The weekend flew by

This weekend really flew by. I can't believe it's 10 pm on Sunday already. I know I need to get to bed, but I'm enjoying some moments relaxing.

On Saturday, Jeff and I had a few successful outings. We went to lunch with Connor and he did very well. He slept for the first 20 minutes and then when he woke up, Jeff let him sit in his lap while I finished up my food and then we left. It was nice to get out with him.

Then, even though we knew we might be pushing it, we went to Home Depot. Again, with a little help from my constantly pushing his stroller, he did just fine. Then late afternoon, we all went to the grocery store together. Connor slept the entire time. Thank goodness.

Sunday seemed to fly by as well. Jeff was very handy and changed out all of our sprinkler heads in the morning, while I hung out with Connor and then in the afternoon, I got to go to a birthday party for a friend of mine, so Jeff watched Connor. By the time I got home, it was time for Connor's last feeding of the day and time to start his getting ready for bed process. Sometimes I just don't know where the time goes.

Connor had ups and downs all weekend. He'd have fussy periods and then happy periods that made you forget about the fussy periods. It's amazing how that works. A few infant smiles and everything seems right with the world. I was pretty tired all day today though, because he didn't sleep that well Saturday night. He was up every couple of hours after 1AM, which is not typical. I guess I'm learning though, that nothing is typical. No day is the same as the last and Connor certainly has a mind of his own.

Friday evening, Jeff was pooped as was Connor. Maizey joined in as well. My sweet little family.

Connor in his hip romper.

Thanks Daddy for helping to get Connor to smile. He still gets very serious when I lift up the camera in front of his face.

Connor has really started to like observing things and batting at things. It's adorable.

Lunch at Cafe Express with Connor.

I took Connor outside to watch Daddy fixing the sprinklers so I put a hat on him. He looks a little effeminate, but still very cute.

A close up of Mr. Chipmunk Cheeks.

Connor in his tugboat outfit. That's his little nickname, so I like this outfit.

Smiling on his tummy time mat while Daddy was watching Connor this afternoon.

Fun week

Well, this photo says it all. Connor officially turned 7 weeks today, just shy of two months old. His 6th full week, leading up to his 7 week birthday was quite fun. It's just amazing to me how much he has grown and changed in the 7 weeks since he's been born. He is so much more alert and there are so many more moments when he seems like he's developing a little personality. He'll smile and coo so much more now, which of course just melts your heart.

The biggest thing I worked on this week, as far as his development was trying to set a day schedule. I am trying to set times to feed him so things can be a lot more predictable for Mommy and for Connor too. I know babies thrive on routine and as a planner myself, I know the feeling. It's been nice to not wonder when he'll want to eat next. Now that his weight and health are stable, I decided I would kind of make the calls in that department and I'm feeding him every three hours starting around the same time each morning, so we end up at the same three hour increments every day. So far, Connor has taken to the new system very well. I am also trying to get him to stay up for a couple of hours after we eat and then make sure he sleeps for a while after that. He is really a lot better when he sleeps a bit more during the day. It's a work in progress but so far so good.

Our bedtime routine is really coming together. I feed him at 7pm and then around 7:30 we give him a bath and then read him a story or two and then we rock him to sleep, so he's in bed by 8pm. It took a little while to get him to sleep at first, even though that is when we found he was naturally tired, but he was sort of fighting it and was more awake because of the bath, even though it is soothing. Now though, after doing this routine for over a week, he nods off to sleep within 10 minutes or so. Not bad at all. Then he'll sleep very soundly until about 3AM. It's a start anyway, but it's a long ways away from sleeping through the night. Believe me, the bags under my eyes are proof.

We had a few outings this week. On Wednesday we went walking around the mall. We didn't have a set agenda, but Connor did well. Of course he still likes to be on the move. By that I mean, when the stroller stops moving (i.e. Mommy is looking at something too long) he starts getting fussy, so we have to push that stroller again to prevent a mini meltdown. This of course can't stay like this forever, because Connor needs to learn that you can't always be moving and there are many times when you have to actually sit in your carseat or your stroller, or on someone's lap, for periods of time, but we're not there yet. He is still missing all that activity and jostling around he got in the womb. It serves me right for being so active while I was pregnant. Now I'm left with a baby who doesn't like to sit still. Oh well, it's better than a lazy baby I suppose. We'll work on it. Stay tuned for updates on that front in the weeks to come.

On Thursday we had an even bigger day. Connor seemed to be in a particularly good mood, so I decided quite spontaneously to come in town (i.e. the city of Houston) and meet a friend for lunch. We chose a fast food place, so if Connor acted up we could dash out. With the 30 minute drive to get there Connor fell right to sleep and was sound asleep when I arrived. I got there first so I ordered and had almost finished my food by the time my friend arrived. I figured that'd be safe in case I needed to console him. At least I got to eat.

For the first 15 minutes Connor continued to sleep soundly. Again, he must have been sound asleep for him not to have realized immediately that the car stopped moving, which typically in Connor's mind means, "it's time for me to cry so I can get on the move again. No more of this sitting still nonsense."

Anyway, so when he did start stirring, instead of trying to soothe him in his non-moving stroller, I took him out and had him sit on my lap with me and look around. He did great! He seemed really content and he even let my friend hold him for about 10 minutes. It was a total success. Of course when I put him back in the stroller he started crying but we were leaving so it was fine.

After lunch, I found a place to nurse Connor as it was his designated 3 hour feeding time. As I was nursing, I called Jeff and asked if he wanted us to meet him at his office just to say hi, since we were in the neighborhood. He said yes, so Connor and I got to say hello to Daddy during the day. It was a nice treat for all of us. All in all, it was a great day and Connor did fantastically.

Then, last night, Mommy got a treat of her own. I got to go out to dinner with some girlfriends and Jeff stayed home to put Connor to bed. It is always so nice to chat with the girls. One of the girls is 35 weeks pregnant and it brought back all my memories from being pregnant in those last few weeks. The anticipation just kills you. She knows she is having a boy, but still there are so many questions and you just feel like any new feeling could be "it." She is doing great, and Connor is excited to have a new buddy in the next few weeks.

I will say though, as much as I felt like I had a great pregnancy and enjoyed it for the most part, it's a whole heck of a lot better to actually have the baby in your arms instead of feeling him kick inside you. I'm so glad you joined us Connor. I love you.

Happy 7th Week birthday Connor. I can't wait to see what you've got in store for me this week.

Connor during our lunch outing.

Visiting Daddy during the day.

Just hanging out.

Look at my long legs and arms.

Playing with some toys on his tummy time mat.

That thing is really cool, huh. It was so fun, because he smiled quite a few times at this one moose toy that winds down and wiggles on the way back up.

The wall letters arrived yesterday that spell out Connor's name. We'll have to hang them in the nursery this weekend.

I took a few pictures of Connor laying in front of his name.

Sleepy boy. Little hands, big cheeks.

Many wardrobe changes

Well, I'm not sure what I can do, but Connor sometimes has days where he seems to always leak from his diapers, causing Mommy to change many outfits and anything else that he is sitting on at the time.

It started this morning with his breakfast. As we're sitting there looking at each other, he goes number 2 and I start seeing some leakage. Oh no, guard the boppy, guard me, and make sure he doesn't leak on the way to the changing table. Ugh. All was well. He got cleaned up and put into outfit number two.

We go for our walk and when we got home he was still napping in his carseat, so I brought it in the bathroom and hopped in the shower. As I was getting dressed he woke up and was surprisingly content. He often wakes up from naps a bit angry. I looked over at him and noticed he was working on another package for Mommy. I laughed and as I laughed, my face turned into horror as I started noticing a stream dripping out of his diaper and onto the carseat. Ugh.

So I stop what I'm doing and gingerly pick him up and again, wipe him down and change him into outfit number three. Of course, I've also got to deal with the very messy carseat cover. They don't make those things easy to get off, so I'm struggling with that as Connor is fussing over on the changing table. Luckily, I got it off in record time and rinsed and ready to go in the wash.

All in all, it was a pretty fun morning. He is still in outfit number three if you can believe it, but the day is still young.

Chunky monkey in a muscle shirt.

Like father, like son. Connor is sporting his polo and khaki shorts. Ok, so the shorts are a little big. He'll grow into them. Now where is his first set of golf clubs?

I caught the tale end of a smile. It's so hard because when I lift up the camera, he kind of stares at it very seriously. When I put it down he'll smile again. Very stubborn baby.

And here's a video of Connor being jolly. He's kind of smiling. The ones in this video are not nearly as good as some of the ones we've seen where he really lifts both sides of his mouth and grins, but it's a start. Connor's fans might enjoy this video though.

First health issue

So Connor had his first health issue over the weekend. During the day on Saturday, I started noticing more and more discharge coming out of his eyes. It was kind of goopy. It wasn't so bad that I was too concerned, but I told Jeff that we should keep an eye on it.

Around midnight on Saturday night, Connor woke up and when I went to get him I noticed that his left eye was caked in eye crusties and his right eye had more goop as well. (Yes, very technical terms I know).

As a little kid, I had conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, enough to remember that this was a pretty good symptom. I know pink eye is very contagious, so after I fed Connor I called the after hours doctor to see if they agreed with my assessment and maybe they'd even call in a prescription ointment for me or something.

The nurse on call was so nice and so very helpful and totally made me feel like a normal Mom for calling at 12:30AM about eye goop. She asked me a lot of good questions and I felt better about the whole thing. Because Connor didn't have a fever and his eyes weren't actually red or swollen, it was just gross discharge, the nurse assessed that it was mostly likely clogged tear ducts that build up and can cause an infection. It's weird, because clogged ducts actually cause more eye leakage.

On Sunday we kept an eye on Connor and unfortunately it wasn't getting any better and when I took his temperature it was 99.8. That scared me and Connor seemed a bit more sleepy, so I called again. Again, the nurses were super nice and reassured me that it was good that I called. The nurse told me that in an infant, they don't really consider 99.8 a fever and based on his symptoms it didn't sound like pink eye but more like clogged tear ducts, so she said to call the doctor in the morning and they would definitely see Connor and hopefully get him some eye drops to reduce the symptoms. With him being only 6 weeks old, she didn't feel comfortable calling in a prescription for him without an exam by the doctor. She did say that eye drops don't really cure anything, because in infants, eye ducts can continue to get clogged until nearly a year, but it should lessen the goop and it will reduce the risk of further infection.

So today was the day. Connor still had discharge, so we called the doctor this morning. They are great and said they could see us by 9:15. The doctor agreed after seeing him that it was back up from clogged tear ducts and not pink eye. She did take a culture of the goop and gave us a prescription eye drop to lessen the effects. We also have to massage his tear ducts to get them to open up.

So all in all, it was kind of a good practice run for future illnesses that happen after hours, which I am sure will happen more than we'd like. I was so impressed with how nice, caring, and truly interested in Connor's health everyone seemed. It makes me feel good about my choice in pediatrician, that's for sure.

Also, we got to get Connor weighed again, which is always nice, because when you are nursing, you can never be sure they are getting enough. Anyway, Connor is up to 11 pounds 14 ounces, so almost 12 pounds. What a big boy. He still looks skinny to me, so I guess it's all in his length. We didn't get that measured but we will at his two month appointment on the 20th. I'll let you all know percentiles, etc. then.

For now, let's hope the goop goes bye bye.

I took this photo on Friday, but I'm belated in posting it. He's so much more alert and has much better head control. He's still pretty squirmy and floppy, but he's getting better every day.

You can see his long limbs.

I thought this photo was funny. He's got crazy hair and he sort of looks a little crazy himself. Our own mad scientist.

This was him on Sunday. He was a little lethargic, but actually in great spirits despite the eye goop. I don't think you can see it in this photo, plus we were pretty good about wiping it. It was worse when he slept or cried.

Ahh, I got him to fall asleep. I'm happy.

I feel bad that Connor is a little sick. He deserves major snuggles from Mommy.

I thought this photo showed off his cheeks rather nicely. They even hang down. Wow.

Getting ready for bed. Daddy snuggles with Connor.

A small victory

So, I had a small victory today, well actually that victory is going on as I type. I finally got Connor down for a "real" nap. He does sleep during the day, but it's usually because I am forcing it by putting him in the bouncer or vacuuming or driving him around in the car. These little naps are fine, but they are short and don't really allow Momma any time for hands free activities.

For example, I'd get him to fall asleep in the bouncer while I made lunch and I'd have to keep bouncing him while I ate to let me finish, but as soon as I stopped, he'd wake up. Or if I got him to fall asleep in the bjorn with the vacuum or just from bouncing around, he'd wake up pretty soon after I stopped the motion. The car is the same thing. As soon as we walk back in that door and the movement and the vibration of the car has stopped, Connor wakes up and is usually a bit angry.

Since I have begun to draw a correlation between more naps during the day and a more pleasant baby, I have been trying my hardest to get Connor to take a real nap for maybe an hour or two, like many babies often do and what I would imagine we would build up to once he gets a routine down. He has been a real trooper at night and has been falling asleep and staying asleep for hours at a time, but during the day time he is not cooperating in that regard.

So that has been a little goal of mine this week, to try and get him to take a real nap. Well wouldn't you know it on the day of his 6 week birthday, Connor finally naps. He has been sleeping now for about an hour and this Momma couldn't be happier. I'll take a "Hi I'm 6 weeks" photo later to post, but I just had to share my excitement about this with the world. Who knows how tomorrow will go, but this is progress. I love it.

Oh and as far as the nights go, we have been starting to try and get a routine going with a feeding, a bath, and a story. We then rock him to sleep and put him down between 7:30 and 8. From there he has been sleeping until a whopping 2:30AM. That's about 7 hours. Of course, I am only asleep from about 10pm on, but still it's progress. He wakes up around 2:30 and then again around 4:30 or 5am. It's the 5am feeding that's tricky, because he's clearly still tired, but he gives me a lot of trouble going back to sleep. Usually though, our day starts around 7am and he eats and is awake and jolly and then we go on our walk. We're working on it. I'd love it if Connor would skip that 5am feeding and go right to 7am, but that might be asking too much.

Oh and for your viewing pleasure, here are a few photos from yesterday. Jeff wore the Bjorn for the first time.

On the go

Today, Connor and I had another first. Today was the first day I both changed and nursed Connor away from home, while out doing an errand.

We had to go to Babies R Us to use a coupon for diapers and wipes and then afterward, even though I knew it was getting close to feeding time, I took a chance and drove over to Michael's, which is in the same shopping center to look for a collage frame to house photos of Connor. They were having a 50% off sale on all collage frames and the sale ended Friday, so I really wanted to find one.

Connor had slept the entire time in Babies R Us, but as we were driving over huge speed bumps to get to Michael's, he woke up. By the time I took him out of the car and into the stroller he was fussing and awake. Although, I thought about turning back, I said, "No, let's give this a try." So we walked in and with the aid of the pacifier he was subdued, but after about 10 minutes of looking at frames, he really started getting fussy and would no longer take the pacifier and was now just crying.

Again, I thought, "Ok, now I should bolt. Forget the frame, I've got a crying baby here. Run for the hills." But instead, I calmly took Connor out of the stroller and comforted him and then walked him and the stroller into the restroom. Not only was he hungry, but he also had a poopy diaper, so I got to actually use my diaper bag and change him and then I went into the handicap stall and nursed him.

Sure enough, after getting a little food and a clean diaper, Connor was in much better spirits and he let me finish my shopping. We even had to wait at the check out, but he didn't fuss. He was awake and alert and doing alright. It was a success.

Now here are just a few photos from today. For the most part, he was in very good spirits. Good boy, Connor.

Just chillin'.

I think he looks tough here. He's showing us his guns.

Bouncing on Daddy's knee. Look at those cheeks.

Super baby!

Play date

Today, Connor and I had a little play date with my friend Sherri and her son Benjamin. Benjamin is quite a bit older (he's a whopping 9 months), but it was still fun to chat and catch up. Sherri is also a stay at home Mom and it was just so nice to have someone to swap stories with and reassure me, that it does in fact get easier once they get a routine down.

Her son Benjamin is just as cute as he can be. Connor slept for most of the visit, but hopefully the next time we all get together Ben and Connor can interact a bit. We shall see.

Sherri also was a total sweetheart and brought over lunch and also a hand made chicken pot pie for dinner. We had food to cook tonight, but we opted to just heat up the pot pie and boy was it delicious. Plus now we also have leftovers. Oh the simple joys in life. Thanks Sherri.

After the visit, Connor had some lunch and was in good spirits so he played with his play gym. For a 5 week old, that basically consists of laying down and looking up at stuff. Hey, that's some fun times for this little guy.




I also tried him in the swing again. I am hoping one day he likes it. He tolerated it for about 2 minutes and then, as per usual, he started crying, as if to say, "Um, get me out of this crazy swinging machine!"

Um, ok, get me out of here.

All done and out of the swing.

I'm happy now.

On a random side note, Jeff and I saw the space shuttle and the space station in the night sky tonight. We had read in the Houston Chronicle that you'd be able to see them from 9:12 to 9:16pm, so we went outside and sure enough, we saw them racing across the sky some 200 miles away. Totally random, but it was a pretty cool site to see.

Maybe Connor will grow up to be an astronaut. Ya never know, although, that might be a little scary for this Mom, so maybe he'll stick to something a little safer. Maybe he'll follow his Grandpa Roach's footsteps and become an accountant. I sure wouldn't be scared for his safety with that job. No offense Grandpa. :)