Best baby EVER

I'm a little superstitious about publishing this post because I don't want to jinx what's been going on in my house :) We find that the best time to put Nicholas to bed is around six... and then he'll usually sleep for five hours before waking up for the next feeding. Yesterday he slept for SEVEN HOURS! Doesn't that count as sleeping through the night? He fed at 1:30 and then went back to sleep (which, thankfully has never been a big problem at night) and didn't wake up again until 8:30!! We went in to check on him twice because we were a little worried, but he was fine...sleeping soundly. Fluke, we thought. It had happened once before when Mando thought he had eaten at 3:00 and so when he woke up at 4:00 to eat, Mando just lulled him back to sleep---what Mando didn't realize was that I fed him at 12:30, not 3:00. oops. Anyway, other than our negligent parent moment, he usually sleeps three-five hours at a time during the night, which is still pretty darn great for a newborn. We weren't expecting him to sleep through the night for another month at least. But last night---he did it AGAIN! Seven hours! If we were putting him to bed at 9:00 we'd be getting a seriously great night's rest! But the problem is that we put him to bed at 6:00 (which is when he naturally gets really really tired), so we're still waking up at 1 or 2 in the morning. We'll see if this is a trend or just a product of a couple of late nights (christmas parties, etc. that keep him awake longer than he normally would be).

Milestones

I already know that some of you are going to read this and think I'm just being an overly attentive first mom and that I'm making things up, but I'm NOT! :) Two things happened last night and this morning that made me freak out because my little boy is growing up WAY too fast!

Last night we were playing with him and he was smiling, as normal, then...he LAUGHED! Not the newborn silent grunt/laugh, but an actual ha ha ha laugh. I kid you not! Mando and I just stared at each other not sure if we heard him right, but I'm positive it was a laugh...maybe it won't be repeated for a while, but my son laughed at 1 month :)

THEN! This morning we were doing "tummy time" when all of a sudden I noticed he was leaning quite far to his right side...almost as if he wanted to AAH! He ROLLED OVER! :) I don't know if it counts that he rolled from his stomach to his back (does it have to be the other way around?), but I thought to myself, "There's no way he just did that...I must have put his arms under him funny and he accidentally flipped trying to move them." So I put him on his tummy again, and sure enough....1, 2, 3, FLIP! Then he smiled and started cooing! It was amazing. I tried to get him to do it again for the camera, but the rule of life is that all the cool things happen just before the camera comes out, right?

But here are before and after pictures...does that count?

More pictures of our adorable little guy...I just can't get enough :)

I know I've posted about a million times in the last few days, but it's my "new hobby" that I do to keep me sane and occupied while I'm at home with Nicholas. It's something small that I can do while he's sitting in his bouncer seat (before he gets bored) that makes me feel like I accomplished something for the day...even though the kitchen is still a mess and I haven't showered ;)

Here's a couple of short videos of Nicholas playing with Mando---it's so cute to watch them interact. Nicholas already recognizes Mando's voice and gets really excited when he hears him come home every afternoon. It's really cute.
The first one is Mando playing "Manitos" where he hits Nitch's hands and waits for him to hit back (which he does...probably involuntarily, but still cute).


This is Mando telling Nicholas that his diapers must be clean because they smell so good...he was smiling and "laughing" (in his newborn way) SO hard before I whipped the camera out. I only caught the last part.

Weird night

The other night Mando and I took a nap in the early evening while I was feeding Nicholas. After Nicholas was done eating, I just let him fall asleep cuddled up next to me. (I know, probably not the safest thing, but we were all so cozy and SO TIRED). When we woke up, it occurred to Mando and I that Nicholas had slept for a LONG time without any grunting or gas pains of any kind--a rarity. So we were debating letting him sleep with us in bed that night to see if it made a difference, and to see if we would get a more peaceful night's rest as well. After a little discussion though, we decided neither of us felt comfortable with a little newborn in a soft, tiny, bed with two exhausted adults. After he ate at 10 o'clock, we both took him into his nursery and put him to bed. Then we went to bed. The next thing I know, it's 2:00 in the morning and I hear Nicholas doing his hungry whine, so I turn over, pull him next to me and start nursing him....wait...I pull him over?? When did he get in bed with us?!? I woke up Mando and asked when he brought Nicholas into bed with us, and Mando was like, "I didn't get him, I didn't even know he was here until you woke me up!"

Somehow, in the middle of the night, me (or Mando) got up, got Nicholas out of him crib, wrapped him in a blanket, and brought him to bed with us. Neither of us has ANY recollection of this. I've been thinking about it for days trying to remember, and I don't even have a foggy dreamlike remembrance of ANYTHING between 10 and 2. A little scary.

Grunts

So, my kid's a grunter. He doesn't cry. He grunts. I have no objections to this when he's happy...it's quite a cute little trait. When he's really excited he grunts and swings his arms and kicks his right leg (just his right leg...his left leg sits there almost completely motionless as the rest of his body goes into excited spasms. I wonder if I should be worried about that?). What kills me is that I have to learn how to distinguish grunts as opposed to cries, and when you're listening over the baby monitor, that's kind of a difficult thing to do. He has a poo grunt, a bored grunt, a gassy grunt, a hungry grunt, and a diaper change grunt. And up until today I thought they were all the SAME grunt...with the exception of his hungry grunt, I could distinguish that one. So I've been freaking out thinking that my son is constantly pooing all day long and he can't get it out!!! And I've been giving him gas remedies to try and help him work it all through.......it finally occurred to me this morning as I listened to him grunting for about 1/2 hour over the baby monitor--silently dying inside because there's nothing I can do to help my poor pooing son--when I finally walked in to get him from his crib in an attempt to do SOMETHING at least, I found him wide-awake and wiggling and grunting EXACTLY as if he were pooing, but when I picked him up and started changing his diaper, he suddenly morphed into "happy baby Nicholas," my favorite persona. He continued to sound very pained and unhappy by this poo that wouldn't come out, but it was obvious on his face that he was not pushing...he was just grunting. I'm so happy that it's not gas all the time, but I'm a little unsettled. Imagine having a baby that cried to show he was happy and content and then used the same cry to tell you he was unhappy and uncomfortable....AAAH! Do you comprehend my frustration?

Pictures

I finally got Mando's pictures onto my computer, and I wanted to post a couple of really cute ones :)


First bath


Me and Nicholas


Mando trying to breastfeed? Just kidding. But I really don't know what he was doing in this picture.

Grandma's visit

Why is it that life is always so much better when Mom is around? :) My mom came to help me and Mando after Nicholas (or Nich...pronounced Nitch, as my family has started calling him) was born. She was here for about two weeks, and I'm freaking out a little bit because she left today. It was so nice to know that someone else was in the house with me, and if I needed to take a shower or take a nap or something, she was always there to keep an eye on Nicholas. It was also nice to have someone who's had six children around to keep me sane...every few days (or hours) I'll start worrying about something-- Nicholas is sleeping too much...not sleeping enough...does he feel hot to you?...is it normal for him to do that?...why does he grunt so much, is something wrong? etc. etc. Anyway, I loved having her here, and I already miss her.

Nich is going to miss her too...


Here she is teaching Nich the names of things in both English AND Spanish. She would hold him about two inches away from things and say, "Red...Rojo! (pronounced ROW-HOE)" One time I heard her talking to him in his crib, and she said, "Fish...Paysee? Pissy? Turtle...uh, Tortilla...." :) I laughed pretty hard at that.

Nicholas 4 days old

This is our little guy at 4 days old. The first part is his "poo face" which I think is the cutest thing I've ever seen :) Then there's a little clip of him smiling (which he does quite a bit!) I think the drool at the end is a nice touch. Way to go, hijito :)

Thunderstorm

I love being married :) Every once in a while I just get an overwhelming sense of contentment with my situation right now. The other day there was a summer thunderstorm around 5:00 in the morning on a Saturday; Mando and I both woke up, cuddled together under the covers and watched the lightning from the window. It was so cozy and warm, and we were all three (Nicolas too) together watching the wonders of nature. I can't imagine anything better :) Especially since it probably won't be as peaceful with the three of us in the next couple of months :)

2 funny things I saw this week...or 2 things that made me think, "What is the world coming to?"

1. I went to the grocery store last night, and after I picked up my groceries, I started walking past all the check-out lines heading toward the door. In my path there was an adorable little girl, maybe 5 or 6 years old, waiting for her parents to finish buying the groceries. She had two brown pigtails and was pushing a tiny, metal grocery cart that looked just like the big ones, but it was exactly her size. She was doing a little dance as she pushed it around in circles. I smiled at how cute she was pushing this little child-size cart, when all of a sudden her Dad started loading her cart full of beer cases and alcohol bottles! It was kind of like one of those mormon-ads that juxtaposes a clean white living room with people who leave tar on everything they touch...have you seen that seminary video? I didn't know whether to laugh (because it was pretty funny watching a five year old push a cart full of beer out to the parking lot), or cry at the absurdity of it.

2. At work we have a little play area in the corner for the kids that come with their moms to shop. It has pretty high walls so they can't really get out unless they're older. There's a T.V. pointed at the area, and a VCR/DVD combination that only the workers can reach where we let Disney movies run all day long (I have all of them practically memorized by now). Well, sometimes, when it gets really busy, one of us will put a DVD in the player, press play and walk away. That means that after all the previews, the Menu pops up and the movie won't start until we press play again, right? Most kids will do one of two things: 1. wait patiently staring up at the screen for about five minutes, get bored, and run off to play with something else OR 2. come to the counter and say, "The movie isn't playing..." or "Could you press play, please?" Or something else to that effect. The other day, I walked from the counter, past the play area on my way to the back of the store, when I hear SNAP SNAP SNAP!! I look over and see a four-year-old perched on the wall staring at me...and he takes his little fingers and points at me, SNAPS his little hand, and then points at the T.V. Like some arrogant banker in a restaurant would Snap his fingers at the waitress, signaling for the check. I stood there for a minute, not quite believing that a four-year-old (who I KNOW could talk because he was the loudest kid in there) could have such attitude. So he sighed...I kid you not... exasperatedly, widened his eyes, stuck out his neck a little bit, and with a complete air of condescension snapped three more times and pointed at the T.V. What is this world coming to? I know my job isn't fancy, but I thought that I should at least command the respect of a four-year old in MY store!!! sheesh.

(In case you're wondering, I gave him my own little lesson in manners, and I said, "That is not how you get what you want... You can ask me politely and say, 'please.'" To which he just stared at me...and then looked away. sheesh. I kind of wanted to push him off the wall...just kidding :) but I did wonder where his mother was and what she would have done if she'd witnessed it)

Pictures

I've been looking around at other people's blogs, and I quickly realized that I haven't posted enough pictures. I also have a new goal to write more. Mando and I were reading through our patriarchal blessings yesterday, and realized that we've both been specifically instructed to write often in our journals....oops. So, this is my first baby step :)

Here's a semi-current picture of my little bump...


and here's Mando's bump :)

Baby Kicks

So we've passed an important milestone! Mando can now feel the baby kick from the outside. I've been feeling him move, and occasionally nudge me from the inside, but my placenta was facing forward, so the doctor's said it would be a while before he grew strong enough to really kick through all the layers. July 5th was the first time we could both feel, and see, him kicking around in there :) It was so exciting, especially for Mando. I'm at a point in my pregnancy where I just love being pregnant. I love feeling my little baby move inside me and knowing I'm carrying a little person with me all the time. Although, as I enter my third trimester, I think I'm going to get uncomfortable pretty quickly.

I thought that this little guy was going to be really tranquilo, and a mellow little baby, but every time I go to the doctor they always make a point of telling me "what an active baby I have." They have never been able to keep find his heart rate long enough to get a super accurate reading--he moves too quickly and too much for them to pinpoint it. He also likes to play a lot--- during certain times of the day, if you place pressure anywhere on my stomach, he'll kick it. It's like a game for him (I think).

Anyway, that's the update :)

Miserable

I am so miserable... why would anyone get pregnant a second time after going through this? I want to vomit all day, and I barely have enough energy to get out of bed let alone clean anything or do anything productive. I'm just holding out for my first trimester to end...hopefully things will get better, right?

Pregnancy Log

I was talking to my friend, Jen Rawlings, the other day, and I was telling her some of the weird stuff that's been happening to me since I got pregnant. She commiserated with me on most things, but she also made the comment that she wishes she had kept a log of how she felt during the pregnancy to compare it to future pregnancies (and also to help poor souls like me who call for empathy). So I thought I'd share a few strange changes I've experienced in weeks 5-8 of pregnancy.

1. All men annoy me...more than usual. Whether this is my subconscious telling me to hate the sperm that did this to me, or if I have extra female hormones coursing through my body, I'm not sure. But all of a sudden I have a very short fuse with any man that dare cross my path.

2. Because I'm nauseous pretty much all day long, I have come to really hate food. I feel like I'm a slave to food and my meals, and I hate that. So it always seems really strange to me when, all of a sudden, in the midst of my nausea, I'll get a craving for something very specific and very weird--- so far it's been mostly Mexican food. Which, in my mind, would be the very last thing on my list to give to someone who's feeling nauseous. Today is was for a Spanish tortilla (something I haven't eaten since I lived in Spain, almost eight years ago). Yesterday was nachos...the kind with melted cheese for dipping. Not the homemade kind where the cheese it melted on top. It had to be dip-able cheese. A couple days ago it was scrambled eggs and potatoes, which doesn't sound weird except for the fact that I usually don't like eggs at all.

3. My husband smells bad to me. He doesn't ACTUALLY smell bad... but even after a shower and new clothes, brushing his teeth and flossing and using mouthwash....he just smells funny to me. This, in combination with number 1, is making it hard for me to show as much love as I should to my wonderful, caring husband.

4. I cannot eat poultry if I smell it cooking.

That's pretty much it, for right now. I would love to know if anyone else has had anything similar to these things. It made me feel really good to know that Jenn also felt like punching people when she was pregnant. It would make me feel good to know that I'm not the only one that hates how their husband smells :)

Bubby's Baby

So I haven't seen my husband for a few weeks...and yet, this morning I found out:



I am back in Indiana getting "fixed up" by Macheret. Every week I get stuff pumped into me through an IV, and I have a toxin-cleansing foot bath. (I put my feet in a tub of water with current flowing through it and a mirror on my back and after thirty minutes or so, the water that was clean and clear to begin with turns muddy brown with little thingys floating around in the water. It's pretty nasty.)

I just hope nothing he's giving me is going to make my baby funny! Eek!

I'M SO EXCITED :) We've been trying for a baby for a couple of months. We know we haven't been married very long, but we felt it was time to get things rolling. Although, today it occurred to me that our baby's birth certificate will forever say Provo, UT. sigh.

This is how our babies will be raised: