Happy 1 Month!

Psalm 69:30
I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.

This is a print hanging in Parker's room.  My friend Christina made this and gave it to him as a gift- love it!  

Dear Parker,


I can't believe that you are one month old already- it literally feels like we just brought you home the other day!  I also can't believe we have spent an entire month of being home so much.  Before you came along, I rarely spent much time inside- always out and about.  But, being born in the winter, we really try to avoid getting you out too much in order to avoid you getting sick at this age.  Surprisingly, I am incredibly content to spend all day every day with you at home.  Of course, we have our little outings to Target (frequently), the grocery store, or to Meredith's house just to beat the cabin fever occasionally.

In your first month, you have changed so much physically- look at these pictures below!  You were born weighing less than 8 lbs and at 19.5 inches.  At 4 weeks, you are now 10.2 lbs. and ~21 inches.  Your facial features are starting to become more defined.  We have had some baby acne pop up this last week, but it already seems to be fading.  You've also outgrown your newborn clothing and NB diapers.  You are wearing 0-3 month outfits really well and size 1 diapers.  As exciting as it is to see you grow so quickly, it is also bittersweet to see the true newborn stage fade.  

One of the things we worried so much about before you came was if you would have feeding difficulties with your cleft lip and palate.  You have been a champ- especially with your weight gain.  We have now increased your breastmilk amount to 4oz every 2-3 hours.


You still sleep most of the time, but you have really become more and more alert.  During the day, you eat every 2-3 hours, at night every 3-5 hours.  After each feeding we have playtime followed by a nap.  You love tummy time on your playmat.  And yesterday- you rolled over from tummy to back!  Your Daddy and I were in shock.  I'm sure it was a fluke, but I joke that you are a little overachiever as this is a 3-6month milestone!  You are so attentive when we read books, and you have really become a fan of our walks every day this last week with Jack now that the weather has been so nice!  You mostly sleep on the walk, but you are very much at peace!

You are so incredibly loved by your Dad and me.  We just sit and look at you all of the time still.  Your favorite place to sleep is on your Daddy's chest- it's very sweet to see!  Jack is loving you more and more- he licks your hands and feet as often as I let him.  You just take it and never cry when he does so.  You have also had so many visitors come by from our days in the hospital, to almost daily visits at home- we are so blessed with family and friends!

Your buddy Jack wants to be wherever you are!

I can't wait to see what the next month brings.  You are such a joy, and I love being your Mommy!  I thank God daily for you and for your addition to our family.

4 Weeks

The plate in the middle was a gift from our friends, the Duncans.  The Mad Platter is a "paint your own pottery" business here in Columbia, and they will come to the hospital after your baby is born to get their footprints on a plate that they personalize for you- such a cute idea and great gift!

So Parker is now 4 weeks old!  I just can't believe it was 4 weeks ago today that he came into our lives- it still feels like just the other day that we were at the hospital!

In January- my camellias are blooming and beautiful!

The weather has been pretty nasty lately with gray skies, cool temperatures and a lot of rain.  The last two days have been such a wonderful blessing with temps in the 60s and sunshine.  It's been easy to get cabin fever being in the house all day, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to get outside, get some exercise and take my boys, Parker & Jack, outdoors!

Jack was so excited to get outside

Now I'm just ready for Parker to be big enough to go in the jogging stroller and get back to running

We are quickly outgrowing our newborn clothes!

One of our biggest concerns, and the biggest concerns of Parker's doctors, is that he be able to feed adequately and gain weight.  He is eating so well, especially with the Haberman feeder.  We have actually had to slow down the flow on his bottle because he is eating so quickly.  We went back to the doctor today to recheck his bilirubin level.  It was half of the value it was 2 weeks ago, so that is going in the right direction.  His weight check- 10.2 lbs!!  That is fantastic, and Dr. Painter was very impressed.  We are so blessed that he has done so well with eating.

After their bath- the babies are out

We hung out with Meredith and Colin and their 15 week old daughter, Madeline.  They actually took a bath together, and it was so incredibly cute!  It's amazing to watch Maddie and think that Parker will be sitting up like her, cooing, and laughing/interacting so soon!

It is so much fun to go through this new experience with friends!

We also had a visit from one of Spence's best friends from college, Olivia.

Finally figured out the Moby wrap... it is very convenient to have my hands free to cook dinner, clean up while he sleeps against me.

It's been a great week.  I am really surprised by how much I am enjoying being at home with Parker.  We have a great routine down now with playtime, reading books, now going out for walks with Jack, etc.  Four weeks of parenthood have definitely proven to me that this is the most wonderful job I have ever had!

Parker loves his daddy- he's already being groomed for sitting in the recliner and watching tv.  Now Parker just needs his own robe.

3 Weeks and a great visit from Kim

The Robinson Family

Another interesting week!  First of all, I cannot believe we are now at 3 weeks old!  Parker is quickly outgrowing his newborn sizes and fitting nicely into our 0-3 months outfits.  He is eating great still and downing 3 oz. of breastmilk every 2-3 hours.  I have no doubt he is over 9 lbs. now and measures over 20 inches.  I just want to push pause to slow him down already!

I just finished the book, On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam.  I think it is a great framework for establishing a routine for a baby, and I am trying out a lot of the suggestions that are already showing success.  It suggests a routine of wake/eat/play/sleep during the day, making the most of alert time and to get the baby used to play and awake time during the day.  I'm trying to do a bathtime at one of the last "day feedings" to prepare him for night time.  At night, we are trying minimal stimulation other than his feedings, and he is stretching out his sleep times to 3-4 hours.  Hopefully in another month, we will have a good routine established.  I highly recommend this book- will keep up with our progress (wish me luck!)

can you say Alert?

Tummy Time

My stepmom, Kim came to visit us this week, and we had such a great visit!  She was incredibly helpful, helped feed Parker at night so that Spencer and I could sleep more, and helped in a million other ways.  The most relief came on Wednesday.  I had been having a lot of achiness, fatigue, and fluctuating chills with hot spells, and my temperature was almost 102.  Spence quarantined me from Parker, and the next day I had to go back to the doctor where I was diagnosed with mastitis.  We were so thankful it wasn't the flu!  But for about 24 hours, we were so nervous that I was really sick and would infect Parker!  I would not have known what to do if Kim hadn't been here to help out!  (I am feeling much better, inflammation is going down, fever is gone, and I am on antibiotics- praying it goes away!)

Jack and Parker are so happy!

Jack stole a rubber duck and has decapitated it.

Jack wants to play with Parker

Kisses

Jack loves to kiss Parker- surely Parker's immune system is getting strong!

Last night of her visit.  I know two boys who will be very disappointed!

The only thing we did not accomplish was coming up with her grandmother name.  Any suggestions?  I told her if she doesn't come up with one that I'm going to call her "Big Momma"- not a flattering name, so the pressure is on!

2 Weeks

I can't believe our little boy is 2 weeks old now!  He is getting so big so quickly and I just feel like it's happening right before our eyes.

This was a big week for us.  On Wednesday, we met with Dr. Chen, the Plastic Surgeon who will perform the cheiloplasty (lip repair) on Parker.  He was pleased with his weight gain, said we will move forward with surgery at 10 weeks as long as he is 10 lbs and healthy (I don't think the 10 lbs will be an issue!).  He also explained how he will do the surgery to us, and even drew out a very artistic and geometric drawing of how the repair will be done.  It should take about an hour and a half for the surgery, and then we will stay overnight in the children's hospital to ensure he recovers well.  Our surgery date is set for March 13th!

Dr. Chen's quick sketches 

Here is P on his 2 week birthday with Dad during bathtime!

another cute frog towel

Dad getting me all cleaned up!

a sweet moment

Jack loves being involved in everything!

On Friday, we had our 2 week well visit with the pediatrician.  Dr. Painter was really pleased with his weight gain.  He said everything else looked great, and our bilirubin check continues to fall.

Weight: 8 lbs 13 oz.- 57%  (7 lb 15.8 oz at birth)
Height: 19.75in.- 32% (19.5 in. at birth)

such a big boy!!

Newborn Picture Preview

Here are a few of the the sneak preview pictures that Amanda took this weekend:

Can't wait to see all of the pictures!  I know I'm his mother, but I just think he's the cutest thing I've ever seen! 

A visit from Mimi

My mom, Dede

We've had pretty much our entire family visit in the last few weeks.  This weekend, my mom came into town.  We've had a great visit, and she has helped out a lot to allow me time to rest.  One thing I continue to realize about myself is that I have a difficult time accepting help- I feel like I need to do everything myself.  But, it's been very nice to have help, and to force myself to take more breaks.

This week, Parker got his first bath at home.  He was not a fan of the "sponge bath" method- but hopefully he will come to love bath time.  It's hard to catch him when he is awake and not wake him up to bathe!

Love these hooded towels!

Not a happy picture

Finally clean and happy!  He is so handsome in his monogrammed gown

And- our first bag of dirty diapers from the diaper genie- impressive!

On Saturday morning, we had our newborn photo shoot.  Amanda with Amanda Joy Photography is a local newborn photographer that I found on a random internet search (http://www.amandajoyphoto.com/).  She was amazing- so patient, so good with Parker, and such a perfectionist with getting just the right position and pose.  I was incredibly pleased and impressed.  I can't wait to get her touched-up photos soon and then send out announcements. My mom took a few pics during the shoot with her phone:

He is just so angelic here!