Alden is 8 Weeks

Wow, I know he has a lot more growing to do, but I can't get over how much he's grown so far.  He's getting some cute rolls in his little legs, and his belly is getting bigger.  He's tracking his Mommy and his Daddy with his eyes.  He's started laughing and I don't care what the books say about when social smiles happen, he is definately smiling at us now. 

My friend Jennifer came up for a visit and brought her camera and props and took pictures of Alden for us.  She's going to send me a CD of them but e-mailed these for me to enjoy now.  (She taught herself everything she knows, not to shabby, huh?!?)  Poor Boone kept trying to steal the spotlight from Alden but Jennifer did well ignorning him.

She took some fun ones of Alden and I together, which I am so grateful for.  I just wish Greg was around to get some good family shots.  Really want a good family shot soon...  will post it as soon as it happens...

Alden's First Snow

We were delighted to wake up and find that it had snowed last night.  Meredith and I got together and took pictures of each other with our babies. 

One day Alden will enjoy snow as much as I do!

Alden's First Babysitter

I meant to post a 7 week picture, but around that time Alden was bucking my "Baby Wise" plan and we went a few days as cranky people trying to get sleep but unable to do so.  Greg has been wanting to go winter camping and since I had no interest in doing so he planned to go with his brother and friends. Suzie, (AKA "Mom" or "Omo") planned to visit on the long holiday weekend to get her Alden fix before the school year gets too heavy.  Knowing that she would be here and wanting to pick back up with rock climbing, we scheduled for me to take the 2 hour long "basic skills" class at our local rock gym that would enable me to belay Greg when we go next.  (Greg had already taken the class while I watched Alden earlier last week.)

As far as babysitters go, it's a given that parents look for a qualified, experienced individual who knows how to interact with kids and problem solve.  Grandparents are natural choices.  Greg and I have more than "qualified" mothers though, we have OVER-qualified mothers.  Not only did they raise *cough* wonderful children, they both have had careers in childcare.  Who better than Mom to be Alden's first baby sitter?! (I laugh that we made the plans to have Omo babysit before even asking her, we were so sure she'd say yes!  Not a practice we plan to keep, no worries..)

Alden not even noticing that Mommy is away.

The babysitting started a little earlier than planned because Alden woke up so frequently in the night that I was delirious by 7AM.  Mom came to the rescue and took Alden from me and sent me back to bed.  I don't think she anticipated me sleeping a solid 4 hours after that, but I felt glorious afterwards.  We had just enough time for a quick breakfast before I was off to my class for what ended up being another 3 hour stretch.  I wondered how I would do away from Alden for the first time and am proud to say that new Mommy did great.  (Alden did pretty well too, in case you were curious!)

It went so well that I got home and texted Alden's other grandma and asked her to babysit the following Tuesday!

A Baby and His Mommy

As I looked back over the pictures across the weeks I began to realize that I wasn't in any of them.  Greg helped me take care of that the other day.  He caught us in our usual spot - the couch - right as Alden nodded into dreamland in my arms.

 

 

Six Weeks and Growing...

Today our baby is six weeks old.  Kinda hard to believe really.  But it's true, he's getting bigger.  As of six weeks old he is out of his newborn diapers and into size 1 (although this happened at week 4.5) and last night I officially packed up his newborn clothes.  Well, most of them.  The outfit he's in now is technically "newborn" but I think it's mislabeled.  (Side note- this is the outfit we took to the hospital for him to come home in because it was "newborn" and precious!  As you can tell by this picture, it did not fit him.) 

Even though it was a little sad to pack up his newborn clothes, we have a TON of 3 month size outfits that I'm thrilled about.  (Technically he just fits in the 0-3 mo size right now.)  This kid quite possibly will only wear an outfit 2-3 times until the 3 mo mark - apparently this is the size to gift!  These booties are one of the highlights of him growing bigger.




I've been working on being more consistent about feeding and napping "routines" per "BabyWise" book instructions.  (Although they said to start right away, I decided to wait until he was a month old.)  This has really helped because the last two nights he has slept for 4 hour stretches allowing me to get more sleep too!!  He wants to be held all the time and cries when I put him down to sleep, but I trust that this too shall pass.  :-)   Today was a huge accomplishment as he took two three hour naps.  And might I add, has been a much more pleasant baby as a result!

In other news, we are onto our fourth coffee maker since our marriage... and even though Alden is sleeping better now, my sleep bank is "in the red" so this coffee maker couldn't have come at a better time.  (Even though a French Press is our coffee maker of choice, I'm realizing that gone are the days of multi-step coffee making... programing the night before is SO much handier!)

Sleeping by yourself is hard to do...

Since he's turned 1 month old, we've started to try to get him on more of a routine and used to being put down and sleeping on his own so that he's ready to go to day care (and so that I can get stuff done around the house!).  The trouble is, he's not a big fan.  We've been setting timers because it's so hard to hear him cry.

I'm sure parenting gets harder, but right now, this is pretty tough.

Playdate with Bryn

Today we got to meet our newest neighbor, Bryn Sorkin, who is an adorable mini version of her wonderful mother. 

 One day we will have play dates that will involve the children playing (and I'm sure we'll have to referee the toy sharing and whatnot) but for now these "play dates" that involve catching up with the mothers are really fun.


Meredith is now a good friend who lives just a few doors down and has been a lot of fun to talk with and get to know as our due dates were in the same month and our backgrounds so similar.  Greg really enjoys her husband, Jordan, too.  Both hubbies have just started a MBA program so can relate to the full time job, part time school, full time family man deal and we mothers can relate to taking on a bit more than the norm so that the menfolk can get their work done.

They're a big reason why we love our new home.  :-)

One Month

I can hardly believe he's a month already.  The days are flying by... 

 

 

 This is my hopful end result....  (Thank you Pintrest)

Highlights of Alden's first month:
-he has now met every member of both immediate families (Whit flew back from Japan!)
-he took a bottle from Greg without complaint
-first visit to pediatrician went great!
-started seeing a chiropractor, he's not so sure he likes this yet
-the week before turning 1 month, he outgrew newborn diapers.  He's in size 1 now.
-the week he turned 1 month, he started getting a little fussy, I think he is entering a growth spurt.
-visited Mommy's school and was a huge hit
-went to church for the first time right before Christmas
-celebrated his first Christmas with BOTH sides of our families
-we discovered showers with Mommy and Daddy are prefered over baths
-LOVES to be held