Dylan's 1 Month "Birthday"

Baby boy will be exactly 1 month old in just a few minutes.  He had his 1 month check up this morning and he is growing so much!  Here are D Man's stats:

Height - 21.5 inches, 50th percentile
Weight - 9 pounds 11 ounces, 47th percentile
Head Circumference - 14.6 inches, 27th percentile

He gained 2 pounds since his 4 day check up and grown 3 inches since birth!  The doctor is happy with his weight gain, sleeping patterns, eye movement and growth.

This past month has been full of new adventures.  Our family has expanded but it's hard to remember life without our "D Man."  Marissa is the greatest big sister you could ask for.  I know the next month will hold so many new adventures for us.  I was looking back on pictures and videos of Marissa and we will hopefully get Dylan's first smiles and coos within the next few weeks.

Chillaxin'

 Love these lashes <3

 First smile caught on camera

 Such a grumpy look, but he is a happy (grunty) baby.

 My handsome little boy

Look at these chubby cheeks! 

How can you not love this face?

 I think he's going to have his daddy's eyes. Love!

It's Winter?!?

Apparently winter hasn't gotten the memo...it was almost 70 degrees today.  Marissa, Dylan and I went to the park for a little fun.  I am loving being home with my kiddo's. :-D

4 Weeks

Dylan is 4 weeks old already.  We've settled into a nice routine and I'm feeling pretty good about life.  It's crazy, hectic and busy at times but I wouldn't trade it for the world.  Dylan is sleeping great.  He goes to bed around 9:30 or 10:00 PM and wakes between 3:30 and 4:00 AM.  Most of the time he goes right back to sleep after I nurse him but there's a few nights where he is up for an hour after he eats.  I can't complain too much though.  We introduced a bottle of pumped milk last Friday and have been offering a bottle a day in hopes of avoiding a bottle strike like Marissa had.  Some people have asked why I don't strictly bottle feed, honestly, I don't have the time to pump all day long and chase a very busy toddler around.  I also don't want to, nursing is such a great bonding experience for mom and baby and it's the best way to keep my milk production up.  I also loathe pumping.  I'm so not looking forward to returning to work and having to pump...but I do what I have to do, it's all worth it in the end.

4 weeks old:

My parents are coming to visit this weekend.  Dad had knee surgery last Friday so hopefully the road trip isn't too much on him.  I know they are excited to get some quality time with the grand babies.  I don't know if they will recognize Dylan.  He is growing and changing every day!

Marissa has teeth coming in all over the place, I can barely keep count.  I think she has 10, possibly 11 teeth now.  That's a lot of teeth in 5 months!

I have 8 weeks of maternity leave left, which I know sounds like a lot but considering the last 4 weeks flew by, it really isn't that much time.

I've been working on numbers with Marissa.  This is her saying "I'm One!"

 I love her pig tails. :)

I think I forgot to share Dylan's first bath picture, he was not and is still not impressed with bath time.  I'm sure that will change with time. 

Danny and I are going to see The Red Hot Chili Peppers in May.  I'm excited and it's something to look forward to!  It should be a good time. :)

Mommy & Me Monday

Sibling Saturday!

I sure do love these two munchkins!

What A Friday Night Looks Like

That's "Mr. D Man" To You...

I was holding out on sharing these photos until Dylan's birth announcements were sent out in the mail.  I had a little photo shoot with Dylan and Daddy's tie.  They didn't turn out exactly how I wanted but I still think they're pretty cute.

This is the one we used on his birth announcement

 A bad day at the office

 Uncle Fuzz came to visit his 1st nephew

So far I've survived 3 days at home with 2U2 by myself.  We have a nice little routine going on.  I even ventured out to the grocery store with both kids on my own on our first day, talk about ambitious. :)  It went surprisingly well!  

Dylan is doing great.  Last night he slept from 10:00 PM until 3:00 AM.  Talk about a happy momma!  We've been getting him in bed by 10 each night and that seems to be giving me the longest stretch of sleep if I go to bed right after he does.  He sometimes takes up to an hour to get back to sleep in the middle of the night by the time I change his diaper, feed him and get him settled back in bed.  He doesn't really cry, he just does a lot of grunting/fussing.  He grunts...a lot!  He must get that from his Daddy. :)  After the first night feeding I can pretty much expect him to wake again in 3 hours.  I know there's a 3 week growth spurt coming up so we'll see how that impacts his sleep.

Marissa is learning so much.  She is really good at pointing out animals and objects in her books and flash cards.  We're still working on getting her to say and pronounce her words but she is so smart.  She also loves stacking and using her building blocks.  Danny thinks she will be good at math and science...she certainly doesn't get that from me, good thing she has a computer scientist for a father.  

I can't believe Dylan will be 3 weeks old tomorrow.  Time is flying by so fast!  I'm really enjoying being home with my babies.  I get to play with Marissa, get dinner ready for when Danny gets home, the chores are (mostly) all done by the time he gets here and we get to spend quality time together.  Life is good. 

"D Man"

I've been trying to get some nice newborn pictures of Dylan on my camera (it's no easy task).  I need to learn how to use my Photoshop elements to edit the pictures, but in the mean time, here's a few of our squishy, grunty baby.

2 Weeks

Dylan is 2 weeks old today.  We took him for a weight check this morning and he is gaining weight perfectly!  He was down to 7 pounds 11 ounces a few days after birth, which is totally normal (most babies lose up to 10% of their body weight the first few days).  Today he was up 5 ounces from his birth weight and now weighs 8 pounds 6 ounces!  That means nursing is going well and our little boy is growing. :-D

Happy 2 Weeks, Dylan!

Surviving: Day 12

We're still alive...

Overall I think we're adjusting well to life with two under two (2U2).  I think we're settling into a nice routine.  I know the real test will be when Danny goes back to work next Tuesday and I'm home with both kids on my own.  I think I've got it under control though.  See how I'm using the term "I think" a lot?  Well, that's because I know we will have our good and bad days and there will be days when I have no idea what I'm doing, all routine and order will go out the window and chaos will consume our home.

Life with 2U2 is going better than I thought it would be.  I'm not sure that Danny is cut out for staying at home though.  It's been nice to have the company and extra helping hands but I can tell this just isn't his thing.  He will readily admit it, too.  It's tough, I won't lie...but it's going well.  I'm beyond exhausted by the end of the day, Marissa tests our patience at times, but she really is doing great.

Here's a quick overview of what we're up to:

Marissa now has 8 teeth.  I counted and felt around today and she has 8.  5 on the top and 3 on the bottom with another about to poke through.

Marissa adores her baby brother.  She loves giving him kisses, bringing him a toy or his pacifier and today she patted him on his back while I was burping him.  Such a sweet big sis.

The first few nights home Dylan had his days and nights mixed up.  One night (I believe it was our 2nd night home) he was awake from 10 PM until 3 AM.  Ouch.  Needless to say there were naps in our future and we kept Dylan awake the following evening and he slept much better!  We tried keeping him in the PNP bassinet in our room but he wasn't having that so he wound up in our bed.  By our 3rd night home we put him in his crib and he slept much better.

Nursing is going well.  He eats every 2 hours during the day and is giving me solid 3-4 hour stretches at night. He is eating really well so I hope he is back up to his birth weight at his 2 week check up on Friday.  We will introduce a bottle around 3-4 weeks old and continue to offer one at least every other day in hopes of avoiding the bottle strike like Marissa had.  I don't want to introduce the bottle too soon and cause nipple confusion and I also don't want to hurt my supply by offering a bottle too early.  People always assume you can just pump and give a bottle but it's not that easy.  Your body works on a supply and demand system and the baby is the best way to stimulate more milk production.  It's especially important during growth spurts that baby nurses on demand, otherwise you may be looking at supply issues.

Dylan's cord fell off on his 11th day.

We spend most of our days in PJs.  I know this is a big taboo to some people but at this point I don't care.

We had our first family outing and it went surprisingly well.  We went to Costco, the mall and Target.  I wore Dylan in the Beco Butterfly II and Marissa was in the stroller or the cart while we shopped.  We were in town for about 5 hours total and there were no major melt downs while we were out.  I call that a success.  I know it won't always be that easy but it was nice to get out of the house for a little bit.

Dylan is a paci boy.  Marissa never really took to the pacifier but Dylan seems to enjoy it in spurts.

....but he may be a thumb sucker like his big sister...time will tell!

I ordered Dylan's birth announcements today.  I can't wait until they come in and I can get them in the mail. 

Well, it's been a long day.  Time to enjoy a Guinness and relax.