2 Months Old!

Well, sweet boy, you are officially 2 months old! What an amazing and somewhat challenging last month we have had. When the month started, you were fussy and feisty for most of the afternoon and evening, sleeping only 2-3 hour stretches at a time, dealing with some pretty nasty acid reflux, never smiling, and weighed just over 8 pounds. Mommy and Daddy weren't too sure we would survive at that point and occasionally had moments of, "What did we do?!?" (Don't worry - we still loved you even then!) Flash forward to today, and you are smiling, laughing/giggling (as of the past two days), sleeping 5-hour stretches, and weigh over 12 pounds! What a difference a month makes!

This month we discovered the Bumbo chair, the Moby, and finally started taking the pacifier. You also fell in love with the bath and your swing thanks to your brilliant Aunt Sarah! Who would've known you wanted to swing so fast?!? You took your second trip to the lake (pictures to come in the next post) and went swimming for the first time! You LOVE the water! You typically go to bed sometime between 8:30 and 9:30, and you are still waking up two times to eat at night (typically at 2am with daddy and at 5:30 with mommy). We don't mind at all though and are so thankful for the 9pm - 2am stretch! :) We are hopeful that you will continue to stretch this time period out over this next month, so we'll wait and see! We sure do love you, baby boy!

Am I a horrible parent or a great parent...

...if watching my son poop is the highlight of my day? It's just so darn cute and makes me laugh every time!

Six Weeks Old!

Well, Carter, your one month birthday came...and passed...so, this will be a six weeks old tribute instead! You have kept me so busy during the day that I haven't had time to sit down and write this post until now. I'm sure you'll forgive me. :) Just before your one month birthday, we took our first trip to the lake! You loved riding in the boat and rocking in the Lazyboy chair with anyone who would hold you. You did great on the car rides...even though one of us had to sit in the back seat and feed or play with you from time to time to keep you happy. We are looking forward to many more trips to the lake this summer and can't wait for you to swim for the first time!

We had your 1 month check-up at the pediatrician and you are a healthy and growing little boy! You weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces (25th percentile) and were 22.5 inches long (75th percentile). So, little one, you are still long and lean like you were at birth. You have started battling a little bit of acid reflux so you hate being put on your back after eating. If we wait an hour or so, you will happily play on your activity mat, but put you on your back too soon and you are one unhappy camper. A few days ago, we started putting a tiny bit of rice cereal in your formula to keep it down and that seems to be helping! You take 4-5 ounces at each feeding and usually eat about 7-8 times a day. You definitely have a healthy appetite!

As far as sleep goes, we are still working on it. Most days, you nap like a champ and go down for 2-3 hours both in the late morning and mid-afternoon. You are usually awake in the middle of the day, so we do lunch dates or run errands between 11 and 2 or so. You then have another wakeful and happy period about the time daddy gets home and then we attempt bedtime around 7:30 or 8. That time of day can definitely be a challenge. You fight bedtime like nothing I've ever seen. Some days, you'd think we were poking you with fiery needles because you cry so hard and so intensely. Other days, you just fuss for a few minutes before going down, so we never quite know what we're going to get at night. You typically wake up around midnight, 3am, and then at 6am to eat. We are starting this week to see if we can eliminate the 3am feeding because you definitely don't need the food...we actually call you Frank the Tank because you typically eat about 34-36 ounces a day! (Most babies do 30-32, so we'll see if we actually NEED that feeding or not...) We are going to slowly cut that bottle back a little at a time and see if we can transition to the paci instead of the bottle at that time of day. We will see how it goes! Fingers crossed!

You spend most of your day swinging (a new favorite thanks to Aunt Sarah's idea of putting on high!), riding in the Moby, bouncing in your infant seat, eating and sleeping. You have recently started smiling from time to time and it just melts our hearts! You have the sweetest little smile! You may be exhausting, but we sure do love you, Carter!

What a Difference a Few Weeks Makes!

So, I went to dress Carter for the day, and I decided to put him in an outfit he hadn't worn in a little while. (19 days to be exact.) The first time I dressed him in this little romper, he was swimming in it. I could literally grab fistfuls of fabric off the middle. Not anymore! I could barely do the snaps around the legs and was SHOCKED to find how much he had grown!

10 Days Old

 

29 Days Old

First Two Weeks

As of today, we have been home for two weeks. In so many ways, time has flown by, and in so many other ways, I feel like we've been a little family forever. Carter has done such an amazing job putting weight on and sleeping. He went from 5 lb. 15 oz. and 19 inches long at his one week appointment to 6 lb. 12 oz and 20 inches long at his two week! (Picture at right is from his appointment.) We are just growing like a weed!

We have developed our little "routine" for mornings and bedtime, although we certainly don't stick to it everyday. In the mornings, Carter decides he's over the bed at around 7 or 7:30am, so we get up, change into daytime clothes, eat a bottle on the couch, and then he takes about a 2-hour nap in his bouncy chair. (We call it his baby lazy boy.)

After that, we are usually wide awake until about noon or 1pm. During that time, we eat more, "play" (which basically means stare at each other and make faces at this point), go for walks, or run errands. Around 1 or 2pm, we usually go back down for another 2-hour stretch, and we are currently trying to take this nap in our pack 'n' play. Some days it is successful (see below), other days, not so much.

We are then usually awake again from 4pm until 6 or 7pm when daddy comes home (best part of the day for us both!), and then we battle sleep until 9 or so when we begin our bedtime routine. Depending on the day, this routine includes a bath (which he LOVES!), a baby massage, a new diaper, pajamas, and a bottle in bed. We usually wake up twice during the night - the first dream feed is between 11pm and 1am, and the second dream feed is somewhere between 2am and 4am. After the first dream feed, we usually fight sleep for a little while, but we go back down like a champ after the second. We then wake up for the day sometime between 6am and 7:30am and start all over again! (Not bad for 2 weeks old!)

You make the BEST faces! Our favorites...

The Tweety Bird

 The Thinker

The Question

The Half-Smile

I could seriously stare at you all day and watch your faces. (And sometimes do.) Baby boy, you can be feisty, stubborn, and are sometimes difficult to understand, but you are a pure JOY to your mommy and daddy and really are an easy baby. You never cry without purpose (yet), love to just watch the world around you, and are such a handsome little man! It's only been 16 days, but it's already difficult to imagine life without you! We love you so much!

May 3, 2011 - He's Here!

Carter Wade Ezell was born at 2:41pm on Tuesday, May 3, 2011. The little nugget weighed just 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and was 19 inches long. He is happy, healthy, and the new love of his mommy and daddy's lives.

38 Weeks: Labor! Or not.

So, Wednesday night after work, we did our normal weeknight thing. Around 5:30, we leashed up the dog and went out for a good 30 or so minute walk like we usually do before starting dinner. Around 6, we got back home and decided to make a run to Sam's to stock up on a few staples before the baby got here. While we were walking around Sam's, all of a sudden I was struck with an excruciating crampy feeling and lots of pressure down low. It actually took my breath away and caused me to hunch over and wait for it to pass before I could continue walking. I got a few more of these as we finished our shopping and paid, so in the car, I started paying attention to the clock. I realized these little episodes were happening every five minutes. Blake very sweetly made us a simple dinner while I laid down to rest, and around 8:30, they hadn't stopped. I decided a call to the doctor was in order. After explaining my symptoms to her, she agreed that she thought I was in the beginning stages of labor. She encouraged us to stay at home until the contractions intensified (which she said could be hours or days even), so we got ready for bed, made sure our bags were ready to go, and waited.

The next morning, we were still waiting. The contractions hadn't stopped, but they also were not intensifying at all. I called in to work and told them I was not coming in and moved my afternoon appointment up to 10:45 that morning. Blake met me at the doctor, and we waited to hear how much progress I had made. And, drumroll....NOTHING. No more dilation. No more effacing. NOTHING. You would've thought she told me the baby died, I was so upset. It was such an emotional roller coaster to think you are about to meet your son and then to hear that it might be weeks longer. (Our induction isn't scheduled until the 13th, so it could be 2 more weeks until we meet the little man.) We left the doctor very defeated and went to have lunch to take our minds off it. I went back to work the next day for my last day there, and life went on as normal. Frustration does not even begin to describe it! :(

Since then, the contractions seem to have basically stopped, and we are just continuing to wait. I am done with work, so that's nice to have behind me. The waiting continues...until then, here is the week 39 picture we took last night before a wedding. Big, big boy!