A little better all the time...

The photos of this post are courtesy of Fish's first bath...

Getting so much better all the time...

 The chorus of the Beatles' song sounds like my weekend -- A little better all the time (It can't get no worse)...  It all began on Thursday evening.  Fish woke up at 1am and then continued to wake every hour on the hour to nurse.  That continued through Friday and Friday night.  On Saturday, the nursing every hour had slowed, but the epic crankiness that took it's place surpassed anything that I had experienced with him (besides a couple of hours of painful gas early on).  Add that in with the fact that Finn was also very very cranky (probably thanks to the head cold that daycare gave us).  She didn't nap very well and that led to an afternoon and evening where 90% of the time someone or both were crying at the same time.  Ugh!  But I am now armed with the knowledge that a very cranky Fish should be put in the Moby wrap and walked around the house -- instantly asleep and he didn't hardly nap the entire day.  Unfortunately, I arrived at this conclusion after 4 hours of crying...

I actually drank TWO beers that evening.  Two in a row!!  I haven't had two beers in a row in probably a little under a year!  But you know what?  We survived.  Was I really bitchy when E came home that evening?  Of course.  But I made it -- and the kids made it.  And I didn't even have to give myself a time out!  I'm thinking that if I can survive a toddler coming down with a cold and a infant with a growth spurt -- I can probably do just about anything!  (Remind me of this when I decide to take the kids to the grocery store all by myself...)

Oh, yeah about that solo trip to the grocery store with two kids -- check that one off the list as well!!!  It was totally accidental, of course -- but don't mind that.  On Sunday, we stopped to get air in my car.  I had shut off the car but left the radio on.  In the 5 minutes it took to put air in the tires, my car battery was dead.  I had been having issues with a low battery for a while, but STILL -- only 5 minutes!  So there we were...  Stuck in the shopping center parking lot with a dead battery.  So while E figured out how to jump it, I walked Finn & Fish across the parking lot, plopped them in a grocery cart (the cute little truck cart that Finn wanted to drive) and I went shopping for the few things that were on my list.  My only complaint is that with a toddler and an infant in a car seat, there was NO room for groceries.  Someone needs to design a grocery cart that can contain a toddler, an infant and more than a loaf of bread.  I had to practically place the groceries on poor little Fish's lap.  But our little shopping trip was also a success!!

Someone was a Pretty, Pretty Princess yesterday...

And on Monday, I was able to get out of the house for about 20 minutes alone (yes, without any child in tow) and walked Munk around the block as it was so glorious out that evening.  It was the first time that I was able to get away and out of the house since Fish was born.  E took Finn and Fish over to the neighbors and he did an excellent job with Fish as Finn got to play with the neighbors' 20-something girls who adore her.

The growth spurt is now over.  Fish is back to sleeping his normal schedule (sort of) and feeding on an only slightly elevated-normal schedule.  And the best part?  He is now so alert.  He looks around and can focus on things.  He knows my voice and will turn his head towards my direction.  And he is now talking up a storm.  Lots of cooing and gurgling going on with this little dude.  I can place him on his back underneath his activity mat or in the pack-n-play and he will kick and talk to the animals hanging above his head.

Fish also received his first official bath last night.  He is almost six weeks old and is JUST getting his first bath?  Yes, yes, I know...  He had gotten lots of poor-man's bath (wash cloth bathes), but was never submerged in water since his hospital bath hours after he was born.  The weather is just so cold which makes our house too chilly for a newborn bath.  And the main reason is that I was just too lazy...  It seemed like a lot of work and he didn't smell, so I thought it can wait.  But as the photos show, he adored the bath.  Looks like we are going to have to give him more, only because he enjoyed himself so much.

After two blow-outs and multiple pee-outs in the last couple of days, we officially need to move up a size in diapers.  I have never had an issue with his diapers until this past weekend.  Since then I've had to change outfits numerous times (some multiple times a day) and I'm now just putting two and two together.  I am going to TRY to finish out the rest of our size 1 diapers which will probably get us to the weekend.  But this weekend, at the age of 6 weeks, we are going to be moving into size 2 diapers (already!).  Finn didn't switch over to size 2s until she was 20 weeks old!  And he doesn't fit into the majority of his 3 month footie-sleepers.  I tried to put one on him the night before last and the poor kid couldn't stretch his legs out.  So I think that I need to start pulling out the 3-6 sleepers for bed.  We have a Big Fish on our hands!!!

A Week in the Life (v.2014.8)

Last Monday, Finn had her two-year check-up at the doctors.  She did amazing.  She is absolutely perfect according to us (and her doctor).

Fish also had his four-week checkup at the same time (trying to shoot two birds with one stone).  The nurse originally measured him in at 27 inches!  The doctor said that he was a big kid, but that she didn't think he was THAT big.  He wasn't -- 23 inches.  But she did comment about how huge of a baby he was.

Waiting for the doctor

Due to the afternoon appointment, Finn didn't get her full nap.  So while I was in the kitchen listening to the radio, she came running in and said "Hug you?  Hug you?" (her way of saying that she wants you to pick her up).  I thought she wanted to dance with me -- the song was slow, so we slow-danced.  And this led to...

This.
Girlfriend was so tired that she fell asleep again at 6:30pm...

My dear old Munk-y...

Munching on some dinner.

Three of my favorite loves... Finn, Fish sleeping in the carseat, and Munk-y

This is now a frequent occurrence in our house.  For like 15 minutes!  She doesn't go in the potty yet.  She will tell us after she pees that she needs to go potty.  And I have since bought her a small potty, so she can get on and off by herself.

This is my winter coat that took me through two pregnancies.  It was not a maternity coat -- just an empire waist wool coat.  The lining is shredded and I know that it's time to either give it away or throw it away.  But it's quite sentimental to me as it did see me through those two pregnancies...

The side seam on the outside also came undone, due to the massive child that I had this time.  And I also lost the main button to keep it closed.  It popped off AFTER I had Fish in a snowy parking lot (I couldn't locate the button).  The button popped due to the fact that the thread was stretched to it's limit with two enormous bellies...  It's crazy, but I'm going to shred quite a few tears when this sucker leaves me...

Fish chilling with Mama.

One of his favorite sleeping positions. Check out the little pot belly on him!  And yes, that is a 3 month jumper that looks too short on a 4 week old.  He is going to be in 3-6 month before I'm ready for it.

I have the CUTEST 0-3 month outfits.  I told E that I'm going to have to get him dressed up to sit around the house, so that he can wear all the adorable outfits.  So don't be surprised if you start seeing fashion photos of this kid.

I had a lunch date with a friend at work -- so I had a reason for the rugged outdoorsy look (including boots).

E got quite a kick out this outfit -- in fact, I think that he loved it.

Chilling with Daddy, ready to chop down some trees...

This is Norman -- taking advantage of our activity mat.  Fish isn't ready for it yet -- so Norm took it upon himself to get comfortable.

Just can't get enough of this kid's gut -- I think it is totally adorable.

This is how Finn went to daycare today.  With four bows in her hair (two on each side that don't match her outfit),  a pink princess tiara headband, and two stickers on her shirt.

Someone is finally starting to do some talking.

"Big Fish" -- the movie

I know that I used the second song for Finn's "Chapter One" -- but it is so touching and fitting, I couldn't help myself...
"Take your time girl" by Niels Geusebroek & "Safe & Sound" by Matthew West 

Chapter Two: Falling Further in Love

Our sweet little girl's second year in review...
"You're the Best Thing" by Ray LaMontagne & "Moon River" by Audrey Hepburn

Hit it, Bay City Rollers!

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!  This was our Saturday night in photos.  E & I have really gone downhill -- there was no crazy drinking, no going out to eat, no movies.  E and I had hot dates with a wild little two-year-old and a squishy little dude.  Saturday night had Fish turning 4 weeks old.  He is becoming more and more alert, which means less and less sleep during the day and evening and that means more and more crying.

Daddy got a little excited with the markers and turned poor little Finn into a "V for Vendetta" character.  She rounded the corner and my mouth dropped.  And I couldn't stop laughing.  E bought the absolute BEST washable markers -- ones that truly wipe off with a wet wash-cloth.  So I wasn't concerned about Finn having a permanent mustache. 

Finn is still being really great with Baby Brother.  She wanted to jump up on the couch with Daddy when she saw that he was patting him on the back and get in on the action.  She is an excellent baby-back-patter.  We are still working on "gentle", but hey -- she's two!  By the time that she finally gets the whole "gentle" thing, he is going to be rough-and-tumble and ready for some sister-wrestling.

She also saw me taking photos of Daddy and Fish and got out her phone to take photos.  Watching her try to contort her body to get a shot made me laugh.  But it made me laugh even more when I got behind her to see if she was actually getting Daddy & Fish in the shoot -- but she had actually turned the internal camera around and was contorting to take photos of herself!

Gone Fishin' -- 4 weeks old

Taken on Saturday at 4 weeks -- ANNNND we are back to looking like a wrinkly old man (at least in this photo)...  :)

 The Big Fish is 4 weeks & 2 days old today -- how times does fly!

At four weeks old:

---We  have just returned from the doctor's office today.  There his official weight is 12.2 pounds.  He is also 23 inches long.  He has gained almost 3 pounds in four weeks!

---We definitely have a sleepy boy on our hands -- particularly during the day.  He will wake up to be changed, eat, and then play for about 10-15 minutes and then it's back to sleep for another couple of hours (sometimes fitfully).  The evenings have become our "witching" hour(s).  For the last 2-3 days, he has become extremely fussy from about 6pm -- 8:30pm.  Either he is constantly crying, twisting & kicking in pain from the gas in his tummy or if we are lucky enough for him to exhaust himself, sleeping in my arms.  During the actual nighttime, he is a good sleeper.  We are currently going to bed around 9pm.  He will wake up between 1am-2am to eat and then again between 4am - 5am.   And most of these feedings led directly to sleep again.  Notice I said most -- because he also will have an episode in the middle of the night where the gas in his tummy is just too uncomfortable for him -- then he & I are awake for another hour.

---He is also a pretty Big Fish as we are already on 0-3 month clothing.  We moved into 0-3 after a week at home.  And he already doesn't really fit well in the 0-3 month one-piece sleepers as he is TOO LONG for them and his belly is definitely filling out.  He fits into the onesies and the pants perfectly.  With another couple of pounds, they actually might be too snug.  It makes it very difficult to buy ahead as I'm not sure what size he will be in for summer -- if he will be in 3-6 or 6-9.

---He is currently in size 1 diapers.  We only fit into newborn diapers for a couple of days.  In fact, we didn't even go through an entire big box of newborn-size diapers.  I gave them to my sister-in-law for her little one coming in July.  I still have a box that was given as a gift that I am going to return to Target for the correct size.  But the size 1 diapers may also be seeing their end in the next couple of pounds as well -- we'll just have to wait and see how the next couple of weeks go.

---Speaking of big size clothes and diapers, as you can already guess -- he is a good eater!  We tried a bottle Saturday night for the first time in efforts to help calm his evening fitfulness.  Fish would NOT have the bottle at all!  I had pumped about 4 oz and he only got 2 oz down before he went into a frenzy and I just gave up on the bottle.  We'll try again at another time when he isn't so upset.
---He just started cooing on Sunday.  He isn't really good at it, but you can see him striving to make a sound come out.  He seems like he has so much to say -- hopefully he will become a jabber-jaw in the next couple of weeks as I think that Finn will LOVE that!

---As of this moment, only Mommy will do.  He is gets into a crying fit and won't calm down -- if E simply hands him over to me, he will immediately calm down.  He won't settle down completely, but within 5-10 minutes, I'll have him calmed down, simply be shushing and bouncing him.
---He also prefers to be held upright.  He has some really good head-control already due to the fact that he doesn't like to be held like a baby (Finn didn't either though).

---I haven't made as much of an effort to get out of the house with him as I did with Finn when she was a newborn.  I think that is partially due to the fact that if we go out, it's usually to the store and we don't need to spend superfluous money and also due to the fact that it is super cold outside.  When Finn was born, we had a really mild winter (in fact, it was 80 degrees on St. Patrick's Day that year).  This year has seen at least TWO polar vortexes (but only one happened after Fish was born) and I just don't want to drag him as well as a toddler out in the snow.

---Thankfully, Sister still loves Baby Brother.  She doesn't really love me a lot lately, as I can't do everything that she needs me to do (due to Baby Brother).  But she isn't holding it against Fish yet.  But she needs to constantly see Fish ("Can't see, Mommy!  Can't see Brother!") and she loves to touch his head (much to my chagrin as I'm constantly concerned she is going to touch him too hard on his soft spot) and she also loves to touch his face, sometimes not very softly.  But she will have him toughened up by the time he is ready to walk, so that when he is falling and walking, he won't give a hoot that he fell.  Brotherly-sisterly love...

A Week in the Life (v.2014.7)

Sleeping boy

Snuggling with mommy

Sing us a song. you're the piano man...

Daddy?!?!  What did you do?!?!

Snuggling with daddy

Finn told me "I'm calling Daddy!"