3 months old!

My baby boy is 3 months old today. I have no idea how this happened! You are the cutest little boy I've ever seen. Ever.

Mommy going back to work hasn't made you too sad, it seems. I miss you a whole lot though. Your auntie Brandi watched you for 8ish hours one Sunday while your Papa and I went with your Grandma Bielenberg and Darren on their boat. You did well, although she said you were a little whiney. Other than that, no one has babysat for more than 4 hours when Grandma Karen did back in July.

You are not hating tummy time nearly so much anymore, and you're able to hold your head and shoulders up really well. You also can get your legs under your butt and are so close crawling it seems. You just haven't figured out how to make it all work together yet.

A couple days ago you "dove" out of your swing while I was writing checks for bills. I still don't even know how you managed that. I looked at you one second, looked down the next, and heard BOOM, WAHHH!

While I was at work last night you fell asleep in your walker. Papa took a picture and it was soooo cute.

You smile so much and "talk" to us quite frequently.

Naps have been going better. We started letting you fuss a little bit before going back in to pat you and turn on your mobile and usually it only takes once if at all before you fall asleep.

At night, you usually go to sleep around 8:30. Sometimes you wake up at 11ish, sometimes you sleep until 3-4. A couple of weeks ago you slept 8:30-6:30 two nights in a row! That was amazing. I've started just bringing you into the big bed with us when you wake up. I am much more comfortable cosleeping than I used to be.

You are still a boobie baby and going strong. We have an appointment in a few days so hopefully we'll get your weight and such then.

You're wearing mostly 3-6 month sleepers, 0-3 or 3-6 month onesies and pants.

I just love you so much I can hardly stand it!

Silent Saturday: Road trippin'

Nook Color

My mom bought a Nook Color this past week. I absolutely am in love with the thing already. The ability to obtain any book I want at any time is awesome. It's just like magic! Hehe. I never thought I would want an E-reader. Ever. I love the smell of an old paperback book, and I still do, but the sheer convenience outways my love (at least, at this point in time). I hadn't read a novel since giving birth (which was 12 weeks ago tomorrow!), and so far I've finished one in 3 days. I read while I'm feeding baby boy, while I'm lying in bed (probably feeding baby boy), while I'm pumping (to feed baby boy while I'm at work)... Do you see why I hadn't had time to go get a book?

I adore the backlight feature. Once of the other reasons I hadn't been reading is that a lot of the time that I'd like to read, I really didn't want to have the light on. Reasons being: sometimes the baby is in our room, sometimes AJ is watching a show on TV, and sometimes I am just too damn beat to have to get back up to switch the light off when I'm ready to fall asleep. I literally fell asleep the other night while reading. It was awesome. I woke up to AJ pulling it from my palms... It reminded me of "you'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands" :).

So far I've read 1st to Die by James Patterson, and I'm a couple of chapters into 2nd Chance. They're both part of the Women's Murder Club series of his, and I like it so far. My favorite books are murder-mysteries, especially ones that have some steamy interludes, if you know what I'm saying. I enjoy the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, but after the 15th one or so, they all seem to have pretty much the exact same story line. I'm open to any suggestions!

Silent Saturday: A boy and his kitty

Things I've been meaning to do... September

September is almost half over so I am not going to make this too long in hopes that I will actually get these done... I am SUCH a procrastinator.

1. Call to get this medical bill I have sorted out. I think there was a mess up with my insurance, but I need to call and see if it is or if I need to pay it.
2. Fold/ hang up every load of laundry I do right after it's dry so we don't have 3-4 baskets of clean clothes sitting unfolded in our bedroom.
3. Get a few more pages of Max's first scrapbook done.
4. Update the baby book!

Breastfeeding

Easy parts:

• It's cheap. Like zero dollars. Enough said
• It is (after the initial phase) so easy. Guess who never had to leave her bedroom if she didn't want to when baby boy woke up (and again, and again) in the middle of the night? This girl.
• Another point, it burns like 500 extra calories a day. Hot dang.
• Lastly, my favorite perk, breastfeeding my son created a bond that I never want to give up. I can't even describe the way my heart melts when those little beautiful blue eyes gaze up at me and then when he gets so tired and milk-drunk that he simply cannot keep his eyes open any longer. I could stare at him for.ev.er.

Not so easy parts:

• It sucks at first. It(or he) sucks a LOT at first. That baby boy ate and ate and ate the first few weeks. When he was about 2 weeks old my nipples were so sore, but they eventually toughened. Someone told me to every time ask myself if I could make it through one more feed, and I did. It was definitely better by the time he was a month old.
• Clogged ducts are no fun. I had one when he was a few weeks old after I went like 6 hours without pumping one night when I was at clinical. It certainly did not help my sore nipple problem and feeding on the affected side was nightmarish and I remember actually crying once. Thankfully after massaging and massaging during hot showers for a few days it cleared up. Clogged ducts can lead to mastitis.
• You might feel tied down to the baby. I know I did a bit, not because I necessarily wanted to go anywhere, but because feeling like I couldn't go anywhere made me crazy. I have never been one for staying at home all day every day for more than a couple days. Having a pump and building a freezer stash is really a lifesaver. It was really awesome to be able to get away for an hour or two, even if it was just to get groceries. A note, though: even if your baby eating pumped milk, your boobs will still produce milk. I have gone 6 hours before without feeding or pumping, and by that time I am engorged, leaking, and sore. Be sure to bring your pump, or learn how to hand express (I haven't tried that yet).
• Getting the hang of and becoming comfortable breastfeeding in public takes a bit (or at least it did for me), but it is awesome. You barely have to pause what you're doing to get the babe to latch on. Nursing tank tops rock. I only have one, but it's a lot easier (for me) to unsnap part of it instead of plopping my boob out overtop.

Nursing my son is one of the things I've done in my life that I am most proud of. In high school, I never thought I would nurse my kids. I was ignorant; I didn't know any better. I knew my mom had breastfed me, at least for a little while, but I was sure it wasn't for me. Then, I got baby fever pretty bad after AJ and I had dated for over a year. I knew we weren't ready to have a child yet, but I started to spend a lot of my time researching about all things baby.
When I was pregnant, I set a tentative goal of breastfeeding for 6 months. There were many times in those first days that I thought that I wouldn't make it; wouldn't even make it one more day. Now, 6 months is shorter on the spectrum than I'd like. Having support is infinitely important when something is so new and so completely different than anything I'd ever experienced before. My family and friends encouraged me, and while that was completely wonderful, no one really close had a lot of expertise on the subject. My online friend added me to a face.book group for breastfeeding mothers, where new (and old) moms can ask questions about their problems. I have only asked a couple questions, but reading everyone else's concerns helped a lot, too. Knowing that I was not the only one to have issues relieved me. Usually everyone comments positively with suggestions; but even an, "Oh, man, I've been there," alleviated my stress. Now, I even have some suggestions on others' concerns, which is awesome.
These are my breastfeeding experiences. No mom is the same as another, just like no baby is the same as another. For some moms/babies, formula is the best option, though I have never met a mother that wished she hadn't tried breastfeeding her baby.

Silent Saturday: Visiting Great Grandpa & Grandma H

Baby boy has huge noggin... 2 month stats

Birth(6/27/11): 9 pounds 0.4 ounces, 21 1/4 inches, 14 1/4 inch head circumference
1 day old (6/28): 8 pounds 10.8 ounces
2 days old (6/29): 8 pounds 5 ounces
3 days old (6/30): 8 pounds 6 1/4 ounces, 20 3/4 inches
2 weeks 1 day (7/12): 9 pounds 1 1/2 ounces, 21 1/4 inches
2 months (9w4d on 9/2): 11 pounds 14 ounces (50%), 23 5/8 inches (75%), 15 3/4 inch head circumference (40%)