3 Months!

I can't even begin to believe I'm writing G's 3 month blog post!  I don't think time has ever flown as fast as it seems to be now.  On one hand I'm SO glad it's going quickly because I'm that much closer to being done with work for the summer.  On the other hand, I hate how fast he's growing!  They're definintely not tiny babies for long. 

He's starting to do so many new things.  While I was taking his 3 month pictures yesterday he would straighten his back and try to sit up on his own and not lean against the couch cushions anymore.   A few days ago he was sitting on the floor, holding onto one finger on each of my hands.  He had no other support and was sitting up without trouble.  It really doesn't seem possible that he's able to do this yet!  Don't get me wrong, I'm so proud of him and amazed at how much he's learning and changing.  I want him to reach all of these important milestones, but I do miss the teeny tiny baby he was as a newborn. 

My favorite new development is the way he scans a room to find Matthew and I when we're not the ones holding him.  He will be watching and looking all over until he finds one of us.  If he hears either of our voices he instantly turns his head in that direction.  I love it!  When I pick him up from the babysitter he gets such a big grin on his face.  It's his way of saying "Mommy I'm glad you're here!" without vocalizing it.  I tell myself that anyway.  :o) 

Spring break started at the end of the day today, and I couldn't be happier!  Even though we're not going on vacation, I think it might actually be the best spring break I've ever had.  10 whole days home with my little snuggle bug.  I can't wait!  Two weekend days just aren't enough.  I know it's better than nothing, but I hate that I'm not home with him.  He's completely safe and happy at the babysitter's, but it's just not the same.  I know it's good for him to be there, and I'm very happy with the arrangement we have, we are very lucky in that regard, but I can't help, but wish I were the one home with him every day. 

Anyway, enough of my belly aching. Here's the best part of my posts...pictures! 

3 Months Old!

Tummy time and NO tears!  Look at me lift my head :o)

Playing with my ball.  I can hold it by myself (for a few seconds anyway...)

12 Weeks and Changing So Much!

Well it's week 12.  Griffin continues to grow and change before our very eyes!  I find myself in constant amazement of the new things he does.  Just today, we were sitting together on the couch when I got home from work.  I was singing (well more like whispering considering I have larangitis right now) the Wheels on the Bus and Patty Cake with him.  We've sung these songs and done the motions before and he'd grin, but today he was flashing me the biggest smile and laughing as we'd sing.  While neither of those things are brand new, it was the first time he's seemed to be truly entertained by songs and motions.  He likes music, but for the first time he honestly seemed to understand it.  I was laughing right along with him.  The looks on his face were priceless.  It was, hands down, the best moment of my entire week. 

G has had kind of a difficult week.  I'm hoping he's just going through a new developmental phase and the rockiness will be over soon.  Monday and Tuesday were very rough days at the babysitter's house.  He was screaming and crying a good portion of both days.  That is SO not his normal personality.  In fact it's the complete and total opposite of his personality.  He did better on Wednesday and Thursday, but he stayed home those days.  My sister was visiting over her spring break from school, so she got to have lots of snuggle time.  Hopefully he doesn't go back to screaming tomorrow.  I think the best part about my sister being with him these last two days is all the pictures she took.  I have had such a hard time taking pictures of him like I used to.  It's easy when you're home all day, but it's one of the last things I think of now that I'm back at work.  I hate that I don't have as many as I did in the past, but I guess that's part of it.  I just have to figure out a better system for taking them. 

Well here comes the best part of the blog post.  Pictures!  :o)  My sweet boy at 12 weeks old!

The world's most precious little face!

So sleepy after a day of shopping :o)

Can this kid get any cuter?!?! 

12 Weeks Old! 

11 Weeks...Where Has the Time Gone?!

I'm probably sounding like a broken record by now.  I think every one of my posts since G was born has had a "time is going too fast" type line.  I almost have to pinch myself in order to believe that he's practically 3 months old!  I honestly don't feel like the 9 months of my pregnancy should be up yet, much less having a baby who is almost 3 months old.  The last year has been the fastest one of my life I think.  I thought the anticipation and planning of a wedding was exciting, but it was nothing compared to the anticipation of having a baby. 

G and I have made it through the first two weeks of me being back at work.  It's definitely been way harder on me than it has on him, but that's no surprise really.  Thankfully the only day with tears was day one.  I've been much better since then.  He is doing so many new fun things at the babysitter's.  Since their son is 5 months older than G he has lots of fun toys we don't have yet.  He's spent time in the Jumparoo and LOVED it!  We told Daddy that it may be time to invest in one :o)  He took his first walk around the neighborhood in the front pack carrier.  Kim took both boys and their dog for a walk earlier this week.  G was in the carrier strapped to her chest and her son was in the stroller.  I'm sure it was quite the sight!  I put him in his high chair for the first time this week.   He thought rolling around the kitchen in it was a lot of fun!  He's becoming so animated and reactive to things.  It's so cute to watch him reach for toys and "talk" to them.  He loves his activity mat because of the mirror.  He will lie there and stare at his reflection for the longest time. 

His biggest accomplishment is SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!  I think it is safe to say that it is no longer just a fluke.  For the last week and a half he has slept a minimum of 7 hrs straight every night.  Most nights this past week he has done 10 straight hours.  It's such an amazing feeling to not get up at 2am!  He must have been going through a bit of a growth spurt recently.  He's been taking 4 hr naps at the babysitter, eating 5-6 oz bottles at each feeding and not staying awake for much more than a bottle.  I bathed him earlier in the week and went to put his pj's on.  The jammies I decided to put on him fit him two days earlier.  I put them on, tried to zip them and had to REALLY work to get the zipper up.  He was all of a sudden too long for them.  I couldn't believe it.  Matthew and I decided to measure him Thurs. evening to see just how much he'd grown.  At his two month check up he was 22in.  When we measured him he was 25!  We measured twice to make sure we had the right number, and we came up with the same thing the second time.  I couldn't believe G had grown 3 inches in the last 2 1/2 weeks!  No wonder his jammies didn't fit anymore :o) 

This weekend he's enjoying time at Grandma and Grandpa's.  Aunt Cindy is home and here to play too.  She is on spring break and is coming to our house in a few days and is going to babysit during the middle of the week.  They are both very excited for snuggle time! 

He's one busy little guy.  Those arms and legs are in constant motion.  It's so cute you can't help but smile and laugh while watching him! 

11 Weeks!

Playing in the Jumparoo!  I love it!!!

Going for a walk...I don't know about this...

First time in my high chair.  Such a big boy!

10 Weeks Old...What a week!

Well this was it.  The week I'd been dreading since before Griffin was born.  My maternity leave was over.  Of course last week was the fastest week of my life.  I feel like I blinked and it was over.  My emotions started to run wild Sunday night.  I was rocking G to sleep and just lost it.  The tears flowed like rain.  He of course was fine and non the wiser, but I wound up crying myself to sleep that night as well.  Matthew thought I'd officially lost it.  Monday morning rolls around (shortest night EVER) and as soon as I got him out of bed the boo-hooing started all over again.  I wound up redoing my makeup 3 times and decided I needed to take it with me.  Everytime I'd stop crying long enough to touch it up, something would upset me again and it would be all for nothing.  I knew leaving him was going to be hard, but there is honestly no way anyone can prepare you for what it feels like to leave your baby.  Mommy guilt is 100% real.  He may not know the difference but I sure do.  At one point I picked him up from his bouncy seat, and just stood there hugging him and sobbing.  Matthew was finally starting to understand just how hard this really was.  I wasn't just trying to be dramatic, my heart was honestly breaking.  I hadn't been away from him for more than a few hours total since the embryo transfer last April.  To be away from him for 8 hours in one day, and to do that five days in a row seemed like the worst form of torture ever. 

Matthew went with me to drop Griffin off for the first time.  I don't know if I could've done it by myself.  He had to encourage me to leave.  Telling G goodbye was just plain awful.  It's pretty bad when you make the babysitter cry too!  Thankfully she understood it was in no way directed at her abilities to care for him.  When you try as hard for something as we did for Griffin, it just seems wrong to not be with him all the time.  Matthew got me out the door and into my car and we went our seperate ways.  I of course was crying all the way to school.  As soon as I saw the members of my grade level I lost it all over again.  Thankfully everyone I work with has kids too...they get it.  I finally quit crying about 8:15.  At this point it had been pretty much steady for almost 3 hours.  In other words I was a hot mess.  Thankfully the kids didn't seem to notice! 

As the day went on I had pictures and updates texted to me, which definitely helped ease my anxiety.  He was doing great and happy as could be.  He napped well and ate well, so he was clearly not having any problems.  Mommy had the seperation anxiety!  Matthew called me just before lunch and asked if I wanted him to bring me lunch.  I was not about to turn that down so I told him to absolutely come for lunch.  I wasn't paying attention to when he walked into the lounge until I hear everyone go "awwwee!"  I turned around and not only was he carrying in lunch, but he also had a vase full of flowers with him as well.  He almost had me in tears again, but I managed to hold them back amazingly enough.  He earned the husband of the year award for that!  Everyone was pretty impressed by his gesture and thoughtfulness.  The flowers have been sitting on my desk all week and brighten my mood whenever I'm feeling sad and missing my little guy. 

Thursday G turned 10 weeks!  Double digits already!  It really doesn't seem possible.  This time last year we were getting ready to start meds for IVF.  I can't believe how time has flown.  One month from now will be a year since our embryo transfer and our lives changed forever :o)

Well if you hung with me through this marathon post, THANKS!  If you scrolled straight to the bottom for the pictures I don't blame you a bit.  That's the best part of the posts if you ask me!  So without further adieu here are pics from G's first week at the babysitter and turning 10 weeks old!

My first day at the babysitter's

Home after my first day at the babysitter's

Chillin in the Bumbo!

So sleepy...

Such a big boy!  Sitting in his high chair for the first time!

My flowers from Matthew & G on my first day back at work

Two Months!

Well I did it again.  I'm horribly late in this week's post, but here we go anyway.  G was officially two months old on Leap Day!  We had his 2 month well-baby check up that morning.  The pediatrician checked him all out and said he looks great!  He is growing like a weed and his stats keep increasing at a great pace.  He was 12lbs, 22in long and his head was 15 in around now.  Unfortunately the appointment wasn't all fun...of course it also consisted in his first round of immunizations :o(  He was such a trooper though.  He got a total of three sticks, two in the right leg and one in the left.  Thankfully the nurses did the first stick at the same time so the whole process would go as quickly as possible.  His little eyeballs opened up wider than I've ever seen as soon as they stuck him, his face got beet red and then came the wail.  Poor little buddy :o(  They did the last shot and he was already crying so I don't think he really noticed it because he was too busy reacting to the first ones.  haha!  As soon as they were finished I was able to pick him up and snuggle him and he calmed down.  Once I got him all dressed we went out to the waiting room, he ate and then fell asleep.  He slept on my chest most of the afternoon.  If I put him down he'd cry and wimper, so in order to make him feel better we snuggled most of the day.  It's not like it took a whole lot of convincing to get me to agree.  :o)  He's definitely a world champion snuggler!  His poor little legs were so sore the rest of the day.  After waking up from his initial nap I changed his diaper, which normally he enjoys.  Lying on the changing table and wiggling all over is one of his favorite things to do.  Not that day.  Poor little guy just laid there and cried and cried and cried.  Whenever I had to move his legs he'd just cry harder.  I finally broke down and gave him a bit of Tylenol which basically just wiped him out so he could sleep some more.  That night wasn't too horrible, but we were definitely up and down a little more than usual.  At 5am he got more Tylenol and that put him out for a few more hours.  More sleep for Griffin and more sleep for Mommy!  Thankfully the day after he was much better and had returned to his happy little self :o) 

On Friday we went to visit G's babysitter.  Since I start back to work on Monday we took all of his things over to her house so they would be there and ready; less to take on the first day.  It will be hard enough as it is!  I showed her our typical nap time routine, and put him down for a nap while we were there.  Of course he didn't sleep very long, but hopefully he gets used to the new place quickly and doesn't have too much trouble napping.  We had a little playdate with the babysitter's son who is 5 months older than G, so they could start getting used to being together, then it was time to go home.  He was worn out from the busy afternoon and of course fell asleep as soon as we got home. 

We also got to take our first trip to the After-hours Peds office at one of the hospitals in town.  After crying and fussing and being nothing like his usual happy, bubbly self I finally called our pediatrician's office and talked to the nurse on call.  G really is not a fussy baby at all.  If he's fussy and crying he's usually hungry or tired.  We tried all the usual things to try and make him calm down and sleep but nothing worked very well.  Just when we'd get him to sleep and lay him down, he'd wake up crying 20 minutes later.  Once we reached the point where neither of us had any idea what else to do, then we called the doctor.  Of course he fell asleep before we left and slept in the car, his longest nap of the day.  We get to the ped's office and he's smiling and laughing at the nurse.  I'm sure she's thinking these crazy first time parents...this kid is fine!  The doctor comes in and small world, he is our usual pediatrician's brother.  I described the events of the day to him and he tells us it sounds like reflux.  We're wondered about reflux for a while, but it was never bad enough to really do anything about it.  He has started to spit up more often than he used to, and he said the waking up screaming after only a little while lying down is a classic reflux symptom.   We've now elevated the mattress in his crib on one end, have started putting rice cereal into his bottles, and he's napping either in a swing or propped up on a Boppy pillow.  Hopefully all of these things will help and he won't need any kind of reflux meds.  It is something he'll eventually outgrow, but it's definitely a pain right now!  I shouldn't complain though, it could be much worse. 

I've been trying to make the weekend last as long as possible, but unfortunately it seems to be going faster than normal.  My last week at home went faster than any week I can ever remember.  I feel like I went to bed Monday night and woke up and somehow instead of it being Tuesday it was Sunday and my last day at home with my little guy.  I know he is going to be well cared for, but it doesn't make leaving him any easier.  I've only been away from him for about 5 hours total since he was born.  To almost double that amount of time the first day is not an easy thing to stomach.  I never used to think I'd be happy staying home all the time.  I always thought I'd get bored and need something to do, but now that it's time to go back I'm singing a different tune.  Hopefully the first week goes well.  He will have no problem I'm sure.  I, on the other hand, will probably be counting down the seconds until the day is over and I get to see my baby again.  Stay tuned for the report once the first week is completed!

To end this post on a MUCH happier note than all my bellyaching over going back to work...here are some of the pics from this week and G's big 2 month bday :o)

Pre-immunization...

How we spent the afternoon post-immunizations.

My happy baby

Two months old!

8 Weeks!

Wow...I think I say this every time I post, but time really is flying.  Griffin is 8 weeks old!  How in the world is that possible?!  He's smiling all the time now.  If your camera shutter is fast enough you can get a great picture of his adorable little grin.  I've been lucky enough, and really just taken enough pics with my phone to snap a few, in spite of the shutter not being very fast.  I keep telling Matthew a camera upgrade may be in order. 

He's also been giggling more which is just the greatest sound!  He really is such a happy baby.  Aside from getting fussy when he's hungry, and let's face it, don't we all get fussy when we're hungry?!?!  :o)  He's incredibly easy going.  Now we just need to get a full night's sleep!  It's still early, he may not sleep through the night for a while, but his mommy would be SO appreciative if he decided to start that new little trick by the time I go back to work in just over a week.  I have a feeling it probably won't be the case, but a girl can dream. 

This week G and I were on our own for a couple of days.  Matthew had to go out of town overnight for work on Wednesday and Thursday.  I have to say we did pretty well!  It's been nice having M back to relieve me a little bit, but for our first overnight just the two of us, I'd call it was a success!

Next week's big event is his 2 month check up.  That means shots :o(  I am anxious to see how much the little guy has grown since our impromtu visit a couple of weeks ago.  He definitely feels much heavier!  Matthew thinks he's bordering on 12lbs now.  I just can't believe he's almost doubled his weight since birth!  He's growing like a weed! 

Until next time...here is his 8 week picture.  I told you he was a happy boy!

Griffin's Baptism

Sunday was G's big day.  He was baptised at church, and was able to share it with lots of wonderful family!  My parents came over from Indiana, my sister came down from Chicago and my aunt Jean came up from Evansville.  Matthew's aunt, uncle and cousin drove up from Decatur for it as well. 

The weekend started with my birthday on Saturday.  The dreaded Big 3-0.  Thankfully it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be.  We picked my aunt up from the airport, and she got to see our house for the first time.  The last time she was here was our wedding, and we didn't have our condo yet.  It was so nice to spend the day with family and catch up.  For my birthday dinner we all went to a hibachi bar, and it was so much fun!  The food was delicious, and I think everyone had a great time.  Of course they had to tell the waitress it was my birthday so I got the full bday treatment :o)  My very own hibachi chef hat, happy birthday was sung and I the special birthday desert.  We're not excactly sure what that desert was but the whipped cream on it sure was delish!  Lol!  After dinner we went for frozen yogurt.  It was a great way to begin my 30's. 

G's baptism went wonderfully.  He was such a good boy.  Even with the bright lights of the sanctuary shining in his eyes he was good.  He didn't even fuss when the pastor poured the water on his head.  Once church was finished we had a great lunch to celebrate G's special day.  Even though he won't remember it, it was a wonderful memory for Mommy.  A year ago I wasn't sure we would ever have the opportunity to baptize our child.  What a difference a year makes!  He is such a special little boy and we are thankful every day for this amazing little blessing that God has given us!

After our lunch to celebrate G's special day

With Aunt Cindy, his godmother

My 30th birthday dinner

Frozen yogurt...yum!