Aaron's 1 month

Aaron had his 1 month check-up a couple weeks ago! I meant to write about his weight/height, but it escaped me! Poor baby :( 'Third' child syndrome is starting...

Well, he is doing just wonderfully. His one month check-up was great. His birthweight and height was 7lbs 15oz and 20 1/4 inches.

His one month weight/height was 10 lbs 1 oz and 22 1/2 inches. He is growing nicely.

Today he is actually 6 weeks old and from Grandma and Grandpa's scale I think he is about 11 lbs. His face has been changing lately and he is getting stronger. He is holding his head up better and he is smiling and likes to look at objects.
He is a good nurser and has never had a bottle yet. He does not like pacifiers. I tried a few different brands and he gags, chokes and pushes it away with his tongue. So, I gave up trying. He still sleeps a lot and pretty much since he was born he nurses between 9 and 10pm and then sleeps 4-5 hours and then goes another 4 or so hours at night. During the day he goes 2 - 21/2 hours most times. He is very easy-going and content. When he does whine or cry he is very easy to soothe. He is still sleeping in our room on my side of the bed.

This picture was from Aaron's first 'camp'fire on our patio one evening


In a couple weeks I'll be already posting his 2nd month information. I can't believe how fast time goes. Seems I was just hoping to go into labor with him!

A Day out with Thomas

On June 13th we drove the hour and half north to Green Bay to the National Railroad Museum to see 'A Day out with Thomas'. Both Nicholas and Celia like to watch the Thomas the Train shows on PBS. We were running behind that morning (20 minutes from home we realized we forgot money) but we made it to the museum and quickly boarded the shuttle buses they had running back and forth to the museum. Right away we boarded the train ride. The trains were pulled by a life-size Thomas the train. The train only went 6 mph - very slow! It went 2 laps around the museum area. There were some open train cars and some closed cars - we ended up in a closed car. Aaron was hungry at that time too ... so now I can say I've nursed a newborn on a train. ha ha

Waiting for the train to go! Nicholas wasn't totally sure about the train ride at first.

Wanting to hold Aaron while we waited (note the look on aaron's face with Celia. Got to love those newborn crossed eyes ha ha)



After the train ride we went to the Thomas the train for pictures. The employees even told everyone it was fine to take our own pictures as well. We didn't buy professional photos, but the prices were really good!




After pictures we went into one of the buildings to see the model trains. Nicholas and Celia enjoyed seeing Percy (one of the Thomas' friends) chuffing down the tracks.




We had a break of kettle corn and went to sit under a tent to eat in the shade (it was very warm). We were really impressed with the prices for food. For example, only $1.50 for a hotdog and 75 cents for a soda. We talked with another family at the table (we were sharing). I also noticed with all the little kids, there was rarely a crying child. How were hundreds of little children all on their best behavior?? Still a mystery. ... Anyway...
We passed up the bounce houses since I didn't think Nicholas and Celia were old enough - nor would it be safe enough for them. We went into the large train shed. Oh my goodness! If you can ever make it to the National Train museum in Green Bay to see the old locomotives, you should! It was AMAZING. I can't believe how HUGE these trains were. Just the wheels were 75 inches tall. We took some pictures to try to show how huge they were - a little blurry, but its an idea.
Celia between the trains



We were able to walk thru all the train cars. The cars were not refurbished. It is as if they were parked after their last run. Sometimes it was a bit spooky, but it was certainly interesting. We saw the postal cars where there were cubbies of all the major cities. So the postmen on the train would sort the mail into the city's cubbies so that when the train stopped, they could pass on the mail for that city. We saw the kitchen area, meal cars, sleeper cars, and cars of different eras. We could also go into the engine car of the locomotive to see all the levers and where the coal would go. We definitely plan on returning. It was great.

And just today... all 3 watching Thomas. Aaron is 5 1/2 weeks old here - he is growing so fast!

To Daddy on Father's Day 2009

Dear Nicholas, Celia and Aaron,
I hope someday you can read these stories when you are older; to see what your childhood was like. And one thing I hope you come to realize is that your Daddy always takes such good care of us. Your Daddy works so hard so that I can stay home with you. He works hard so that we have a home, food, clothes, and all the other things we need .... and even some things we don't need, but we want. This year your Daddy has worked two jobs (and one is in the middle of the night) to help our family. He is tired and has a lot to do, but almost every night when he comes home from work, he takes time to wrestle with Nicholas and Celia. You three tumble all over the living room floor laughing and shouting. When Nicholas and Celia go to bed for the night, he takes baby Aaron and cuddles him onto his chest and holds him closely. Daddy knows hard work is needed (and he has a touch of work-a-holic), but he knows time goes too quickly and he takes time to play with his children. This morning, on Father's Day, his wish was to take his kids to church. So he packed up Nicholas and Celia (mommy and aaron had too little time to get ready and come along) and he took you two to church with him.
Never doubt how much your Daddy loves you. Always know he is there for us.

Scary Experience with an automatic door

This evening we all went to Menards (home improvement store) to look at stain colors for our new banister going in next week. When we were checking out Nicholas wandered to the windows on either side of the sliding automatic doors. We knew he was there and as Jason went to get him he accidentally triggered the automatic doors as he walked towards Nicholas. The sliding doors opened and grabbed his left hand and pinched it between the door and window. Jason pushed the door very hard and I pulled on Nicholas' hand. We did this in a flash as we saw Nicholas crying and trapped by the door. Right away an employee came over and asked if he was okay. We said we weren't sure cause he had a scrape on his hand and for a minute it looked like his wrist was swelling and he wasn't using his hand - while crying the whole time. She went to get the manager to file a report. They took a picture of his hand and took his information and said if we went to the Dr that they would pay for it. Jason and I were ready to just go right to the hospital. It is so nice to be breastfeeding Aaron cause I didn't have to worry about not having a bottle with us or anything (funny how that flies thru my mind). As we were there he started to use his hand and seem like it wasn't hurting. I remembered I had gum in the diaper bag so I offered it to him and he cheered up.
Thankfully his hand is fine. Once we were home we had him try some different movements with his hand and he used it like normal. So, parents out there - watch those automatic doors!! We never would have thought he would have gotten his hand/wrist trapped in the door.

Sleepy Baby

I forgot how much newborns sleep! Goodness, Aaron is a sleeper (which is okay)! Nicholas and Celia get excited when they see his eyes are open. ha ha
Aaron sleeps in a co-sleeper next to my side of the bed. Nicholas and Celia did the same thing when they were infants. I believe they stayed in our room until they were 5 or 6 months old. While some parents find its tough to sleep with a newborn in their room, I find it easier. I can wake up when Aaron is beginning to wake up. He never even cries because I'm able to get him before he gets that awake. He is a quiet sleeper unless he has a burp bothering him to come out or is waking up. I'm a fan of safe co-sleeping anyway, so I'm happy with this sleeping situation.
Sometimes in the afternoon I'll swaddle Aaron and have him nap in his co-sleeper while Nicholas and Celia are napping (gives me some time to nap too).
I will admit that often Aaron ends up sleeping next to me. I did this with Nicholas and Celia too. It seems as though it is a taboo thing to do in our culture, but its more common than you'd think. Recently there have been too many infant deaths with co-sleeping in our area, but in all cases the mother was intoxicated, there were blankets involved and unsafe situations to co-sleep. When I sleep with our baby, I don't move. I wake up in the same position I fell asleep in. There is no way I would roll onto our baby - just like we don't roll onto our spouses or fall off the bed. If I am too tired then I leave him in his co-sleeper. If I need room to stretch out, then he stays in the co-sleeper as well. I think we all get more sleep this way. Also, a mother produces more breastmilk when she sleeps with her infant - seems as though nature intended it that way if that occurs. Safe co-sleeping also lowers the incidence of SIDS. Nicholas and Celia also transitioned to sleeping in their own beds when the time came. I'm not interested in sleep sharing until the child is very old - just in these infant months. Nicholas and Celia sleep 12+ hours at night and 1-2 hours nap in the day.
Okay, now I feel like I shared a big secret!
For information/studies on c0-sleeping (so you don't think I'm wacko) click here.

One nice day

Its June in Wisconsin and we're still trying desperately to have days in the 70's. Last week there was one very pleasant warm day and Nicholas and Celia played in the sand/water table. I emptied the sand and filled it with water. Celia opted for her swimsuit. They washed their slides and dumped and splashed the water. Celia even found some purple sand to 'wash' on the pavement. :) Let's hope more warm summer days come our way!

Potty Time

Last Saturday May 30th all of us went to Babies r Us to get our new cribs (our current cribs were recalled). While there we picked up some potty training supplies - a travel seat, a seat for Grandma & Papa's house, and some underwear. Nicholas picked out Thomas the Train and Celia picked out Dora underwear. I had some Gerber training underwear too (they just have extra fabric for leaks). When we got home we decided to give it a try. I really thought Celia was ready and Nicholas was not. That Saturday afternoon they both peed in their pants. We played with a Baby Alive potty doll and talked about going pee pee on the potty.
However, by Sunday Nicholas peed nicely during the day and stayed dry when he was awake. Celia's first dry day was monday. This first week of wearing underwear while awake (they wear diapers at night) they stayed dry almost the entire time - maybe 4 accidents all week total. Celia is going all by herself. She will walk to the bathroom, sit on the potty, wipe/flush, pull up her pants and then tell me she needs a treat. Nicholas still needs a bit of help with the pulling underwear up, but he goes whenever he sits on the potty too. Seriously, I don't know that this could have been much easier. We have even been out of the house at stores and at our small group bible study and they wore underwear. At our small group they both peed on the travel seat! Neither of them like the little potty. They both only want to sit on the actual toilet. I'm so impressed with them potty training so fast. They sure were ready!

And as a cute memory to add for myself:
Today Nicholas and Celia were playing outside and I was nursing Aaron in a chair outside and Nicholas was "going to go to the store to buy bananas (or 'mananas' as they say). He rode up to me and said, "Bye! Love you!" It was the first time he said 'love you' like that. Almost makes me teery eyed just thinking about it. They will be all grown up before I know it.

Our two boys

We have noticed Nicholas and Aaron have had some similarities as newborns. Although the longer we have Aaron, he is looking more and more like himself to me. Just for fun I had Aaron wear an outfit Nicholas wore. Nicholas was about a week old in these pictures, and Aaron is about 2 weeks old in his pictures. Nicholas was a very easy baby, and so far (knock on wood) Aaron is as well. What do you think?

Nicholas

Aaron