Wyatt's 1st Christmas

We had a wonderful time back in Omaha last weekend for Christmas. It was so much fun to be around our families, and celebrating it for the first time with Wyatt made it so much more special. Wyatt was very spoiled by his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. He got some really neat toys and clothes. Though he had no concept of that at all. :) He even got to meet Santa on Christmas Eve. He made a special appearance at Keith's aunt and uncle's house. Wyatt did a great job sitting on his lap, probably because he didn't have the slightest clue what was going on. Next year might be a bit more interesting!

This was the first time in many years that we had a brown Christmas instead of a white one. Not a flake in sight! However, if I had to choose between that or the other extreme, I am thankful for the weather that we had. I suppose we'll have to wait a little longer for Wyatt to see his first snowfall!

Here are some pics from Wyatt's Christmas:

Our first family Christmas!

I'm not on the naughty list, am I??

Cousins Picture!



I hope you all had a wonderful holiday as well!

Love,
Ashley

Happy Holidays from Wyatt!

Love,
Ashley

Wyatt Reaches 3 Months, Mama Reaches Bronze!

Sunday was Wyatt's 3 month birthday. I can't believe he's already a quarter of a year old! He is growing up so quickly. He is still wearing 0-3 month clothing, though he may shortly be moving into 3-6 month size. At least on tops, that is. I think his short little legs might take a bit longer to outgrow that size! Soon enough I will have to pack away his current clothes to make room for bigger ones.

Sunday was also a milestone for me, as I reached what is known in the breastfeeding world as "Bronze" status. It's basically an imaginary medal symbolizing how long a person as nursed/pumped. At 3 months a mom earns Bronze,6 months is Silver, and 1 year is Gold. I am so proud that I've made it this far and have been able to provide enough breast milk for Wyatt that we haven't had to supplement with formula. To some this may not seem like a huge accomplishment, but for any mom who's faced challenges while nursing, it is. And I'm still going! I plan on writing a more detailed post regarding this topic at a later point, so for now I'll get back to talking about Wyatt...

We've seen lots of changes in Wyatt this last month. His personality is really beginning to emerge, and he is so much more interactive with us. He is definitely aware of our presence and will move his head/eyes to follow us as we move in front of him, even if we're across the room from him. He's developing better coordination as well, and is getting increasingly better at holding up his head unsupported. As I said in my last post, he discovered his hands a few weeks ago and is pretty much obsessed with them. He is constantly trying to put them in his mouth. Lately a lot of of his "tummy time" consists of him lying on the floor sucking on his hand while staring off into space. It's funny to watch, but I kind of have to snap him back into reality so that he'll actually play and lift his head!

It's so exciting to reach this milestone, and we look forward to every month ahead. Here are the latest pics we've taken:

Love,
Ashley

Thanksgiving and Baptism

Last Thursday we loaded up the truck and headed up to Omaha for the holiday. The last time we were home was for my shower in July, so we were anxious to be home again. We had a fun visiting with family, most of who had not gotten to meet Wyatt yet. We introduced him to Uncle Dan, his cousins, great- grandparents and great- aunts and uncles. I'm horrible at remembering to take pictures, but we did manage to get one family photo at the end of the day:

Wyatt recently discovered he has hands and fingers, and they are beyond fascinating to him!

On Sunday we had Wyatt baptized at my family's parish. He wore a gown that has been in my family over 100 years. It was made by nuns for my great- grandfather's christening. I was baptized in it, as was my mom, grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins and brother. It was really neat that Wyatt was part of such a long tradition. Wyatt did a great job as the holy water was poured over his head. Of course, it helped that he had a pacifier in his mouth. But that’s better than him screaming! Here are some pictures of his special day:

We had a great visit home, and look forward to going back again for Christmas. I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday. We have so much to be thankful for this year, but most importantly we thank God for our beautiful baby boy.

Love,
Ashley

Pictures!

I'm getting better at this!

Just Chillin'

What do you mean Regis retired?!

Love a good bedtime story!

Do I look like my daddy?

Soapy Mohawk!

All clean!

Mesmerized...

Love,
Ashley

Traveling With a 2 Month Old: Proceed With Caution

Wow, what week we have had! We are now officially residing in Grain Valley, Missouri, a suburb outside of KC. Thursday our movers came to pack and load us. I had decided that it would be best if Wyatt and I headed up on our own that day so that we would be out of the way and have some privacy, as well as have access to a fridge to store my milk while ours was being packed and delivered. We headed out late that morning, and I was pretty nervous. I'd never traveled that long or far with him, let alone all by myself. Here's a little rundown of our road trip:

9:45am- Finish loading up the car with the (millions of) items that Wyatt would need for our stay and hit the road, with Lindsey Buckingham's Holiday Road playing in the background (I made that part up, but I have that song on my ipod and every time we travel I long to play it as a cheesy homage to Chevy Chase).

10:25am- Wyatt lets out grunts and pouts, indicating the pacifier that was in his mouth has fallen out. I grab the spare one in my diaper bag on the seat next to me and reach behind me like Stretch Armstrong until I find his mouth and pop it in. Score!

10:26am-Wyatt begins whining again because the 2nd pacifier has fallen out of his mouth. I reach behind, stand up in my seat, and do everything short of crawling back there to find one of them. And of course, the rest of his pacifiers are in a ziplock bag. In my suitcase. In the back of the trunk. Crap. Decide to find the nearest exit with a gas station to pull over.

10:28am- Pull over to exit and stop at red light. Wyatt is now silent (of course). Pull into gas station and open the back door to find him looking quiet and content. Grab the pacifiers anyway so that I am prepared for future potential freakouts. Thankfully he falls asleep.

11:30am- Arrive in Clinton, Missouri and make a pit-stop at Walmart. Proceed to feed him in the driver’s seat in the parking lot, followed by an extremely awkward diaper change in which he was lying on the passenger’s seat while I was still in the driver’s seat. Said prayers that: 1. There was no messy poo in his diaper; 2. He didn’t pee mid-change; 3. I didn’t get hit in the face by an explosive bowel movement. Prayers answered.

12:00pm- Call hotel to let them know we will be arriving a little after 1:30 and confirm that we can check in early. Am told that they will try their best but cannot guarantee it will be ready before 3:00.

1:40pm-Arrive at hotel. Room is not available. In a moment of sheer desperation, I ask if they have a conference room I can use to pump. They oblige, and I spend the next 30 minutes in there while Wyatt continues to sleep in his car seat.

2:30pm- Finally get into our room!

7:30pm- Keith arrives to help feed and entertain Wyatt so I can get a break and shower. He then goes back to our house to stay with the dogs for the night.

10:00pm- Lights out!

The next morning was Wyatt’s 2 month appointment with his new pediatrician. It required some critical planning ahead, but we made it on time! Wyatt did a great job while being examined. He weighed in at 12 lbs 2 oz and was 22.5 inches long. He is in the 53rd percentile for weight and 24th percentile for height. I guess his genes are catching up with him! I admit I was a little disappointed that he wasn’t still in a higher percentile for height, but really, this makes sense. Dad’s only 5’8” and Mom’s only 5’4”, so there is little chance you’ll ever see him playing for the Lakers. :)

Wyatt was not too happy about his shots, but I was able to get him calmed down in a matter of minutes. He was asleep by the time we left the office. However, by early evening it was obvious that he wasn’t feeling too great. I took his temperature twice and he didn’t have a fever, but I suspected his little legs were sore. At one point he began crying hysterically, so I decided to call the doctor’s office to ask about giving him some infant Tylenol. I was told that would be okay, so we gave him a small dose as quickly as we could. He quieted down shortly after and didn’t fuss again. Thank goodness! It pained me to see him crying like that. By Saturday morning he was back to his usual self.

We’re now getting settled into our new place. Keith’s beginning to be a pro at unpacking boxes and putting things away. After as many moves as we’ve made, you start to learn the best strategies for doing it!
I’ll try to post some current pics of Wyatt soon, but I just wanted to post an update about our move. Have a great week!

Love,
Ashley

2 Months Old!

Today is Wyatt's 2 month birthday! He's grown and changed so much in the past month. I weighed him a few days ago and he was 11lbs 11oz. Holy moly! The last two nights he has actually slept from 11pm until 6am. I'm hoping this is a new pattern for him and not just a brief phase! Because of this, he has skipped his middle of the night feed. I've compensated by increasing his bottles to 5 oz and feeding 6 times a day instead of 7. So far it's working well. I'm able to pump more than he eats in a day, which is great. I'm hoping I'll be able to maintain my supply on fewer pumps and still keep up with him. That boy can eat!

In terms of development, Wyatt is doing really well. Just this week his occasional smiles have become much more common. It's so exciting to see him respond to us! I admit that a few weeks ago I was afraid he was either a sociopath or didn't like me since he wouldn't smile back at me. I am a freak of nature, I know. Wyatt's also gaining better neck control, and I try to do tummy time with him once or twice a day. Sometimes he's into it and other times not so much.

Next week Wyatt will have his 2 month appointment with his new doctor. I'm anxious to see what his height and weight are there. But I'm nervous about his shots. I hope he handles them okay and doesn't have a total meltdown (or me for that matter).

Here are the latest pics of our 2 month old:

If only you knew what I just did in my pants!

You talkin' to me?


Love,
Ashley

He Smiles! (And Other Updates)

As my title implies, we've finally gotten to see Wyatt grin without him being asleep! He's still in the early stages of smiling in response to us, but when he does it is adorable. He also gets much more animated in response to his toys now. He will coo, kick his legs and (sometimes) smile. It is quite amusing to watch. I will do anything to try and solicite grins from him now. Most days I would liken myself to a rodeo clown. But when I see this, it's worth it:

I couldn't get him to look directly at me, but I'm choosing to believe that it was my squealing at him that caused these smiles, and not some random shadow on the wall...

If only our little Wyatt would smile like that all of the time! He has his moments of fussiness throughout the day, but fortunately we can calm him down in a matter of a few minutes (though sometimes that can feel like FOREVER when he's crying!). Usually it's because Mr. Sensitive doesn't like the position he's being held in or is bored of the scenery. Walking him into the living room and bouncing him around on our shoulder tends to do the trick. At times he'll let out a pouty noise and stick out his lower lip in an attempt to be dramatic. I have no idea where he learned that kind of behavior. Despite his high-maintenance moments, we still love him :)

In other news, did I mention we're moving? Again? In about two weeks? Somewhere in the midst of all this baby business I’ve neglected to update about that! The bridge work Keith is running down here is just about done, and we will be moving back to the Kansas City area. We’re hoping to arrange the movers to come and pack us up on Nov 10th and move our stuff in on the 11th. We found a house to rent, and we’ll have a basement again…yippee! It’s amazing how you take those for granted when you are from an area of the country where they’re the norm. Once you live in a place without one, you realize how much extra space they provide you with. I am really excited to be closer to home again, and live in an area where we have friends. In the meantime we’ve got quite a bit of cleaning up/preparing to do. Things may be a bit hectic around here, but we’ll survive. It’s just too bad I can’t snap my fingers and be settled in there already!

So that’s what’s new with us. Try to keep up with us if you can…it’s hard for me to!

Love,
Ashley