, and his nursery is right next to ours, so there is no reason for him NOT to be in his crib yet. It's totally personal preference and comfort on my part. I'll get there when I get there, but I'm not pushing it yet. Although, it will have to happen soon. I find him squished up at the bottom more often than not, which is impressive considering we are still swaddling pretty tightly.

Another big milestone this past month was starting cloth diapering! We eased into it as we found brands that we liked, but we are full time now, and I am LOVING IT. I am so happy that we decided to go this route, and I am already working on a post on the ins and outs of cloth diapering from a newbies perspective. But I LOVE our pocket diapers and Lucas seems to have no problem with them, either. Plus, they are just so dang cute. I can't wait to share my experiences on what we have learned and our processes with them.

Also, my photos have been shit lately. I don't know what it is, but I'm vowing to take BETTER photos of my kid. It may be the fact that I am horrible about even picking up my camera, when I have my nice little iphone to do the trick. I literally have a thousand photos on my iphone of him. I MUST stop that habit! Because I know I will regret not having more photos of him down the road. And these photos, as cute as they are, just won't cut it :)

I am looking forward to the next month and all the new milestones that we reach! He is growing up so quick before my eyes. I can barely stand it!

Two Months: So Big!

I have been horrible about blogging lately. I swear, things will change. I promise! This two month update is a little late (by like, two and a half weeks) but I needed to get something down. My goal is to put all of this into a book at SOME POINT. Yeah, we will see if that ever happens!

I officially went back to work this week, which means the couple of weeks leading up to it were spent getting in as many snuggles as I possibly could. This week has been rough on many levels, but I know that my little guy is in amazing hands with our sitter/my friend and is being well-loved. So much, in fact, that he has gone to sleep almost an hour earlier than normal each night from just being plain worn out.

With his two month checkup, he weighed in at a whopping 13 lbs! THIRTEEN. There is no doubt about it, my boy loves to eat. He was so skinny when he was born, even though he was 8lbs, because he was so dang long (21.5 inches). He definitely needed some fat, so I'm glad that he has plumped up. Chunky babies are adorable. And he is so healthy, which is always a plus.

We have also very much established a routine at this point! He has become even more consistent with his sleeping habits, which has been wonderful. We have started working on our sleep training skills [which, this book right here, is amazing. LOVE IT and cannot wait to dive more into it!]. He has been pretty good about going to sleep around 9:00 every night [earlier this week because of all the excitement during the day!] and we are working on putting him down while he is still slightly awake, allowing him to fall asleep on his own. I know that schedules are not for everyone, but for us they are so important, especially with both M & I working full time. He is also, for the most part, continuing to sleep through the night, or close to. We are only doing one feeding over the course of the night [usually around 4am], which makes for a very happy mama. And his naps during the day are becoming more and more consistent.

Physically, this kid is a power house! Aside from his obvious weight gain, he is growing so much. He is standing with help and wants to sit up all the time. We had to break down and buy a bumbo chair [which we love, by the way!] because he just wants to be up and see the world. If we lay him down on the boppy pillow, he strains to try and sit himself up on his own. We let him do that for a while to help him build up his tummy muscles until he gets vocally frustrated, and then we put him in the bumbo where is a seriously happy camper. This kid is advanced, and I have no doubt in my mind that we will have an early walker.

All in all, this kid continues to be amazing & a wonderful part of our lives. I have so much love for this kiddo. Being at work kills me, although I know that I am able to provide so much more for his life this way. I also really do enjoy my job [another post for another day] and while being away from him all day is hard, it makes the time I do have with him in the evenings that much sweeter.

On my end, things continue to go well. I have lost 40 pounds since giving birth [the 18 lbs gained during pregnancy and an additional 22 on top of that!] and am continuing to work out when possible. So new moms out there, it CAN be done! I have found that making time for yourself is just as important as taking care of your little one. Now that I am working full time, it will be a little more difficult, but I am determined to lose the additional weight that I need to lose by the end of this year.

All in all, life is pretty good. I'm looking forward to this new chapter as I figure out the work situation & routine. And I am completely lovin' my little guy!! (Last picture courtesy of Kayla J Photography!)

Pictures!

I have a couple of update posts to write (including his two month post, even though we are a couple of weeks past that ... whoops) but I'm transitioning back into work, so the past couple of weeks have been crazy. I wanted to get as much snuggle time with the little man as I could before coming back, and this week we have been working on a new routine & trying to figure out what works best in the mornings.

BUT, while we were in Seattle, we did get some photos done by the always great Kayla. Here are a few of my favorites!