5am anyone?... Anyone?

Boo-Boos woke up at 5:07 this morning...and I actually feel good. This may be because SHM and I went to bed at 9:30pm (we are no longer able to keep pre-baby hours no matter how we try, we can't even watch shows that start at 9, we won't finish them, thank god for DVR). Or maybe its because Boos slept straight through from 7pm- 5am. AHHHHH uninterrupted sleep is a dream! About a month ago we were living large with an 8-6 schedule and feeling quite smug. However, we made some tweaks to create a nighttime routine and things started to go awry... Maybe it was our tweaks, maybe it was the infamous "sleep regression" that I have read so much about, but whatever the cause, the first night he woke up at 8:15, 10:30, 1:30 and 6:00am. A week into it he was still waking up two to three times a night... Until last night- Hurrah! A full sleep through!

So it is now 6:00am, we are watching the US Open (recorded from last night), and drinking coffee and eating a breakfast assortment from 7-11 because even though the website says that Dunkins is open at 5:00am, the two locations within a mile of us are not. Oh, and why not make our own breakfast at this fantastic hour? Because construction has FINALLY begun on our new kitchen (super exciting), and we have no working stove or sink and trying to do anything related to food in our bathroom sink is just not quite right.

Always Replenish the Diaper Bag

Boos and I ran a few errands the other day.

Sidebar: Right after I established Monkers as Baby’s official blog name, we promptly stopped calling him that. He is now Boos. Short for Boo-Boos.

We drove here and there and ended up at the Mall. This is my favorite mall since it added a new fancy section with trees, classical music and fountains (or the sound of running water? Now that I think of it, I’ve never actually seen a fountain. Maybe I am just imagining the water sound because it’s so serene, huh. Anywaaayy). I have recently found that not only do they have large beautiful restrooms, but there are PRIVATE nursing rooms. PRIVATE. With a comfy chair, your own sink and changing area. And it’s oh-so-clean (I mean, as far as mall bathrooms go).
So I like this mall and Boos and I are having a great outing. He’s being perfect and calm and entertaining himself with his bug toy so I am able to return my things without incident and (bonus) have lunch. On my way out, I think that I better check his diaper, lest I suffer through 30 minutes of crying on the way home. Plus, it’s excuse for me to use the amahhzing nursing rooms. So we head in, get set up, and holy crap- literally. I find a poop explosion that has come up his back, through his clothes (2 layers) and leaked out to the car seat. CRAP (literally). I quickly grab my diaper bag- ONE diaper- phew, that was a close one. Then I grab the wipes- TWO wipes- err- that’s not going to cut it. I quickly scan around, find anti-bacterial gel in my bag and grab some paper towels to create homemade wipes. Poopy clothes have been tossed into the sink to be soaked (not so easy when the faucet is automatic and on a timer). I save the two wipes for that cute little bum and YES, I do still have a spare outfit so I do not have leave the mall with a naked baby. Lesson of the Day: Always check supply levels BEFORE leaving the house.

Meanwhile, Boos considers this to be the funniest moment of his life. I have a picture of it all but I'll spare you. This one was taken at lunch, before everything went to... poop.

Breathing into the Wind

I often forget that babies are new. New to life and so new to everything in life. Since Baby is a winter baby, he is on the lower end of the bell curve when it comes to experiencing things outside. His environment has stayed pretty stable, pretty consistent and always comfortable (lucky Baby). There have been a few jaunts into the great outdoors thanks to our mild winter (and global warming? err). But until recently, these jaunts have immediately put Baby to sleep, or have been calm days with no wind.
Then recently, SHM and I took Baby out on a beautiful and windy day. We ran several errands in town and then decided just spend time outside with Baby in the carriage. The sun was shining! The wind was blowing! And we look over and Baby is turning his head about, taking in weird gulps of air- what on earth? Then we realized that this was the same thing he did when we blew in his face, and then two and two came together- he didn't know how to breathe in the wind! EEEE! So cute!! It only took him a couple of seconds to figure it out, but those seconds were priceless and a reminder to us that even though WE feel quite aged and tired and like we've been doing this baby thing forever, HE is only 11 weeks old and every experience is brand new.

Also, from here on out, Baby is now being referred to as Monkers, short for Chunky Monkers, which, when said by SHM makes Baby smile the widest.

Stuffy Baby was Really Stuffy

In fact, stuffy Baby had a mild case of a fairly severe respiratory virus, RSV. What began as a small check-up with the pediatrician turned into a 2 night stay at the illustrious Emerson Hospital. Luckily it was just for observation, some saline nebulizing and some extended time in an oxygen tent. Baby was a trooper, wooing the nurses as he recovered. At the end of it, his lungs were clear, there was oxygen in his veins and he had slept longer at night then ever at home. He still has an old man cough in the morning, but otherwise, we are happy campers again.

Stuffy Baby

Nothing is sadder than a sick baby. Not serious sick, of course, I mean minor, inconvenient, but not worrisome, sick. This week I'm dealing with some stuffiness and coughing. No fever, and he's still able to eat and sleep, so it's not THAT bad, which makes it sad and funny when he sneezes his little sneezes and when he coughs his biddy coughs. Much like the way it's also sad and funny when your baby cries so hard his voice vibrates and his face turns red (to which I say "just put your leg down and I'll be done changing your diaper and we can all be happy jeeeeeez!!").
But this cold is making him grumpy and it's super sad to hear him coughing and sniffling and who knew that takes years for kids to learn how to blow their noses- doesn't it seem instinctive to want get all that out, as opposed to sniffling it back in?! I think so.
All we can do is turn on the humidifier, keep him upright, suction out his boogers after he sneezes, and snuggle him until he get better. Poor little boy.

6 weeks!

My son is 6 weeks old tomorrow! I can't believe we made it! 6 weeks. He's gained 3 pounds from his hospital discharge weight, and is an inch longer. He can pick his head up. He smiles and looks RIGHT AT us! Here's to the next 6 weeks being a little easier than the last:)

The Cutest Little Things

There are a lot of cute things about babies. Their little mini- ears, their little mini- toes, their little mini- fingers.The feature that seems to facinate the most people are fingernails. They are OH SO cute. SO teeny tiny!

They also, however, are sharp like razor blades. 10 mini razor blades shredding my chest, 10 mini razor blades, so sharp that when Jack sometimes scratches his face they make him look like he got into a rumble with an aggressive house cat. Oh and to top it off, they grow like weeds and getting him to keep still to cut them is as hard as cutting the nails of the previously mentioned aggressive house cat.