Dane is 3 months!

When I was telling people 10 weeks ago that Dane was up till 2 am screaming and spitting up, they would always tell me, "Don't worry, by the time he is 3 months he will have grown out of doing that. Things will be so much better." At that point I was thinking, "3 MONTHS?! I HAVE TO WAIT 3 MONTHS?! I don't think I can get through one week of this!" Another friend told me, "Hang in there. The first 3 months are pretty much unbearable, but it gets a lot better after that."

Well, here we are! Dane is 3 months old and they were right. Things are so much better now.


His 3-month stats:

 

 

 15lbs .05oz 80%

     26 inches long 95.5%

     He is in 6-9 month clothes

 (Trying to get away--his new move.)

Feeding is going great! I think we have the whole breast feeding thing down now. Bottle feeding hasn't gotten much better. I got a fancy new bottle and I think it will do the trick...with practice.

 

( "Thank you, thank you very much")

Sleeping is good enough for now :-) We made the big step of putting Dane in his crib in his room now at night. I had been putting him in his crib for daytime naps here and there so he could get used to it. I kept telling myself that as soon as he wasn't waking up so often I would make the transfer. I couldn't bare the thought of having to actually get out of bed and walk to his room so many times in a night. But after deciding that this might not change anytime soon I just did it. Boy, am I glad I did! He still wakes up at 10, 1:30, 5ish, and 7 but the quality of sleep that I am getting inbetween is so much better. Now instead of waking up at every little sound, I only wake up when he is really hungry. Walking to his room isn't that bad either. I really think Heavenly Father blesses mothers with extra strength and endurance. That is the only way I can explain that I am still functioning after 3 months of little sleep. Also, no more swaddling for us!

(Dane and his friend, Roan, at 3 months. Still about the same size.)

Dane is getting much more smiley. It is so fun! He is also laughing now.

(He found his hands. The sucking sound drives me crazy!)

Tummy time is still going great. He is still rolling over from tummy to back and now has started rolling from his back to his side. He is getting close to figuring out how to get from his back to his tummy. Slow down kid! Take your time! He likes being in his exersaucer for short periods of time also.

(Dane grabbing one of his toys in his exersaucer.)

He now will sit on his own, kind of. See the picture below. It looks so uncomfortable but he seems to like it. It never fails that when I let him sit like this he will puke:-)

 He will also stand on his own when leaning against the couch. I don't do that very often though. I'm too scared of an early walker (like I was).

(Aaron's favorite outfit on Dane)

One of the most fun things that happened this past month is that Dane got to meet his Mimi! My mom came to visit with us for 10 days and it was heaven. It was so nice to have another set of arms to hold and love on my little Dane. The best part was watching them bond and seeing my mom become a grandmother for the first time. Dane absolutely loved her. He had his first laugh with her. He also loved having her sit in the back seat of the car with him and hold his hands. He actually has a lot of physical traits from my mom. I knew he had her dimples but he also has her pointy ears, and his toe next to his pinky toe is crooked just like my mom's. He is going to have so much fun with her growing up.

Dane went a few new places this month. He went to visit his daddy at work at USC and had all the girls swooning. He also helped celebrate my birthday with a trip up to Arrowhead. The last trip we made up there I was 8-1/2 months pregnant. It was so much easier this time...Aaron carried him around.

 (Dane's first trip to Arrowhead)

Also, he went to his first birthday party. It was for his friend Clair and he loved putting his bare feet in the grass for the first time. He also loved watching all the big kids play. When it was time to leave he whined all the way to the car as if saying "Mama, I don't want to go home. I'm having too much fun at the park with my friends."

 (Feet in the grass. Notice the crooked toe?)

He likes:

-His hands. He loves to put them in his mouth and suck on them. Kind of drives me nuts.
-Playing with his friend, Roan.
-Taking walks in the park. Really just being out of the house. He loves exploring.
-Batting the animals over him on his activity mat.
-The exersaucer.
-His Mimi.
-When his daddy holds his hands and helps him stand up and sit down.

He dislikes:

-When I talk too loud when he is falling asleep.
-Getting in and out of his car seat.
-Being too tired.
-The sound of Velcro (this includes the sound of opening his diaper--it scares him and makes him cry).
-Drinking from a bottle.
-When his mommy leaves the room.

Some funny things he is doing:
-Baby talk.
-He gets really excited while watching older children. He starts making excited noises and waving his arms around.

Comments from other people:


-He is so long.


-His eyes are so bright blue.This is still by far the most popular comment about him.
-He is very handsome.
-He looks just like his daddy.
-He has really strong legs.
-He has a strong set of pipes (translation: he is really loud).


As far as my recovery:

-Still have 10 lbs to lose. Yuck.
-I have officially started my cycle again. AF returned 5 days before he turned 3 months. Not fair. I guess I should be grateful that I got almost a 3-month break though.
-I'm not as tired as last month.
-My back is killing me. It hurts mostly on my left side lower back. I really need to go see a chiropractor.
-I had my first day of being a mommy and being a property manager and feeling like I succeeded at both at the same time. It takes a while to get into a rhythm I guess.


All about Daddy:



-Loves play time with Dane.
-Still will always make Dane smile.
-Has watched him alone while I go for a walk/jog around the park.
-Is really enjoying this stage.

Easter 2012

Easter started out with me convincing our neighbors (and Aaron) to dye eggs with me. We always decorated eggs for Easter in my family growing up and now that we have kids there is no excuse not to.

Getting started...

 

 Stephanie getting her egg dying on.

 Lars very focused.

 Aaron decided to forgo the dying of eggs and went with Sharpie art.

 Our creations.

Roan: "Those eggs stink"

"Eye see you!"

Dane: "If I can just get my hand free..."

Fun Spring dress: $7 at Down East

Lars...

(haha)

Side 1- Eye...

 Side 2- candy. Hahaha

 Easter Sunday. Ready for Church!

Easter dinner at the Christensens' house.

Aunt Soni and Dane. He could not keep his eyes off of her.

The fam.

Dane and his Easter basket. I know, I know, kind of silly to give a 2 month old a basket. 

 Family Easter picture right after sacrament meeting...

 

... shortly after: a blowout.

Oh yeah, I turned 29

I guess when you have a baby you kind of forget about the things that used to be so important before. Or maybe I'm just so sleep deprived my birthday came and went in a fog and I forgot to do a post about it. Well, last night someone asked me how old I was and I said, "29--wait, am I really 29? Holy cow, that sounds weird."

I'm really fine turning 29. Thirty sounds like fun to me, too. "Thirty, flirty, and thriving" right? So, without further ado, here are some pictures of my birthday festivities.

We made a trip to the Irvine Spectrum to check out the sale at Down East and had dinner at Ruby's.

 My mom was in town! She made my birthday awesome! 

(Stephanie and my mom being cute)

From Aaron

 Birthday date! Notice three things in this picture: 1. There is no baby, woohoo! 2. We were photobombed, awesome! 3. It's raining, which kind of ruined the romantic walking around the circle/fountain in Orange. However, I did make Aaron kiss me, so now we can say we made out in the rain. So romantic!

Yay! It's my birthday morning! Salt Lake found out my birthday was on a Sunday and canceled church so I didn't have to wake up so early  ;-)

Aaron made his yummy French toast

 

 My mom helped out with the bacon and eggs. Mmmm, bacon!

Then it was time for presents!  (Notice the TV in the background--proof that we watched Conference;)

 "A KINDLE FIRE! NO WAY! I am so cool now."

Mindy Gledhill's CD Anchor. I've been wanting it forever and have listened to it every day since.

 Then it was off to my favorite place!

 

Lake Arrowhead! Dane got bundled up.

 And so did Aaron.

 My pretty mama. See those dimples? Dane has them too.

 

A birthday dessert.

 A few days later my girlfriends surprised me with a pedicure and trip to The Cheesecake Factory for their gluten-free cheesecake. There were more pictures taken of this night but I haven't seen them yet. Hint, hint, SF. Our waiter was.....not too bad looking. We may or may not have left our single friend's phone number on the receipt.

 I was so spoiled for my birthday. Everyone made me feel so special. Thank you!

Dane is 2 months!

The first month seemed to go so slowly and the second month flew by! I still can't believe it. Dane is growing like a weed and is such a cutie.

His 2 month stats:

14 lbs 13 oz 85%
25.5 inches long 94%
(I forgot the head measurement)
He is in 3 month size clothes (no more newborn or 0-3 months)


I'm pretty sure his eyes are going to be staying blue. They are so bright!


("too much milk")

His hair is still mostly brown, but his roots are starting to come in blond.


This is his excited face that he has started to make this month.

He is finally smiling for his Mom! He started consistently smiling at 5 weeks and chuckling at around 6 weeks.

Feeding has gotten much better. Man, that first month is hard! No problem latching still and he has gotten used to the fast flow. He still has reflux, but I figured out that it is really bad when I drink milk or eat ice cream. If I do have either of those things he will scream in pain and have projectile spit up the next day. He can handle any other dairy just not milk. So, almond milk ice cream it is (because not having ice-cream isn't an option). Life is so much better now that I figured that out.

Sleeping is...better...I guess. He still eats every 2-3 hrs (8pm, 11pm, 1:30am, 3am, 5am, 7:30am) but just eats and then falls right back to sleep. Every now and then he will skip one of those feedings and it is heaven. Again, I think as he gets a little older it will get better. I told my mom about his feedings and told her how everyone tells me it will get better soon. She let me know all her babies ate every 2-3 hrs for an entire year...and grew to be giants. Basically just suck it up:-) Funny thing about her telling me that is that I think it helped. When I feel like there is no change in sight I just get a better attitude about it. Such is life.

(Dane doing "tummy time". He seems to be really strong. Maybe every mom thinks that:)

Okay, let's talk bottles. He WILL. NOT. TAKE. A. BOTTLE. Holy cow! What am I going to do? I would really like to have a date night some time soon. Help! He will scream and scream and scream until we just give in and I nurse him. There are even tears involved! (both his and mine;)

(Dane went to see his daddy play basketball for the first time and LOVED it)

He makes great eye contact and focuses much better now. He will give you a smile but makes you work for it. He seems to like to smile at blondes.

Tummy time is going really well! He still likes it and will stay like that till he is tired and then he will roll over. Yes, he is rolling over. At first I thought it was a fluke but then after two more times I couldn't call it a fluke. His nana, daddy, and mama were there to see it. We all were stunned.

(Dane and his best friend Roan at 2 months.)

He likes:

-His daddy & mommy.
-Playing with his friend Roan.
-Taking walks in the park.
-Music time.
-The swing.
-The vibrating chair.
-His nana and grandpa.
-Eating.
-Getting kisses.
-Bath time (no matter how fussy he is, he will be peaceful during bath time).
-Soft blankets (he rubs his face back and forth on them and tries to eat them).
-His stroller.
-His pacifier (only when he isn't hungry).
-Being swaddled.
-Ceiling fans
-The airplanes above his bed
-Having a clean diaper
-When his daddy takes his (Dane's) hands and claps them

He dislikes:

-Gas.
-Getting in and out of his car seat.
-Being hungry.
-The sound of Velcro (this includes the sound of opening his diaper--it scares him and makes him cry).
-Drinking from a bottle.
-When his mommy leaves the room.

Some funny things he is doing:
-Sticks his tongue out when he is trying hard to do something.
-Follows us back and forth when we walk around the room
-Scowls when he is sucking on his pacifier

Comments from other people:

-Everyone says he looks like his daddy...and that is because he does. Except for maybe his lips and chin and dimples.
-He is so big.
-He is so small.
-He is very serious.
-His eyes are so bright blue. Strangers will stop me to compliment his eyes.
-He is very handsome.
-He is very loud.
-He holds his head up really well for his age.


As far as my recovery:

-I have 10 more pounds to lose before I am at pre-pregnancy weight, but I am nowhere near fitting into pre-pregnancy jeans. The weight has pretty much stopped coming off on its own. Time to go to the gym.
-The recovery pain is gone now.
-I had a couple of days of bleeding. Not in a row so I'm not sure if that is the start of AF?
-I'm tired.
-I love being a mommy. I am so in love with my little Dane.
-Hormones are crazy.
-I can no longer watch a movie that has violence or anything sad having to do with babies or children.
-I've started jogging around the park with Stephanie.
-I cherish my shower time.
-Will these red stretch marks go away?


All about Daddy:

-loves play time with Dane
-Does not like when he cries. He tries to talk Dane through it. So cute:)
-Has magical sleepy powers over Dane
-Always makes Dane smile