It was great hanging out with you yesterday. This was a first for all of us. Your mom and dad went to the show with Aunt J'aime and Uncle Matt. Your cousins Josie and August helped Grandpa and me watch you. You didn't have much to say that afternoon, so the four of us just kind of hung out together and watched you! You are an amazing guy - you kept us all occupied without doing a thing.
In addition to being super smiley, Elliott is really taking in the objects around him. He focuses on all kinds of things, including the dogs! Here is a video of him first noticing the beautiful mobile that his Aunt J'aime made for him! He loves it!! Later I will post videos of him recognizing the song playing in the background, O Pato, which has become his favorite song!
So far this month has brought lots of laughs (from us) and smiles (from Elliott). He is really getting good at using that open mouthed grin to make us swoon. He is starting to coo as well -- becoming quite human! We love these milestones that show us that he is interacting with and taking in the world around him!
I am your daddy's mom, which makes me your grandmother. A bit formal I know - I think that you will decide to alter it in some way and make it fit me just right.
I've been watching you for a while now - even before you were born. This gives you a sense of just how much I anticipated your arrival into this world. The day you were born was the beginning of a great journey for you and the rest of your family.
By the way, you did very well in the family department. You have very loving parents who anticipated your arrival even more than me. They plan to guide you through this journey and help you find your life's path. Along the way your four grandparents (yes, you scored you got a full set) will do their best to add some words of wisdom, a bit of humor and a lot of love. You also come fully equipped with an Uncle David, Aunt J'aime, Uncle Matt and a couple of cousins Josie and August - who will liven things up a bit for you! Additionally, you also have three great grandparents and a bunch of great-aunts and uncles. In other words, you have a lot of people to count on for love and support. You did good!
I love looking at you and wondering what the future will bring - you certainly are a life changer for your parents and for me.
We don't know each other very well yet. Let's face it, you're almost a tabula rasa.
But what has been written so far on the tabula, is excellent. You have the best parents any baby could want. Your grandparents ain't bad either.
In no time we'll be best buddies. I'll show you the "laying on of the pinkie" and other sacred rites which are part of this family's faith. You will become an acolyte in the Church of Grumpiness, even as you smile and laugh.
I look forward to teaching you piano and many other things. And all the while, we'll be laughing together. There's plenty in this world to smile and laugh about. I'll save the stuff worthy of grumpiness for later.
I'm so happy you're here. You've already made a big difference in all our lives.
Love,
Grumps
p.s. I promise to have the toy chest done before you turn 18.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Sweet baby Elliott,
You are one incredibly lucky little person. No one has ever been more wanted than you are. And you have a mommy and daddy who are so smart, and so loving that there is no doubt you will grow up to be the best possible you. And, they will teach you how to truly enjoy life, because that's what they do. Adding to your good luck is the existence of two sets of grandparents who will absolutely dote on you.
And you know who else is lucky? All of us who now have you in our lives! I love you already, and I barely know you. That's called unconditional love. As time goes on there will be more and more love that is based on who you are...your unique qualities. But I'm not hurrying time along. I'm enjoying every minute of experiencing the sweet development of you and of your parents.
Hold on to your cute little hats! (That's a reference to a common expression that may not still be around when you are old enough to read this) Here comes LIFE! You'll love it...most of the time.
My how the time flies! Today you are about 5 and a half weeks old! You are getting cuter by the minute! You, your Grammy, and I all went shopping today, and we bought a Flip! Now I can take video snippets of your development every day, as the Flip fits so nicely in my purse!
BABY STATS:
Sleep: Your sleep is still pretty erratic. Most nights you sleep for 2-3 hour stretches. You are breastfed, so you require food about every 2-3 hours. Sometimes, if we are lucky, you will sleep for a 4 hour stretch! A lot of times in the morning, after you are fed, you make whiney/grunting noises for the rest of the morning until we wake up for the day. I hope this stops soon, because it sounds like you are uncomfortable and it keeps us both awake! Last night (June 30th), we put you in your crib to sleep for the first time. I was very nervous about you sleeping in a separate room, and watched you often on the video monitor. But, your pediatrician was the one who suggested we start having you sleep in your crib, so we are trying it out!
Daily Routine: We haven't established too much of a routine yet, but know that we need to work on this soon. I imagine it will eventually be something like: bath, eat, book, sleep. Right now you are usually going to bed around 10:30 or 11:30 after your final feeding for the day, then we change you, swaddle you, and lay you down to sleep. When we wake up you eat, we look at books, dance to O Pato, have tummy time, and chat.
Feedings: You are breastfed exclusively, so it is hard to say how much you eat in a sitting. However, whenever I pump a bottle for you, you tend to eat about 3-4 ounces. You eat about once every 2-3 hours.
Weight:
At birth: 7 lbs 3 oz
1 Month: 10 lbs!
Length:
At birth: 19.75 inches
1 Month: 21 inches
Diaper Size: You are a size 1, but we hope to have you off of disposable diapers and on to your cloth diapers as soon as possible. Unfortunately, you have a horrible diaper rash, and we can't use your diaper rash cream with the cloth diapers. :(
Clothes Size: You mostly wear 0-3 month onesies, but today we found that you fit some of your 3-6 month onesies!
Hair Color:
At birth: dark brown/black with a small blond streak in the front
1 Month: same, maybe slightly lighter
Eye color:
At birth: dark blue/gray
1 Month: dark blue outer ring, with a lighter blue on the inside
Funniest Moment: Well, I'm sorry, my child, but I had to call you an idiot this week. I was playing with you on the floor when out of nowhere you started screaming. I inspected you and saw that your fist was balled up by your head. I tried to pull your hand down, but realized the reason you were crying -- you had gotten a hold of your hair in your fist and were pulling your own hair! Poor guy, no wonder your were in pain! You will understand the humor of this situation when you learn that your family is all about the schadenfreude.
Milestones: You seem to have excellent motor skills! You have been holding your head pretty steady for a very long time, since birth, and getting stronger!
You are able to support some weight on your legs, and when you are on your tummy, if I put my hand behind your feet, you can kick off and move several inches forward!
You had your first social smile in the last week or so (around 4 weeks old)! You are showing more and more social smiles as the days go by! I love them! You are so so so cute! You smile most in the mornings.
You are following objects and faces with your eyes.
You are much more alert and interested in the world around you, although you were pretty alert from the start!
Your favorite toys: You don't seem to have any favorite objects right now. You do seem to enjoy looking at a couple of board books that have high contrast black and white pictures as well as a board book with a bunch of baby faces.
Firsts: Everything this month was a first for you!
First bath
First outing to:
Botanical Gardens (every week since you have been born, sometimes more than once a week)
Target
Walgreens
Schnucks
Trader Joe's
Grammy and Grumps'
Grandpa and Grandma's
Jenn and Tim's
Costco
Chris' Aunt Susan's visitation
Steak n' Shake
Onesto
Chimichanga's
Tower Grove Park
Urban Chestnut Brewing Company
Doctor (mine and yours)
Al Waha
Tower Grove Creamery
And more (I'm sure!)
First smile
First night in your crib
Here you are grunting in your car seat at REI -- this is what you sound like every morning.
We love you, Elliott! We love watching you grow and change -- but you are doing it so/too quickly!
Wow, what a crazy way to start labor! Your father and I were at our friends', Tim and Jenn's house on a Tuesday evening, because that was when we all got together to watch our Showtime shows (this time we were watching United States of Tara). Just as the show was over, I was lying on their couch in their basement telling you (in my belly) that you could come out anytime now, that I was ready. Seriously, not two minutes later, I heard/felt this pop! I thought it was you kicking me in a strange spot, but as I sat up I felt something wet and ran to the bathroom. Sure enough, as soon as I sat down on the toilet a huge gush of fluids came out, and that's when I yelled to your dad, "Um, I think we need to go to the hospital!" Tim and Jenn leant us an old towel for me to sit on in the car, and off we went to Barnes!
When we got there (this was at about 10:00 pm, Tuesday night, May 24th) I was afraid that they would tell me my water hadn't broken and that I was imagining it. But, in the pregnancy assessment center they tested my fluids, and sure enough, it was amniotic fluid and my water had indeed broken. You were on your way! With that I was admitted, though I was still only 3 centimeters dilated and -1 station, and not having much in the way of contractions. They started an IV, got me checked in, and we headed over to the labor and delivery department. On our way to Barnes we had called all of our family to let them know it was happening! Your grammy met us in the pregnancy assessment center, as did Katie, who was going to be taking care of the dogs.
When we got into my labor/delivery room, the nurse informed me that they would be starting me on Pitocin to jump start the contractions. I was disappointed to hear that, because I had heard such bad things about being induced with that drug. But, I had no choice. Boy did that medicine work its magic quickly! Within the hour I was already 4 centimeters and really feeling the contractions. I was so hot, even though everyone in the room assured me that it was freezing. Your dad was so sweet and fanned me with a camera bounce for hours! I had been in labor for about 5 or so hours when I asked for an epidural. I had become quite nauseous and was having difficulty making it through the contractions with just breathing techniques. I was disappointed about this too, I was hoping that I could get further along before asking for an epidural, but the nurse told me that most people asked for one at about this stage (4 or 5 centimeters). The epidural did not hurt at all, and about 20 minutes later I was feeling pretty good! At around 8:00 in the morning (May 25th), it was about time to start pushing, however, the doctor who was going to be delivering you, Dr. Stephens, had a surgery to do. She checked me and assessed that I could wait on the pushing for at least another hour while she did the surgery. Aaaaah! More waiting. But, as soon as she came back it was time!
There were so many people in the room -- nurses, nursing students, doctors, doctors' residents and fellows, and several other medical staff, as well as your father and me of course! Your dad and a nurse held my legs while I gave it my all to push you out. Your heart rate kept decelerating after each push, and the Doctor started threatening that she might have to use the vacuum or move on to a c-section if I didn't get you out in the next couple of pushes. Well, that was all she had to say, because about two pushes later, you were born! A very healthy, beautiful boy born on May 25, 2011 at 10:52 am! You were so beautiful and healthy you were given an Apgar score of 9! That is on a scale of 1-10! My perfect little guy. Your dad cut the cord, twice! He wasn't at all squeamish. He cried with happiness. I think I was too tired to realize what had just happened (we hadn't slept in 24 hours).
All of your grandparents were there in the waiting room, eagerly awaiting permission to come and see you! They were so thrilled. Everyone "ooohed" and "aahed" at how beautiful you were.
We stayed in the hospital for 2 nights. The hospital stay was very pleasant. We had a lot of people coming by to help us and teach us different care taking skills, such as breastfeeding and diapering. At night your dad slept in the hospital room with me, but we sent you off to the nursery to be looked after until you needed a feeding. This was a great decision, as it was the only way we would get any sleep! You had many visitors in the hospital: Grammy, Grumps, Grandma and Grandpa Jackson, Aunt J'aime, Uncle Matt, cousins August and Josie, Uncle David, Octavia, Delphi, Faith, Jenn, and Katie! You are so loved already!
On Friday, May 27th, we got to take you home! We stopped at Wendy's on the way to pick up lunch. When we got home we introduced you to Escher and Wembley -- they were interested in smelling and licking you quite a bit! That evening your grandparents came over and brought us food. We were so exhausted come bed time, but you weren't going to let us sleep that night -- or many nights to come! That's okay, we love you, and are so glad you are here, safe and sound!
