Road Trip

Alan had his annual Nascar Firefighter training this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, so I invited myself (and Cale) to tag along! :) While Alan stayed in a hotel with all his firefighter buddies, Cale and I stayed with Uncle Beau, Aunt Jill, Tyce, Sprout, and Spike! :) It was a short road trip, but we really enjoyed our time with the Davis family.

Cale did AWESOME for his first road trip. He was a happy traveler in the car! I'm so pleased with how well he did, and now I know that we will be able to take more road trips with him.

It was so much fun to see the beautiful friendship that started to form between Cale and Tyce! :) At Christmas-time he didn't seem too interested in his cousin. He was very attentive to Cale this visit!  Tyce was Johnny-on-the-spot with offering Cale the pacifier! Tyce even took the time to learn to feed his stuffed animals with a bottle, so sweet! Our two boys are so stinkin cute (if I say so myself).

Tyce was talking more and more! So fun to hear his little husky voice. He stood outside the bathroom door while I showered and yelled my name the entire shower. "Lindsi! ......Liiiiiindsi!........Lindsi!"  I couldn't stop giggling in there! While showering at home yesterday I half expected someone to be standing outside the door yelling my name--I was a little disappointed when that didn't happen.

I, of course, thoroughly enjoyed my visit with Tyce's mom :) It always makes me so sad to leave there, and it's especially sad now that we both have our lil' boys. I was mopey the whole ride home :/

Other than his first night away from home, Cale had a few other "firsts" during this trip!

Our 10-week-old little man sat in his Daddy's lap while riding in a firetruck around the actual Nascar track :) It was only the second time I'd been able to do that, and it always amazes me at the embankment around the corners. It was a very impromptu adventure, so I didn't have camera or phone prepared :/ Hopefully there will be many more of those experiences.

Also, on our way back home, we ventured off the highway to drive Cale around the University of Oklahoma campus (BOOMER!). We showed him where his Mommy used to live, where the Sooners play football, and where they serve the BEST dreamsicle slushes and pickle-o's. We might have even stopped to let his Mommy get some of those yummy treats! ;)

We had such a fun little road trip, and I'm looking forward to many more with my sweet little family!

Two Months

Stats: At his two month check-up, Cale weighed 10 pounds 2 ounces and was 22 inches long! We feel like our lil' guy is getting so big; however, he was in the 18th percentile on the growth charts. The nurse referred to him as being 'small framed.'

Sizes: He is wearing Size 1 diapers. Most of his clothes are now 0-3 month---in fact, I've had to put away some of his 'newborn' sized clothing. Sadface :( He seemed to outgrow his footed pajamas first, but now there are some onesies that don't fit him. Sigh.

Food: He is still taking seven bottles per day--4 ounces each.

Routine:  Not much has changed about his routine.

                  6am Bottle

                  9am Bottle

                  12pm Bottle

                  3pm Bottle

                       Naptime

                  6pm Bottle

                  8:30pm Bath Time

                  9pm Night Bottle

                  2am Bottle

One night recently he slept from 9pm-3:30am! His little body is starting to get the hang of sleeping consistently during the night. He is almost like a little alarm clock. He does real well with this regimented schedule, and it doesn't really bind us to the house. He can eat and nap on-the-go real well! He seems to be a cat-napper, with his most consistent nap time during the late afternoon hours. The pediatrician was amazed at his 'awake time!' He stays up from 9am-1pm usually without a wink of sleep!

Developmental Milestones:  He is focusing SO good right now! I love catching him studying my face ;) He has also discovered (and is mesmerised) by the television, I caught Alan and Cale watching racing one morning. Also, just this last week, he reached out and grabbed something intentionally for the first time! We left him in the care of his Noni (Alan's mom) for several hours to attend a funeral on Saturday and he did it TWICE for her! He is also starting to smile and 'talk' more. I love sitting around with him during his alert times having conversation :)

Loves: He continues to love ceiling fans and lights, also looking outdoors. He still LOVES his 'gym time' and bath time.  Alan took him to his first Chili Bowl Nationals, so I'm pretty sure he loves sprint car racing now :) We took him to the Chili Bowl Jr to watch his 'Uncle' Raymond race his remote control sprint car.

Postpartum Craziness

Here's where I spill the beans about my postpartum craziness....it's not what  you'd expect, though! I will confess that postpartum hormones are terrible. I thought I'd been through everything hormonally with my Lupron treatments and pregnancy in general, but boy, was I wrong?! For me the postpartum part was the worst. I'm sure it's different for every girl, though.

Anyhow, back to the subject.  Other than general crankiness from sleep deprivation, I really never felt depressed, super overwhelmed, sad, etc. after coming home with Cale; therefore, I didn't have the 'baby blues' or depression. What I did struggle with is quite the laughing matter, really, now that I think about it. I shed tears. Many tears. I had anxiety. Fluttery stomach. Sweaty palms. Rapid breathing. Restlessness. Over my Master Bedroom.  Yup, you read correctly. My master bedroom caused me to go nuts. All of the sudden I was completely unhappy and uncomfortable with our bedroom, decor, and such. It no longer was a place where I felt restful, so I temporarily moved to the spare bedrooom over this nonsense. I tried to explain these feelings to Alan, who mostly looked at me with a confused blank stare. Can you blame him?!

Long story short. I'm selling the furniture in our room and attempting to re-vamp the decor on a small budget. All because of my stupid hormones. I'm totally blaming these irrational, crazy thoughts on my post-baby hormones, because in general, I'm not crazy or irrational at all.

I'm thankful for my very understanding husband ;)  and I hope you found some amusement in my postpartum craziness! I wanted to share this with all my pregnant or soon-to-be pregnant friends just so you know that your times 'a coming!

One Month

While I failed miserably to do a "one month" post for Cale, I'm playing catch-up today and giving you a six week post :)  Can you just pretend it's one month?!

Cale has become our whole world---it really happened in an instant.  He has brought so much more joy and love into our home than we ever thought possible. Our family feels more complete having our 'human' son here with our 'furry' son!

Stats: We won't go back to the doctor until January 18th, two month check-up, so I don't know his current stats. I'm guessing he is now somewhere in the 8-pound range though. He changes before our eyes every day!  His petite little figure is starting to fill-out. Where he was once a little speck in his newborn bath tub, he now fills it up nicely.

Sizes:  We finally bumped Cale up to his 'newborn' size diapers (rather than preemie). He is wearing 'newborn' size clothes, most of his 0-3 month outfits are still too big.

Food:  Cale takes seven 90mL (slightly over 3-ounces) bottles in a 24-hour period.  Because of his premature status at birth, we've had to increase his feedings ever so slowly. His pediatrician wants him to be at a 4-ounce feeding by his two month check-up, so I think we're right on track!  He is such a good eater! While in the hospital we worked really hard with him to take his bottles in a timely fashion without falling asleep, drooling out the side of his mouth, spitting up excessively, etc...I think we came out successful! He loves eating time!

Routine: We have really been working on establishing a solid routine and sleep schedule. Cale had a few rough nights around Christmas time, but I think it was because we were constantly on the go for 4-5 straight days.  Cale wakes up each morning between 8:30-9:00am. This is usually his most alert time, and he'll stay awake and play for an entire three hours. It's probably my second favorite time of the day (second to bath time!).  He eats routinely every three hours throughout the day. He seems to be more of a cat-napper during the day, so he'll take naps in his swing and bouncy chair.  At 8:30pm we do bath time, followed by his bedtime bottle. He goes to bed right around 9pm, and we try to get him to 2am before he takes another feeding. He will usually wake up once during this time, but can be soothed with his pacifier until feeding time. He eats again at 6am, and again, goes back down to sleep in his crib. We swear by swaddling at night time---the tighter, the better! As soon as his little hands break-free, he wakes himself up.

Developmental Milestones:  We are starting to notice that Cale is using his neck muscles more and more. He does really well with his tummy time during his morning playtime, he is able to hold his own head up for a much more significant amount of time before it goes "floppy" again :) Also, he is focusing his gaze and tracking objects (fingers, toys) more frequently now. He loves to make noises! Although he is not smiling and cooing yet, he makes all sorts of silly grunting noises.

Loves: On top of eating and grunting, Cales LOVES his bathtime. He gets so relaxed in the tub at night, it's my favorite time to spend with him! He likes to have a warm washcloth draped over his torso while he hangs out in his newborn bather.  He also loves his playmat/gym. During the morning, he lays on it and stares at all the colorful toys hanging above him. He loves his family so much too--especially all the cuddle time everyone loves to give him! He is definitely a cuddler, which is why he responds so well to swaddling.

I have so much to update on this 'ol blog. We took our first zoo trip several days ago---yes, we had a mid-60's day at the end of December to enjoy the outdoors. My aunt and grandma got us a Tulsa Zoo Membership for Christmas, so we will definitely put it to good use! For pretty weather days it will be good walking exercise for this lil' momma, and it will let Cale soak up some warm sunshine too!

Bentley is adjusting well to the newest addition in our house. He was indeed jealous at first, mostly noticable because he was a little standoff-ish.  He is now the first one to Cale's side when he lets out those giant 'feed me' screams.

This is Bentley saying, "It's hard being a big brother!"