Rocking 9 Weeks

 Weeks and months are kind of strange - Gabriel is 9 weeks now but just hit 2 calendar months 2 days ago!  It has to do with the 28/30/31 day month changes (and is what messes with the determination of weeks vs months of pregnancy as well).

• Gabe had his 2 month pediatrician appointment this week.  He got 3 injectable vaccines & an oral vaccine; he gave one of those after-the-fact delayed cries once all 3 were done, haha.  I made Craig come to this appointment (though he had planned to anyway) because I didn't know how I'd feel if Gabe cried with the shots!  (I myself don't mind needles, but if he cried, I thought I might cry too!)  We both survived though!  He was a bit sleepy after the appointment, and so we gave him a preventative dose of tylenol before bed, just in case.
• We were anxious to hear how his weight gain was progressing.  (On the makeshift "scale" we created at home with a baking pan and a food scale - some of us might call this a "Polish baby scale," haha! - he was at 8 lb 13 oz on Christmas Day.)  I knew he was at least getting longer because I've had to retire several newborn-sized footie pajamas.  Turns out he weighed 8 lbs 15.5 oz (I was so hoping the scale would pop up to a full 9 lbs!) and measured 22.5 inches (an inch longer than last month!).  His head circumference was 15.25 inches, which was also up from last time.  All of these measurements put him at the 25th percentile for his age, which greatly relieved me especially (I think all breastfeeding mommies worry that their babies are not getting enough!).  The doctor was happy with his progress and even noted how well he was doing pushing himself up on his elbows when she flipped him onto his tummy.  Next regular appointment isn't until 4 months of age.
•  Our week of 10:30am bottles went well.  I am not looking forward to this upcoming week with the addition of 12:30pm bottles (both feedings performed by Craig & replaced with me attached to the pump) because I like nursing; it's great bonding time with my son where there is no substitute for me (ok, that sounded kind of selfish!).  But, we have to see how things are going to go starting next week when I head back to work, so it must be done.
• I forgot to mention how Gabriel's night stretches are now allowing me to wake to pump and bank some more frozen milk.  I'm happy to have a little stash to rotate through, because if I ever have problems with my milk supply (I hope not!), the frozen milk is good for up to 6 months.  My stash is currently not enough for more than a week of feedings, but it should increase fairly quickly now that I can bag more during the night.
• Amazingly, last night, Gabe slept 10 hours and 50 minutes straight!  I woke to my alarm at 6am (after sleeping since the last pump episode at 3:30am) and realized that he was still asleep!  He slept until 6:50am, after I'd gotten up & dressed & even had time to go downstairs and put away the pumped milk.  Of course, then he gorged himself on breast milk for breakfast and spit up a bit, but that's ok - he was very happy after having slept well, all smiles!

Short time between posts, so here are only two pictures from that last few days:

Checking out his reflection during tummy time - *maybe* he can see it from that angle?

"Whoa!  Who's that baby in the mirror?" when I held the mirror up to him later.

A Happy New Year!

Ack, Gabriel is 2 months old!  We had a fairly quiet New Year's with a visit from Babcia; I say "fairly" quiet because Craig's quick trip to the corner store ended in a small fender-bender.  Craig & the other driver were fine, but there was some damage to my car's driver side front quarter panel because the guy cut Craig off by passing him on the left in a double-solid line area.  His fault, so hopefully our insurance will take care of the repair easily and without any increase in our insurance! 

Thanks for the New Year's onesie, Auntie Kristen!

Gabriel - 2 Months

We can't believe he's already that old and has grown so much since birth.  His face has changed quite a bit:

Gabriel - Day 1

• This week, we tested out our baby bottles (the real glass ones - thanks Chelsea, Ella & Olivia! - not the tiny newborn ones we got from the hospital to use for supplementing) and Craig got his first taste of feeding Gabe.  It's a lot to worry about - how to defrost frozen breastmilk & mix it (can't shake it or the proteins might get broken down), how to put together our complicated bottles, how to pace feed (basically meaning not letting Gabe chug the whole 2 ounces of milk in 1 minute but instead mimicking breastfeeding in both speed & effort on his part), making sure he has the opportunity to burp frequently, etc.  I was really sad - Craig did such a great job!  (While he got to cuddle Gabe during the feeding, I was in another room hooked up to a machine (aka the pump).  I was jealous!)

Daddy's a bottle pro!

He got cuddles & giggles after doing such a good job!

•  The plan is to continue bottle feeds at 10:30am (roughly) this week, because that will be one of my pumping times at work most days.  Next week we'll add in the 12:30pm one (both replaced with me pumping to get my body used to it), so that it should be a fairly smooth transition when I head back to work on the 12th.  (I'm even more sad about going back to work & leaving my baby!  Though I think I will be happy for the teaching & the adult interaction.)
• After he fed the baby, Craig was talking to Gabriel and said, referring to me, "We're gonna send her to work so we can do guy stuff."  Haha!  Then a conversation ensued about checking out ladies.  Do you know that "I pick things up; I put them down" gym commercial?  Here was the rest of our humorous conversation:

Craig:  "We're going to go pick up chicks."
Alessandra:  "Oh, really.  What are you going to do with these chicks?"
Craig (in the body-builder voice from the commercial):  "We'll pick them up.  Then we'll put them down."

• Pictures from Wigilia (traditional Polish Christmas Eve) as promised (thanks Chelsea & Andre!):

Check out Gabe in his cute sweater outfit!  So handsome!

Mama & Gabe

• Everyone is enjoying Gabriel's smiles & giggles these last few weeks!  Here's a link to view him on video.
• Great news on the sleep front!  On the 30th, Gabriel slept 6 hours and 15 minutes straight overnight!  At one point, I woke Craig to discuss whether to go in and check that he was still breathing; we were so shocked at the change from the previous night's being up every 2 hours!  On the 31st, Gabriel slept 8.5 hours straight!  Happy New Year to us!  On the 1st, he slept 7 hours, with one small wake at 12:30am that was easily remedied by popping his pacifier in and patting him a few times.  I should mention that all of these great sleeps were in his crib in his own room by himself!  Here's a picture of Mr. Cuteness on our monitor (amazingly, this picture was taken in complete darkness in his room!).  He is in a "batwing swaddle" to keep his arms from startling him (a baby reflex) and that's his pacifier on the bed in front of his face where he spit it out.  (And yes, I was really up at 2:20am taking this screenshot on my phone, as the picture shows!)

Thanks for the baby monitor, May & Hannah!

• Gabriel also started spitting up a little bit and drooling these past couple of weeks.  (He blows bubbles when he tries to "talk" sometimes, which is kind of cute!)  Thus, we have graduated to wearing a bib during the day to catch the messes.

Sporting a bib

Other pictures from this week...

Thanks for the teether, Chelsea, Ella, & Olivia!

Daddy & his 2 boys!

All dressed up for New Year's Eve

Mommy & Gabe selfie - he looks so bald in this picture even though he has a lot of hair!  And maybe he looks a little like my Dziadziu (may he rest in peace)?

Real Men Wear Pink

This week Gabe is 8 weeks old!  He (aka I) decided he should wear pink for this picture (ok, mostly because some of the onesies I had made over the summer were faintly "girl," and rather than toss them or give them away, I figured he could wear them anyway).  Craig comments "real men wear pink" sometimes, so I figured that was fitting for the blog post title!  (Consequently, he then commented we had such a "pretty little girl" when he saw his son dressed like this, haha!)

• For Christmas, amongst other things, we got Gabriel a pair of foot/wrist rattles, and I caught him on video kicking away!  Click here to see the short video of our future soccer player and/or dancer!

 

• We spent Christmas Eve with the Kozaczka family at Teresa's house.  It was lovely as usual (I think this is year 3 for us?).  Teresa makes wonderful traditional Polish food (including beet borscht with mushroom dumplings, kapusta, pierogi, and fish), and I always enjoy it!  It's so interesting to me how every Polish woman I know makes kapusta differently - my mom, my 2 Polish aunts, and Teresa all make different versions, and they ALL are delicious!  A few pictures to follow, as I'm waiting for them to get e-mailed to me.  Gabe was great - slept most of the time when he wasn't eating but was happy when 2 other ladies were holding him, and he only had eyes for Andre's cousin Mike!  He gave out a few coveted giggles and smiles for the crowd.
• The Kozaczkas gave us a beautiful picture frame with a picture of us from the baptism and a gorgeous ornament with one of Gabriel's newborn pictures in it.  His Godparents also gave him an awesome Fisher Price nativity set (never seen one like it - so cool!) and a giraffe rocker (obviously for when he's a little older).  (These pictures were taken on Christmas Day.)

 

• Uncle Gregory, Auntie Christina, and cousins Noah & Addison sent some presents for Gabriel.  We caught a few pictures of some (additionally, they sent a beautiful board book of prayers which included a Christmas prayer that we read before bedtime that night).

• On Christmas Day, we stayed home as our new family of 3!  It was a nice quiet day.  I made eggs with ham & cheese for brunch, we watched some Christmas movies, and Craig made a delicious pot roast for dinner.  After brunch, Craig "helped" Gabriel open his presents while I took lots of pictures with our new camera (a fancy one - not our phone cameras, though those take pretty awesome pictures too).

His bum says "Santa's little helper," sticker courtesy of Grammy

Onesie courtesy of Auntie Kristen

"Yay!  It's Christmas!  Happy Birthday Jesus!"  Thank you to Nonno for the Santa suit & Carolyn from the Commission for Women for the doggy toy.

"I was a very good boy this year (aka 8 weeks!)"

Daddy, "helping" Gabe open his presents

Picture frame with birth stats all around it (hard to see in this picture)

Musical crawling ball

Hungry caterpillar crinkle book

Alphabet, number, and animal wooden puzzles

See & Say Book - has big images & words for baby to learn

Sit-to-stand learning walker

Gabe's first tools, just like Daddy's!

Here are some other pictures from the week: 

 



I love baby feet!






What a cute hiney!






Baby mohawk!






Beautiful hat made by Ciocia Teresa






His onesie says it all!






My favorite close-up from the week






"Whoa!  I get presents?!"

7 Weeks Old!

Gabriel hit the big 7 this week (7 weeks, that is!).  (If you think the onesie in the picture below looks familiar, it's because it's one of the ones I made over the summer.  He's cute in purple, isn't he?)

• Gabe is smiling & giggling & cooing a lot this week.  I love capturing his cute little face!

• He's found his fists (and sucks them occasionally until I switch them for a pacifier) and can track slow moving objects with his eyes, both of which are 3-4 month old milestones.  Sometimes he even "holds" the pacifier in with his fist - this is definitely a subconscious thing still though.  He also is pretty good at holding his head up and he even pushed himself up on his elbows during tummy time once!

  

  Thanks for the monkey, Auntie Rene!

Gripping his mirror toy too!

• We did a lot of snuggling this week, since I have been dealing with a cold & cough for (ugh!) 3 weeks now.  Can't take much of anything except ibuprofen & cough syrup without affecting my breastmilk supply, so I'm just dealing with it.  I did get an Rx for antibiotics from my doctor but they didn't help one bit.  Consequently, I also finished all of the tissue boxes in the house and am onto toilet paper until I get to the store tomorrow.

After vacuuming & mopping together

Watching some TV

• I received a coupon for a free ceramic ornament from a personalization website I use fairly frequently, and I picked on for Gabe's birth statistics & newborn photo.  I think it came out beautifully!

The front - my beautiful boy!

The back has all his birth stats

• Daddy got some quality time along with Gabriel this week.  I went to a Christmas dinner with the Commission for Women (a church group), and Gabe did fairly well without me (a couple of 15 minute stints of crying even with Craig holding & rocking him, but I returned to them quietly snuggling on the couch after a bath).  Craig is pretty good at soothing him as long as he's not "starvin' like Marvin!"

Man talk

"Don't take my picture; my hair is a mess!  (Hence the hood!)

• We went to my 6wk post-partum check-up with my OB/GYN this week.  I'm totally healed and cleared for exercise.  (We were discussing the possibility of baby #2, and the doctor said, "Well, I wouldn't recommend you try induction again."  I really wanted to say "No s***!" but I managed a more subtle, "Yeah, since none of it worked.")  So Gabe & I took a 2 mile walk to/from the post office to mail out our Christmas cards.  It was SOOOO cold, but he was toasty all bundled up in his stroller.  (I was the one who was freezing, not to mention sniffly from my cold!)
• I think I need to attend "I can't resist buying my child cute stuff" anonymous meetings!  There are seriously too many presents under the tree for Gabe, most of which he can't play with for at least a few more months, haha!  (I got them all at great discount prices though, so that's ok, right?)

Here are some other pictures from the week:

Thanks for my turtle, Gina & Aunt Donna!

My view of Gabe when he's in the Infantino carrier.  Love his forehead!

Mommy couldn't refuse buying this "Holiday Hunk" onesie!

Sourpuss (blurry) face because I couldn't stay in the bath all night!