3 months

I keep saying I'm going to post more and then not doing it. I'm going to stop promising and just do it when I can. (I'm way way behind on Neil's first Pirates and Pens games!)

Love the faces he makes- here he raised his eyebrows, which he does a lot

Right after the 2 month mark, Neil started sleeping in his crib consistently and "overnight." At his 2 month appointment which was the day he turned 2 months, they weighed him and upped his dosage of medicine for reflux. That stuff is amazing- as soon as it kicked in he started sleeping 6-7 hours.

We don't have another appointment until 4 months, and it's a few days after he's 4 months old so we'll see if I include weight/height in the 4 month update I post.

Neil has discovered his hands and likes to suck on them a lot. He also seems to have discovered his feet although it's accidental so far. He is definitely smiling at us and also kind of laughing but I wouldn't mark down that he has laughed for the first time because it's just like a single "ha." And although he doesn't associate specific sounds with objects, he definitely has the m and h sounds down now. Maybe the b as well. When I say "Hi Neil" there are times he says the hi part back, kind of. It's really cute.

Neil is grabbing toys now- at least holding onto them and kind of getting them into his mouth. And he is drooling a lot (more towards the end of month 2 close to 3 months) but no signs of any teeth yet. I've heard some people say it can be as early as 3 months or as late as 7-8 months.

Starting to touch his feet with his hands

Neil is also turning into quite the acrobat. He is starting to definitely roll onto his side so we're wondering if he's getting close to rolling over (from back to front). Tummy time is much better, especially since I got the tip from a friend to use the boppy pillow, which Neil likes a lot more than lying on the floor.  He moves his legs and butt and it looks like he's already trying to crawl (I've heard that's practice for eventually crawling). And in the crib, overnight, he starts out with his head in one direction and somehow wiggles his way while still swaddled so that he's in the opposite direction or "upside down". It's cute to check in on him and see his legs sticking out of the crib or whatnot.

Speaking of swaddling, we are still swaddling him although I'm not sure he really needs it anymore. I don't think he's startling as much if he is at all. Also, he wiggles around so much that he now gets his hand or hands out and ends up sucking on them. One night we tried to put him to bed unswaddled and he didn't do as well going to sleep and staying asleep. I am wondering if this is part of his bedtime routine and the signal that it's time to go to bed for the night.

At the 12 week point my FMLA was done and I returned to work. I will hopefully have a separate post for that soon. It has kind of sidetracked progress with Neil as far as sleeping through the night but I'm hoping once he adjusts we'll be back to sleeping 6-7 hours every night again.

I'm still not really exercising, partly because of time and now that I'm back at work I'm not getting even close to as much sleep (less at night again and no naps). I'm just really tired. I'm still about the same weight although walking up and down the stairs at work over and over to pump in the "mother's room" will hopefully help me lose just a bit more weight.

The weather has warmed up so we are taking more walks outside and we took Neil on his first trip to the zoo. He was less than impressed and pretty much slept the whole time. But we got a membership and as he gets older I'm sure he'll appreciate it more.

Our 5th anniversary

Happy 5th anniversary to my husband and myself!

Honestly, it has not felt like 5 years. This time has just flown by. We have our ups and downs, as any couple does (and if they don't admit it they're lying!) and I would do everything all over again, even some of the bad stuff before I even met Dave because it led me to where I am today. Our wedding day was one of my best days in my entire life. We wanted to just celebrate with our friends and family, and we did!

The first time we saw each other on our wedding day (before the wedding,
helped calm my nerves about walking down the aisle and having all eyes on me)

Doing a shot with my sister

The wedding party!

Dave,

I love you with all my heart. I wouldn't change anything from the past 5 years. I'm so happy with you, and we have been able to work through any issues we do have, which I think is so important. If we ever get to the point where we aren't working on things, that would be a sign of an unhealthy marriage. We've had a beautiful baby together. I can't wait to see what our son turns out to be- a combination of the two of us together. I know that priorities have shifted becoming a family instead of just the two of us but we're keeping it together and still going strong! I could never have asked for a better husband. You are so selfless and you really help balance out my impatience, stubborness and hasty decision making. You do so much for me and I can't even put into words how much you mean to me. I love you!

Jen

2 months

So when this posts it will actually be more like 2 months and a week almost. I find it very hard to do anything that takes two hands. I can do things with one hand, while I nurse Neil, so I'm catching up on books on my Kindle and games on my phone, but typing on the laptop or anything like that is impossible. Making things is also hard. I keep getting things like carrots or bagels but then I never get to slicing up the carrots or making the bagel (yeah I know that's pretty easy). When I have time to do stuff with two hands, I have such a long list that it takes awhile to get things done and I have to admit I kind of forget to eat/make stuff to eat so then I end up munching on what's the easiest. Which is maybe not the best for my weight.

At Neil's 2 month doctor visit, he weighed 12 pounds even  (44th percentile) and was 24 inches in height (89th percentile).  He's catching up on the weight curve! The doctor said that he's below the curve that shows the weight and height combined together- his weight is a little low for his height. Go figure with these two families though.

We figured out that Neil has reflux. This has fixed a lot of the fussiness with him. Now the biggest issues are gas and sleep. Gas... I think part of the problem is taking his reflux medicine. He doesn't like it and gulps air. And if he was just grunting gas would be fine but there are times he screams and shrieks. That I can't take.

Sleep has been touch and go. Every so often we can get him in the crib and when he really goes he's in there for 4-6 hours. But that's only one night here or there.

Neil is starting to smile, really enjoys playing in his activity frame (kicks the piano on the end a lot and really moves the toys around with his arms although he's still not realizing that those arms and hands are his), has a lot more alert time, and responds to us. He makes a lot more noises than just crying and grunting now and sometimes when I talk to him he will coo and "talk" back. He's definitely turning into my little man. I love him so much.

Nursing is still going well and I'm starting to build up a supply because I go back to work in a few weeks. I'm not sure I'll be able to pump at work as much as I need to, so that might end nursing. I am hoping to continue though. I am surprised that it is a real bonding experience (as much of a pain as it is to try to work around it and do things like go to Penguins games, etc. because nursing in public is HARD) and we've saved a lot of money on formula already. Not to mention of course the health benefits for both Neil and me.

Neil has now been to 4 Penguins games (the 4th was after the 2 month mark so maybe I shouldn't mention that one) and also after the 2 month mark he went to his first Pirates game, the home opener for the season. I'll make some separate posts talking about attending the games when I get some more time.

I'm trying to give Neil more tummy time to develop his shoulder and ab muscles but he doesn't like tummy time on the floor.  He loves to look over our shoulders and definitely is holding his own head upright and looking around.

I am doing well. I can exercise but I haven't been- just because it's hard to find the time when Dave isn't around. Now that I'm doing the babywearing, I should try to do that and walk on the treadmill. I wish the weather would warm up and then I could walk outside- I would do that every day if I could. And I'd rather run outside than on the treadmill (but again I need Dave around for that and the weather has been awful- we've even gotten some snow at the end of March). I fluctuate between 3 pounds over prepregnancy weight and 6 pounds over prepregnancy weight, which is probably partly not being consistent about how/when I weigh myself. Once I go back to work I will be better about the consistency.

Things are still good- Neil is so cuddly, he must take after his mom! ;) I'm nervous about going to work and hoping sleeping will get better but other than that we're just enjoying having Neil around. He's a great kid already.

Baby Wearing