STORY TIME

From day one (well, really from about 20 weeks gestation) we've been reading stories to James. His first story in the outside world was a version of "Hush Little Baby" by Sylvia Long, where Mama shows baby natural things instead of Papa giving material items, read through tears by his daddy in the hospital room. We've been skipping the board books for now and going with stories that are a bit longer, since he's really just enjoying the sound of our voices at this age. Recently though, he's started to take an interest (however slight) in the books themselves. Here he is in my lap enjoying my most favorite Dr. Seuss book:

TWIN COUSINS?!

James got a cousin and we became Uncle Jay and Aunt Denise when Eli Scott Bacon was born late this morning! The little cutie weighed in at 8 lbs exactly and measured 20.5 inches, has a head full of hair, and arrived 5 days early, just like James (except James was 20.75 inches)!! These cousins are obviously destined to be the best of friends! We'll leave the rest of the details for the new mommy and daddy to share on their own blog (Bacon's Blog), but here is a photo of the newest adorable addition to our rapidly growing family:

ROBOT CRIES AND ANGRY HICCUPS

James really dislikes having his diaper changed. No matter where we do it or how fast we are at it, he is bound to wimper at least a little, if not engage in a full-fledged scream-fest. Sometimes he gets so upset that he ends up sounding robotic, which can be amusing (for us, anyway). Luckily, these fits end as soon as the diaper change is complete!

Also, remember how I said in a previous post that I read that hiccups do not bother babies? Well, I no longer believe that... James seemed genuinely annoyed by his hiccups the other day:

Disclaimer: No babies were harmed in the making of these videos

PLAY TIME VS. NAP TIME

We're starting to notice a little bit of a pattern this week... the hours and durations are different every day, but we're definitely getting about 3-4 alert periods from James per day now. These go back and forth between the "quiet alert" and "active alert" phases. Usually, James is awake for 1-2 hours in the morning following his "breakfast" (and the good news is that he's starting to make a pattern of waking up around the time that Jay gets up for work), then 1 hour around mid-day (sometimes Jay catches him awake when he's home for lunch, sometimes not), and 2-3 hours in the afternoon (which seems to be his most responsive time of day, when he actually pays attention to me and even seems to enjoy a good story). Most days, we also get 1-2 hours of awake James in the evening as well, and usually it starts right as we're hoping to go to bed... We can't complain though - we're willing to trade the 10pm-12am hours for the 2 stretches of sleep (AKA "naps") we usually get the rest of the night (we're always up for at least one feeding between 3-4am). So, what does play time look like for 3-week-old James? When we're not holding him, it goes something like this...Tummy time lasts about 10-20 minutes per day (over 2 separate play times), when James practices lifting his head and looking from one side to the other:Toy time occurs whenever James is in his "active alert" mode, when he wants to take in the world around him, but isn't really up for socializing with Mommy or Daddy. We generally lay him on his back and place toys about 12 inches away from him, within his line of sight on both sides of his body:Being 3-weeks-old means that James still spends most of his day sleeping. When Jay gets home from work, if James isn't feeding, then he's sleeping. In that case, he gets scooped up by his Daddy for some cuddle time:

Sometimes Jude (or Mouton) joins them (Jay allows co-cuddling, but I don't, at least not yet), and sometimes they all end up asleep:This morning I laid James down after falling asleep in my arms and ran to the bathroom with the intention of returning to get a quick nap in on the floor next to him, but Jude beat me to it! Of course, I shooed her away as soon as I took the photo (she is not allowed to lay with the baby, and she knows it - this is the first time she has snuck in for a cuddle without Jay around):All this play time and nap time wears us out! Luckily, a coworker of ours (thanks Elizabeth!) brought over some "energy cake" the other night. All that's currently left are the eyes and ears, but here is a before photo (the 4 is in honor of James Henry IV, of course):And last night we were saved from frozen meals and leftovers by another coworker (thanks Amy!) who brought chicken parmesan, salad, and Snickerdoodles! We had a fun evening sharing our labor and delivery, and newborn "expertise" (ha ha) with the soon-to-be mommy and her husband.

MISSISSIPPI MUDFLAP

James was born with quite a bit of hair, and we're not just talking about his head. He has hairy ankles, shoulders, back, butt, and ears. Everyone told us that the hair on these parts would wash off, but after numerous baths and sponge baths, we have not seen that to be true. The hair on his head is thickest and longest in the back, giving him the illusion of a mullet. Just in case is does wash off (or change, which is more likely we think), we thought we should get a good picture of his Mississippi Mudflap now:

AND THE BABY POLL WINNER IS...

...Nicole! Here she is with her handsome little man, Jagger: Nicole won the ExpectNet.com baby poll, and for her prize we'll be sending her a mint condition, limited edition, commemorative photo of Baby James:

And before we sign off... Happy Birthday Nicole!

AH, THAT NEW BABY SOUND

Last night we were up late playing with James and were able to catch one of his adorable "I'm happy and content" noises on video. It's right at the end of this little 45 second clip:

FIRST BATH

James had his first real bath this afternoon! Here's the before shot of an awake and content baby:Here he is being lowered into the warm water, looking pretty pleased:He opened his eyes every now and then, and he seemed to be enjoying himself:Jay did the washing while I held James' head above water. He's so tiny, even in the little baby bath, and although he didn't squirm too much, he was a bit slippery:It seemed to work best when we cornered him against the edge. Here's his soapy head:The bath eventually put him to sleep. He fussed a little when we took him out, but as soon as he was swaddled and dry, he was happy again:Thanks for the bath tub Uncle Jamie! The "little squirt" loved it!

FIRST STROLL

We took James for his first stroller ride this evening, outside of the house anyway - we've been using the stroller as a mobile bassinet during the day since the grandparents left and James is no longer being held during all daylight hours! The stroll went well at first, but our "neighborhood" has really bumpy roads, and James either disliked the jiggles or just wanted to be held, or maybe is was a combination of both. We pushed him around for about 10 minutes until he started fussing, then Jay picked him up and carried him back home. Here's the little guy in his stroller, with some of our azaleas starting to bloom in the background:

BRAND NEW BUTTON

Today we had a momentous event take place in the Lindsay household: James lost his umbilical cord stump (at 2 weeks and 3 days old)! There was much celebrating and photo-texting to daddy, who was at work at the time, and who plans to keep the yucky little thing for some reason... For those of you who find this event as exciting as we do (we can finally give him a real bath this weekend!), here is a photo of James' brand new belly button:

After inspecting his son's new button at lunch, the boys had some super-alert playtime:

And this evening, Mouton decided he wanted to just sit close and enjoy that new baby smell:

BUTTERBALL STATUS REGAINED!

This morning James had his 2 week weigh-in and first check-up with his pediatrician. After peeing all over the exam table (hee hee), the first thing he had done was his weight check. Since his last weigh-in 10 days ago, the boy has gained an impressive 13 oz (breastfed babies average 6 oz per week). When James was born, the doctor called him a little 8 lb butterball, and we have successfully regained that status at 8 lbs 1 oz today! We are so proud of him for being such a good eater, and I am very happy to have numerical proof that our breastfeeding relationship is going well! Here is the little guy on the exam table (after we cleaned him up, of course) doing some crunches - check out that belly:

Overall, we are very happy with our choice of pediatrician, and she was very happy with James. He was given a clean bill of health, and we were given a "good job". Next stop is another weigh-in in 2 weeks, then we'll have his first round of shots a few weeks after that.

In related news, we had our first bout of "goop eye" this week. It's not an infection or anything. Because baby tear ducts are so immature, they are prone to clogs. This could last up until 9 months of age... To help out in the meantime, we can give him eye drops periodically to clear it up when it gets too goopy. Of course, we have photo documentation:

And just for fun, from last night, here is a photo of the cutie smiling in his milk-induced sleep (this one is really for David and Taryn, so you can see the little "innie" nipples I was telling you about!) and one of him practicing his yoga moves for his Uncle Jamie:

MAN FARTS, HICCUPS, SNEEZES, SNORTS, AND ROOTIN'

We learned something a few years ago from our friend Jackson, when he was just a wee baby... Although little babies encompass all things tiny, one aspect of their lives and persons does not conform - their gas! It is not tiny, infrequent, or cute (not really, anyway, though it is hilarious) - it sounds like real man farts! Follow the link to read the Birdsongs blog post A Matter Of Scale on this phenomenon. We've read that this gassiness will subside some next month, but we're not counting on it... Jackson was 5 months old at the time his daddy decided to write about his gas!

We were told that babies who hiccuped in utero will tend to hiccup more (on average) after they are born. This holds true for James. The poor little guy gets hiccups at least once a day, but usually twice. All the books say that hiccups hurt the parents more than they hurt the baby, and I'm inclined to believe it, because it's quite difficult to watch the little guy's chest jump so hard with every hiccup and for us to not be able to do anything to stop it. He really doesn't seem to mind though, even when they last upwards of 10 minutes. We're hoping this is something that will decline after he's been out in the outside world for a while and his system adjusts.

Another interesting thing we noticed about James within days of his birth is that when he sneezes, he almost always sneezes twice (and it's so very adorable), and he usually sneezes a few times a day. We wonder whether he'll always be a double sneezer. To continue the nose discussion, James is also a snorter. This generally occurs during the beginning of feedings, when he is frantically searching for his meal. It can be hard to watch the frustrated boy try to settle into his feedings, but the snorting definitely eases the tension on my end because it's so funny! One time, about an hour after a feeding, I was laying on the couch and holding James next to me, and as I was staring at him, 3 milk bubbles popped out his nose! It was funny, but smelled like sour milk. I had to text James' Uncle Jamie about that one right away, since he's such a fan of milk spurting out noses (or, more accurately, in making Jay spurt milk out his nose)! And finally, also associated with noses and feedings, Jay has developed an interesting technique to determine when James is fussy because he is hungry vs. when he is fussy because he wants to be entertained, which I've termed nose rootin'! The picture below will explain it better than my description could:

So, basically, James is a rootin' tootin' little man!

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!

Today James is 2 weeks old! Happy St. Patrick's Day from our little lucky charm!

And here is one of Team Lindsay at 2 weeks:

PHOTO COMPARISONS

Baby James looks a lot like we thought he would, according to his 4D sonograms:

But who do you think he looks like, his mommy or daddy, or both?

JINXED!

Oh no, we actually jinxed it! Last night was a rough one in the Lindsay household... All was well until about 10pm, when we ended up with a wimpy feeding and a fussy baby. This led to another feeding, equally as wimpy, around 11pm, with even more fussing. Repeat again at 12pm, with a wimpy feeding that stretched for an hour... At this point, I gave up on feeding and Jay stepped in to rock his son to sleep, something that usually takes him only 15 minutes (ah, the magic of daddy's arms). Another full hour later, James was finally calm and sleepy enough to be placed in his pack-and-play (our substitute for a bassinet). He was up and ready to eat again at 4am, but it was a good feeding and we were able to put him back to sleep for 3 hours after. 8am was another frustrating feeding, but we caught a one-hour nap after, so that helped. Jay went in to work a half-day today, and every feeding since has been a struggle, mostly because this sleepy baby has been especially difficult to wake up! Could it be the lack of sleep last night?!?! Oh well, at least neither of us have been peed on in the past 16 hours...

Since we can't have a blog post without a photo, here is one from around noon today, shortly after Jay left for work. We dressed him appropriately today:

MISSING YOU ALREADY

It has been an amazing first week home from the hospital, and things have gone smoother than either Jay or I imagined they could - even the sleep situation is not as bad as we had anticipated, although we are certainly tired and worn out by the broken sleep pattern we are currently in. This is in part due to the immense help of my parents and Jean, and in part due to James being a somewhat "easy" baby (we don't want to jinx it). My parents left early this morning and Jean left this past Saturday, and we really miss them all already. After all these years living far from our families, we have gotten pretty good at the goodbyes, but it was really difficult this time around! At least we know when we'll see them next, and that always helps. We have to admit though that it's been fun to be completely on our own all day and realize that we can actually do this parenting thing pretty darn well!

James, Grandpa, and Jude (little mama cat follows the baby around to keep her eyes on him, and anxiously circles whoever is holding him if he's crying, as if trying to tell us to fix it quick!):

Grandma and James:

Jean and James (she's still searching for the perfect title):

BACON FAMILY PHOTO

Before Grandma and Grandpa have to leave tomorrow, we decided to take a family photo:

HAPPY ONE-WEEK BIRTHDAY

Today James is one-week old, so we thought we'd post a few new adorable photos! Here is James in his drama pose, very reminiscent of how my brother used to behave as a child:

And here he is in his sexy beach pose, as Jay calls it (this is directly following a feeding, hence the nakedness):

Here is James in the first sleeper we've put him in (the gowns and kimono-style outfits are lifesavers for new parents who are nervous about over-the-head clothes and quick diaper changes). This little rocket-ship outfit is a hand-me-down, and we love it! Too bad he only wore it for a few hours today before we had a major "pee incident"... I have now learned that baby boys can release an enormous amount of urine in a very short time, and in many directions at once! Side note to David & Taryn: as adorable as they are, even the "pee pee tee pees" wouldn't have handled this mess! And another side note to David & Taryn and Jamie & Chris (who we just found out are expecting a baby BOY, to be named Tyson Mathew, the 4th great-grandson in the Jackson family - CONGRATULATIONS!): if the phone rings during a diaper change, don't answer it - that is a sure way to end up with pee in your face and a wet, screaming baby!And for one final photo, here is James with his daddy this morning following a feeding and diaper change. I passed James over to his daddy and went to the bathroom, and when I came back to bed, this is what I found:

FIRST AND SECOND CHECK-UP

James has had his first, and second, doctor visits. We went to the Newborn Outpatient Clinic on Saturday to get his weight and bilirubin levels checked, which is standard procedure for breastfed babies at our hospital. Since our discharge on Thursday, James' weight had dropped almost 7 ounces and his bilirubin level was up to 17.

This is considered a normal occurance (especially since my milk had JUST come in that morning, on day 3.5), but it required another 2-day checkup on Monday, and it was devastating news to me (especially with my fluctuating hormones). We were sent home with instructions to feed James every 2 hours no matter what. This was difficult, since he is a very calm baby who loves to sleep (especially during the daytime hours), and who falls asleep in my arms even if his daddy or grandparents have managed to wake him for me. We're into a routine for feedings now though: diaper change, umbilical cord care, burping, and stripping down to the diaper. James is getting much better about settling into his feedings quickly and staying awake longer, but it still takes a lot of coaxing from me in the way of talking to him and stroking his neck, and sometimes an extra hand from his daddy to hold his arms down (he ALWAYS has them up at his face)! It all paid off though - at today's appointment his weight was up by almost 3 ounces (in just 2 days!) and his bilirubin levels were back below 13, so they didn't even have to take a blood sample (thank goodness, though it bothers Jay and I a lot more than it bothers James). Next stop is the 2 week weight checkup...

EYES WIDE OPEN

Today is James' due date, and he is 5 days old already!! We've had multiple requests for photos of James with his eyes open, and we wouldn't want to keep his adoring fans waiting, so here ya go!