Anton's Updates :: 11 weeks

  New Favorites: Bouncy Chair, Listening to dad play the guitar, blowing spit bubbles.

Eating:Pretty good, almost too good. He's become quite the snacker. I'm not complaining. He's a growing boy and I'm glad he enjoys nursing. We had to work really hard the first couple months to get to where we are now.

Sleeping: Still pretty inconsistent. He wakes up to eat quite a bit but goes back to sleep really easily. Some nights he only wakes twice and others he wakes several times. Naps are the new challenge. I've been working on getting him to sleep for longer periods during the day. He used to sleep two hour stretches no problem but is now taking little short 30-40 minute cat naps. At least he has transitioned to his co-sleeper which is where he sleeps at night too. It's nice to have him out of the rock n play, because I hear some littles have a hard time leaving that cozy nest.

Milestones: I'm noticing he fights sleep a lot less. He's starting to get more comfortable with transitions and routines during the day. He has a lot more fun happy baby time and less crying and sleeping time.

Mom and Dad: We are looking forward to our first road trip with Anton this weekend. 4.5 hours to Medford we go. We're hoping for some long naps from Anton with a stop in Eugene to eat. We have no idea how this will go. At least we have a new car to try it out in.

Activities: We went to book babies again this week. I think Anton truly enjoys it. They blow bubbles and sing songs and he just looks around wide eyed the whole time. I found this little 49ers jacket at goodwill over the summer. I had no idea they would be going to the super bowl. It's a bit big for the bon bon but he's going to rock it anyways. He looks like he's already cheering!

Burn the books!

A playdate with Ramona, Max and Anton

....The parenting books that is. I have finally come to the realization that there is not a book in the world that has all of the answers on how to sleep train, feed, entertain, communicate, or love your child. I'm a huge fan of information and as soon as I found out I was pregnant, I started seeking it. I was determined to become an expert informed parent. I figured the more parenting books I read, the more I would know about parenting. It turns out, the books started driving me crazy once the baby actually arrived. And don't even get me started on googling. The internet can be a very dangerous place for someone who is a constant information seeker. I think I googled "how to get baby to take a nap" 20 times one day. Until I realized he just wasn't really sleepy right then. It reminded me of my masters in teaching program, where they have you read truckloads of educational philosophy - then you step foot in the classroom and you end up in survival mode. I've been asking my mom a lot of questions about how she raised us, because in my mind, she did everything right. She usually says she doesn't remember specifics, she just went with the flow. I keep going back to one of her comments - "I don't think I tried to figure everything out". This statement is pretty powerful to me right now. Don't get me wrong, I think a little parenting info from professionals every once in a while can be helpful, but I think it needs to be balanced with your own intuition. I'm a pretty mellow person, I am going to focus on being a mellow parent and let go of schedules and answers for everything and just enjoy my baby.

So, I'm taking it easy on the books. I was beating myself up about not having Anton on a sleep schedule. Everyone kept reminding me that he's only 2 months old. Babies are all over the place at this age. "but the book says......" This phrase became pretty common in our house the last couple of weeks. Ivalle would come home from work and scoop up Anton to snuggle and play, right when I had just simmered him down for scheduled nap number five. I would get tense and frustrated, until I noticed he was much happier hanging out with daddy than being forced into one of my parent scheduled nap times. I realized it's much better to trust your own instincts. I've been much more relaxed since then. And so has my baby:)

Anton's Updates :: 10 weeks

  New Favorites: Smiles, little baby chuckles, watching dads silly dance moves.

Eating:Been pretty normal. I'm trying to feed him with a bottle at least once a day to keep him used to it. Ivalle wanted to give formula a shot so we whipped up a bottle the other night. Anton wanted nothing to do with it. Looks like its all breast milk for now. I'm getting a nice little freezer stash.

Sleeping: We had a six hour stretch last night! Woo Hoo. I think we were letting his late afternoon naps get a bit long and he was way too rested to make it through the night. After a couple nights of him waking every 2 hours we've extended his bedtime to 8:30 or 9 and kept day napping short. I was getting really frustrated with his short day naps, but have decided to just let it simmer. Everything changes weekly right now anyway.

Milestones: Lets see.... he cries less in the carseat. I've been really enjoying his sweet little smiles and coo's. Not much more to report. He's started drooling, but I'm not sure it's a milestone.

Mom and Dad: We bought a new car! A 2011 Subaru Outback to replace the old one. Hooray for a cozy car for our long commute when I go back to work.

Activities: We've been trying to get out for walks on sunny days. We also tried out book babies at the library. Anton was by far the youngest but he seemed to really enjoy the songs and activities. There is a part at the end where the babies get to crawl around and play with toys, Anton just laid there  like a lump smiling from ear to ear. I guess that's what you do when you are 10 weeks old.

Anton's Updates :: 9 Weeks

 New Favorites: Sitting in a bouncer chair on loan from a friend. Smiling and cooing at books that I read to him. Trying to copy me when I stick out my tongue. (and let's get real - screaming in my ear and scratching at my neck with his tiny fingernails) I mean, it's not all fun and games, but I will savor all of the snuggle moments when he finally curls up on my lap and takes little baby snoozes.

Eating: Huge breakthrough. I feel like we are finally on the right track with nursing. No more round the clock pumping.

Sleeping: We're working on it. The doctor said "thats great!" when I told her he was sleeping 5 hour stretches at night. I didn't realize that was supposed to be "so great". I guess he's doing the normal breastfed baby thing. It takes time to get them to sleep longer. It's not like you can just tell them to. (Although Ivalle's grandmother would beg to differ)

Milestones: We visited the pediatrician this week and got all kinds of stats. Turns out he is in the 95th percentile for height and 50th for weight. We've got a baller on our hands. Tall and skinny.

Mom and Dad: Let's see. Is anything really about us anymore?

Activities: Anton and I have been going to La Leche league meetings together. Which is a breastfeeding support group. Or rather, A bunch of really awesome ladies with tiny babies and toddlers to make us feel like everything is ok. So far Anton has been loving the meet ups. He acts like the perfect baby sleeping and smiling in my arms and then waits till we get back in the car to wail like crazy. What a faker. 

Daddy Rockin

This is how you rock a baby to sleep. If you are a cool dad that is.

Anton's Updates :: 8 Weeks

  New Favorites: Sitting on his boppy lounger pillow in the kitchen to watch us cook. Going to restaurants to take a nap.

Eating: We're taking a break from nursing for a couple days and I am exclusively pumping every two hours around the clock. Sheesh. This mama is tired. We're going to give the nursing another try next week. We try to squeeze in a couple of sessions a day between breastmilk bottles. He is still growing like a weed so I'm confident the food intake is going strong.

Sleeping: His consistent and predictable sleep pattern has gone out the window this week, but it's not horrible. Just unpredictable. We've been trying to do "dream feeds". We wake him up and feed him while he's sleeping rather than wait for him to wake us. It's been nice because when he wakes up too hungry he is really frustrated and has trouble going back to sleep.

Milestones: HE ROLLED OVER! No joke. We were doing tummy time and he rolled from his tummy to back all by himself. I think its because gravity pulled his big head over. But it was a true roll, nonetheless. Watch out world. This wasn't supposed to happen for a couple more months. Maybe it was a fluke? We can try again today.

Mom and Dad: Mom is tired from all the pumping. Feeling good about losing the baby weight though. Only about 8 more pounds to go. I'm constantly bouncing, walking, and lifting this child so I'm pretty sure the weight loss is due to the new mom activities. We've decided women are wired to run on less sleep than men. Ivalle is a great help at night but pays for it during the day. Anton is completely enamored with his papa and stares at him in the evenings when he gets home.

Activities: Mama had her first true night out without Anton. I went to ladies night with some friends and cried my eyes out all the way there. It was only a few blocks away, but I was emotional about being away from Anton for more than an hour. Hormones! Everything was great when I returned and I think a little daddy time was in order anyway.

Anton's Antics :: Loving the Bath...Finally!

Anton's Updates :: 7 Weeks

 New Favorites: Eating his hands. He has found his hands and can't get enough. He can really keep himself entertained this way.

Eating: He's doing much better now that I'm feeding him on demand.

Sleeping: He has had a really consistent stretch of 5 hours then 3 then 3. It's nice to have some predictability.

Milestones: He loves the bath. He has gotten so big! It's amazing to watch him grow.

Mom and Dad:Getting the hang of it!

Activities: Can't wait to watch the ducks tonight with my little football fan!

Cousins