A CONVERSATION WITH JAMES

OUR SUNDAY BEST

Since James is almost 8 weeks old, we figured he was ready to make his first appearance at church today. Here he is all dressed up for the occassion (top collar button open, just like his daddy):And here's one of all 4 of us on our way out the door (it's a beautiful day here):James was awake all morning while we were getting ready, then fell asleep in the car on the way to church. He was asleep as we entered the santuary and while we waited the 5 minutes for service to start. Then, as soon as we started the opening prayers, the little guy woke up and we wondered how he would react... turns out the boy loves church! I kinda thought he would, since he was always very active in utero while we were at church, especially during the sermons. He was wide awake and happy throughout the entire service AND the members meeting afterwards (that's close to an hour and a half!) Maybe it helped that there are FOUR ceiling fans in our santuary?! Or maybe it was the stained glass windows? Regardless, he was all smiles and serious studying of his new surroundings during the first half of the service. During the second half we gave him a pacifier to help keep him quiet because he had decided it was a good time to start "talking" to the ceiling fans. He's too funny. The little sweetie didn't fall back asleep until we were singing the final hymn of the day, Amazing Grace. We had a great time showing him off - everyone praised us for having such an adorable, well behaved baby. Hopefully he'll do as well for us next week... Here is Team Lindsay after the service out in front of our church:

And here I am with my Sweet Baby James, still soundly sleeping in the bright sun:

By the time we got home the boy was wide awake again and ready for lunch. Then he was happy all over again. Here he is sharing some secret joke with his grandma (sans shorts):

Last night we broke out the measuring tape because Jean and I felt that the nurse who measured James on Wednesday did it wrong. Yeah, we know we're not experts on measuring babies, but she didn't even pull his leg straight! So we did. And we got a measurement of 22.5 inches - that's 3/4 of an inch longer than the nurse got - so that's what we're going with for James' baby book. Maybe we'll even measure him again at the real 2-month mark on May 3rd, just for fun. Here he is "playing" with one of his rattles last night after we measured him (he's naked because it was right before bath time): Hope everyone has a great week - it's back to work for me... I'll keep you updated with how that goes!

SMILE FOR MOMMY

We just love having a happy baby, and James' smiles are contagious. If you need to smile today, just watch James do it and we're sure you'll follow suit:

TOUGH GUY

James had his 2-month well baby visit today (at 7 weeks and 1 day old). He showed up at the doctor's office looking mighty adorable in his big boy coveralls:That only lasted about 20 minutes in the waiting room though... It had been right at 48 hours since his last bowel movement (the first time he has skipped a day, let alone two), and when it came, it came with a vengeance! Jean and I saw him get red in the face and strain and grunt, and I knew I'd need to change his diaper for a reason other than just the weigh-in! Unfortunately, we couldn't wait to do it in the exam room because the poor kid literally exploded. Literally. I looked down and all of a sudden there was poop bubbling out of his left shorts leg! And he was justifiably mad about it. I rushed him into the bathroom, but the damage was done. Damage to those cute coveralls, damage to the carseat, and damage all over his leg and foot. So gross! Oh well, I'm sure that's not the last time we'll have such an incident... Luckily, as soon as I got the diaper and dirty clothes off, he calmed down and was a happy little angel for the rest of the appointment. In fact, he was an awesome child (hee hee)! Here he is waiting patiently for the doctor after his weigh-in:

James Henry weighed a whopping 11 lbs 9 oz today - that's a gain of 1 lb 13 oz in just 19 days! Our sweet baby has also gained one inch in length (bringing him up to 21.75 inches) and his head circumference has increased by 3.5 cm (bringing him up to 38 cm). Needless to say, the kid is thriving. In fact, the doctor said "you must have rich milk" and let me know that we no longer need to feed James 8-12 times/day. So, we no longer have to wake him at the 3 hour mark for daytime feedings, and we can let him sleep through the night (ha ha). We're going to start offering 5 oz bottles on a regular basis (he gets them 3 times/day now - the morning and afternoon feedings that I'll be missing while I'm at work starting next week, and the bedtime bottle that his daddy gives him). Then came the shots, and we learned what a tough guy James really is. He received 4 vaccinations today (one was an oral vaccination, not a shot) and he took them like a champ! Maybe the daily Mylicon doses helped prepare him, but he downed the oral medication without thinking twice. He didn't even flinch at the first shot. The second shot simply illicited a cranky face. The third (which the nurse warned us would burn a bit) made him cry, but I scooped him up and gave him the vanilla paci and he was calm within a minute. What a tough guy! Here he is at home sporting his not-so-kid-friendly bandaids (we were hoping for Elmo or something, not grown-up bandages) and his noticeably thicker frame (check out those legs and belly, and that double chin!):

Even though he was relaxed and happy, Jude still thought he needed a kiss:

Next appointment is in 2 months. In the meantime we'll just have to weigh him at home when we get curious (I tested it out last night... weighing myself alone first, then holding him, and we had guessed 11.6 lbs, so that's pretty close).

GRANDMA'S BACK!

Grandma Jean is back in town for the duration, and James (and the rest of Team Lindsay) couldn't be happier. The little guy has been all smiles (and no fuss) for the past 3 days (even at bedtime), and we're starting to think he may be finishing his "fourth trimester" a bit early. Good news for us! Things definitely seem to be falling into place for my return to work next week. Here is James taking a good morning nap with his grandma:

And here's her little tadpole enjoying his new pond:

Tummy time is way more fun when you're propped up a bit on a tiny little Boppy pillow so that you can see what's going on around you: But it's still exhausting! Here's my Sweet Baby James taking a nap in typical fashion on me (all tucked in and holding his own):
For some reason, James tends to pull all his limbs in and stay in a tight little package when he sleeps with me, but when he sleeps with Jay he wraps his little arms and legs around him. Interesting, eh? I think it's fun that he differentiates between us even when he's sleeping. Something else fun we noticed this week is that James can now suck his thumb (see photo below), and it's hard to get it out of his mouth when it's feeding time!

THE CUTEST SLEEP SACK EVER

A few weeks ago when James decided he no longer wanted to be swaddled at night we ordered a couple of sleep sacks for the big boy. This one is particularly cute, don't you think?

We took these photos this morning after a GREAT night of sleep: between feedings we had a 5 hour stretch, followed by a 3 hour stretch, then a 4 hour stretch! That meant 8 hours of sleep for us! When Jay and I woke up at 9am to hear happy baby noises in the crib, we could hardly believe it. After a good feed, we put the boy up on his changing table to get ready for his day and he graced us with 20 minutes of big smiles and some "talking". James is always happiest first thing in the morning, and always very smiley on his changing table. We're not sure why the changing table makes him so happy (a change of perspective perhaps?), but we recall this phenomenon being true for our pal Jackson as well (check out his super cute dipples at his old blog post All Smiles).

SPRING IS IN THE HAIR

Spring has definitely arrived here in Mississippi. It actually showed up a while back, then went on hiatus for a couple weeks, but has finally returned. Don't tell the goldfinches though (picture below) - we're happy to have had them back for the past couple of weeks (and in all their breeding plumage glory)! Anyway, what this blog post is really about is James' hair, or lack thereof... It's starting to get pretty fuzzy and lighter in color all over, and much thinner on top. Here's the little fuzzball with some of our beautiful iris blooms in the backyard:Upon closer inspection though, you can see that he is retaining a mini mohawk-like patch on the top back of his head:

Here are the gorgeous goldfinches:

And a cardinal nest in the tree just outside our kitchen window:

IN THE CLEAR!

I had my 6 week postpartum appointment this morning and have been given the "all clear" to resume "normal activities" - HOORAY! It was an early morning out of the house, but James took it well. He had his usual night feedings at 2am and 5am, then I woke him at 6:30am for another quick feed before we left for Jackson. He slept all the way there (of course, as he almost always sleeps in the car - at least once we hit the highway), all through my appointment (photo below), and all the way back to Vicksburg. Here he is napping on me while I waited for 45 minutes on the exam table (there was apparently some drama with one of my doctor's other patients this morning that held her up):

After I checked out OK, we got a photo of James and I with Dr. Brantley:

And before we left the doctor's office, Jay gave the little man a bottle so he'd be happy and content while we stopped by work to show him off (there were a lot of people out of town the last time we stopped by). Here he is just after a good loud burp (hence Jay's big smile - he was proud that his son gained attention from everyone in the waiting room with this method):

James did really well at work, only getting fussy at one point when there were 8 people standing around and staring at him, and who can blame the little guy? Nobody minded though... in fact, it just brought more people out of their offices to take a peek and tell us what a handsome boy he is. It was fun! Hard to believe it's been 6 weeks already...

BUNNY BABY

This is James' first Easter, so of course we had to surround him with his bunnies and take a photo (or twenty) to commemorate the occasion. Hey, at least we didn't dress him like a bunny! Besides, the little guy obviously loved it - check out his huge smile:

Here's another little smile, with his bunny from Grambot (that's my mom - I came up with this new nickname following her knee replacement surgery last month, when she became part robot - stronger, faster, and more magnetic!):

And here he is with his Pooh Bunny from his Great Aunt Margie (Jay was standing above me to my right while I was taking all these photos making silly faces to get James to smile, hence the direction James is looking in each photo):

Happy Easter everyone!

BYE-BYE DADDY, HELLO AUNTIE

Bad news, good news. Jay had to go on his first overnight work trip this week (for 2 whole nights and 3 days!), BUT, he was able to schedule his trip to overlap with a visit from Robyn!! James and I braved our first solo trip to Jackson to pick her up from the airport and did really well (except for breastfeeding in the car - that was rough on both of us). We've had a great 3.5 days and we're very sad that she has to leave tomorrow morning... for multiple reasons...

Here is Auntie Robyn rockin' and walkin' the boy to sleep. She has the magic touch!

Seriously, last night Jay and I spent an hour and half feeding, reading, walking and rocking James with no sign of eyes closing. Robyn stepped in so we could at least get a nap in, and she had him asleep and in his crib within 10 minutes! The night before, she had him in bed within 45 minutes of his bottle (which he took really well from her) - it normally takes us 1.5-2 hours! James has been a bit of a night owl this week, but we love him anyway! And we love this little onesie:

It's been an educational trip for Robyn as well... Yes, she has experience with her adorable twin 3-year-old nieces, and a natural instinct, but James has given her a few lessons.... the little guy had a lovely, explosive, leaky bowel movement in her arms during his first morning bottle! Oops! Oh well, boys will be boys! Here she is multitasking - holding a new baby while reading up on pregnancy:

Today we took a family photo (yes, Robyn is family to me)! Aren't we cute? Well, James is for sure (sorry, he couldn't be bothered to wake up for our photo):

Thanks for visiting and keeping James and I company Robyn, for all your help, and for the awesome new, easy, and quick recipes you tought me! We all hope to live closer to you (and Uncle Stephen) someday - we LOVE YA!

MONKEY FACE

James often falls asleep with his mouth open. Especially lately, and especially when he's in my arms. We just thought we'd share some cute photos of his monkey face (ooh ooh ooh, ahh ahh ahh)! Appropriately, he's wearing 2 of our favorite monkey outfits in these photos:

WORKOUT WITH JAMES

That's right, I have a brand new exercise program. Forget the 6 week postpartum recovery period, James has had other plans for the past few weeks! This baby of ours is easily soothed when he starts crying, but he has very specific demands. When James goes into one of his "fits of fury", there is one thing I can always turn to - he loves to be rocked and bounced while I'm holding him, but I can't sit down, I must walk around while doing it! Once I get him calm (usually within 1-2 minutes), I often then try to sit down and rock him (we have that awesome glider you know), but he immediately rebels in the form of ear-piercing screams until I get up and start walking again. This can be repeated half a dozen times before he finally tolerates lap rocking. At first I would get a little frustrated (hey, I can create the same motion whether I'm walking or sitting, so what's the deal?), but then I realized that James was just helping me burn calories to shrink my baby belly. What a sweet baby to get his mommy on an early exercise program! Here's my little personal trainer "enjoying" his regimen (pardon the blur, but sometimes we have to move quickly):

Now, just to reinforce that James is generally a very happy baby (he just has his moments in the evenings, usually the half hour before feeding and bedtime), here's another smile photo - he was enjoying his own reflection in his new Baby Einstein blocks:

GOT ONE!

A smile, that is!! I managed to capture this one this afternoon. The little guy was laying next to me on the couch, just checking out the room and making his "happy and content" noises. Then he looked up at the ceiling fan, made a crazy new noise (sort of like a cross between a laugh and a hiccup), and gave the fan a couple huge smiles. I grabbed the camera and managed to capture one. We have no idea why, but this kid has been smiling at the ceiling fans for weeks...

ADDICTED TO LOVE (AND VANILLA)

We're so addicted to this kid... We had a really good weekend, with actual sleep at night and lots of fun during the day! We didn't do anything special, just playing around the house and running a few errands, but it was nice. James wore the first onesie we ever bought him (as soon as we had found out we were expecting) yesterday, and I thought I should get a picture of him in it before he outgrows it (since it's newborn size). Isn't he adorable?

To follow up Friday's post, the bedtime bottle seems to be going over well, but not necessarily contributing to longer sleep stretches between feedings... After Friday night's bottle at 9:30pm James was awake for 4 hours (luckily, Jay let me take a 2 hour nap by keeping James company downstairs). After I fed him at 1:30am he immediately passed out (and so did Jay). He ate again at 5:00am, then again at 8:00am. So, Saturday night we decided to give the bottle a little earlier in the evening (8:00pm) to see if we could get him to bed at a more reasonable hour. This resulted in a mere hour of awake time, followed by 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep (for all of us)! Jackpot!! I was wondering when/if I'd ever get more than 3 hours of sleep in a row again... (of course, I was up once during that 4 hour period just to check on James, but I easily fell back asleep and I was very quiet so as not to wake Jay). The feedings for the rest of the night were again at 1:00am, 5:00am, and 8:00am (isn't it weird that this kid generally likes to feed on the hour?) Then, last night was a combo deal: Jay fed James the bottle early again and got him to sleep by 9:00pm, but he was up at 10:00pm demanding to be fed (he hadn't taken the full bottle this time, only about 3 oz, probably because he had fed 2.5 hours before the bottle, so we weren't completely surprised). I had him back in bed by 11:00pm though and he didn't wake for another feeding until 1:30am (3.5 hours between feeds is not too bad, but not what we were hoping for). Then the little stinker was wide awake at 3:30am, so Jay took him downstairs to keep him company for an hour or so until he went back to sleep (we didn't want to feed him since it had only been 2 hours, a trend we're still fighting at night now and then). If I get up with him in the middle of the night, he expects to be fed, so Jay has taken to getting up with him whenever it's just play time that James wants. I fed him again at 5:00am and 8:00am. We're definitely seeing a bit of a pattern here with the 1:00am/5:00am/8:00am feedings (at least this weekend). If this continues, I might have to go back to my late-pregnancy sleep pattern of going to bed at 9:30pm so that I can maintain his 1:00am feeding AND be functional after the 5:00am feeding (since I won't get to go back to sleep until the 8:00am feeding once I have to go back to work). Regardless, we feel like we're on a roll, and so is James. Check out his tipped-over self during tummy time today, a half-roll that he's been doing since he was a week old (he had been facing the toys and the camera to start with, and was headed back from his side to his tummy when the camera clicked):

James is also becoming addicted... to his vanilla-scented pacifier from the hospital! We never gave him a paci in the hospital, and we rarely use one at home (mostly because he's just not that interested), but we decided to try the special hospital paci over the weekend during one of his inconsolable moments. And what do you know? The little guy was instantly calmed! We plan to save this magic paci for emergencies (i.e. major fits of fussiness). However, in fear that we will lose this paci, we've now ordered an assortment from Amazon.com to have on hand - take that hospital staff (they had said that they aren't available anywhere but the hospital). Here he is enjoying that vanilla addiction:

SURVIVAL TIPS FOR NEW PARENTS

Well, our first month has come and gone. Since we know a few other couples expecting their own little bundles of joy soon, we figured we'd share some of our first month survival tips:

1. Easy access clothes are perfectly acceptable in the world of babies. We encourage you to buy anything that is kimono-style for those first few days because floppy new baby heads are no fun to try and squeeze through regular onesies. Also, if you can find kimono-style gowns, those are even better because those tiny snaps on onesies and sleepers are no fun to deal with at 3am when you've had maybe 1.5 hours of sleep... And make sure whatever you get has long sleeves with the attached hand covers so that your little cutie doesn't scratch their gorgeous face!


2. Make sure you swaddle your baby at night. They'll sleep better, and thus so will you. You can always leave them unswaddled during the day so that they can stretch their arms and legs, and maybe even learn to differentiate between night and day. Not sure if that really works, but we're hopeful...


3. It's never too early to start tummy time. Get your baby started early so they don't fight the position later on when it's really important for their motor development. Besides, for some babies it helps with gassy bellies, and some do great napping this way (supervised, of course).


4. Everyone tells you to sleep when the baby sleeps. This is really hard to do for some reason (your excitement, the many visitors, the alone time that you crave, etc.), but really try to make yourself. At least once or twice during the daylight hours will help you through the night!


5. Take ALL the help you can get, no matter what form it comes in. When people offer it, say YES. If people ask what they can do, make sure you have a list of simple tasks in mind. YES, you can bring over a hot dinner. YES, you can get milk and eggs from the grocery store for us. YES, we'd love help getting the laundry folded. This also applies while you're in the hospital - whatever the nursing staff is willing to show you and help you with, let them. Especially breastfeeding. Nobody tells you how very difficult it actually is. Let the lactation specialist show you every trick she knows. Then ask the baby nurse. Then ask the night nurse. They all have different techniques, and you never know what is going to work for you until you try (and try and try). But don't worry, it does get much easier after the first couple of weeks! Also in this category - don't be shy about asking questions! Ask your pediatrician. Ask your mom. Ask your friends with kids. You may have to try advice from everyone in your zip code before you find something that works for you and your little cutie, but something will work!


6. Feed, burp, change diaper, feed, burp. Repeat as necessary, ad nauseum.


7. Keep a dry towel handy for diaper changes. Baby wipes will do you no good when your little cutie springs a leak, and you don't want to be wasting those costly diapers! Another trick is to open the diaper and expose baby to the cool air (and sometimes you might even want to blow a little cool breeze down there too), watch closely, then snap that diaper back shut as the inevitable stream starts to flow. Then you can proceed with the clean diaper (theoretically).


8. When changing the baby in locations other than the changing table, make sure you have a large waterproof AND absorbant pad underneath (Especially For Baby brand makes great ones), otherwise you risk ruining your couch, carpet, bedspread, etc. For that matter, get some of the smaller variety to use at the changing table. This will save you from staining that cute little changing pad cover, or having to change one that is soaked through in the middle of the night.


9. Take a million photos that first month. And some video. Newborns change every day and you don't want to miss an opportunity to record that gassy smile, the milk-induced coma, or even the screaming and snorting.


10. Never underestimate your baby - they will surprise you daily!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A MONTH MAKES!

Seriously!! Just look at how different this boy looks after a mere 4 weeks in the outside world: Today we went in for James' one month check-up/weigh-in. In the past 2 weeks, this kid has gained a whopping 1 lb 11 oz (the average for breastfed babies is 6 oz per week), bringing his weight up to 9 lbs 12 oz (no wonder we had to switch from the newborn diapers to the size ones this week)! The doctor said that he has most likely been playing catch-up, since he lost a bit more weight than average during his first few days of life. Most babies gain an average of 2 lbs over their birth weight by the time they reach the one month mark, so James is now really close to that average (he started out at 8 lbs exactly). He's grown enough to fill his carseat (and his adorable outfits) a bit more than last month: A few things have changed this week as we transitioned from 4-week-old baby to one-month-old baby. James no longer likes being swaddled at night, so he's spending his night-time hours in a sleep sack instead (they're awesome, like little wearable sleeping bags for babies). The big boy is also sleeping in his crib now, in his own room, as opposed to the bassinet in our room. This has improved sleeping conditions for all of us (when we're all sleeping, that is)! Here he is down for a nap this afternoon:

And one more big thing... James had his first bottle tonight (pumped breastmilk, since we're holding off on formula for as long as possible - we're hoping to make it to 6 months)! As per the pediatrician's recommendations, Jay served his son a 4.5 oz bottle at "bedtime" in the hopes that packing in an extra ounce or so would help the boy sleep a longer stretch (we'd been getting at least one 4-hour stretch and one 3-hour stretch between feedings at night throughout the first 3 weeks, which we thought was pretty awesome for having a newborn in the house, but that all changed this week when James started to mix up his days and nights, and went through a growth spurt - needless to say, it's been a rough week around the Lindsay household and we've been operating on 3 hours of broken sleep per night). The pediatrician says that based on James' weight and the number of feedings he's having per day (usually 8-10), he is probably taking around 3 oz per feeding, so adding an ounce at his "last" feeding for the night could make a difference, but we shall see! We had been holding off on giving James a bottle until we passed the 4 week mark because we wanted to be sure breastfeeding was well established first. Then, since we had the doctor's appointment scheduled for today anyway, we decided to wait just a little longer and talk to the pediatrician first. She really is great - very thorough, and very detailed and patient when answering the long list of questions we show up with (as she should). Here is James enjoying his first bottle and the new bonding time he can share with his daddy:

Everything else the pediatrician checked on James (heart, lungs, eyes, ears, etc.) is still in perfect working order, and we were given another "good job" as parents. She also gave us some other tips for helping James sleep better at night, since we're all pretty sure he's having gas issues (or the "tummy crummies" in Lorax speak). We're going to start giving him Mylicon with his afternoon and evening feedings, to try and get it in his system before he is laid down in one position all night. We may also help stimulate a bowel movement before bed, to see if that makes a difference (for anyone who wants these instructions, just let us know, but we'll spare the general blog readers). She also suggested to keep offering the pacifier anytime that James fusses to be fed in less than 2-hour intervals. James could really care less for the pacifier (at least, most of the time), however, he does seem to like my pinky finger. Here he is enjoying my freshly trimmed nails:

We've also gotten some amazing advice from my friend Karyn this week, a seasoned mommy of 4 (soon to be 5) beautiful kids, that I feel I should share with the other new parents I know. We're now doing supervised belly naps during the day to help with the gassy tummy, which James seems to love (he sleeps more soundly), and we're no longer trying to keep him awake during the day in the hopes that he'll sleep more at night. Little did we know, but we were actually making things worse by doing that, since babies need good solid sleep during the day in order to not be overtired (and thus, fussy) and restless at night. Karyn also suggested having Jay soothe James back to sleep if he wakes up in 2-hour increments at night, rather than me feeding him every time he wakes up "hungry", so as not to start a pattern of feeding him 4 times per night (we do want to keep our sanity, after all). We're also trying to get him into a bit of a routine in the evenings (play time - transfering from one activity to the next to keep him awake for 1-2 hours, then a short nap if needed, followed by a bath, story time, and finally feeding), but it may take a while... Karyn says not to give up on anything until you've tried it at least 5 days in a row. Most importantly, we're (and when I say we, I mostly mean me) learning to stay calm and stress less. What will be, will be, and we'll surely get through it. Obviously the boy is thriving, so there is no need to worry. James is our "fantastic baby", even on the not-so-good days! Here are photos of the little guy sleeping (something he does perfectly during the daytime!) on his belly during tummy time and passed out in my lap for a cat nap after play time yesterday evening (we can barely snap those little Gerber kimono onesies shut now, so we think James is going to have a long torso like his daddy):