3 Months (and then some)

Clearly this is way overdue, Matthew is well over 3 months old at this point (14 weeks to be exact), but since going back to work, I've realized some things (this blog, exercising, among other things) have been put on the back burner temporarily.

I'll probably say this on every post, but it is truly amazing how much Matthew changes from week to week and month to month. Clearly I'm a new mom!

Here he is before heading out to school. What a good sport for an early morning!
We haven't been back to the pediatrician yet, but his unofficial weight is around 13 lbs, probably more like 13+ lbs! The boy is a great eater, but I think his length helps to even out his weight.
However, check out those cheeks, who do you think he gets those from!!??

I've now been back to work for 3 weeks and Matthew in daycare for 3 weeks as well. Both are going really well, which is such a relief! Matthew has done such a great job acclimating to daycare. He's always smiling when I pick him up - probably because he's typically just been fed - but they always say he's had a great day. I will say that it didn't take long for the germs to hit. He's been congested for over a week and he came home on Monday evening with a slight fever, but the fever quickly broke. I will say, he was still his happy, playful self.

AND.... last night I finally got what I knew was an offical giggle! I think I squealed so loud, Matthew looked at me like I was crazy - but boy do I love baby giggles! Now I just have to figure out how to get more out of him :)

And here are a few pictures of our cutie pie from the past couple of weeks!

Bath time!

Tummy Time! I'm getting so strong!
In the backyard in my Bumbo!

Back to Work...

Yesterday was my official first day back to work, however I have been lucky enough to work from home this week to transition back, as well transition Matthew into daycare.

Yes that means we found a daycare too! I'll get to that in a bit.

I have to say (as I have many times before) the last 12 weeks just flew right past us. There we were at Northside Hospital a month early welcoming our sweet Matthew to this world and now I'm headed back to work and he's not the tiny peanut Jason and I were "scared to break". He's now this little angel baby, with spunk, personality, lovable smiles and chubby legs that I can't get enough of!

Here's our peanut in his carseat on the way home from the hospital...
And here he is at 10 weeks old!
It is just truly amazing how much he has changed in now 11 weeks! Matthew does something new everyday and continues to grow like crazy.

• He is sleeping about 9-10 hours at night - yay he got that from his Mama!
• Loves playing on a new activity mat - even started smiling and swating at the hanging toys, like they are playing back with him. It might be the cutest thing I've ever seen!
• Finally likes his bath - no more crying :)
• Enjoys diaper changes - we play and chat while Mama changes him.
• He smiles a ton, which totally melts my heart!
• He's cooing, ahhing and making fun noises - again I totally love!
• Holds his head up really well - no more floppy
• Doesn't fuss too much during tummy time
• And eats like a champ!

Jason and I are so blessed!

So speaking of blessed, as I go back to work and swallow the idea of being away from Matthew all day, words cannot describe the love I have for our son. No one, not even your parents, can fully prepare you for the emotions and the love that you will feel for your child. I never thought I could love someone as much as I love Matthew. Of course this makes the idea of heading back to work extremely hard, but everyone tells me it does get better. We shall see about that one!

So yes, we did find a temporary daycare. It is a bit of a distance from our house, but was a good choice, so I don't totally lose my mind worrying. It is a Goddard School my high school friend Janet has been taking her daughter and just raved. They luckily had an opening so we grabbed it up. The infant room teachers are just wonderful, so I knew we made the right choice. Tuesday we took Matthew for his first half day, I was ok while getting him dressed, fed and in the car. It wasn't until we did the "hand off" that I started to lose it. Then of course the minute we stepped outside, I just lost it. I know he's safe and happy - heck he smiled at us as we left - but I guess after being at home with him for 12 weeks the thought of not seeing him whenever I please really hit me hard. When I picked him up, he did look exhausted, and a bit confused, but he wasn't crying - whew! I did another drop off this afternoon and Mama kept it together.

And to close out this post for today, here are more fun pictures of our sweet Matthew!

Our happy boy!
See I love bath time now!!
He just melts my heart!

2 Months Old!

Matthew is 2 months old and it just amazes me how much he has changed in just 2 months.

He has gained almost 4 lbs and grew 3 inches in length. I knew he was getting bigger, but I was so surprised when we got the official measurements at his 2 month appointment.

1 Month Old
Weight: 6 lbs 12 oz (3rd percentile)

Height: 20 3/4 inches (25th percentile)

Head Size: 14 inches (10th percentile)

2 Months Old
Weight: 10 lbs 2 oz (20th percentile)

Height: 23 3/4 inches (75th percentile)

Head Size: 15 1/4 inches (25th percentile) At his appointment he also got his first round of vaccines. I knew Matthew would cry, who wouldn't getting a shot in the leg, but I didn't realize how much Mom would cry too!

Just seeing my sweet Matthew cry so hard just absolutely broke my heart. I was also really nervous to how the rest of the day would go after his shots. I had heard that some infants run fevers, are really fussy, the works, but Matthew did quite well. He ate well and cat napped the first few hours after we got home. Later in the afternoon, he did get pretty fussy off and on, but I happened to notice his leg was red and a bit swollen, so a bit of Tylenol did the trick to make him feel a bit better.

Luckily today he seems to be back to his old self.

I only have 2 more weeks of maternity leave and during these past 10 weeks, I've come to learn that I'm definitely not ready to be a stay at home Mom yet, but boy it is going to be hard to be apart from Matthew. We are still trying to figure out our daycare options. We looked at 2 places with openings, but I cried at the thought of leaving Matthew at either place, even if it is only temporary. I am hoping after tomorrow we will have a plan in place.

Please keep your fingers crossed for us!

Aunt Josie makes a trip to Atlanta!

It was such a wonderful weekend to have my Aunt Josie come for a visit to meet Matthew. It was the first time she flew by herself, and she did fantastic!

We had such a great time, and Matthew just fell in love with her as did she with Matthew.

And of course she cooked her delicious enchilladas, rice, beans & homemade tortillas and salsa (no wonder I can't lose the last of my baby weight!).

He LOVED taking naps on Aunt Josie!

And she helped give Matthew a bath, which she loved!

And we played on his activity mat - he even coo'd some, which we both loved!

Matthew continues to grow and grow! I was showing Aunt Josie the newborn pictures and it really hit me how big is really is getting! And how tiny he was when he was born. It's amazing how you almost forget. His newborn outfits are getting more and more snug, but the 0-3 month outfits are still a bit big. He continues to become more alert and I've caught a few smiles, which just melt my heart.

And in 3 short weeks my maternity leave will come to an end :( I really can't believe it. We are still on the waiting list at his daycare, but I haven't heard the official word about when we will get Matthew in. However, I'm getting ready for plan, what that is, I'm not sure yet!

What we've been up to..

I know I haven't been great about updating our blog with updates on Matthew, I promise to get better, so this is going to be a marathon of updates.

So what have we been up to lately... We've had visitors, I finally put together our jogging stroller and Matthew had his first trip to Milledgeville!

Aunt Jori (one of my very best friends) came for a visit a few weeks ago. It was so great for her to spend time with Matthew and I while Jason was traveling.

Matthew just loves his Aunt Jori!

I finally put together our Bob jogging stroller and have been getting out with Matthew for morning walks. I can't wait until I can actually run with the stroller, but that will have to wait until Matthew is a little bigger.

Here we are ready to go!
We had a great visit from Janet & Brooke. Janet & I went to high school together. She was actually my inspiration to workout my entire pregnancy. We worked out together during her pregnancy and she made it look SO easy!

Brooke just loved meeting her future boyfriend!
And last week, I took Matthew on his first trip to Milledgeville to see his Nana & Papa. It was a fun time. His cousin Andrew was visiting too, and Andrew just loves Matthew. He is obsessed with his feet too - as he says "I like to lick them because they don't have bones and they are squishy"...



Jori's Mom, Beth, came to meet Matthew too!

Time continues to fly by! I go back to work in a month and I can't believe it. It's a little overwhelming to think about, so I've decided I'm not going to yet :)

Matthew continues to grow. I can't wait until his next pediatrician appointment to see how big he's getting, but his little thighs are definitely getting more meat on them. He is also sleeping really well at night. He sleeps for a 5-6 hour stretch, which is wonderful! We are definitely blessed.

I did make one of those first "tough Mom decisions" over the weekend. Before Matthew was born, I said that I would take breastfeeding in stride. We would do it as long as both Mom & baby were happy. When Matthew was born, we had some difficulty since he arrived early. I met with lactation consultants in the hospital and felt pretty confident when I left. We continued to have some difficulty, so another trip to the lactation we made. After that visit, I again thought we were on the path to success, but for the past 2 weeks, it was just flat out tough. I wasn't happy and I didn't want Matthew to feel the stress I was putting on myself. So after many conversations with other Moms, my mother-in-law and Jason, I decided to stop. It was a really tough decision, but I felt strongly that it was best so I could be a good (and happy) Mom to Matthew. I am continuing to pump, so he's actually still getting some breastmilk, but we've also started formula. I never imagined something that is suppose to be so natural would be so incredibly hard. Nor did I ever think I would have such an internal battle about making the decision to stop. I will say since making this decision, I feel as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I guess that means I made the right decision.

So after all that, what could possibly be next for us!!?? Well my Aunt Josie is coming for a visit this weekend! Matthew will get to meet his great Aunt. We can't wait to see her!