I can't believe I'm actually blogging about this...

But you do weird things as a first-time mom. Or maybe it's because I'm the mom of a preemie. Who knows. But here it is.


The Kid...



...Can now...



...POOP!



All by himself! I'm so proud. All this time we've been depending on suppositories. But some time in the last two weeks or so, The Kid has started to genuinely poop all by himself. I'm talkin' real, red-in-the-face, grunting pooping.

If there's one thing I've learned, it's to celebrate the small accomplishments.

And that all bad things must end. I won't miss administering those suppositories.

Can you believe...

This was my child.



Two days old. The first time I heard him cry. The nurse pulled a lead off of his paper-thin skin.

It makes me cry now.

Ah...The Simple Things in Life

I'm pretty sure the following toy costs something like $4 at WalMart. I'd buy a new one every day if it would make my baby this happy. Fortunately, I don't have to.



Ah, to be a child.

Schedules

The Kid and I have come to agree on a very agreeable schedule. :)

8:30-9 AM: I wake him and feed him (nurse and bottle)
9:30 AM-12 PM: Morning nap
12 PM: Eat fruit/veggies and top off with a bottle
3 PM: Bottle
3:45-5:30 PM: Afternoon nap.
6 PM: Eat cereal and top off with a bottle
9 PM: Nurse (if I can get him to) and bottle
9:30 PM: Bed.

Yep. He sleeps for about 11 hours every night, and naps for a total of about 4 hours during the day. I don't remember the last time he woke up at night, and I don't remember the last time he woke me up in the morning. I often have to wake him up from his morning nap, too.

And he's pretty flexible. Any given day this varies by a half hour either way. Or if I need to get going earlier in the morning, I just wake him up earlier and adjust his schedule to follow. Then he ends up going to bed earlier, and sleeping longer that night. It's nice. Or sometimes, if he wakes up earlier, he has time for one more feeding during the day, and we all know The Kid can use as much food as he can get. He needs to beef up those scrawny little legs.

This leaves me with time to pump at 9:30 AM, 1 PM, 7 PM, and 10 PM. Not a lot of time for housework, but hey! At least I don't have twins!

He still has plenty of time to play!

All that sleep makes for a happy boy!

How do/did you do it? I'd welcome any tips on managing the chaos!

The OT said to...

And yes, I DO do everything the OT says.

(PS--They're called "hard munchables." I think The Kid was confused by the fact that his new teething toy has flavor.)

Eight Months!

I can't believe another month has gone by.

At eight months, The Kid:

• Still wears size 1 diapers
• Still wears 0-3 month clothing
• Weighed 11 lbs 14.5 ounces two days ago--and may be up to 12 lbs by now! Big guy!
  
• Eats solid foods! He has one fruit/veggie per day (just orange veggies and bland fruits) and 1-2 tablespoons of rice cereal per day. His favorites are squash and sweet potatoes. His least favorite are bananas and pears.
• Has eczema. Bad. All over his chin, cheeks, arms, thumbs, and the backs of his legs. He has a steroid cream that we use twice a day now. The Doc said that it could be caused by a dairy allergy. That means I'd have to cut dairy out of my diet. And the hundreds of ounces of milk in my freezer would be garbage. And The Kid would have to have formula to supplement (unless I pumped my life away to increase my supply).
• May be trying to wean himself. Since we came back from Minnesota he's only been willing to nurse in the morning. Yet another reason why pumping my life away would stink. Good-bye spare time.
• Loves it when Mommy sings to him. It makes him smile every time.
• Babbles with consonances! He says, "mama, dada, nana," and "baba." He doesn't know what those words mean, but he loves to make the sounds!
• Can make a "pop" sound with his lips. Cute. Very.
  
• Will never be able to play for the MLB. He's had too many steroids. ;)

Our Flat Stanley photo shoot is getting more difficult. The Kid has mastered the art of grabbing what he wants--and he'll roll to get it. Oh, and he likes fun colors. I had to keep his attention by holding a toy by the camera. He knew he couldn't grab it, so he was giving me puppy dog eyes to get me to give it back to him. Sweet kid.

Then

Now

ThenNow

Here is a video of The Kid babbling. I only caught a little bit of it, at the very beginning, but the whole thing is cute. :D




Here is a video showcasing The Kid's smarts. Thanks, Nana, for the fun toy!




Here is a video to make you all jealous. I get to hear that beautiful sound every day. :P

Mosquitoes...messed up schedules...major lack of sleep...MINNESOTA!

The Boy, The Kid, and I took a week to go to The Northwoods. It was great. The Kid made it back to The Valley without a single mosquito bite. I was proud.

We got to meet my new nephew, The Busy Bee. He is only three months older than The Kid and about twice his size. Literally.

We swam in the lake with these cute nephews.

We saw TWO parades with these cutie pies.

The Kid was stylin' in his "firecracker" romper.

We went to Lake Itasca, where the Mighty Mississippi River starts.

The Kid dangled his feet in.

We took pictures with all six cousins. Too cute.

We visited Paul Bunyan and Babe, his blue ox.

The Kid made a new friend. Bob.

They had a little chat.

And now we miss it all.