He is just so enjoyable and it is so much fun to have conversations with him.
Here are a couple of video snippets of him talking away.
Mom, Mama, Drew and Jack
the adventures of 2 boys and their moms
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Jibber Jabber
Boy, oh boy, Drew has found his voice. He has been cracking us up this week with all of the jibber jabber! He was cooing before now, but it has kicked into high gear this week. Just last night, on the way home in the van, we were listening to him talk away - we finally figures out that he was talking to the little dogs on his car seat strap covers.
He is just so enjoyable and it is so much fun to have conversations with him.
Here are a couple of video snippets of him talking away.
He is just so enjoyable and it is so much fun to have conversations with him.
Here are a couple of video snippets of him talking away.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
{this moment}
{this moment} – A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama
A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember
A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
On Breastfeeding
I have been meaning to write this post for a long time - 11 weeks to be exact, and I'm just getting around to it now - funny how having a tiny human to take care of 24/7 takes up lots and lots of time. We wouldn't change it for anything though!
I have wanted to write this post because we have a positive outcome to what was a horrendous start in our breastfeeding relationship. I am hoping that it will inspire others to stick with it if at all possible.
Let's start at the beginning......
When Drew was born, we started immediately placing him at the breast to try to establish feeding. All throughout the first day, we placed him at the breast every 2 hours and he would not latch. We had the help of the nurses and lactation consultants, but no go! Finally at the 24 hour mark, the lactation consultant let us know that we needed some "intervention" because Little Man needed to eat! This intervention came in the form of a nip.ple shield. (TMI warning) - My nipples are TINY - so the poor little guy had nothing to latch on to, and we needed a shield to give him a latch. I was kind of annoyed at this point because it's not like my nipples had shrunk or anything in the first 24 hours - they have always been tiny - why didn't we start with this from the beginning?!?
Anyways, Drew finally latched and got some much needed colostrum and we were all happy campers. At that point, they also started me pumping to encourage my supply to come in. Drew did well nursing with the nip.ple shield through the rest of the next day and a half that we were in the hospital. I was ecstatic - I wasn't worried that we had to use a shield - who cares as long as he is nursing was our take on it! We left the hospital excited to finally be home together as our little family and that's when everything went south....
The first night at home (Sunday), Drew would latch a tiny bit on my right side and not at all on my left. MJ was so, so supportive and was helping us as much as humanly possible. She was getting up at night with us and everything as it seemed to take all four hands to try and get him to latch. But, it just didn't seem to be working. By the middle of the day on Monday, we knew our little guy had not had enough to eat. We just had that instinct that something wasn't right.
At this point, we were feeding him pumped milk via a syringe because everyone warns you to NOT give a bottle in order to minimize nipple confusion. Talk about stressful....MJ would give him her finger to suck on while I would squirt tiny bits of milk into his mouth. We did this all through the night and it was awful. I was crying and just saying "I just don't want him to be hungry." I was absolutely ready to give up at this point.
Then, on Tuesday morning, the Visit.ing Nu.rse came for a visit. Thank heavens for her!! I explained the difficulty we were having and she worked and worked with us to help Drew latch. We ended up having to place him at the breast, with nipple in his mouth and then use the syringe to drop bits of milk into his mouth in order to "tease" him and get him sucking. She worked with us for an hour and a half to get him eating well. I don't know what we would have done without her. She was also the first person who gave us "permission" to "pump, put it in a bottle, and feed him, because happy parents make happy babies." It was freeing to know that someone thought this was OK!! Never mind the fact that I was using a shield, so there wouldn't be confusion anyways! (Now the interesting thing is, we never had to do that as she gave us enough tips and tricks to get him to latch!)
For the next two weeks, I had to use the syringe to get Drew latched and then eating. At the beginning, MJ had to help as I just didn't have enough hands to do it all. I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't been as supportive as she was. All of a sudden, one day, I realized that Mr. Man was latching just fine on his own! We have continued to need to use the nipple shield, but who cares! We have now been breastfeeding for 11 weeks and he feeds like a champ!
We also introduced a bottle of pumped milk at almost 2 weeks old so that MJ could feed him as well. He goes back and forth with no problem at all!
So, while it was a very rocky start, we are so glad that we stuck with it! Hopefully this can give some of you having difficulties some inspiration to keep at it, because you can do it and it is well worth it in the end!
I have wanted to write this post because we have a positive outcome to what was a horrendous start in our breastfeeding relationship. I am hoping that it will inspire others to stick with it if at all possible.
Let's start at the beginning......
When Drew was born, we started immediately placing him at the breast to try to establish feeding. All throughout the first day, we placed him at the breast every 2 hours and he would not latch. We had the help of the nurses and lactation consultants, but no go! Finally at the 24 hour mark, the lactation consultant let us know that we needed some "intervention" because Little Man needed to eat! This intervention came in the form of a nip.ple shield. (TMI warning) - My nipples are TINY - so the poor little guy had nothing to latch on to, and we needed a shield to give him a latch. I was kind of annoyed at this point because it's not like my nipples had shrunk or anything in the first 24 hours - they have always been tiny - why didn't we start with this from the beginning?!?
Anyways, Drew finally latched and got some much needed colostrum and we were all happy campers. At that point, they also started me pumping to encourage my supply to come in. Drew did well nursing with the nip.ple shield through the rest of the next day and a half that we were in the hospital. I was ecstatic - I wasn't worried that we had to use a shield - who cares as long as he is nursing was our take on it! We left the hospital excited to finally be home together as our little family and that's when everything went south....
The first night at home (Sunday), Drew would latch a tiny bit on my right side and not at all on my left. MJ was so, so supportive and was helping us as much as humanly possible. She was getting up at night with us and everything as it seemed to take all four hands to try and get him to latch. But, it just didn't seem to be working. By the middle of the day on Monday, we knew our little guy had not had enough to eat. We just had that instinct that something wasn't right.
At this point, we were feeding him pumped milk via a syringe because everyone warns you to NOT give a bottle in order to minimize nipple confusion. Talk about stressful....MJ would give him her finger to suck on while I would squirt tiny bits of milk into his mouth. We did this all through the night and it was awful. I was crying and just saying "I just don't want him to be hungry." I was absolutely ready to give up at this point.
Then, on Tuesday morning, the Visit.ing Nu.rse came for a visit. Thank heavens for her!! I explained the difficulty we were having and she worked and worked with us to help Drew latch. We ended up having to place him at the breast, with nipple in his mouth and then use the syringe to drop bits of milk into his mouth in order to "tease" him and get him sucking. She worked with us for an hour and a half to get him eating well. I don't know what we would have done without her. She was also the first person who gave us "permission" to "pump, put it in a bottle, and feed him, because happy parents make happy babies." It was freeing to know that someone thought this was OK!! Never mind the fact that I was using a shield, so there wouldn't be confusion anyways! (Now the interesting thing is, we never had to do that as she gave us enough tips and tricks to get him to latch!)
For the next two weeks, I had to use the syringe to get Drew latched and then eating. At the beginning, MJ had to help as I just didn't have enough hands to do it all. I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't been as supportive as she was. All of a sudden, one day, I realized that Mr. Man was latching just fine on his own! We have continued to need to use the nipple shield, but who cares! We have now been breastfeeding for 11 weeks and he feeds like a champ!
We also introduced a bottle of pumped milk at almost 2 weeks old so that MJ could feed him as well. He goes back and forth with no problem at all!
So, while it was a very rocky start, we are so glad that we stuck with it! Hopefully this can give some of you having difficulties some inspiration to keep at it, because you can do it and it is well worth it in the end!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Great Weekend
We had a wonderful weekend. On Saturday, we went with my parents to a local farmers market, ran some errands and then went out to lunch with Laura, Sue and Olivia. When we got home we had lots of fun playing with Drew and he was just cracking us up. He was full of smiles and babbles - it was just the best! Then, he slept for EIGHT hours and it was absolute heaven! We had a 7 hour stretch one other night this week - I'm hoping we may be entering a longer sleep phase!
Today my parents came over for a couple of hours to hang with the Little Man and we tackled the mess in our basement. It was great to not have to worry about him and to just be able to get things done. Tonight we are watching football and just hanging. We are so in love with our little family!
I'll leave you with a couple of fun pics...
Today my parents came over for a couple of hours to hang with the Little Man and we tackled the mess in our basement. It was great to not have to worry about him and to just be able to get things done. Tonight we are watching football and just hanging. We are so in love with our little family!
I'll leave you with a couple of fun pics...
Friday, January 21, 2011
{this moment}
{this moment} – A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama.
A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember
A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
SNOW DAY!!!
We are enjoying a wonderful snow day here in NH! The best part is that Mom gets to be home with us all day! Drew enjoyed going out in the snow for a bit too! He'll have lots more fun next winter when he is older and can actually play in the snow!
Friday, January 14, 2011
{this moment}
{this moment} – A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama.
A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember
A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Belated Christmas
Over the weekend, we had a great time celebrating Christmas with our friends Laura and Sue and their daughter Olivia. We had lots of fun having a fondue dinner, opening presents, playing games, and having a wonderful breakfast on Sunday morning.
Olivia is really starting to enjoy Drew a lot more now that he is a little bigger and he interacts with people a bit more! She actually asked to hold him this time and also had fun reading books to him and playing with a puppet that we have with him!
Olivia is really starting to enjoy Drew a lot more now that he is a little bigger and he interacts with people a bit more! She actually asked to hold him this time and also had fun reading books to him and playing with a puppet that we have with him!
It is always nice to celebrate with friends!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Two Months
Drew -
You are two months old. We're not sure how time has gone by so fast already, but we love you more and more each and every day. This was a very busy month for all of us.
You celebrated your first Christmas this month and that celebration included a trip to Minnesota to introduce you to Mom's family. You were an excellent traveler and never made a peep on the plane. At 7 weeks old, you had already earned your wings! You met your Grandma, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins and you enjoyed "hanging out" with all of them. Once again, we commented what a good boy you are and how you were such a trooper traveling and being held by all of those new people.
This month you also started smiling A LOT! It is so much fun to see you react to the people who are talking to you and we love knowing that the smiles are definitely intentional now. You have changed so much and you really have a "little boy" baby face now instead of the newborn look. You are awake and alert for much longer periods of time now.
You still love music and movement and you have really started to enjoy watching the mobile in your crib. Your favorite song is "The Wheels on the Bus" and it will settle you down any time you are upset. We have added a number of our own verses when we sing it to you. You love your bath and you have even taken a couple of showers with Mama which is a lot easier!
You made celebrating the holidays such a joy this year and we can't wait to continue celebrating our lives with you, our Little Man. It is so much fun to view the world through the eyes of a child and you make us slow down and do that!
You wore 0 - 3 month clothes and Size 1 diapers for this whole month. At your two month pediatricians appointment, you weighed 10 pounds 5 ounces and were 24 inches long. You are in the 85th percentile for height and the 20th percentile for weight.
You are such a blessing and we are so thankful for you each and every day!
Love,
Mom and Mama
You are two months old. We're not sure how time has gone by so fast already, but we love you more and more each and every day. This was a very busy month for all of us.
You celebrated your first Christmas this month and that celebration included a trip to Minnesota to introduce you to Mom's family. You were an excellent traveler and never made a peep on the plane. At 7 weeks old, you had already earned your wings! You met your Grandma, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins and you enjoyed "hanging out" with all of them. Once again, we commented what a good boy you are and how you were such a trooper traveling and being held by all of those new people.
This month you also started smiling A LOT! It is so much fun to see you react to the people who are talking to you and we love knowing that the smiles are definitely intentional now. You have changed so much and you really have a "little boy" baby face now instead of the newborn look. You are awake and alert for much longer periods of time now.
You still love music and movement and you have really started to enjoy watching the mobile in your crib. Your favorite song is "The Wheels on the Bus" and it will settle you down any time you are upset. We have added a number of our own verses when we sing it to you. You love your bath and you have even taken a couple of showers with Mama which is a lot easier!
You made celebrating the holidays such a joy this year and we can't wait to continue celebrating our lives with you, our Little Man. It is so much fun to view the world through the eyes of a child and you make us slow down and do that!
You wore 0 - 3 month clothes and Size 1 diapers for this whole month. At your two month pediatricians appointment, you weighed 10 pounds 5 ounces and were 24 inches long. You are in the 85th percentile for height and the 20th percentile for weight.
You are such a blessing and we are so thankful for you each and every day!
Love,
Mom and Mama
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Christmas Break
We had an absolutely fantastic first Christmas as a family!
Drew enjoyed so many things:
Reading a book with Mom while waiting to board the airplane:
Sleeping through the majority of the flight to MN:
Meeting his Grandma, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins
Taking naps with Mama
Snuggling with Mom
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