An actual blog update

So much has changed in the last three weeks, I think it warrants an actual post.

Daniel Benjamin Will was born July 10th, at 10:51 pm.  I still had 10 days before I was scheduled for my c-section, but I went into labor and my water broke around 8pm that evening, so that was it!  He was 6 pounds, 12 ounces, and 19 inches long.  We stayed in the hospital until Saturday July 14th, then came home to become a family of four!

Danny has been a great baby from the day he was born!  He is quiet and sleepy and rarely cries, unless he is really hungry, and then he will let you know!  He is pretty easy-going almost all the time, and sometimes we hardly even know there's a baby in the house!  At six days old, he dropped one of his night feedings, and has been eating at 11pm, between 2-4am, and at 7am ever since.  Despite a bit of gassiness and a few spit-ups, he has not shown any major signs of reflux like his big brother so far, so we are thankful for that!  He does look a lot like John, as many people have commented on.  He is a beautiful baby, and I just love his hair, which is very blonde!

Other milestones so far:
Weight at 6 days old:  6 pounds, 3 ounces
Weight at 13 days old:  6 pounds, 15 ounces
Weight at 20 days old:  7 pounds, 12 ounces

He rolled over last night at exactly 3 weeks old, from tummy to back.  He got his arm under him once and got stuck, so I rolled him back.  Then he got his other arm under him, and actually got enough power to push all the way over.  Who knows if this is a fluke, but it was pretty exciting!  He has pretty strong neck and arm muscles for his age, so it makes sense that he would be able to do that, though I think it is still pretty early!

He is kind of a lazy eater, though, like he forgets he's eating.  This is a big change from John, who just gulped down his bottles from day one, eating a full two ounces every three hours even in the hospital.  Daniel is the opposite - we had to work really hard to get him to take half an ounce every four hours.  The nurses told us that was the absolute minimum intake, and we had to do everything we could think of to get him to take even that little bit.  This has continued at home.  Even though he is now eating 3-4 ounces every 3 hours, it takes a while, and if we aren't patient enough, coaxing and coaching him to take a full feeding, we pay for it at the next one when he's too hungry!  I want to tell him, "Look, I told you to wake up and eat at the last feeding, don't blame me!"  :)


The rest of the family is doing well.  Andy was able to stay home from work for two weeks, which we really needed as I recovered from my c-section.  He has been back to work for a week now, but (as always) is equally helpful around the house, with meals, and with both boys.  He's such a great dad and husband.  He is still working for Amazon, and they are moving into their new office today.

John is doing well.  He loves his brother and doesn't seem to mind that our attention is divided.  He is helpful and pretty understanding of our temporary limitations.  That doesn't mean he is always easy - he IS four years old, after all, and there is a certain amount of sassy talk and willful disobedience as he tries to assert his independence.  However, we don't notice any more of this behavior now than we did a month ago, it's just a little harder to handle when you've also got a newborn in the house!

I am doing well in my c-section recovery.  I elected to have a repeat c-section so I could guarantee that I wouldn't labor for hours and still end up with a c-section, and I am so happy I made the decision I did.  The repeat c-section was much easier than my emergency c-section last time.   Most importantly, I was fully aware during the surgery, and I remember meeting Daniel and almost everything about his first few days, which was not the case with John's birth.  I was off pain medications and sleeping in my own bed by a week postpartum, which was a major improvement from last time.  Now at three weeks postpartum, I am still fairly limited in my activity;  a big day for me includes showering, either picking John up or dropping him off at school (but rarely both), maybe meeting my parents for lunch (so they can help with the carseat), unloading/loading the dishwasher, and taking care of Daniel for the day.  Any more than that and I start to get a little sore!  Still, I have noticed great improvement in the last couple of days, so I hope things continue to improve quickly.  I have lost 19 pounds with 11 to go (and hope that a few more pounds will come off on their own!), and I am a bit impatient to start exercising again and getting back to normal!  I think I will be taking around 5 more weeks off before returning to work, and I plan to enjoy every moment with my baby!

Reasoning

Grammy brought back a stuffed cow from Wisconsin for Baby Brother.

John:  Oh, it's a cow because cheese comes from cows, and Packers come from Wisconsin, and Packers wear cheese hats!

---

John:  I wish I could sit in the front seat.
Me:  Oh, you can't.  Do you remember why?  We talked about it a couple of weeks ago.
John:  Because of the airbags!
Me:  That's right!  You have a good memory.  Are you going to teach Baby Brother how to have a good memory?
John:  Yep.  It's easy!  You just think and think and think until you get to the think in the past, and then you just remember it.

---

(trying on a basketball-style sleeveless ASU shirt, frowning)
My arms are too long for this shirt.  It feels weird.

Early summer funnies

John:  (hearing Grammy mention bundt cake)  Butt cake?  Ewww!

--

Me:  Now you need to go right to sleep for Grammy and Pa, because if you don't get enough sleep you will be cranky tomorrow, and we don't want you to be cranky because it's Father's Day tomorrow.

John:  Yeah.  And it's about love, not cranky.

--

June-July newsletter from preschool

John is excelling very well with his worksheets and name writing, we are so proud of him!  He also enjoys reading books and doing flash cards with the class.  He likes to play outside and dance around, he enjoys any thing that allows him to get up and move!  He is so full of energy.

Yep.  They've got that right!  :)

Afternoon entertainment

John, speaking into his toy microphone
Coming up next, Broadway Showstopper!
This is the costume for the Broadway show!
Welcome to..Palm theAYtre!!
To start the show, we need to sing a song.
So mommy, start the show with your Broadway friends!
But remember, be quiet, this is the theAYtre.

April/May preschool newsletter

"John is still our little smartie, and his vocabulary is expanding very quickly. He has mastered his letter tracing and is now working on his free hand writing. He is doing a great job! He loves to play with the cars and run around outside. We just love having him in our class!"

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Me: John, do you see that doggie over there? He is brown and chocolate-colored. If we had him, what would you name him?
John: Chocolate Christopher

Important number

Me: What number was your worksheet on today?
John: 12. Like Aaron Rodgers.

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Me (to Andy): I am so excited about Hunger Games!
John: Me too! Can I play a Hunger Game???

He's so sweet

I had an audition tonight, and for the first time I explained to John what that meant. "There is a singing job, and there are lots of people who want it. I am going to go sing for them and see if they like my singing. If they don't like it, that's OK, if they do then they will give me some singing work."

Several hours later, I come in after my audition and he runs up to me, "Mommy, how was your singing? Did the people like your singing????"

SO sweet that he remembered on his own, and remembered to ask.

Then later I was putting him to bed, and Andy was sick and didn't join us. We started to say prayers, but John interrupted me and said "And one more prayer for Daddy because he's sick."

He's such a caring little guy.