16 Weeks

Owen has been getting all kinds of grandparent love this week! We were in Kansas for Memorial Day weekend with Pat's family so he was getting tons of attention. My mom has been here since Monday night so he's feeling extra special I'm sure.
The trip to Kansas was the first trip we've gone on since the beginning of the year so it was kind of nice to go somewhere. We had no idea what to expect with traveling with Owen but he did pretty well in the car. We only had to stop once each way which was nice. He was kind of fussy while we were there but I think he was just a little overwhelmed by all of the attention. He slept great there only waking up once each night. I don't know if it was because it was cooler in their house or he was in the same room as us or he was just worn out from the day. Pat's parents will be up here this weekend and his mom is staying a couple of days so Owen will have almost 2 weeks straight of grandma snuggles.

Saturday I got 3 real laughs out of Owen which made my day. I try so hard but he refuses to let out a giggle so getting 3 was awesome! It was right after he ate and I was tickling his belly button and chin.

Monday we got home around 7 and my mom got here shortly after that. I put Owen down to bed and Pat and I went out with our friends Ben and Bekah for dinner. They moved to Atlanta on Tuesday so it was our last night to see them. We will miss them a lot! They were our closest friends in Iowa City and it was sad to say goodbye. We went out for dinner and poor Bekah had a bug in her food so it kind of ruined her night. We didn't get home until 11:30 or so which is the latest I've stayed up let alone been out in I don't know how long. Owen decided he wanted to wake up 3 times that night so I made sure I went to bed early the next night otherwise I would've been falling over yesterday.

It's been great having my mom here this week. Pat has been able to get his studying time in and she's enjoying time with Owen. I think Owen really missed us today though because my mom said he'd been fussing and then as soon as we got home he calmed down and was giving Pat and I big smiles. I love that he knows who we are and misses us when we're gone.

He started to try and pull himself up from a leaning position and does it pretty well. He's got some good ab muscles I think!

I've been counting down my work days (4 left!) and am so excited to be done and home with my baby!

15 Weeks

I think I'll have to eventually switch to monthly updates instead of weekly and just post randomly when there's something new to say. Not a lot has changed since last week.
We're still struggling with night time sleep. Last night I felt like a I had a newborn again. It took about an hour to get Owen asleep after feeding him. I went up 3-4 times to stick the paci back in and rub his head. The first time he had a big burp to get out so I thought that would solve it but he still woke up a couple of times after that. It was almost 9 when he finally got down and then woke up at 11:45 and 4:15. Each time he got up he nursed for 30-45 minutes so I didn't get much sleep. His sleep stretches are so sporadic lately. The other night he slept 8 hours straight. It doesn't seem to matter how much I feed him before putting him down either. I can't figure it out.
I'm looking forward to trying to get him on a napping schedule during the day after I'm done working. 4 months is the time to start that from what I've read so it's perfect timing.

He still nurses forever and cries if I cut him off. I'm hoping that being with him all day will curb the need to nurse for so long.

He's so fun to listen to when he talks and he's starting to make different noises. We got a couple of squeals last night; one happy one not so happy. He's super close to laughing and I try so hard to get it out of him but he refuses. The other night I tried for a good 30-45 minutes without success. He then started to fuss and Pat took him and he just snuggled on his lap and stared at me. Pretty sure he was thinking "daddy, keep that crazy lady away from me!"

He's still not a fan of tummy time but I keep trying. He lasts longer if he can see the tv. Not my proudest parenting moment but i guess you win some and lose some.

Telling my boss I was quitting was hard and I was sad to leave but now that it's official June 6 can't come soon enough.

This weekend will be our first trip with Owen and I'm excites to be going somewhere. We haven't been anywhere since early January because being in the car was so uncomfortable. I'm also a little nervous since we have no idea how Owen will do on a long car ride and sleeping somewhere unfamiliar. I'm looking forward to it though.

This is what tummy time ends up looking like.

We love bath time!

14 Weeks

Owen got his first ouchie on the head this week and it's all thanks to an unthinking mama. We were working on tummy time and he decided that he should start rolling over and hit his head on the corner of the coffee table. It was silly of me to have him so close and should have thought of that but I didn't. He's rolled over a total of two times before that so I wasn't really thinking about it. He ended up with a scrape on the top of his head and screamed for a bit. I felt so bad!

The last few nights have been rough as far as getting him to sleep. I'd been able to just nurse him for 15-20 minutes then lay him in his crib and he'd be good for hours. Now I lay him in his crib sound asleep but he wakes up 10 minutes later and I either have to feed him more or rub his head for him to go back to sleep. He's not really waking up more often during the night but he's taking longer to go down. I'm hoping it doesn't last much longer because I am tired. We've had a few more evening events in the last week which means he's gone to bed later than usual so that could be causing it. It's a good reminder to not get too dependent on what's "typical" because it can change at any moment.

He's doing a little better in the nap department as far as sleeping longer which is nice. The other day he slept an hour and a half for Pat (Pat had to wake him up to come get me so he probably would've slept longer) and then another hour and a half for me in the afternoon.

I'm putting in my notice at work tomorrow and June 6 will be my last day. The stress level in our house has been through the roof lately and Pat feels that it would be best for me to stay home. I'm sad and excited at the same time. Taking care of Owen 20 hours a week has been tough on Pat. He's got so many things going on right now and Owen isn't exactly easy. I'm very blessed to have a husband that wants me home since that is really where my heart is. I'm a little sad about leaving my job though. I enjoy my co-workers and the work that I do and they've been very accommodating with letting me come back part-time. The extra income would be nice but we need to do what's best for our family and that means staying home full-time. It will be nice to be able to go places and not have to worry about asking for time off of work. We wanted to visit our friends in Ames on our way to Kansas City over Memorial Day but I couldn't get that Friday off. Now we'll be able to take trips during the week without having to deal with that. Not that we'll be taking many trips though since we'll be broke! :) I'm looking forward to more time with Owen and a happier husband.

"Peace out Mom"

This is where his thumb hangs out 90% of the time.

Go Hawkeyes!

He's got the A sounds down!

Mother's Day

This morning in church I teared up thinking about how incredibly blessed I am to be a mom. My deepest desire was fulfilled on February 9, 2012 and I still have to remind myself that this isn't a dream and this wonderful little boy is mine. How overwhelming is the grace of God to have given me this child to nurture and love. 

13 Weeks

My baby is no longer a newborn. I can't believe how fast he's growing.

I held off on intentionally introducing dairy this week. I was eating some tortilla chips for a couple days before realizing they had milk in them and Owen got pretty crabby over the weekend. I hadn't been sure if he was getting better until this weekend and then we were reminded of what he was like a month ago. I'll probably wait until he's 6 months to try again. 

We're finding some ways to make tummy time work. If I have the boppy on my lap and lay him on that facing it he does really well. Today we laid on a blanket outside for a while and I put my arm around him with my hand under his chest to kind of hold him up and he did pretty good that way.

He's been nursing less often but for longer periods of time. He's not happy after he eats which is baffling me a little bit. He'll nurse for 20+ minutes and I know he's getting enough. He might be in pain but if I distract him right away he's fine which is the confusing part. Pat said he does the same thing with him as well. 

He's still sleeping great at night. The last 3 nights he's gone to bed later because we've been out and so he's just woken up once which is nice for me. Last night he slept from 9-4, ate and then got up at 6:30. 

He's such a joy to my life and everyday I love being a mom more and more!

I think the sun was interrupting his nap

Playing with Daddy's beard

Playing with his giraffe (notice those monkey toes!)

He looks like he's ready for college. My friend Amy made him the super cute shirt.

12 Weeks

Stats:
12lbs 13oz
23 1/8 inches
Head 41.2cm

We are having so much fun with Owen lately. He's a little chatterbox (although he can be pretty serious some days). Pat pulled out his mandolin the other morning and got Owen to sing along with him. It was pretty great. Sometimes when we're driving in the car he'll be in the back seat singing along with the radio.

He's pretty funny when he's done playing by himself. He'll just holler and it sounds like he's saying "hey! Hey!" It cracks me up.

I got him a mobile to go on his crib that plays music and he loves it. He'll lay under it for quite a while and just talk.

He still hates tummy time and since he's sleeping in his crib now I think he's getting a little bit of a flat spot on his head and he's losing some hair. I try to get him to lay on my stomach and he lasts a little bit longer that way. I probably should try a little harder but it makes him so crabby!

The last 2 nights he's freaked out when I try to put him to bed. I'm not sure what's going on there but I hope it doesn't last. I don't know if it's because he's too tired or what it is. Last night was the first time that nursing him to make things better and I almost cried because I didn't know what to do. He eventually calmed down and slept really well which is good.

He does fairly well going down for naps now. Most of the time we can just swaddle him up and lay him in his crib and he'll fall asleep on his own but sometimes he needs a little rocking or his paci. He has a little owl lovie that he sleeps with when he's in the swing or carseat. It's so sweet to see him snuggle with it.

Next week I'm going to see if he can tolerate me eating dairy. I'm a little excited but kind of nervous at the same time. I may start by giving him some milk that I pumped and froze while I was eating dairy that way if it does have an adverse affect on him it will just have to leave his system and not mine as well. We'll see what happens!

Sleeping with his owl baby

Sunday afternoon naps

We went for a walk and he was out before we got out the door.

Ready for baseball to start