Graham's THIRD Month

So my computer is running out space, and so is my blog. These are things that I don't really have time to deal with right now. Oh, and our router broke, so wireless is out until we get a new one in the mail. These are petty issues, but these are the reasons no blog entries have been written lately. I actually typed up a blog entry last week, got so excited, and then tried to upload pictures to it. Then blogger said I don't have space, so I just shut it down for the night. 

Here we are again, and I'm going to try to figure out how to make it work tonight. Graham is THREE months old today, and he totally deserves this monthly update. He's wiggling and giggling beside me on the couch right now; he loves his cute pictures I took today. This past month has been quite a blur, and when I think back to the first few weeks, it feels like forever ago that I was longingly dreaming of the 12 week mark. We are so much more into a routine, Graham is a rockstar sleeper compared to even a month ago, and I'm just smitten by the giggles and huge smiles I get all day. Graham talks a ton, and it's my absolute favorite thing right now. Lots of fun baby sounds going on in our house. There are days when he sleeps amazingly well and days that are a bit more rough. However, like I said, Graham is getting into a great routine with naps and night. His schedule is very similar to a month ago except nights, and he's just settling into it much better. He's still too young though to predict which will be his best nap if we are at home for each of them. The afternoons seem to be better on a more regular basis. He's learning to keep his pacifier in better, and I just started unswaddling one arm because he was getting it out every nap and at night. It would wake him, and now he's just used to it being free. I'll probably slowly start unswaddling him but keep him in the sleep sack for a while. He usually wakes between 4:00 and 4:30 in the morning and then again at 7:00/7:15 to start the day. I can handle it, but I'm looking forward to getting rid of that 4am feeding in the next few months. 

Graham is mostly a happy baby, but he has his days. He doesn't like the car too much, and he doesn't sleep well outside of his crib. 

I honestly had forgotten how incredibly wonderful little babies can be. The newborn months are so extremely rough for me, but I already feel way out of that stage and into a new phase of getting to know my baby boy. My little Graham is just about the cutest thing ever. He loves to just watch his big sister and his momma play and dance and read books. He spends a lot of time on his play mat looking around and staring at the toys above his head. 

Now I'll leave you with some sweet pictures from the past month...

THREE Months.

Lighting of the Bentonville Square.

Thanksgiving in Conway.

Gran, O'Pa, and the NINE grandchildren. Camden Thanksgiving.

Cousin time in Camden.

Exploring the Hendrix Village greenspace. Mom and Dad are moving in this week!!!

October to November

He's TWO months old today! I'm pretty sure a lot has changed in the past month. I totally feel like myself again except for the lack of sleep. One of my eyes is even irritated because it doesn't stay shut enough. Graham has a routine, and his fussiness has decreased dramatically. That's not to say that he doesn't have periods in the day when he is just plain upset, but we don't find ourselves pacing the halls. The bursts of inconsolable-ness don't last long enough to do that. He will either take the pacifier, calm down from some Gripe Water or Mylicon or just realize he is indeed okay. I also think I don't stress as much about it. I KNOW he's okay and that we are on the road to good naps, a full night sleep, and fun wake times...in due time. He smiles, is content for longer periods of time, and he even giggled at me just a few minutes ago. I think he really likes bath time, but he doesn't love his car seat. He loves the natural method of eating and protests the bottle. We are working on that though. He's pretty much totally in 3-6 months clothes already. Double chin. Size 2 diapers, but I think it wouldn't hurt to go on up a size pretty soon. This guy is big, and I can't wait to see his stats at his check up on Monday. (Update: 13 pounds 15.3 ounces. 23 3/4 inches long. 82nd percentile in weight. 78th percentile in length. 86th percentile in head.) We moved him to his crib at 6 weeks, and he sleeps most of his naps and at night in there. Occasionally during one of the shorter naps, I let him sleep in the infant seat that vibrates in the living room. He also tends to stay down in his crib for 45ish minutes before waking, and he can't seem to get himself back to sleep most of the time. Sometimes I move him to his rock n play sleeper or the infant seat then to finish out those naps.  

Here is a typical day in the life of GCW...

7am: Nurse

8am: Nap (when home, we shoot for this one to be a full 2 hours)

10am: Nurse

11/11:30am: Nap (this is the nap when we run errands if needed)

1pm: Nurse

2pm: Nap (another 2 hour nap)

4pm: Nurse 

5/5:30pm: Nap, fussy, nap some more, etc.

7pm: Nurse

7:30pm: Begin bedtime routine. Bath, swaddle, sing Jesus Loves me, and down in his crib.

10:30/11pm: Dreamfeed

Then it gets interesting. He wakes up about 3-4 hours after the dreamfeed, and I either feed him right then or as of late, I put the pacifier in if it hasn't been longer than 3 hours and to see if he is really hungry. (I have noticed he doesn't chow down at night, and I think he could do longer stretches...and I'm so ready for him to go longer than 3-4 hours on his own!) I end up feeding him around 2am, but sometimes it's later--or earlier. He usually wakes again between 5-6am, and I can always hold him off until 7am with either the pacifier or moving him to the rock n play (or to our bed if I'm too tired). Hoping he catches on to what I'm doing and decides to sleep longer. Of course I'm comparing his night sleep to Reese's, and I'm wanting him to copy sister. 

Let me spend a little time bragging on my rock for a minute. Wes. Seriously. I'm sitting here eating a chocolate lava cake from Fresh Market right now thanks to him. He took Reese on a date today to get smoothies, and they picked up this dessert for me while they were out. He walks in the door from work, and Reese's eyes light up. He plays with her, reads to her, teaches scripture to her, dances with her. He cleans the house...unprompted. He sees things that would help me out, and he does them. I am so incredibly thankful for my husband. These two kids have quite the daddy. 

Onto the pictures. For some odd reason, my computer won't allow me to attach the official 2 month pictures to this post. So enjoy Month TWO in iPhone pics...

(Oh, and this post also serves as a general catch up due to my lack of blogging, so it's not all just pictures of G-Man.)

This is pretty much right after the one month mark. Look at those faces. Priceless.

Conway High School 10 Year Reunion. My two besties from CHS.

Oh, melt my heart.

Reese has gotten better and better at her new role as big sister. She is becoming more and more a two year old, but she can encourage and love on brother like no one else.

School day.

Happy Halloween.

Snuggles with my little guy while sister is at school.

Lion. Roar.

Cutest scarecrow I know.

Trick-or-Treating at Daddy's office. (yes, that's a light mustache on Dad. He dressed up as a nerd, and apparently, they have nasty mustaches.)

Playing at the square with friends.

Tailgating with the whole Walker clan.

Game Days at home.

Handsome fella. That's spot on.

Here is a picture from today's walk at Crystal Bridges. TWO months. 

Reese at TWO.

*Talks ALL of the time.

*Has a personality that I ADORE. She is the perfect combination of independent and cautious. She will play by herself incredibly well for good periods of time, but she needs to know where Momma is and wants to be held A LOT. 

*Loves to laugh, read, "love" on Brother, eat snacks, and say "OK."

*Weighs 30 pounds.

*Has a passion for jewelry and accessories. 

*ADORES her Daddy. This relationship has been so fun to watch since Graham has entered the picture. She absolutely lights up when Daddy walks in the door, and she prefers him over me when we are both available. Most of the time. They have special things they do together such as dance in the front room with blankets over her head, sing songs together, play ball outside, make bubbles, and practice her cheer moves as the "flyer."

*Sleeps from 7pm to 7:45ish in the morning. Naps from 1-3ish in the afternoon.

*Goes to Mothers Day Out each Monday and is doing so, so well. However, she's only fallen asleep once at nap time. Normally she just quietly reads books on her nap mat.

*Asks to pray for different buddies during the day. Yesterday it was Leah and Campbell. The day before was Timmy. She even asked me to pray some more once we finished yesterday morning on our way to Bible study. 

*Recognizes the letters of the alphabet, colors, several shapes, and way more objects and living things than I thought she knew.

*Counts from 1-14. (She gets hung up on a few.)

*Has definite favorite TV shows, and most are on PBS Kids. Super Why, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood,  Sesame Street, Curious George, and Clifford. She also loves Mickey Mouse, Little Einsteins, and the occasional Dora. 

*Speaks in 3-4 word phrases/sentences. Repeats pretty much everything I say.

*Says Please-Okay and Thank You-You're Welcome. A LOT.

*Loves playing with her kitchen and play food. 

*Pushes her baby dolls in strollers all over the house.

*Prefers waffles or toast for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with fruit and veggie chips for lunch, and grilled chicken with ketchup for dinner. LOTS of organic fruit/veggie pouches are consumed around here, too. And lots of other typical toddler food. 

*Drinks at least 8 ounces of Organic 2% milk in the morning followed by another cup at nap time and bed time. She doesn't usually drink all of the last two cups.

*Loves Veggie Tales and her Veggie Tales Stacking Blocks.

*Enjoys play-doh and coloring with crayons and markers.

*Can sing several songs...cutest thing ever.

*I'm sure I'm leaving out so many things about my daughter that I want to record, but my free time is almost up, and I want to go eat one of the cookies Reese and I made before nap time is over for the day. And my brain is still kind of mushy.

 A look back at the 2nd Birthday celebrations and a few of Reese since she's turned the big TWO.

 Family picture at her party on September 1st. (Didn't turn two until the 18th, but we knew the actual day would be a bit too crazy to have a party.)

 The 18th. Woke up in a GOOD mood. "Mornin', Momma," she said.

 We took a birthday stroll to the playground. She loves to swing.

 Bestie Campbell brought over cupcakes on the big day.

 And she spent the afternoon reading books in her rocking chair.

 Cousins came over at night for pizza and cupcakes.

 And she got a special birthday smoothie, too.

 My sweet-natured two year old.

 Farmers Market with Mopsy.

 NICU Reunion. Year two.

 Pumpkin Patch Fun.

 I wasn't kidding about the jewelry and accessories comment.

 Practicing her cheerleading skills and calling the Hogs.

Yep, she loves her Daddy.

ONE Month Old.

Graham is ONE month old today. I feel like he's been here forever, and I feel like it was yesterday that we headed to the hospital to welcome him to the world. It's been a crazy month, and that's pretty evident by my lack of blogging. I've thought about it often, but I either clean, sleep, read, or just sit when I have free moments instead. I have started a TWO year old post for Reese that I should have published soon. However, I told myself that I wouldn't let October 10th go by without sharing some pictures of my sweet little guy and recording what he's up to right now. 

Like I said, it's been a crazy month. I just don't know how great of a new newborn mom I am. I mean, I take care of this guy like nobody's business, but my mental state has been in constant anxiety, analysis, stress, and need for control. Those things don't really mesh well with an unpredictable newborn. However, by the grace of God, He is mellowing out my anxiousness and stress and gently revealing how much more freeing and relaxing it is to rely on Him and not worry about every little detail of Graham's behavior and what that may mean for his sleep routines, etc. down the road. My stress level has consistently gone down every day this past week, and my enjoyment of my little boy has increased each day. I'm a huge fan of my son. (I wanted to make sure I wrote the not so positive emotions down because of how helpful they have been to me when I read other friends' blogs.) I still have high hopes of sleep training early and getting into a good routine, but I'm not overanalyzing every time Graham wakes up early, cries inconsolably, or fusses after eating. I know he will nap and sleep at night on his own in the future. I know he will play and not fuss the majority of the time when he's awake. He's still extra sleepy right now. These things just take time, and I guess it has taken me some time to remember and recognize that. 

Okay, so here is what he's up to at ONE month...

*GCW eats about every 3 hours. Just in the past two days has he really made it to 3 hours all day long. Before, he would nurse anywhere from every 2-3 hours during the day.

*Graham usually has a 4ish hour stretch at night. He's done 5 1/2 hours, and some nights he only makes it 3. 

*G-Man hates the adorning of the swaddle but loves it once he's in.

*I think he has smiled a couple of times at me. Oh My Goodness. 

*He makes a few "Ah" sounds, and they are fabulous.

*He weighed 10 pounds at his 2 week appointment, and I would expect him to be around 11 or a little over at this point. 

*He nurses in about 10-15 minutes.

*He likes to be held upright and has a few other reflux symptoms.

*GCW goes to the chiropractor twice a week.

*Graham sleeps in his Rock n Play sleeper.

*Umbilical cord fell off at church a day before he turned 3 weeks old. 

*He seems to be sensitive and possibly easily overstimulated.

*His inconsolable periods of crying have decreased in the past few days, but we still aren't to the 6 week crying peak, so I'm not celebrating yet.

*He looks like his sister's newborn pictures, but many say they see lots of Wes in him, too. I can't wait to watch him grow.

*Two dimples just like Daddy!

*Some of his dark hair is starting to fall out which is totally expected. Reese lost lots of her hair as well before getting a full head of curly hair a year and a half later!

*I've cut out dairy and most caffeine to see if any improvements in the gassy/congestion area are made. 

*He wakes himself up with gas pains and grunting most mornings between 3 and 6am. Reese grunted a lot but was able to sleep through it. Little Graham cries.

Graham, You really have stolen my heart. I feel like I learn to love you better every day, and my love for you is so, so strong. I already can't imagine what our family would be like without you. You are such an incredible blessing and miracle, and I'm so honored to be your Momma.

Graham at ONE month.

And for comparison...here is Reese at ONE month.

Glory

I want to record that the haze begins to lift in days 10-12. I'll revert back to it I'm sure during the week when I'm alone with the two kids, but I am constantly being shown images of beauty, peace, love, mercy, and the incredible sweetness that is being a mother of two. I get glimpses of what life will be like in the near future when Graham's little body figures out even more how to regulate this new life outside of the womb, and I catch myself staring at him and reveling in how absolutely precious he is. Yes, my two kids are napping at the same time right now. It's a wonderful thing. The house is clean, laundry is not too piled up, and we are getting ready to head to a tailgate once everyone is up from naps. Oh, and I'm showered. Yeah, the haze is lifting, and I told myself to be more real this time around for my own sake. I'm still analyzing sleep habits, pacifiers, etc., but I know I will figure it all out in due time.
Go Hogs.