Who Do You Think He Looks Like?

I get this question lots.  I ask it frequently, too.  Most folks say Weston looks like me, and I agree, but I think that he has subtle qualities that are Nate's.  He has long eye lashes, long legs, and long arms--none of which I possess.  Those are from his dad.

But there are some things that are the same...

Weston at two months and two weeks old

I'm not sure of my age in this picture, but it seems younger than two months

I think we have the same smile (too bad Weston doesn't have sweet older brothers)

I'm about 6 months old here, and I think Weston and I look pretty much the same

What I Didn't Know About Being a Mom

1. Sleep deprivation It's hard to predict what happens to someone after days, then weeks, and then months of getting no more than 5-6 hours of consecutive sleep at a time.  In the beginning, I was afraid I wasn't ever going to be able to sleep.  Thankfully, that's not the case.  I have to admit, though, that it's difficult for me to fall back asleep after Weston sets new records for night sleep.  For example, when he slept 7 hours the other night, I got 6, and after nursing him, I was wide awake because I hadn't gotten that much consolidated sleep in forever!
2. Cutest baby Okay, so everyone thinks that their baby is the cutest, but really, ours is the cutest.  I don't know how other people think that they have the cutest baby because we clearly own the market on that.  I even ask Nate all the time--Isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen?  He completely agrees with me.  I wasn't prepared for how firmly I believe that we have the cutest baby...
3. Breastfeeding gets easier It has to get easier or else no one would continue it.  There were a few times when I told Nate that I was done breastfeeding.  Thank goodness I wasn't serious.  I had mastitis when Weston was two weeks old, and then I had an over-active let down reflex which Weston and I struggled with for several weeks until my supply regulated.  For something that's so "natural," breastfeeding takes buckets of patience and energy.  I would say that it got easier for me right around 8 weeks.
4. I smell I'm serious.  I had heard stories and read stuff about women being overly pungent after having a baby, but I was not prepared for my own smell.  It's so ridiculous that I have to put on deodorant immediately after showering regardless of how well I wash.  One has to hope that this happens so that the baby can bond with its mother, but after ten weeks of stink, I'm confident Weston knows my smell.  Enough already.
5. Conflicting information I read every pregnancy book that came my way while I was pregnant.  I spent hours on the Internet reading about even more stuff that was going on with my body and with the fetus.  The information didn't differ much from one another.  After the baby came, I continued to read a lot about what was going on with him.  In fact, I might have read too much.  The problem is that all babies are different, and there are dozens of ideas about how to raise them.  I've read so many things about eating schedules, sleeping, napping, baby poop, diaper reviews, breastfeeding, and much of it differs from one source to the next.  It's quite frustrating, and I actually got worked up about it a couple of times.  It's much easier to just let it all go and have fun with the baby instead.
6. Going crazy over a schedule This relates to #5.  Because of all the stuff I've read and stories I've heard from other moms, I kept thinking that Weston was supposed to be on some sort of sleeping and feeding schedule that was predictable.  Truth is, he's not that predictable.  Patterns have emerged, but I can't pin him down to anything specific.  I am more concerned about getting him down to sleep in a timely manner than I am about feeding him, mostly due to the fact that I've discovered that he can't handle being awake more than 90 minutes.  So, I adhere to that principle and try to get him to sleep before he gets super tired and crabby.  I've noticed that he generally can go about 3 hours between feedings.  And by about 8 or 9 pm, he's ready for bed.  Other than that, we don't have a strict schedule.
7. Baby blues go away...and can come back  Sigh.  I already wrote about my version of the baby blues, thinking that they were over.  It's been my experience that they do go away and that things get better.  However, there are some...relapses.  I'm pretty sure that they have much in common with the quantity of sleep I'm getting.  Last week at 10 weeks postpartum, I had a horrible day.  I woke up feeling sad and pretty much cried the rest of the day non-stop.  I wasn't expecting it, and it caught me off guard.  It was kind of scary in the sense that I thought that I was never going to be happy again.  Of course, it passed, and I'm okay once again.
8. Other's baby stories Reading other blogs and stories of motherhood has helped me tremendously.  It's fun to hear what their babies are doing, but it's also helpful to hear about when things aren't going well.

The cutest baby

We need to invest in a kiddie pool

Traveling with Baby

Nate and I have been busy traveling this past week with Weston, and let me tell you, doing a road trip with an infant is no easy task.  I'm actually guilt-ridden about it.  We left last Friday night and drove to Davenport, Iowa around 7pm.  That trip was actually pretty easy because it was Weston's bedtime, and he slept most of the way after we stopped for dinner.  We got to Nate's mom's house, left him in the car seat, and he woke up around 3am to eat.

He enjoyed two days with Grandma Becca and Grandpa Brady, spending lots and lots of time outside.  He even went for several dips in the kiddie pool and loved it!  Because he spent so much time outside both days, he slept for 7 hours on Saturday night and 7 1/2 hours on Sunday night!!!!!  I couldn't believe it.  It was quite awesome.  He still isn't the greatest napper (he doesn't usually sleep for more than 30-40 minutes, and an hour is a good nap), but I'll happily take long nights of sleeping.

The trip from Davenport to Cincinnati was a different story...  We left Monday morning at 8am and got to Cinci at 6pm.  He slept okay in the car for the first half of the trip.  We stopped at an air-conditioned rest stop so that he could nurse and get some play time.  We sat under the shade of a tree for at least 45 minutes after he ate and played.  Then we got back in the car where he promptly fell asleep, but woke up about 30 minutes later.  He continued to wake up and doze off for the rest of the trip and cried lots.  It's so hard to watch him completely agitated and pissed off in the car seat.  I would gladly take him out of the car seat and play with him while Nate's driving (just like our parents did when we were little), but Nate won't let me break the law.

We're leaving tomorrow morning to drive to Chicago to visit my brother's family and to also have Weston meet my aunt and uncle on my dad's side.  I hope that this trip goes well.  I read a few tips on how to travel with an infant, and I think we're doing our best.  I would like to try to drive while he does his long stretch of sleeping at night, but that makes it tough on the drivers because we're driving while we should be sleeping.

Two Month Check Up

I was dreading this morning's appointment--SHOTS.  Three of them.  There's something about seeing a baby in pain that can only be understood when your own baby is actually in pain.  I've been around lots and lots of babies in my lifetime, and many of them have had runny noses, bruises, bumps, or just not been feeling well.  Weston had a runny nose last week, and I was distraught in a way that baffled me.  I felt so incredibly bad for him.  And I've been anxious for his shots today since last week sometime.  He did alright--just screamed bloody murder for about a minute and got bright red.  He calmed down after I held him close and talked calmly to him.  He whimpered in the car on the way back home, but slept pretty soundly.  I even sat in the back seat with him and stroked his head while Nate drove.  He's upstairs sleeping soundly right now, even after a long 3-hour nap this afternoon.

Let's see... he's 24 1/2 inches (98th percentile), 13 pounds 2 ounces (75th) and has an impressive head circumference of 40.5 centimeters (90th).  It's hard to believe how much he's grown in such a short amount of time.  No wonder babies sleep so much!

Foaming at the Mouth

Baby's taking a nap right now in his swing, snoozing peacefully while foaming at the mouth.  I'm glad he's such a good sleeper.  He usually will get about 4-6 hours of sleep at night; I just have to be better about going to bed right when he does!

His newborn hair has fallen out on the top of his head, leaving him with a spectacular mullet:

One crazy hair guy talking to another

I resolved the bath time issue...he gets a full bath every other night, and on the off nights, I just draw up a bath and soak him in there for a little bit.  We wash his naught bits on those nights. :)

Loving the bath

He's so close to laughing--I can't wait until he does.  He's able to hold his head up while on his tummy and move it side to side.  He's also starting to pull himself up when you hold his arms.  He loves standing and stomps his foot repeatedly.

Grandma, cousin Owen, Mom and Weston