Rhymes With Orange

Awake

It's 4:30am, and I am making coffee. Why? Because my darling son has decided that now is a good time to be awake, "Look Mama! Look! See my hands! When I kick really hard, I can make my bouncy seat bounce!  Wanna see? Yay! Squeal! Giggle! Look! I see the kitty! Hi kitty!"

I've followed all the advice of the books when it comes to late night feedings and so far they've served me well: Keep the lights off, make it clear that we are only awake to eat and not to play, etc. Yet, here I am. *sighs*

Off to make another pot.

6 weeks 3 days (Formerly 5 weeks 5 days)

I started writing this almost a week ago. Those two minutes? That's all I was allotted for the whole week apparently =p

I have exactly two minutes to type before my son wakes up. Let's see how I do.

Daniel has been growing way to fast the last week and a half. He's not only smiling a lot, but he's laughing and yesterday he rolled over. Our five week old rolled over. I nearly wet myself. At first thought it was a fluke. Maybe he just got lucky, and his arm was pinned under his tummy or something, so we set him back up, and he did it again and again and again. Holy frickin' cow. Who told him he was allowed to do that??? I haven't baby proofed anything! I haven't even vacuumed the carpet in a long time...never mind that though.

Let's get to the cute content.

Nummy, nummy chubby cheeks =)

One Month

Daniel is four weeks old, and I can scarce believe it. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was enormously pregnant and miserable with this big baby flailing around inside me?

He had a check a up yesterday, and he is now 9lbs 10oz and 21 inches long. He can hold his head up completely on his own, look over his shoulder at noises behind him, use his legs to push himself backwards when lying down, and he's begun reaching for objects much to Eli and Chloe's dismay.

Danny has an absolutely textbook case of colic. It comes complete with our pediatrician's deepest sympathy and a pamphlet. The screaming is killing me. I know that nothing is wrong. He's dry, fed, burped, comfortable, not sick, and he has my complete attention. He just wants to scream, but it physically hurts me to hear his scream. I just want to scoop him up and make it better. Kiss the booboo, make the bad dream go away, fix the broken toy...make him happy. I'm his mama and that's what I should be able to do, right? To make matters worse, he refuses to sleep unless he's in an upright or only slightly reclined position, so not much sleeping has been done by me. Mike has been providing relief whenever possible, but he has to be awake at 6am to get ready for work. Danny won't lie down awake for even a few seconds either, so I'm usually one handed most of the day.

It hasn't all been bad. When the screaming is over, he's charming. He's been trying so hard to smile. It's happened once or twice where he actually gave me a smile that wasn't gas, but it seemed to surprise him as much as it did me and afterward he was all, "Dude. What WAS that?" He continues to make the fishy lip face much to my utter delight. It's so precious that my heart melts each and every time. I know, I know. No pictures of real smiles or fishy lips yet, but they are as elusive as Bigfoot or the lochness monster only appearing when you least expect it and never when a camera is handy. Also, all of these pictures are of him sleeping because cameras equal screaming. Another example of just how much like Mike he is ;)

I went out by myself for the first time last night. I realized that it was the first time I'd been alone since August. It was a very odd feeling.

Colic can bite me

Hi! This is a terribly short post, but we have a textbook case of colic, and I haven't been able to put Daniel down for two weeks. Also, I have not slept more than two hours a night in  two weeks. Whee. There are new pictures in his album though! I will try to post some actual content soon. I promise!

This post brought to you by sleep deprivation. Also the letter B.

Here are new pictures and an update (yay!) Late yes, but like showering and sleep, posting has fallen to the wayside.

Daniel is eighteen days old, and I cannot believe how much he's changed. He's now 20 3/4 inches long. His face is no longer the face of a squishy newborn but that of a baby. His chin is growing more defined, and he's learning how to control his facial expressions. The best thing ever is when he looks at me wide eyed and starts making fishy lips.

No real live smiles as of yet, but the corners of his mouth turn up just a hair when he gets excited, so I'm hoping soon. A little less than a week ago, his cowlick appeared. It's very similar to Mike's and gives him the appearance of having a fauxhawk. All attempts to smooth it have been unsuccessful. I think it's adorable though, so no matter =)

He's a pretty easy going baby. He's not bothered by loud noises or crowded places. He naps well and isn't too bad about sleeping at night. He does have very strong likes and dislikes. He is particularly fussy about having his diaper changed, and he's not too fond of clothing. Sometimes I think he'd prefer to go around naked. He hates bathes, but doesn't seem to mind showering with me (I think that has something to do with the easy boob access.) He loves music, but cries when I sing to him. I could have sworn that all the kicking he used to do when I sang to him while I was pregnant meant he liked it, but I guess I was wrong!

Sometimes when i look at his face, I swear I can see him a few years down the road as a little boy. It's enough to make me miss him while he's snuggled in my arms.

Week 2...and a day

Motherhood is amazing. I'm not gonna lie; it has it's hellish moments. Like when you find yourself standing in the kitchen at 11:30pm with a gassy, screaming infant who has been nursing for over an hour already and nothing else will make him happy, you've got breast milk dripped all down your shirt, you need a shower desperately and the only thing you've consumed in the last six hours are two whole wheat poptarts and about a gallon of water. And you look around thinking dear God, what was I thinking? Why am I doing this again? And then the screaming baby lets out a really loud fart, sighs deeply, smiles at you and falls asleep snuggled under your chin, and you think, "Oh yeah, that's why." =)

Everything I never knew I needed.

A more detailed post will come later today (hopefully. I may be writing it one handed though. I think Danny is hitting a growth spurt.) He has his two week check up in a few hours, so I'll post the details. Also some beautiful new pictures =)

One Week

So I've lost 31 pounds this week. I'm within 2 pounds of my prepregnancy weight. Please don't hate me though, I started at 210, and my belly is hanging 5 inches from where it should be. Plus I smell like cottage cheese, so we're even.

Danny has changed so much this week. His hair is starting to show some reddish blond like mine. His eyes are still blue, but are slowly getting lighter like Mike's. He is the most peaceful baby too. Noise puts this child to sleep. Vacuum? No problem. Noisy restaurant? Sleeping like an angel. The Blue Angels' putting on an hour long show directly over our apartment? Out cold. God is incredible.

My brain is pretty fried right now, so instead of trying to write real content, here are some pictures of Daniel. Because we all know that's what you're really here for ;)

I swear I didn't eat his toes...much.

Daniel Leland Watrous is finally home! He looks just like his daddy, has a head full of dark hair, big blue eyes and has become a perminant fixture on my chest.

I wound up having a c-section because of how big he was which wasn't what I had planned, but after two hours of pushing and not making even an inch of progress we decided to go ahead with the surgery before something went wrong. After they delievered him, the doctors all agreed that it had been the best choice because there was no way his head was going to fit.

So we are home, and we are healthy. He is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, and I cannot stop sniffing his head. It smells that good.

Thanks for all the well wishes! Happy Mother's Day!

My very best knitting project ever (Psalms 139:13)