Monday Snapshot: Home Improvement Edition

It's my turn to host PAIL's Monday Snapshot. If you haven't signed up yet, go do it! And go check out all the other shots to see what everyone has been up to.

Hi everyone! I'm excited to be here today guest hosting PAIL's Monday Snapshot. Although, when I first heard it was my turn, I panicked. We've had a bit of a fussy week over here, dealing with a three month growth spurt or something, and the one interesting thing we did (attended a baby friendly showing of Les Mis...ah, brought me right back to my junior high obsession) was not easy to capture in an iPhone photo. I know. I tried.*

But then on Saturday, Luigi and I accompanied Hubby to one of our favorite places...H.ome Depot! We needed some supplies for our latest project, the first phase in upgrading our "finished" basement into a more toddler friendly play room. Yes, I realize Luigi is only three months old, but this project is going to take awhile! And by the time he is toddling around, we are going to need more play space in our little house, for sure.

I love this picture because of the goofy look on Luigi's face, and because it symbolizes to me a lifetime of helping His daddy with projects around the house. I hope he will learn to be as handy as his dad. I also love the subliminal message I captured, completely accidentally, I swear!

Anyway, I won't bog this down with details about our project, but I do plan to share more about it here eventually, so stay tuned for more about our basement upgrade. Happy Monday!

Bonus Shot: Daddy in the background loading up the cart.

*proof

PS: L did great at the movie. He slept on the way there and stayed a sleep for about the first 2/3 of the movie. He exhibited his flair for the dramatic when he chose to wake right at the climax of Eponine's big song..."a world that's full of happiness that I have known!" followed by a dramatic pause of complete silence, and a nice loud Luigi scream! That's my boy!

Go Pats!

(Hi Blakely) ; )

Comments

Hi All, just a quick question for you about comments. I have always been terrible at responding to comments. Probably because so much of my online life happens via iPhone and not laptop, and it's just so convoluted. But I would like, if I can find the time, to try to converse more with my bloggy friends. What do you all find is the best way? I know some of you are emailable, and I can just reply when then comment is emailed to my inbox. But if I reply on my blog, do people actually come back and look for a response? I rarely do this myself. Or do people tend to subscribe to the comments so they are kept up to date? This often overwhelms me when I do it with other blogs. Just trying to figure out how to turn this blog world into a more conversational experience rather than just post and comment and leave it at that.

So what's he like...

...at three months? Since I didn't get around to it the other day...

Luigi, every day is a new adventure. You continue to be a real charmer. Your third month was incredibly busy since it was your first Christmas, and there was lots of time to celebrate with family. But first, you had to survive a few more trips to doctors. At your two month appointment, Dr. G officially diagnosed you as "amazing" saying you had the head control of a four month old. You were 24" that day and weighed nearly 12 pounds. The next week, you had to have an x-ray with a catheter to evaluate your kidneys. The good news is that you don't have bladder reflux. The even better news is that you handled the whole experience like a champ. You didn't cry, not even a little. I held your hands and sang to you the whole time. I hated seeing you on that table in your little hospital gown, but you made it much easier on my by being so brave.

We spent your first Christmas week at your Granny's house, and had a low key time, with just the four of us. Santa was very good to you! One of your favorite toys he brought is a giraffe with colorful balls in his belly that bounce around when you (we) plunge his head. You also got a ton of new clothes. You will be very well dressed for a few months. Speaking of which, we have already packed away all of your 0-3, and using the 3-6 now, mostly based on length. With all the hoopla about your size before you arrived, it's turning out that you are sort of a skinny little guy.

When we got back from NY, we had your Gramma & Grampa, Great Grampa L and Uncle J over for another family celebration which we deemed "First Noel," where you were again thoroughly spoiled. G-Grampa loves to make silly noised and faces at you, which it truly adorable coming from a 92 year old man. He loves you very much.

The following day, we headed to "Second Christmas" with the other side of Daddy's family, and G-Gramma & G-Grampa's house. It was quite chaotic, and you were a little bit shell shocked by the time the say was over, but you were officially able to meet your Daddy's entire extended family (all 26 or so of them!) that day.

So, aside from all this celebrating, what have you been up to? You have become much more interactive with your play mats. You spent a good half hour one day doing leg lifts that I only dream of having the abdominal strength to handle. You were actually kicking and almost juggling one of the dangling toys with your feet. You got a few balls for Christams that you can easily twine your fingers into, and you have been having fun grabbing on to those as well. You can sit up in your bumbo seat, safely on the floor of course, and have even started to enjoy some time in your exersaucer. It's amazing to see you grow and become strong, while gaining just a bit more control over your body. Daddy has actually seen you roll over from front to back three times. I keep missing it!

Your favorite toys seem to be the ones that light up. Your face beams with delight, and you look like you might laugh, although I'm still waiting eagerly to hear what that precious giggle sounds like.

You like to help out in the kitchen and hang out with us while we eat at the table. We have started sitting you more upright in your chair, and even added the tray with some toys this week. You played with them very intently the other day while I did some dishes.

You love to carry on conversations with Daddy, and are starting to chat more with me too. We sing a lot, which you seem to enjoy as well.

You are a student of the world around you, and get the most serious looks of concentration when you are trying to figure out what is going on. I hope you won't be too serious when you grow up!

For awhile, you almost seemed to have found a meal routine. You were consistent with the timing of 6 meals a day for a few weeks before Christmas. The travel and family time threw you off though, and ever since you hit twelve weeks old, we've been battling back to consistency. I'm hoping we will be there soon.

You don't fall asleep for naps on your own anymore. We have to help you somehow. Usually, holding you on your left side with a pacifier, a jiggle and some shushing will do the trick, and we can then put you in your crib for about a half hour nap. If I want you to sleep longer, it's usually in the swing in the living room, or out and about in the car seat/stroller. You do fight going down because you are far too interested in the world around you now, to give in to sleepiness. We are trying to keep to a 3 yawns/2 hours max of awake time rule for now, and it works for the most part, although, as I said, the lengths of your naps are not yet reliable.

Just recently, when you are done nursing, you pull back quietly, and just look up at me with the sweetest face, and a slight smile. It is different from the dramatic milk drunk stretch of your earlier days, but just as precious. It's like you want to tell me something, but don't quite know what.

Oh my little peanut, there is probably so much more I am forgetting to tell you. Every day with you is a precious gift, even though some days are harder than others (this last week being a doozie for sure!) You have brought endless joy to the lives of so many around you. Words cannot express how much you are loved.

*as per usual, I am behind with photos, and will let you know when the three month collage has been added. I did get the two month collage up! I think I am going to create page for monthly and weekly photos (which I have been doing on instagram and FB, always looking for more instagram friends—and Pinterest too for that matter. Email me if you'd like to follow.) so they can be all in one place. I will leave you with a few family portrait from Christmas to tide you over. 

Checking out what Santa left of Christmas morning.

Christmas with Granny. A study in argyle. 

With Gramma and G. Grampa L.

Is this for me?

Big Day

Today is a big day at the Chronicles. Not only is it my second blogoversary, but Luigi is three months old today!

Unfortunately, my wifi is down, so I'm down to just my phone to write this post, which means I will be keeping it simple. But I couldn't let the day pass without acknowledging how far I've come in two years.

The first year of this blog was about treatments. I was waiting for my 5th iui/2nd injectable cycle to start when I first wrote. I'm eternally grateful for the connections and support I found in that first year. I don't think I would have survived without it.

The second year of this blog was about pregnancy, and learning how to parent. I think I was waiting for cycle day 1 last year so that I could start stimming for my third IVF cycle, the one that would result in my precious Luigi. Reading the pregnancy and parenting stories of those who struggled before me were an invaluable preparation for the joys and trials of parenthood.

The third year of this blog will undoubtably be about parenting. Whether or not it will also be about a continued struggle with trying to conceive is yet to be determined. For the moment, I'm content to soak in the cuddles and smiles of my darling little Luigi.

Many of you have been lucky enough to achieve your goals in the time I've been blogging, but so many of you are still waiting to resolve your parenting stories. I know it probably hasn't always been way to stick with my evolving story. I thank you for reading and commenting, and I hope every day that you will all be mommies soon!

And with that, I'll leave you with a quick picture of Luigi. I haven't managed to take his official three month photo yet, big surprise!

Monday Snapshot: Sock Monkey Edition

Amazingly enough, I didn't take a lot of pictures this week. I think I've been in a bit of a fog with a cold and a growth spurting kiddo. But, I did grab this shot on my phone of L wearing the new hoodie we got him for Christmas. Ah, my little monkey.

Stop on over to PAIL to see more great shots.

Random thoughts at twelve weeks

First, let me say that I think many new moms disappear from the bloggosphere not for guilt, or lack of things to say, but for shear lack of a free minute and an inability to for a coherent thought. I have been wanting to write on so many topics for weeks, and I just can't seem to get to it. I happen to be pumping right now while Hubby is upstairs wearing L while putting away laundry, so I grabbed the few minutes I have. Let's see how much I can manage to say in twenty minutes.

Things are mostly going well around here. L is a lovely baby who smiles a lot and cries for good reason. It just so happens that this week, he hasn't been feeling well, nor have I. He had the second half of his two month immunizations on Friday, and seems to be growth spurting, so he's wanting to eat more often than his usual three hour interval during the day. It's 10:00 am and he's already nursed three times today. Needless to day, I'm feeling a bit frazzled.

Yeah, so about that twelve week thing. This is the point when so many moms have to return to work, and I simply cannot fathom how. I am still exhausted most days, and get quite crabby if I have to miss my afternoon nap. Sleep wise, when not growth spurting, L is down to one mid-night feeding, which usually varies from between 3 and 5 am. We all go to bed as a family by about 10pm by the time we're all settled, after L eats for the last time somewhere between 7:45 and 9. So, if we're lucky, there is a 6 hour stretch of sleep coming between an 8 hour feeding interval, but it's usually disrupted for me by needing to pee, needing to give L his paci back, or my old friend insomnia. Getting back to sleep for me after that mid-night feeding has proven to be the bigger issue. I have struggled with insomnia for years, pregnant and not, and 4am has always been a bit of a struggle. Add to that the fact that I'm still dealing with anemia, and can't seem to remember to take two iron pills that should not be taken with dairy, or too close to my morning thyroid meds or bedtime multivitamin, and there is now snow on the ground which interferes with my ability to get out and take a walk to get fresh air, sun and exercise, and you have a mommy who can't imagine ever feeling energized ever again. I'm certainly unable to comprehend returning to work right now. I'm so glad I have another three months or so.

And about that sleep thing. Ugh. It's so frustrating when L is sleeping soundly, and I am staring at the ceiling. We've ended up co-sleeping more often than not. He hasn't spent a full night in his crib in our room since November. For awhile, we had him sleeping on his own in his car seat next to the bed, so it was easy for us to manage him (rock, paci, etc.) through the night. But what we've found is he actually sleeps best, and usually so do we, when he's in bed with us. I never imagined I would end up here, but it turns out, I quite like it. However, I really worry about getting him out of our bed sometime soon. We have started to work on crib naps in his room with some success. At least we have proven that he will sleep flat on his back without us, and not just in the swing or car seat. Hopefully that will lead to comfort in the crib and the eventual transition out of our room. But right now, that seems so far off. I just long for him to be able to go to bed without us so we can have a little bit of grown up time before going to bed ourselves.

Ugh. There is so much more I wanted to say. And in fact, this should be more appropriately titled random thoughts at thirteen weeks since he hits that mark tomorrow. I just sat down to pump and finish this post, and eight minutes in, after only a 30 minute nap, L is screaming awake in his crib. I guess I better run. Advice on breaking the co-sleeping habit is most welcome. I'd be happy if we can just get him into the pack-n-play in our room for the next month.