365 Days: Week 4

Andrea and Eli arrived at my parents house today. Andi spent lots of time holding Lincoln. He looked so changed since she had last seen him. 

My mom, Andi, Eli, Lincoln, and I drove to Palm Springs, California. It was an adventure with a busy 18 month old and a 3 month old that hates his carseat with a passion. After an hour and a half we had only made it to Mesquite, Nevada which should only be a thirty minute drive. Luckily, the day got better after that and we only had to stop a few times to let the boys stretch and get a break from their carseats.

There was a duck pond near our condo so we went and fed the ducks every morning as soon as we woke up. Eli loved trying to throw the bread. Lincoln just loved being outside.

Lincoln spent his first day at the pool. He didn't get in the water, but he really enjoyed kicking around in the shade. He might even love the sun as much as his mama.

We tried to do a little shopping - I don't know what we were thinking. Shopping with toddlers is nearly impossible. We finally gave up and found a fountain for Eli to play in. He got soaked but at least he was happy.

More time at the pool. Eli is completely fearless so you can't take your eyes off him for even an instant. He doesn't even hesitate to jump into the pool. Lincoln, on the other hand spent most of the time napping in his stroller.

Today at the pool Lincoln really mastered the art of rolling over. We laid him on a thick pad of towels and he entertained himself with his new skills. 

365 Days: Week 3

 Lincoln rolled all the way over for his first time. We took this right after he did it.

We finally got around to putting the Christmas decorations away. 

There are rarely days so bad that a homemade pumpkin pie waiting for you at home won't cheer you up (at least that's what I was hoping when I made this for Scooter).

Lincoln loves to sit with his daddy while he checks his email when he gets home.

The only thing better than going to get your hair highlighted (finally!) is coming home to an empty "dirty dish" counter.

Our (Scooter's, mine, and Lincoln's) very favorite time of day is when Scooter finally gets home and we can all be together. As a side note, I think me husband looks dead sexy in scrubs...

I made it to Utah for a visit today. I love going home for lots of reasons but one of them is that I like to see what random habits my parents have picked up since I left home. My dad has apparently taken to lying on the floor in front of the fireplace for quick naps when he is on call and waiting for the emergency room to call him back. 

365 Days: Week 2

Both of my boys fell asleep while watching a movie. After all, isn't that what Sundays are for?

Lincoln and I walked to one of the parks near our house and sat on the swings for a while. It was fun to picture him running around on the playground someday.

Lincoln loves when we pass under trees so he can look up at the branches. I think he looks so funny and cute when he does it. 

Scooter and I were trying to watch a movie but you-know-who woke up and wanted to play so we had to have him with us. We are really trying to not let Lincoln watch TV until he is older, so Scooter was holding him so he couldn't see. Lincoln was clearly determined to watch, however, and kept twisting around, throwing himself backward, and just contorting around in general until he could watch. Only nursing was able to finally distract him. We have a burgeoning TV addict on our hands!

Our first real snow of the year. 

Lincoln has been tasting all of his fingers lately to see which ones he prefers. He seems to usually settle on these two. 

In Plowman family tradition, we celebrated Lincoln's 100th day of life today. Scooter's mom was even here for the occasion. I think it is fun to inherit some Plowman traditions that are new to me. 

365 Days: Week 1

This year I've started a new project inspired by a friend, 365 Days. I can only hope to do it as well as she has. My goal is to take a photo everyday this year.  I hope it will help capture the beauty in my everyday life and help me learn some new skills along the way. I took so many photos when we lived in England and have been really missing it, so this will help me get back into it. Thanks to Kris for the inspiration!

Some of Scooter's family has been in town over the Christmas break. We played Michigan Rummy with pennies. They had to teach me, but we had a lot of fun. 

Lincoln loves sitting near the Christmas tree and looking at the lights and ornaments. 

Today I figured out that Lincoln loves to look at himself in the mirror. It was hilarious to watch him beam at himself. We were both entertained for a long time. 

As I loaded my work scrubs into the washing machine I realized it might be the last time I ever wash them since I've quit my job to stay home with Lincoln. 

We have been enjoying weather in the 60s this past week, which is almost unheard of for Kansas City in January. Lincoln and I have been trying to take advantage so we went for a walk to a pond in our neighborhood. We had the whole place to ourselves so we spent an hour or so watching geese. Did I take advantage of the solitude and nurse him right there in front of the geese? You bet!

My sweet husband got me the sewing machine that I've been wanting for ages for Christmas. I finally got around to figuring out how to set it up. This is my first attempt at experimenting with it. 

Scooter is currently doing rotations in General Surgery right now. They have him working 6 days a week, averaging 14 hour days, so we haven't really seen him this week. This was the first time Lincoln had even seen Scooter in 2 days. Med school is no walk in the park for Scooter or for me!

 

3 Months Old

Dear Lincoln,

We have had so much fun together this month! I think that this month might be my favorite so far because you are interacting so much with us now. You are also sleeping longer than last month, so that makes for an even more happy and well-rested mama. Every night you are sleeping for ten hours, waking up for a feeding, going right back to sleep, and sleeping for two more hours. It’s such a blessing. Your naps are not so fantastic though. I’m still following the 90-minute plan, but when you take naps you usually only sleep for 20-30 minutes, which really doesn’t give me a lot of time to do anything productive.  We’re working on it.

You had your first round of shots this past month. I was so worried because I had heard so many horror stories about how awful it was to watch your baby get the shots then about how sick and uncomfortable they were after. You screamed your best screams after they gave you the shots, but then I nursed you and you quieted right down and we didn’t have any more problems which was a huge relief.

Christmas with you was a blast. You obviously didn’t get it, but it was so fun for us to have you around for all the festivities. We had the Christmas cookie thing down - I ate lots of cookies and you drank lots of milk! You and I danced to Christmas music every day, you watched us set up the tree, and we had daddy’s family here with us. You were spoiled with love and attention. You loved sitting under or next to the Christmas tree and staring at the lights and sparkly ornaments. We also went on a light drive which you loved. I held you up to the window (it was in a parking lot and we were going like 2 mph – don’t report us!) and you just stared with your tiny mouth open in wonder. I’ll never forget the look on your face.  The nativity story took on a whole new level of meaning for us this year now that we have our own little precious baby boy.

You’ve been such a portable baby this month going to dinner, shopping, racquetball matches, the airport, regular errands, etc without too much of a fuss. You’ve also been a champ to be really adaptable for us. I had to go back to work for a few days this month (I’ve quit now) and you were great about taking bottles and having someone other than me home with you. It was hard not to be home with you and leave you, but easier because I knew you were handling it pretty well.

Your vocalization has really taken off this month. You are a loud baby! You squeal, coo, and hoot constantly, but your favorite time to “talk” to us is while you are getting your diaper changed. We just love chatting with you - we try to respond as if you are telling us something and you just answer right back. You also do your biggest smiles when we are talking to you. You smile with your whole body! Your legs draw up or kick, your arms wave, your eyes squint, your neck lifts, and your whole little body tenses up.

You have developed a few little quirks this month. At the beginning of the month you loved doing your “superman” pose all the time. When you were lying on your back you would make a fist with your left hand, draw it to your chest and extend your right arm straight out or above your head. You don’t do it as much lately, but it was funny. For most of the month you hadn’t quite mastered the pacifier, so you would suck on your top lip – loudly. It looked so funny. You occasionally will still do it, especially in your sleep. You have discovered your tongue this month and seem very interested in it. For a couple weeks you loved to stick it out all the time. You aren’t doing it quite as much, but now you are trying to put everything into your mouth to explore it with your tongue.

You also have discovered your hands this month. You started by curling your hands into little fists and holding them together in front of you. Now you have a bit more dexterity and lock your little fingers together and hold them in front of you. In the last couple weeks you have figured out how to put your hands into your mouth. You love to suck on them. Sometimes you even start making really loud smacking and sucking sounds! You haven’t chosen a specific finger to suck yet, right now any part of your hand will do. Consequently, we’ve been dealing with a lot of drool this month. You’ve also recently figured out how to grab things. You are still working on the precision, but when you get a hold of something you hold on tight! I have a feeling that lots of hair pulling is in the near future…

You also learned how to sit in your Bumbo chair this month. You will sit in it for long periods of time, especially if we put you in the Bumbo in front of a mirror so that you can see yourself. It is hilarious to see you smiling and flirting with yourself. You also started enjoying your first toy this month. It took us a while to choose which one to give you first, but we decided on a ball that is made entirely of pliable rubbery rings so that when you hit yourself in the face with it (you still aren’t very coordinated, you see) it won’t hurt you. The added bonus is how easy it is to hold onto. You really like to play with it, especially when you’re in your car seat.

We can’t believe how fast you are growing. We were shocked the last time we weighed you. Your feet are finally looking a little more normally proportioned, although still too big to fit comfortably in some of your sleepers. You have basically grown out of all of your three month size clothes. Mostly it seems that you are too long. Once we button you in them you can’t fully straighten your legs. You just look so grown up. When I look at you I am often struck with how handsome you are – not cute like a baby (you are, of course, that as well), but really kinda grown-up handsome. You have this adult-ish look about you. Maybe it is because your head is small so you don’t really fit the average baby proportions, maybe it is the intelligent look you have in your eyes, but either way, you are growing up too quickly! We wish you could stay small a little bit longer.

We love you more than you’ll ever know,

Mama

For the record:

Weight: 14  pounds, 8 ounces (59th percentile)

Length: 25 1/2  inches (84th percentile)

Head Circumference: 16 inches (22nd percentile)

Someone's Feeling Sleepy

Things have been going pretty well around here lately, in part, because of this book, The 90-Minute Baby Sleep Program. This book was recommended to me by my friend, Lindsey, while I was pregnant. I felt really strongly that it was really important to help the baby get as much sleep as possible, so I started reading books about babies and sleep before he was born. I read a few, and this is the one that made the most sense to me.

The basic theory is that we all have natural cycles of sleepiness and wakefulness. When babies as born their cycles are 90 minutes long, so every 90 minutes they will have a window when they are sleepy. During this sleepy window is the easiest time to soothe them to sleep. The plan is to note the time that your baby wakes up from a nap (no matter how long it is) then add 90 minutes. This will you give you the time that your baby will want to go to sleep. This works for the first few months and then the babies supposedly start lengthening their wakeful periods, but they still are in increments of 90 minutes (3 hours, 4 and 1/2 hours, etc.).

When Lincoln was born I was anxious to see if he would adhere to these guidelines. It sounded almost too good to be true, but sure enough, just about every 90 minutes he starts exhibiting signs of being tired (for him that is getting fussy or kinda zoning out). So after about 80 minutes I start soothing him to sleep and he usually falls asleep pretty easily. This plan has been keeping me sane for the past few months. Even when Lincoln has really fussy periods I know that they shouldn't need to last longer than 90 minutes. If I've noted the time Lincoln woke up and then am not near a clock when he starts fussing, I'll go and check the time and it is amazing how spot on the 90 minutes it is. On days when I forget to note the time he awoke I feel directionless and frustrated until we can get back on schedule.

Now, I have a feeling that this plan/schedule will get harder to follow the older Lincoln gets, but for now, while he's really little, it has been awesome. Especially as I new parent I feel like this book is almost a cheat-sheet. Now if we could just get Lincoln to stay asleep for longer stretches once he has fallen asleep...

Anyone else have any baby sleep book recommendations?

And now, some pictures of my darling sleeping baby. He was so spoiled over Thanksgiving and almost always napped in someone's arms.

2 Months Old

Dear Lincoln,

Your second month of life has been full of family. We spent two weeks of this month in Utah. You have spent time with every single immediate family member that isn't on a mission - all of mom and dad's brothers, sisters, and brothers-in-law; your grandparents; lots of cousins; and even your great-grandpa! You have been completely spoiled with love and cuddles. I'm not even sure that you remember how to sleep without being held by someone for the entire nap!

You took your first flight this month. I was so nervous and anxious about it, but those are the breaks when none of your family lives even remotely within driving distance. We even practiced sitting in one place for a long time, nursing in public, and our quieting techniques for a week before the flight. I barely slept the night before because I kept picturing horrible scenes starring a hysterical Lincoln. Turns out that I worried needlessly, however, because things went as well as I could have expected. You slept the entire time through security which was a blessing. You peed on me while I was nursing you, which you have never done before, but the wet spot on my shirt was a manageable problem. The lady sitting next to us was very nice and even offered to let me change your diaper on her seat (peed on yourself, of course) when there was no changing station in the bathroom.

We blessed you this month. It was wonderful to be able to have so much family there. Your great grandpa, your grandpa, and your uncles were all there to help your daddy. You were quiet through most of your blessing and only cried at the very end. You are going to be such an amazing kid!

Your first Thanksgiving was overall a success. You cried through half of dinner so I had to leave to nurse you, but we felt so thankful to have you there with us. Later that night we went to our first movie in a theater with you. You were an angel and were just happy on my lap the entire time.

You became such an amazing nighttime sleeper this month and we are so grateful. You sleep consistently for at least six hours before you wake up to eat. You usually go back to sleep for a couple hours after that as well. You even did a ten hour stretch one night! Life for mommy is so much better when she isn't exhausted.

We started trying to train you to take a pacifier this month. We have been hesitant to give you pacifiers before this because we dreaded having you get really attached and then having to wean you off in a few months. We finally decided that the benefit of being able to help you soothe yourself is worth it. You still don't really have the hang of it yet, but you are getting closer.

We took you on your first long car trip this month. We drove from St. George to Centerville, Utah and back a couple days later. It should take five hours, but it took almost double that. You slept for the first while, but after a few hours decided that you hated being in your carseat. We had to pull over and soothe you and let you stretch a couple times. One time you were happy so I switched with my mom and started driving. Right away you became really upset and soon hysterical. My mom could do nothing to calm you, so we pulled over and switched places. As soon as I sat by you, talked to you, and held your little hands (all things my mom had tried) you quieted down. It was an extremely rewarding moment for me. I felt like you really loved me, needed me, and wanted me to be near you more than any other person.

We started taking you to church this month, but I'm not sure you like it. You have had a major blowout every single time and have had to have your clothes changed. I hope you are not trying to send some kind of message..

You took interest in your very first book this month - The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I think you really loved the high contrast illustrations. The trick to keeping your attention is not to sit with the book, but to lie next to you and hold the book above us. After I figured this out we've been doing a lot of reading. You are so darling and really focus on the pictures, kick your legs a lot, and try to vocalize. I really hope you will always love to read.

We love you so much. I love seeing you in the rear view mirror while we are driving around doing errands. When you do take long naps during the day I miss you and have trouble not creeping to your crib to stare at you. You have enriched our lives so much and we are happier than ever.

Love you more than you'll ever know,

Your Mama

For the record:

Weight: 11 pounds, 15 ounces (36th percentile)

Length: 23 inches (31st percentile)

Head Circumference: 15 1/4 inches (11th percentile)