Miles-ism

Miles definately has quirky preferences that he can make known suprisingly well. 

1. He hates lotion.  He needs it because he has dry skin. 

 

 

2. He sleeps on his terms.  If he want the covers he uses them, if not he kicks them off. It's pointless to put them back on.

 

 

3.  When he's fussy he likes to hang out in the baby carrier.  It instantly puts him to sleep.

.

Week 3

Miles,

Your third week of life is nearly over, but you seemed to do new things this week that I always want to remember.  The most notable (at least for dad) is that you have almost mastered drinking from your bottle! You have a good suction and it doesn't spill all down your face anymore. Dad tried his first nighttime feeding last night and I LOVED that. 

You also started tummy time.  When you lay on your stomach on someone's chest you try to raise your head and you actually turned it a few times this week.  You like tummy time for the most part as long as someone is laying on the floor with you.

 

You also met lots of people this week when we went to Missouri.  You met more cousins and friends.  You also met your Great Grandma Nina, and your Great Great Uncle Don.  You spent lots of times in the arms of your Grammy and Papa, and Pops and Gramma.  That's why as I type this you are currently in your sling. You think you need to be held constantly! It's a good thing you're cute!

 

 

I get it now...

Since I'm heading to the land of my mothers...also known as 'land of no internet', I thought I'd write my Mother's Day reflections a day early.

Dear Mom,

Thanks for changing my diapers, listening to my crying (probably often for no reason) trying 1,000 things to keep me happy, walking, rocking, jiggling me in the middle of the night.  Thanks for investing in my all of my younger years (and these older ones too).  I truly understand now the sacrifice, exhaustion, and how it wasn't fun all the time.  I hope that when you see me mother Miles I'm a reflection of the amazing job you did. I am so thankful for the wife you are to dad, Mom you are to me & Trevor and Michael & Tai, and Gramma you are to David, Kaia, and Miles.  We all are blessed because of you!

 

Love,

Beth

2 weeks

Miles,

You are just over two weeks old.  We are getting into a nice routine, I like that you are a predictable baby.  You only cry when you are hungry. You are still drinking breast milk from a bottle most of the time.  Your dad doesn't like to feed you because you dribble it all over yourself.  In his words, he'd rather change 100 diapers.  You regained your birth weight and then some.  You are up to 6lbs 8.5 oz on your due date.

You slept for 4 hours in a row last night.  It was wonderful.  You seem to be waking up more often and staying awake a little longer.  You have a unique way of letting your personality show in those brief wake moments.  You and Samson and Ezra are a lot better together.  They no longer freak out when you make a dying animal squeak. 

You have met more of the people that I hope will be in your life for a long time.  You are such a lucky baby to have so many people who think you are awesome.

You hate waking up.  You squirm and frown and make these super pathetic faces. You also have the loudest farts ever. Seriously, they are audible from across the house.  You hardly ever spit up and always smile after your bottle is finished.

We are getting ready to make your first trip to Missouri in a few days.  So far you like your car seat. We will see how you feel about it after you stay in it for an extended period of time.

Motherhood thoughts

12 days into motherhood I've realized a few things

1.  Every time you want the baby to sleep, he's wide awake.

 

 

2. He's so cute awake, you don't care.  Then the sleep deprivation continues.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Reading to a 10 day old may seem silly, but I swear he loves it.

 



 

4. Baths are overrated. 12 days old. 1 bath.

5. Holding sleeping babies is fun during the day.  Not so fun at night.

6. People who parent alone are seriously my heroes.  Having a baby for one day isn't tough.. day 12 is a little tougher because lack of sleep compounds.  I don't know what I would do without Trevor stepping in and holding/feeding/changing Miles and rubbing my back when I crawl back into bed for the 4th time each night. 

snippity snip

It has been a rough few days.  Miles had his circumcision Thursday afternoon.  I always figured they would do it at the hospital.  I guess here it's a routine thing they do in the pediatrician's office. I didn't really care either way if we had the procedure done.  It's only cosmetic after all.  I sort of left the decision in Trevor's court.  He's the expert on the subject of boy parts.

We took a few factors into consideration when deciding to go for it.  I also knew that doing it this time round meant all future boys we have we will have to do it again.  That doesn't make it easy.  We had to take Miles to the appointment and then the doctor had to bring us to the room and they had all the tools laid out, including a giant red sucker.  He went over that the procedure wasn't necessary, that it may not turn out like we think it will look, they he may have to stop in the middle, that there's risk of bleeding and infection, and on and on.  Then he wanted to know if I wanted to hear exactly how he was going to do it. NO! For heaven's sake just get it over with!

I know he was 8 days old and he won't remember it.  Trevor keeps remind me. I know that we will feel more confident with how his body looks like this, and therefore he will too.  It really only made him fussy a few days and now he is back to being perfectly content and loving life.  Still, it's hard to hand your baby over knowing that what they are going to do will hurt him.  I'm sure it's not the hardest decision we will ever have to make when raising him.  Glad my boy is a trooper and that it's over!

Things I don't care about

There's this phenomenon when you are pregnant, everyone tells you about when they were pregnant.  The same thing happens when you give birth.  I'm only assuming this continues as your child gets older.  As a first time mom, I hear "when I was a first time mom" stories frequently and how much more relaxed the mom got with her 2nd, 3rd, 4th child. 

All I have to say is: my poor future children.

I don't care if Miles drinks a bottle of breast milk straight out of the fridge. I don't warm them up.

I don't care if Miles wants to sleep with his arms out of his swaddle.

I don't care if Miles goes to Pharmacy school, the library, Wal-Mart, or wherever else we are going during his nap time. 

I'm not sure exactly what "nipple confusion" is, and I let him drink out of as many kinds of bottles as we have. I also let him suck on whichever of his three pacifiers that he wants at the moment, and I let him breastfeed when he wants to.

I don't care what he wore home from the hospital, or if what he's wearing right now matches.  He's worn the same baby socks for 4 days straight.

I don't care what kind of diapers or wipes he uses. We go for the cheap/effective ones around here.

I don't care if he gets passed around before people have germ-x(ed) their hands. 


All these things won't effect who my son is.  I care about Miles loving others, loving to learn, loving life. I want him to be flexible, confident, and a joy to others.  I will talk to him while he's awake, I'll shower him with kisses, and tell him I'm proud of everything he does. (even if it's pooping)

Week 1 highlights

Dear Miles,

You are a week old, and what a week it's been.  It seems like it flew by, and at the same time it seems you've been here so much longer than 8 days.  You are such a good baby.  You barely cry, you make the most endearing faces.  You are awake a little more each day.  You love to be talked to, sang to, and held close.  You are patient with us as we learn how to take care of you.  You bring joy to so many around you and often are the center of attention of many people at once.

 

You get the hiccups a lot.  Multiple times a day.  You also aren't that great at drinking from a bottle.  It drips and runs down your cute chin the whole time.  You also wish you could just drink a little bit to satisfy your hunger. You have no intentions of filling your stomach, so we don't have to feed you again. 

 
 
 

 

The swaddle didn't last long. You love having your hands by your face.  You do a really good job not scratching yourself.  We still put you in your swaddle, but leave one arm out because you sleep better that way.  Your dad loves to sleep with his hands by his face too.  You typically sleep 2 hours at a time.

 

 You wake up after each feeding and when you need a diaper change.  Although you are only awake for around 10 minutes, you are alert and so funny. 

 

 

You  have so many people who think you amazing.  You met all of your dad's pharmacy friends and your 'Aunt Lindsey' and best friend Baby B.  You are so chill and go with the flow that we can take you anywhere and you just hang out. 

 

 

You also had your first playtime with two of you cousins.  Your cousin Connor thought you were so neat.  He kept running into your crib and giving you blankets and stuffed animals.  He enjoyed holding you and kissing your hand.  He tried so hard to be gentle and loving. 

 

 

 You had your first trip to the pediatrician where you weighed 5 lbs 12 oz.  Your bilirubin levels were a little more elevated than they were when we left the hospital.  Other than losing a little weight the doctor was very impressed with your movement and alertness.  You were worn out when it was over.

You've been providing a break in studying for dad while he tries to focus on his finals.  He is much more interested in holding and talking to you than studying.  While we find this adorable and fun, his grades may not.  I know you will be so proud of him when you are old enough to see how hard he works to provide for us.

 



We love you so much already and are so excited to see the person you grow into