It all passes so quickly

I am sitting here amazed at how quickly this is all going. Micah is now 8 weeks old, and he is about 9 lbs. He does a really good job of holding up his head, and this week he sort of "woke up" - he is really alert a lot of the day, and he seems to be developing more personality. I am so excited to watch him grow into his own person and really get to know him, yet I'm already missing some of the little things about him and I do not want to see those things disappear completely. So, I thought I'd make a list of all the things I adore about him now (and over the past 8 weeks).

• Micah makes these cute squeaky noises when he is sleeping or curled up on me. I melt each time I hear the sounds.
• He has this way of turning his head almost at a right angle to his body and looking up at me while I'm holding him on my chest. He then totally scrunches up his entire face (sometimes turning bright red in the process) and stretches. I just want to kiss him to death when he does that! The whole thing is so adorable that I just want to eat him up.
• He kicks his feet when he is restless in the secure sleeper, and it makes him slide down. The whole swaddle sort of moves. He does it when he is frustrated, too, if he is hungry and he is in a hurry to latch.
• When I was first breastfeeding him, he liked me to play with his feet. He would actually lift his foot towards my hand so I would play with it. Now, he likes to reach up and pull on my hair.
• Micah snorts . . . in his sleep, while he is eating, and sometimes just from the acid reflux. The snort is cute - almost sounds like he is clearing his throat.
• He was about 5 lbs (just under) when we brought him home . . . and I was amazed by how tiny he was. I could fit him from head to bottom from just above my ribs to just below my navel. My hands and arms dwarfed him! He had no extra fat on his body - you could see his ribs and he had these chicken legs. I could hold him on my chest and barely feel him there. I could easily hold him with one arm/hand. He would burrow so tightly into me, and I loved having him that close and so small. The preemie outfits were huge on him, and we had to fold the preemie diapers over to keep him from having a plumber's crack showing. Now, he is still small, but he is a typical newborn - his face is getting big and round, his thighs have filled out, and today we tried on size 1 diapers for the first time, and I'm thinking of seeing if the size 0-3 clothing is still huge.
• I love how he hugs me . . . when I hold him on my chest, he stretches his arms out wide and grabs on to my upper arms. It feels like he is giving me a big giant hug, and it gets me all teary.
• He just loves to curl his legs under him and lay on my chest in the fetal position - he looks like such a munchkin all scrunched up like that, and yet he is oh-so-comfy!
• I love when he gets startled for no reason (especially when he is asleep) - his whole body jumps and he throws his arms out wide and opens all of his fingers up while kicking out his legs.
• I love how he reaches out and grabs a handful of my hair or my locket neclace and hangs on tight. I also love how he puts his hands in his own hair and grips a handful of that while he is nursing or sleeping.
  
• I love how he holds his hands up by his face like he is saying "Oh my Gawd"(insert thick New York Jewish grandmother accent here).
• Sometimes, he gets this very worried expression on his face . . . usually when he is hungry. It almost looks like he is concerned someone will forget to feed him!
• I love how he sucks his pacifier - he looks a lot like Maggie on the Simpsons . . . making loud noises as the pacifier bounces up and down in his mouth.
• Sometimes, he fights to latch - pushes me away, hits the breast, arches away because he is SOO hungry and anxious to get on that he just makes it all take longer!
• I also love the chicken head bob when he is trying to latch or is hungry. I keep expecting him to start clucking.
• I love watching him rub his face when he is tired.
• When he is about to get upset, his whole face turns purple and he sticks his lower lip out . . . and then the wailing begins. I sometimes want to laugh because he looks so cute as he is about to explode.
• He snores! He makes this adorable snoring noise . . . much cuter than both his Daddy and the dog.
• He smiles in his sleep - it just makes me laugh! I hope he is having wonderful dreams.
• He sometimes smiles after farting or pooping . . . cute when he does it, not so cute when his Daddy does the same thing.
• He gets hiccups all the time. His whole body shakes and they are so loud and scare him!
• He has such crazy hair that stands on end - the crazier it is, the more I love it. Sometimes, he looks like either an old man or a doll with all the hair.
• Sometimes, I swear he listens to me. He looks at me, he seems to calm down when he hears my horrible singing voice, and he knows it is me. He'll follow me with his eyes, and I love that he focuses on me.
  
• His tongue is always sticking out. This has been a huge challenge for breastfeeding, but it is cute when he is sitting and sleeping to see his tongue hanging out just a bit.
• I don't understand how he manages to pee OUT the top of his diaper.
• I'm amazed that such a little boy can make such big poopy messes - how does one boy manage to explode that much poop out of his diaper EVERY day?
  

I'm sure there are so many more . . . but I just didn't want to forget these things.

What a week!

Thought I'd start off sharing some additional pictures from our Florida trip . . . including our visit with his Great Aunt Ellen & Great Uncle Stu. Check out the first picture - when he does this I keep thinking someone has just shouted "stick 'em up" or "you're under arrest!"


Okay . . . back to our regularly scheduled program. This has been a crazy week so far - a really good week, but definitely crazy. On Monday I went to my 6 week checkup. All is going well - I've healed nicely, but it seems I have a yeast infection on my nipples. No wonder breastfeeding has been so uncomfortable!! I was given a prescription for "Newman's Nipple Cream" to try and fix everything.

Right after my appointment, I went to my first Baby & Me class! There were about 10 women in the class, and I think it seems like a really good group. We all just sat around to talk, then we went out to Panera afterwards to grab some lunch. It was nice for me to get out and about and feel like me again.

On Tuesday, I was worried that Micah might also have thrush since I had an infection, so I took him to the doctor. Turns out, he was just fine. We did get to weigh him again . . . and he weighed a whopping 8 lbs 10 ounces!!!! I talked to the doctor about whether Micah has reflux, and he thought it was a definite possibility. He gave us some different formula (which I didn't think would matter since we hardly ever give him formula). We decided to table the discussion on Zantac because Micah had not been crying from the reflux. Naturally, we left the doctor's office, and when we got home, Micah began to cry. And pretty much shrieked for over 8 hours. Nothing made him feel better. He was hiccuping, making choking and wheezing sounds, crying when he spit up . . . I was sure it was the reflux. I tried calling the doctor about 3 hours in, and he had left for the day. The other pediatrician wouldn't prescribe Zantac since Micah was not her patient (seriously?) and when I pushed about what to do, she first told me to let him cry until the next day. I pushed some more, and she suggested children's Maalox. I sent my Dad out to get it . . . only to learn that children's Maalox only comes in pill form. I called the doctor back, and she said "Oops, I meant Mylanta." I then sent Elliot out to look for Mylanta . . . and again, we learned it is not available in liquid. At 8:00 pm, I called the after-hours number . . . and got the same rotten doctor!! She finally gave in, and after giving me some attitude, she called in the Zantac. All I can say is it made a HUGE difference. Micah is doing really well on it!

On Wednesday, Micah was feeling so great that we went out ALL day. We went to the baby store to get gifts for a friend of mine who just had a baby (also named Micah), and then off to Target. After the errands, I went to the breastfeeding support group. Following the support group, two of us then went out for coffee. In the middle of all this, I got a call that one of my friends (whose grandmother had just died) was having Shiva that night. For those of you who do not know, Shiva is a Jewish custom to support the family members of a person who has recently died. Everyone goes to the house, brings food, and is there for a short prayer ceremony that enables them to mourn. The custom is designed to ensure that those in mourning do not have to mourn alone. Anyway, Elliot & I decided to go there, so I took Micah to my parents' house on our way over. We made it home about 10:00 pm - I was out with Micah for 12 hours!!

Thursday was another adventure. I woke up in the morning and took Micah back to Target because I had mistakenly bought the wrong bottle. We then went to pick up Elliot, and we went to the bris for my friend's baby Micah. We spent the afternoon there, then came home. Elliot & I decided we were long overdue for a date night, so my parents came over to babysit. We went out for a few hours to see a one-man comedy show - My Mother is Italian, My Father is Jewish, and I'm Still in Therapy - at the Bethesda Theatre. It was a lot of fun, and so nice to get out just the two of us.

Today we spent the day with Aunt Jen and cousins Paige and Peyton. It was another good day, although Micah seems to cry at the beginning of every car trip (which breaks my heart). I even had time to take a business call before we left! Micah has been so much more alert and awake this week. We've had time to play on the playmat (actually, both my babies were playing together):




and run some errands, too! I can't believe how big Micah is getting. He is having some cranky periods now (very new for me) and he has some fussiness and hours when all he wants is for mommy to hold him. We're working on getting the hang of the new routine.

Here are a few other fun pictures from this week:




And Micah wants to send out a big "hello" and a huge hug & kiss to his Poppy Ira and his Grammy . . . both of whom always make sure to read this blog and keep such close tabs on him! Thank you.

Bad Hair Day

It turns out that Micah is having a bad hair day. Actually, it seems he is always having a bad hair day. No matter what I do, his hair always seems slightly greasy and stands on end. The look is actually quite adorable on a 7 week old, but at some point, I would think we’d prefer his hair to behave. It turns out, there IS a solution to Micah’s bad hair days . . . we just need to move to Orlando. Yes, I said it. We stepped off the plane in Orlando, and within minutes, Micah’s hair began behaving. The greasy look disappeared, his hair got a bit fluffy, and those wild spiky pieces settled nicely in place.

HOME:

ORLANDO:

I thought it was just a fluke or a coincidence . . . until we returned home, and his hair returned to “Bad hair day” status. Apparently, Micah’s hair would like to move to Florida.

So, when we relocate to Florida, and the inevitable question is posed . . . “So, why did you move to Florida?” . . . I’ll just have to respond with the truth . . . “My son was having a bad hair day.”

The Traveling Gnome

Have you ever seen those commercials with the traveling gnome? The one that is taken all over the world and people snap vacation photos of the gnome, as if it had a clue that it was on vacation? Well, we officially made Micah our traveling gnome last night. Our traveling sleeping gnome.

Last night for dinner, Micah, Mommy, Daddy and Grammy went to downtown Disney. We ate dinner at Fulton’s Crab House and then wandered around to see the sights. We went in and out of a few art stores, then off to Lego Land. Micah posed for quite a few pictures . . . sound asleep and oblivious. We took a photo of him with the Loch Ness Monster:

And we took a shot of Micah with a Lego bull dog (sorry Uncle Jeremy . . . you missed out)!

After taking on the Loch Ness Monster, Micah was feeling a bit adventuresome, so in we went to the Disney store. Micah felt like trying on some hats . . . or at least, Micah’s Daddy felt like taking pictures of him in a bazillion different hats:

Since Micah was having so much fun, Daddy and Grammy decided to join in on the fun:

On the way out, we stopped off for some candy apples:

Micah appears to be enjoying his trip to Disney from the pictures . . . although I’m not sure he has opened his eyes at any of the sights!

All in all, we’re doing well. We’re still having some feeding challenges, and I’m feeling a bit out of sorts because I don’t have the scale here to tell me how things are going. He is latching really well, but I’m not sure he is getting enough off the breast each feeding. Sometimes he seems to do really well, and others . . . . not so much. He also sometimes does seem really hungry and the breast does not satisfy him, so we do need to supplement with pumped breast milk at least a few times during the day. Some days, we run out of pumped breast milk, so then we also need to supplement with formula, but we’ve only had to give him about 1-2 ounces max when this happens.

I do think we might be dealing with a case of acid reflux. He does appear to be developing hunger cues! He has been waking up and crying when he is hungry, which is nice for a change. Of course, last night, we couldn’t get him to wake up to eat for almost 7 hours. I fed him at 5:00, and he slept through his 8:00 feeding completely. I got him to wake up and nurse for about 5 minutes at 10:00, and then he finally took a more normal feed at 12:00. He zonked out after that and didn’t wake up until almost 6:00 this morning. I fed him then, and he dozed a bit and was ready to eat again at 8:00 am. He was again kind of sleepy for the 11:00 feeding, but he did get hungry again around 1:00. He woke up, I nursed him on one side for about 10 minutes, and then he fell into an unconscious stupor. I decided to pump to leave more milk for my mom, and wouldn’t you know it, he woke up while I was pumping, shrieking for milk!! We ended up feeding him everything in a bottle, and back to sleep he went.

Our latest feeding challenge is a bit of acid reflux. Micah is not a cranky or crying baby, but he does appear to be refluxing too much – he sometimes does it while he is eating and it causes him to choke. He has been making these odd grunting/wheezing/congested noises for about a week, and I’m fairly certain it is reflux. We definitely cannot lay him flat after eating or he is very uncomfortable (and starts spitting up a bit too much). The grunting/wheezing/congested noises seem to happen most after feedings. I think he’ll probably need some Zantac, but I do not think the doctor will prescribe it over the phone. I should probably call and talk to them tomorrow – the earliest I could go in would be on Monday.

Well, I’m off to do more conference stuff, and tonight we are going to take the traveling Micah gnome around Disney for more pictures. This afternoon, Micah has been working hard as Daddy's best receptionist . . . poolside:

Friday night we plan to drive to Sarasota/Long Boat Key to visit Elliot’s aunt and uncle. Wish us luck on our presentations and meetings!

Roll over

Yup, today Micah rolled over. I'm sure it was an accident, but today I put him on his playmat. He got REALLY pissed off, and then he flipped himself over! I was very impressed by my advanced little man.

In other news, we are starting to really get the hang of latching. I'm still not sure if he is getting enough off of me or not, though. I've been really lazy about supplementing and pumping today . . . in my pipe dreams, I can just feed him normally and all is well. I have a feeling I'll regret avoiding my pump tomorrow - but hey, today was kind of nice. I just wish I responded well to the pump - I never seem to get much out at all :(.

So, here are a few pictures to complete the post for the day: