One Month Old

Oliver is officially one month old today! I can't believe it's already been a month since he was born. Guess time flies when you're sleep deprived!

I guess Ollie must have known that today was a special day because he gave Mommy and Daddy a present this morning - he smiled at us for the first time! He has smiled before, but we weren't sure if it was just gas. This morning was different though; he grinned from ear to ear every time I smiled and talked to him. It was so precious! We attempted to get a picture of it but as soon as we whipped out the camera he refused to perform. I did sneak this one though. Isn't he adorable?


Some more little tidbits about our Itty Bitty:
- His neck is really strong and loves to hold his head up and look around.
- Between about 8pm and 11pm is his cranky time. He cries and complains and is pretty much inconsolable during that time. Good times.
- He wakes up about every two hours at night, and Mommy can't wait until he's sleeping for longer periods of time.
- He sneezes and hiccups constantly. I think his little baby body is having a hard time adjusting to life outside of Mommy's tummy.
- We put him on his tummy at least once a day and he usually really likes it. Sometimes he brings his legs up under him and pushes off like he's trying to scoot forward. We both think that he'll reach his physical milestones (rolling over, sitting up, crawling, etc.) well before Taylor did.
- He hardly ever spits up, giving us a lot less laundry to have to wash (though I'm still washing at least one load a day. Ugh.).
- He is still doing great with nursing and has really plumped up since he was born. He's got chubby little thighs and a little barrel chest now. It's so cute!
- He's also grown length-wise and is now in 0-3 and 3-6 month clothes. I'm happy he's getting bigger, but I've now got a bin of clothes that are too small for him that he never even wore once. Good thing I've got some friends that will be having babies soon!

Now that I've got nursing well-established with him, I'm able to pump occasionally so that someone else can feed him. Sean and I celebrated this momentous occasion last night by going on our first date since the wee one was born. I can't even begin to describe how bad we needed some time to ourselves, and last night was just what the doctor ordered. We went to Red Lobster for dinner, then went shopping at Kohl's and ended the night at Starbucks for some hot chocolate. My mom watched the kiddos (thanks Grandma!) and Oliver took the bottle just fine after a few minutes of trying to figure out what on earth Grandma was trying to give him. Sean and I came home with our batteries recharged and feeling refreshed.



Being a mom of two is so hard and stressful sometimes, but I wouldn't give it up for the world. I love my two boys so much and I'm so happy that I get to be home with them all day and watch them learn and grow.

Happy 2011!

We want to wish all our friends and family a very happy and prosperous new year!
We love you all!

A Christmas in pictures

A toy shotgun from Grandma and Grandpa Nichols:


Ollie staring at his Grandpa Reed:


Christmas Eve with the family:


Robot Christmas jammies:


Santa came!


Excited and ready to open presents!


Check out the loot!


Daddy got Buckyballs!


The boys:


Mommy got what she wanted!


Sean all wrapped up in the quilt I made him:


Oliver snuggled up to his Great Grandma Jacobs:


Tay and Aunt Kristi:


There's a first time for everything!


Cute couple!


Itty Bitty missed most of the excitement:


Taylor on the stick horse from Grandma Kaye:

We had a great holiday and hope you all did too!

Just another day in paradise...

Today is my first day on my own with both kiddos. (Technically I was solo yesterday too, but I spent most of the day at my aunt's house, so it doesn't really count.)

It's been quite an adventurous day, to say the least. So far today I've been pooped on, peed on, and puked on. I've cleaned up the aforementioned messes and given the wee one a bath. I've thrown a Transformer across the room after stepping on it for the third time. I've transformed said Transformer at least 20 times, half of those times with only one hand since I was nursing at the same time. I've scrubbed Spaghettio's out of my carpet after a certain three-year-old had his lunch.


I sat the wee one on the floor in front of the Christmas tree to make myself some lunch, and when I came back in the living room he was asleep.



I feel like I've been going and going and going all morning, and yet my living room looks like it got hit by a tornado.


I'm tired and stinky and have a song from "Sid the Science Kid" stuck in my head.

And you know what?

I absolutely love my life and wouldn't want it any other way. It's a privilege taking care of these two little ones every day.

2 Week Check-up

Yesterday was Oliver's two week check-up and BOY was he upset about it. From the second the nurse brought us into the examination room he was screaming his head off and didn't stop until we left.

On the plus side though, he's doing great. He's already an inch longer than he was at birth, and he's gained almost a whole pound in just a week!

Here are his stats-
Weight: 8 lbs, 11 oz (48th %tile)
Height: 21 inches (62nd %tile)
Head: 14.3 inches (33rd %tile)

The doctor said he looked great and that his muscle tone is fantastic for a newborn. He can already hold up his head and neck for short periods of time and can roll onto his side (usually when I'm changing his diaper and he decides he doesn't want me to).

Oliver is just coming out of his first growth spurt, which I'm super excited about because nursing every hour was getting old really fast. Last night he actually slept 2-3 hours at a time, and Sean let me sleep in with the baby until 9:30, which was exactly what I needed.

Taylor is slowly starting to warm up to his baby brother and was asking the other day if he could hold him. As soon as I lay Oliver in his arms Taylor insists that he wants to hold his baby brother all day long. It's so adorable to see Tay hold Ollie; it just melts my heart.


I love both my boys so much (oh, and the older boy I'm married to). As tired as I am sometimes, I'd never give this up for anything.

First Bath

Yesterday Oliver's umbilical cord stump fell off, and all you mommies out there know what that means -

Bath time!

I was worried that Itty Bitty wouldn't like being naked in the water very much, but he LOVED it. As long as I kept pouring the warm water over his belly he was in heaven. It was so nice to get him all clean, and he was perfectly content until I started washing his hair. He's just like his big brother and hates having his hair wet.

It's so strange trying to get back into the swing of taking care of a newborn. They're just so tiny and delicate!

And this is completely unrelated to bath time, but it's so dang cute I just had to post it.

Grandma to the rescue!

My mom is amazing.

Really.

She has spent this whole week at my house, helping me with the kiddos and letting me get some rest and recover. Because of her my house is spotless, my laundry is washed and put away, and I never have a single dirty dish in my sink. I'm so grateful for all she does for me and I have no idea how I'm going to handle flying solo next week.

I don't know of one single person aside from my mom who would use an entire week of vacation time to be someone's maid, but she does it happily. I'm guessing it has something to do with this little guy:

I love you, Mom!!