Our big little man

Lately there have definitely been a lot of N-related posts, but I figure as new parents we've got a little flexibility there. This weekend we had some new firsts that I really wanted to post about. Plus, our little guy is getting not so little. He can roll over now. On purpose. All by himself. It's pretty impressive. Currently it's only back-to-belly, but I'm sure he'll figure out belly-to-back sooner or later.

Anyway, he had his first bath in the big tub this weekend. No baby tubs for him. After we realized he loved swimming we thought he might like a little more water to play in. Here he is, soaking in a warm relaxing bath. (The towel underneath him is key to preventing major slipping disasters.)
After his fabulous bath he likes to wrap up in a hooded towel. It's sorta like a robe for a baby. Sort of...

We also gave him an honest-to-goodness haircut. Not just with scissors. With the clippers. I was convinced he was going to hate this and be terrified by the whole thing, but he actually seemed to enjoy it. He giggled through the whole thing and ended up with neatly trimmed hair. E says his look is much more dashing now. I'd agree. Here he is checking out his new look in the mirror.

This is most of the hair we took off the top.

He likes it. Look at that grin!

N has a blankie

Before N was born, we received a ton of blankets for him. They were all beautiful and fantastic and we've had an opportunity to let him play on/use/drool on most all of them. He's liked all of them, but we've found that he likes this one in particular for holding onto (not necessarily laying on). I think it's the combination of softness, hole-y-ness, and lightweight-ness. Er-ness... Anway, he really likes it and I think it's cute when he hides his face behind it. Check out those baby blues peeking out...
Here's his favorite feature - the ability to stick his fingers through the blanket for optimum grasping.

Hiding is hilarious when he pulls the blanket down and sees us. I guess this is the start of peek-a-boo?

The most patient dog in the world...

Zoee is the most patient dog in the entire world. I'm quite certain that moving from the center of E's and my universe to playing second fiddle to a loud, hairless, non-mobile animal has not been the most fabulous thing in her world. Sure, she still gets plenty of cookies. She has a good amount of pets. She fully enjoys all the creature comforts a dog of her status needs, including beds on every level of the house in many different rooms. What she doesn't get is endless and undying attention when E and I are at home. Aside from all the attention we're affording this new guy, when the little man is asleep it's all E and I can do to keep from sleeping ourselves. Needless to say, Zoee's life has changed drastically.

I just keep telling her that when he can roughhouse with her, she's going to really like him a lot more.

I hope she believes me.

Oops - baby supermodel part 2

I forgot about the password. It's a super secure "123abc". To see the supermodel photos, go here and use the password above. Then remember that I'm still sorry for the angel wings and naked baby photos.

Baby supermodel

Recently we decided it would be a good idea to have some professional pictures made of N. Despite the fact that he can't sit up on his own, we headed to a photographer here in Rockwall. Now, a photo shoot with a baby is something pretty crazy. It involves multiple wardrobe changes for the little guy and a lot of high pitched talking. All in all I think it went pretty well. You can see our photos at N's pictures. N, I apologize for the naked baby pictures. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I also apologize for the angel wings. It was the photographer's idea. Your dad was against it all along, but I was the one who agreed. Again, please forgive us.

N goes swimming!

Today we had a playdate with our friends the Nelsons. We met over at their community pool and a picnic complete with BBQ from a local joint called Big Daddy's. After eating (but not waiting a complete half hour *gasp*), we jumped in the pool. As N is only three months old, this was a total first for him. Fortunately for us, the Nelsons have a baby who is about the same age as N and he was able to borrow a suit. Would he like it?

Absolutely. He loooovvveeed it. Apparently floating around in water is about the best thing ever. Here he is immediately after getting in:
He got to cuddle with both me and E, so here he is with E...

Look how content he looks. I'm pretty sure he'd have just fallen asleep if we had hung out long enough and his diaper hadn't become ridiculously saturated with pool water.

Here's E and N hanging out with M and P. Sometime very soon it's going to be awesome to get N and P together. They're going to have such a blast. Right now they just kind of chill out. Apparently babies love swimming though. Who knew? I see this as the first of many visits to the pool. Water babies, anyone? The local Y offers Aqua Tots... I see us visiting often. My friend J would be so proud. Swimming. Aquatics. Who knew?

Just a second...

Who knew that a couple of pieces of plastic tubing, some plastic cones, an electric motor, and a couple of bottles can make an acceptable replacement for a baby? This is my breastpump, which as breastpumps go, is a top-of-the-line personal kit. Complete with a vacuum pressure between 50 and 250 mmhg, this model is supposed to be as close of a substitute for a baby as possible. With dual-action pumping, you're finished in half the time.

What the pump doesn't offer is a convenient way for escaping from a busy day at work for 15-30 minutes of uninterrupted pumping. I can see how this would be a problem for just about anyone, especially now that I'm doing it. I work at a pretty progressive company when it comes to families, so on campus we've got two luxurious lactation rooms, complete with rocking chairs and parenting magazines. They're super nice, but not super conveniently located. If you've got an office, it's possible to shut and lock your door and pump while working. This is the ideal situation, as there's no time lost walking and pumping. Since I have an office, I've been capitalizing on it. I sit there typing and working with my shirt pulled up and bottles balanced precariously on my knees. Periodically I glance at a picture of my little man and try to ignore the pheew-whump noise that happens about once a second.

At my company we've got an instant messenger service that allows us to talk to each other from our keyboards. It's super useful when askin questions of people while pumping. I had never really considered that this could backfire on me. Until today...

Me: Hey, I've got a question. Do you know if x is possible in situation y? (pheew-whump)

Coworker: Sure, you've just got to run testcase z to see that.

Me: Oh, located here? (pheew-whump)

Coworker: Yeah, just run it through the driver.

Me: That doesn't work for me. (pheew-whump)

...

Me: Hello? (pheew-whump)

Coworker: Where are you?

Me: In my office, why? (pheew-whump)

Coworker: I just came by to show you but your door is closed.

Me: Uh, right. (pheew-whump)

Coworker: This would be faster for me to just show you. Open the door.

Me: Uh, maybe in ten minutes. (pheew-whump)

Coworker: ?

Me: Nevermind. I've got it. (pheew-whump)

Firsts...

You're looking at the only way N is comfortable sleeping right now. Why, you might ask? Our little man is currently experiencing his first (and hopefully, but not likely only) ear infection. He's had a cold for the past week, but something still just didn't seem right, so we headed back to the pediatrician today.

Sure enough, his little cold has morphed into a full-fledged ear infection. E said that my "mom-dar" must be off the charts, because even though N was a little out of sorts, he wasn't doing anything particularly crazy. No fever, no inconsolable crying, nothing like that. He's just been a little fussier and stuffier than normal, but otherwise great.

E was super surprised by this whole diagnosis, because apparently in his family getting an ear infection meant days of moaning and untolerable pain. (According to him and his mom.) In my family (and my mom will back this up), ear infections are something akin to getting a cold. Or as E says, stubbing your toe. I'm hoping the little man keeps up the ol' family tradition of looking ear infections firmly in the eye and pretty much staring them down. So far he seems to be more of a trooper than we ever could have hoped for.

Now just hope he isn't allergic to antibiotics. E is, so this means that N has a 1 in 4 chance of not tolerating the medicine we just gave him. I can only hope that we don't see hives developing. Pray for us!

New pictures

Here are some recent pictures of N. Remember early on, when he barely fit in the Baby Bjorn? It's not such a problem anymore. E has fully been carrying him around a lot more lately. He's finally able to face out, which he seems to really love.
Look how big he is! When he faces E they have some pretty good conversations.

He's got these great bear pants that our friends A and M gave us. Paired with his "bear hug" onesie that E got him in Colorado, he looks fabulous. Even when sleeping...

He's not quite ready for the Bumbo. We try it regularly and his posture improves each time. I think he'll be a Bumbo regular in the next few weeks...

N's nighttime routine involves a story. Last night we read some nursery rhymes. I have no idea what most of them really mean, but he likes the way they sound.

Lawncare throwdown!

This is our lawn mower. It's what is known as a reel mower. About as simple as they come - you push it and the blades turn, cutting the grass. You don't push, it doesn't cut. That's really about it. We've got a pretty small yard, so this doesn't bother us too much. Besides, E usually handles the lawn care.

Today I asked if I could help him out with some of the outside-y chores. Why not? I'm fully capable. Plus, it's hot and I don't want him to suffer. My suggestion? I would mow and he could trim. It sounded fair. Besides, how hard could mowing be?

He smiled at my suggestion and then implied (ever so sweetly) that I didn't have enough "poop in my britches" to complete the task. Me, being ever convinced that I can do anything he can do, took offense. I told him that I fully did have enough proverbial poop. He agreed that I'm a fabulously capable women, but then pointed out that pushing the mower around was maybe more work then I realized. I know (and even knew, at the time) this may have been a fantastic ploy in reverse psychology, but I couldn't back down from the challenge.

I marched myself outside and pulled out the mower (which apparently weighs substantially more than I realized) and started marching up and down the yard. I say marching, but I actually mean moving two feet before the mower got stuck and had to be moved by using a draft horse. Unfortunately, I don't have such an animal, so I forced the mower up and down the yard. E and N came outside to watch this spectacle. In about a half hour I had the whole yard chopped down to a respectable height.

I also had sweat running all over my body and a substantial amount of grass plastered to all exposed skin. Admittedly, it was a terrific workout and much more difficult than I had anticipated.

But I did have plenty of "poop in my britches".

Regifting

There is a phenomenon known as regifting. Myself, until recently, had never actually tried regifting something. It felt tacky. It felt cheap. It felt out and out wrong.

However, I now find myself the proud (and exhausted) mother of a fresh new baby. I don't have the leisurely time for shopping that I used to have. (Nor do I have my dedicated shopping buddy D, who is currently located somewhere in the city of Denver - far far away from Dallas.) So getting out to find gifts for much of anything is a new and terrific challenge that has to be squeezed in between feedings and naps and bath time/bedtime. It's amazingly complicated and I have new and fresh appreciation for all parents out there.

Because of these constraints, I found a need for a gift that was filled perfectly by a gift I recently received. I already had one of these things, which albeit useful, are not needed in multiples. I'll leave the details of the gift out of this, but suffice it to say that this particular gift was still sealed in its original packaging. It had been sitting on our entry bench for maybe five months. It was waiting for a good home. We weren't providing it one. So when I needed a gift for this particular occasion, it was perfect. I marched myself upstairs and pulled out a gift bag (also given as a gift, but more generally accepted for reuse) and put the regift in it. I surrounded it with tissue paper and wrote on a card. All things considered, it was a lovely gift and would be perfect for this occasion.

All this is true, so why do I feel so guilty about it?

New Nathan pictures

Here are some recent pictures of N. We upgraded to footie pjs recently. They keep him warm and don't kick off. He can't bust out of them the way he can escape being swaddled. Beside, who can dispute the cuteness?
He likes to hold court with his animals in his bouncy chair. They've recently acquired names. Humphrey the zebra, Tim the crocodile, and Lily the elephant. Of them, Humphrey is his go-to guy for all major decisions. He's learning to trust Tim and Lily, but no major decisions get made without consulting Humphrey first.

He recently thought about taking up modeling and spent a good amount of time looking pensive while only wearing socks and denim. No shirts. He's very handsome. Check out that stomach. Zoee loves him...

He's recently start trying to push up on his arms. He likes to use the Boppy to help with this. And much like me, he apparently sticks out his tongue when trying something especially physically challenging. What seems silly on me is just adorable on him...