Two Months and 1st Easter!

Andrew turned 2 months old last Friday. It really is amazing to me how fast time is going. Every time I get overwhelmed or tired, I just remind myself that he is already 9 weeks old and we have made it through the hardest part! I know how much babies change from 2-3 months, so I am excited and anxious to watch him grow and see his little personality emerge.

Andrew had his two month appointment yesterday and I was so relieved because his eyes were responsive so the Dr isn't concerned anymore! Hooray! He weighed 12 pounds, 3.5 ounces (41 percentile), was 23 3/4 inches long (76 percentile) and his head was 40 cm (71 percentile). He is turning into quite the chunk, just like John was at this age!

So I was very happy with his appointment. He did have three shots so he wasn't happy about that. He came home and had some Tylenol then crashed, so hopefully he feels better soon.

At two months, Andrew is a pretty good baby. He has a pretty predictable routine. He eats about every 3 hours during the day with a bottle at 10 pm. He is waking up anywhere between 2-3, although it is getting consistently closer to 3. A few times he has slept until 4, but only a couple of times. Hopefully he will do that more in the weeks to come. But, he goes right back to bed after his feeding until about 6-7. So it could be worse! I am ready for more sleep though. I get excited thinking about the day when both boys are in bed by 8:00 for the night! Maybe by next year! Lol! I also know pretty soon Andrew will have to transition to his crib, so hopefully that doesn't set us back!

Andrew loves to lay on his ocean mat and has started to bat at the toys. He can hold onto a rattle if we put it in his hands. He loves his changing mat and is usually pretty smiley in the mornings.

Andrew celebrated his first Easter this past weekend. We had a busy weekend with John's 1st soccer game, church, and then we went to my aunt Ruth's house. John was spoiled with Easter candy and Legos, so he was in heaven!

John and Brad are headed to their first Tiger's game of the season tonight and they are both so excited. John has been such a good big brother and seems to be doing better with the transition. Once Andrew becomes a little more independent, I think it will get even better.

We have quite a busy month ahead of us. We are going to spend a weekend at the lake, then Brad and I are heading to New York for a wedding. I am nervous to leave Andrew this young, but I know he will be okay. I just feel bad for my mom because she is going to be exhausted!!!

We are also holding a fundraiser for my sister in a few weeks, the same weekend as Andrew's baptism! So before we know it, May will be over and I will be back at work for the last two weeks. Then summertime!

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks! Enjoy!

Posted via DraftCraft app

Brothers

Since Andrew has been born, John has done a great job stepping into the role of big brother. He is so good with Andrew. The transition was hard for him though. I'm sure he was jealous of the attention we were giving Andrew and sad that it's not just the three of us anymore. He is old enough to understand that Andrew is here to stay, but still young to understand and handle his emotions. For about the first three weeks, John was very emotional. I'm sure it was the combination of feeling sad, being off his routine, and missing us. He has been very proud to be a big brother though, and is constantly giving Andrew kisses.

I keep telling John it will be more fun once Andrew gets bigger. John is staying home with us on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I think it is a little boring for him. Hopefully it will get easier once Andrew can be a little more independent. Some days it is survival mode and a lot of TV!

John and I had a special date night a few weeks ago to a mother/son dance. It was so cute. John busted out his moves on the dance floor...very cute!!! He does a pretty good sprinkler!

I can't wait to see the relationship develop between these two. I hope they will be close. Even though they are four years apart, I think they will have fun together. It will be neat to see what similarities and differences they have. I love my boys!

Posted via DraftCraft app

7 weeks

So I think I am caught up on blogging Andrew's first month. He is 7 weeks old this week, which is crazy! It is spring break here, and John went to Indiana this week fir his first alone trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house. I miss him, but it has been nice to just spend some quiet time here with Andrew and catch up on sleep a bit. He is coming home tomorrow and I can't wait to hear all of his stories! Thanks Don and Nan!!!

I am waiting patiently for Andrew to start sleeping for longer stretches at night. Right now he is taking a 5 oz bottle at 10 pm then sleeps until 2 or 3. Then he will nurse and go back to bed until around 5:30-6:30. He stirs a lot though, so Brad and I just lay there hoping he will sleep longer! Twice he has thrown us a bone and slept until 3:30 or 3:45, but it has not been consistent. I keep telling myself he is still so little, but man, I miss my sleep!!!

He is becoming much more alert though and smiley, which is fun. Here are some recent pictures from the past few weeks.

One Month!

I always feel a major sense of accomplishment at the one month mark! We made it! And it went by so fast! At one month, Andrew is doing great! He is a pretty good baby. We have been keeping him on an eat-wake-sleep cycle during the day and he is still nursing every 3 hours. At night Brad will give him a bottle around 10 so I can get an extra hour of sleep (yay sleep!) and he will usually go right to sleep after that. He wakes up on his own anywhere between 1:30-2:30 and i nurse him. He is getting better about going right back to sleep until around 5 or 6. He is fussy when he is tired, and between 5-7 and 8:30-10 seem to be his "witching" hours. He is starting to become a bit more active during his wake times, which is fun.

He still likes his mat, his changing table, and his bouncer seat. He likes to sit in the bouncer in the bathroom while I take a shower. I think the combination of the seat, the lights, fan, water, and hair dryer are comforting to him. It's a win-win situation because I get my shower in too! :)

Andrew's one month appointment went pretty good. He weighed 8 lbs, 2.5 ounces (7th percentile), 21 1/2 inches long (45 percentile) and his head circumference was 37.5 cm (56 percentile). The only concerning part was when they examined him, the doctor was a bit concerned with his eyes. She said they weren't constricting much when she shined the light in his eyes. She told me not to stress, but easier said than done! However, since then we have been watching them at home and they are definately constricting in the lights. He also tracks our movement, so that makes me feel better. My gut tells me he is fine, but they will check again at his two month appointment and if it is still a concern, he will see an optometrist. So, we will pray in the meantime!

Here are some pics from his one month "photo shoot." Enjoy!

First weeks

I'm not going to lie, the first few weeks of the newborn stage are very hard for me. I didn't have as much anxiety as I did with John, but man is it exhausting! Add in the hormones and emotional stress, and I am a mess! But once again, Brad is an amazing support and helped so much. Andrew is eating every 3 hours during the day with his last feeding around 10:30. I would wake him up at 1:30 am to nurse and then he would sleep until about 5. We finally introduced a bottle around 3 weeks, which was great to get a break for one feeding. Also, around two weeks we took Andrew back to the dr for a weight check and he was back to his birth weight so we didn't have to wake him in the night anymore. After that he went about four hours between feedings, so he would wake up around 2 to eat again.

This time is different too because we are out and about so much more. With John I never left the house, and we are out pretty much every day. John is home from preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so those days can be long! John is a great helper though, and it is nice to have him home! We celebrated John's 4th birthday (crazy!!!) and he got a lot of new toys to keep him busy. John is into presents and Legos rights now! He will be excited for Andrew ro play with him one day!

He is growing so fast already though! He is so cute, and already changing so much! His little "coos" are adorable!!! He likes his mat and likes his changing table to stretch his legs and arms. We love you Andrew!!!

First Photo Shoot

Andrew did so well at the hospital for his first photo shoot. Here are some of my favorites...

Andrew's first few days

Like I said, the first few days with Andrew were so different than with John. Maybe because we knew wha to expect, but it was so much more calm! It was ctazy having a newborn again, and I did forget just how tiring it is! But this time we know how fast time goes, and how quickly they grow up! Here are som pictures of his first few days!