2 Months

Sean's two month check-up was this week.  I was interested to see how much he weighs because he has grown too big for most of the 0-3 month clothes.   The 3-6 months sizes usually starts at 12.5 lbs and that is what I've been transitioning him into in the past few weeks.  He first started growing out of the smaller sizes in the feet!  Seems like he's on his way to size 13 shoes like his daddy.  :)

He weighs 13 lbs 1.5 oz. and that should be accurate because they took his diaper off and everything.  He was about 24 inches long, wow!  He is growing well!  

I was going to post some pictures, but unfortunately my computer would not read the camera's memory card.  All the pictures on there from the past few weeks are lost and I had to reformat the card. :(  

So we took a new picture, and we managed to catch a smile.  

Josh likes to wear ties; Sean wanted to, too.   Isn't he too cute in this painted on tie?!

My birthday and back to Work

I had a very nice birthday recently.  Nothing too special, but my sister wrote a very sweet blog for me.  We had roast beef for dinner, which I enjoyed very much (beef is usually my favorite meat, but ground beef is always my default because it is easy to fix).  My mom was visiting and we took Sean out shopping.  Sean was great; he slept the entire time.  I had wanted to go to a few different stores and maybe even stop in to get my hair cut, but I got tired by the time we were done at the first store.  I seem to enjoy shopping less and less as I get older and have more things to do, and I simply wanted to be at home where I could relax. 

The most special thing about my birthday was that it was the last day completely free from work at home with my family.  The next day I took Sean with me into work for a couple hours.  I went around and let people hold Sean, and after he fell asleep, I went to my office and sifted through the pile of mail that had waited patiently for me.  I didn't actually spend much time working, which was good, I just had a peak into what I was getting back into.

Then last week I went into work Tuesday and Thursday and left Sean.  I think I was more anxious about leaving him the week before I left him than when I actually left him.  I set up with my boss and HR to return from my maternity leave working part-time for 4 weeks.  That way Sean and I have some time to get used to being apart and establish a good schedule.   So last week I set up my part-time schedule to include 5 hours of work time with a long lunch in the middle.  So I went to work late, took my lunch to go nurse and visit Sean, and then returned in the afternoon for a couple hours and left early.  That way, I was only away from Sean for 2 1/2 or 3 hours at a time.  It made it much easier to leave him when I said, "I'll see you in less than 3 hours."  And when I was at work I spent probably spent more time than I should have talking to people about him.

Then there was a meeting Friday that I thought I should attend.  With easily attained approval from my boss, I brought Sean in with me for the meeting Friday.  It was the third day at work that week, but it was the best, because Sean was with me.  While leaving him wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be, sometimes I wish I was still pregnant so that he would always be with me.  :)

4 weeks

Wow, Sean is now four weeks old! He is growing and getting chubbier everyday.

There are some things that I want to remember about Sean up to this point. I know that if I don't write down these little tidbits somewhere, there is a real chance I may forget some of them as time goes by.

Especially in the first couple weeks, Sean liked to fall asleep laying on my chest. He would bring his little skinny legs up and place his hands under his head - purposely resting his head on his hands. It is just too cute. I love how he snuggles before he drifts off to sleep.

In the last week or so I can tell that he recognizes me. He swivels his head around to follow me when I go by him.

He is starting to lose the baby hair on his head right in front. I think a lot of newborn babies, including Sean, look like old men. He's got a great receding hairline to improve his old man-ish style.

He smiles and sometimes even laughs in his sleep. In the last few days he will pull a smirk when he is awake, so he is getting it figured out. I was looking at a snapshot of shortly after he was born when I gave a I'm-completely-exhausted-but-entirely-happy grin and it reminded me of Sean's sleepy smiles.

He is so peaceful when he is asleep. He is beautiful.

And he likes me the best! (at least for now, and I'll take it!)

Growing up already

Sean is three weeks old and he sure is growing.  He seems to me like he is half grown already!  Well, not really, but I'm not done enjoying his newborn days and he is turning into a chubby baby.

When we left the hospital his discharge weight was 8lbs 3oz and when we took him to the doctor at two weeks old he was 9lbs 10oz.  Aside from that, I can tell he is gaining weight because his hands are filling out and getting chubby.   His eyelashes have grown, though they are still hard to see.  I'm packing away the newborn size clothes, already.

It is such a mom thing to say - he's growing up too fast!

TA - DA! Here he is!

A great philosopher once said....

Hey everybody. Sorry we have been silent for so long - it just takes a while to get adjusted to everything. Anyway, we wanted to share a couple of photos of the little one with everybody. Hope to post again soon. Enjoy. :D
- J

Just a cute picture :P

It's a Boy!

Sean was born on January 16th at 11:14 a.m. He weighted 8lbs. 13.8 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long.

I just wanted to give a super-quick update. I'll work on uploading some pictures and some of the birth story tomorrow.

We are all home from the hospital and doing well. Sean is a happy baby and doing great. We are all still exhausted. I need a lot of help, relatively, so I think Josh is a bit more worn out than most new fathers. He is making sure I take it easy and don't do too much; he is such a wonderful husband. I am blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

The Next Day

Whew! What a night! I guess I didn't fully realize how everything would happen. First a mix up at the registration desk - nothing major, just a new nurse ;) Then you get all hooked up to a baby heart monitor, a contraction monitor, and an IV. Then MORE waiting. The redeeming value here is two-fold: 1) we are having the baby soon 2) we get to listen to the baby's heartbeat constantly.

All through the night, nurses in and out, checking things, looking things over, adjusting things, asking Mary to roll over or whatever - roughly ever half hour, which does not make for a good night's sleep. But, on the bright side, the nurse who was taking care of us was really great. She was nice and listened to us when we needed something and was always offering to help in any way she could - truly makes things a lot nicer and easier.

Fun times ahead! :D -J