Alex is One Month Old!

A picture heavy post! Still have lots of videos I need to put up too. We had a better night compared to Sunday and Monday. Alex slept in 3 hour increments meaning we slept in 2 hour increments which wasn't amazing but better than previous days.

This is Matt and Alex yesterday at 9:53 am.


And this is them at 10:56 am.



Notice that both Daddy and Alex have gone through slight outfit changes lol. Someone decided to spit up right after getting dressed! You would have thought Matt was over his spit up issues. Sheesh. Alex is just plain embarrassed.

We got a couple of presents from Uncle Jamie and Auntie Liz in England. Can't wait until he fits into the England shirt especially. The shirt will pair nicely with his Lucky England hoodie he got from Vivi and little England booties (when he's ready for soft shoes) from Alia. They also sent a sleeper and a really cute, cozy brown hoodie with little ears on the hood. So cute!


Alex officially turned one month old. Can't believe how fast the weeks are flying. He's nearly 7lbs now.



We played on the gym mat for awhile.


He loves looking at himself in the mirror. But after all, if you were that handsome, wouldn't you?




With him being so early we never really got any of his nursery done. We have maybe 25% of it completed. Here's what part of the room looks like so far. Things are organized enough just to keep us on the right side of sane.


We also took our first bath yesterday.

As you can see, not exactly the spa experience for him. But he was pretty calm after a couple initial screams.




We swear he's a lot cuter in person. For being such an adorable little baby he takes some really awkward photos lol. Yes, we're not afraid to admit the truth.


Getting him dried off



All squeaky clean. For about 30 mins at least anyway.


So yes, quite a busy day for us all. We bought a soothing sound machine that seems to be helping him sleep in his little co-sleeper. Let's hope the trend lasts.

And last but not least. Here is Mau letting Matt practice his burping hold. She'll put up with just about anything these days as long as she's getting some attention. Aaw.

A Day in the Park

April 13th. My official due date. I'm glad he came a month early because it's an extra month we get to enjoy him!

We had yet another fussy night on Monday! Alex could not relax and did not want anyone else around him to either. We went through our usual checklist - no dirty diaper, not hungry, not cold. A couple things we thought might be the cause was not swaddling him tight enough or perhaps he was just overtired and not getting enough quiet time during the day. Whenever we picked him up or snuggled with him he was fine and quieted down but of course that meant no sleep for mommy and daddy. The things parents do! I think we're slowly getting the phrase "When you're parents, you'll understand" now. If our own parents are reading this right now, I bet they're doing the 'I told you so' dance.

Of course Alex fell fast asleep around 715am in the morning, just 30 minutes shy of when my alarm clock went off. I had my postpartum visit with the OB/GYN first thing in the morning. It went well and looks like I am recovering nicely. The doctor even said I can start with the light exercise again. Hooray! I have been looking forward to getting back into a (slow) routine.

After my appointment I came home, picked up Alex and went back to the hospital again but this time for a breastfeeding support group. We saw Christine and Quincy from the Mommy and Me class that was the day before along with about 10 other moms and their babies. The babies ranged anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months old. Alex was not the youngest but the tiniest. Aaw.
He weighed in at 6 lbs and 12 oz which means he gained 6 ounces in about 4 days. So proud!
When we first got to the support group he was completely asleep.

Exhibit A:

The support group was great and again it was so validating to meet moms with similar issues. And also sort of look into the future--for example there was another mom there who had her son exactly one month early like me and her son was now 3 months old. It was good to hear that her son had hit all the milestones just like term babies.

Despite feeling completely exhausted, after coming home I decided it would be a nice idea to go for a quick walk to the park with Matt and Alex. Wanted to steal the couple moments when the sun was actually out.

Of course Alex had all the energy in the world. He wanted to do all sorts of things at the park.

First he played some basketball.


Then decided he wanted to try out the swings.



and then suggested we try out the slide



Here's a photo of Mommy and Alex



And a quick rest before heading home



What a tiring but fun day!

Mommy and Me// A Visit from Paras

Oh it's been a busy week so far! I was trying to find some free moments to post but time has just gotten away from us.

On Sunday we had a little bit of a fussy night. Alex would not stop making noises in his little co-sleeper and decided he just wanted to be held. Technically he was still supposed to be in me so it makes sense really.

Monday morning Alex and I went to the Mommy and Me class offered by Kaiser. There was only one other mom and her son (Christine and Quincy) that came. The woman running the class said usually there are more people but rain had possibly kept people indoors.

Anyway even with only them there, it was really nice. It's so validating to talk to another new mom and discuss challenges, rewards, share cute moments, bitch about your husband (love you, sweetie!) etc.

Monday was our two year wedding anniversary as I mentioned but we were feeling way to sleep deprived and tired to really do much. Plus it's hard to want to go anywhere for extended periods of time right now because I'm either rushing back to feed Alex or we just miss him. It probably sounds sad to non-parents but parents (and obsessive pet owners), I know you totally understand. We'll make up for it another day when we're in the mood.

Not the most photogenic shot:


In the evening Paras decided to pay us a visit. We made him read Heading Home With Your Newborn from cover to cover before deciding to trust him with Alex.




He did alright.


And as always going to end with something Mau related because after all she was as close to a child as we got before we had little Alex.

Baby Blanket from Clearwell

I just posted a few hours ago but have to make another quick one. I know Matt won't read this until later so I am feeling safe about not letting him on any secrets.

On Friday, I found a FedEx box on my doorstep along with a bunch of other boxes of recently ordered items- Target, Amazon, a new Hoover SteamVac etc. I put all the boxes aside and assumed the FedEx box was some t-shirts I had ordered last week. I wasn’t expecting them until Monday but thought maybe the delivery came early. It’s my 2nd wedding anniversary tomorrow which is the ‘cotton’ anniversary and t-shirts were a present for Matt.

Of course I have been pretty occupied with Alex and errands and trying to catch up on sleep so I figured I’d leave the presents for wrapping when Matt wasn’t around. He finally left to go grocery shopping so I thought it was a good opportunity. Upon opening and not seeing t-shirts I was a little confused and then took a look at the packing slip which had the name of someone from the company I work at on it.

The company sent us the cutest baby blanket with Alex's name and birthday embroidered on it.
Oddly enough I was on a couple of websites last week looking up personalized blankets but couldn’t make my mind up. I've been going back forth on this for weeks, even looking at some a few days before Alex was born. I don’t think I told anyone at work though. Feeling extremely touched at the moment!

Poor weather refuses to spoil our special weekend!

Not the most wonderful weather outside today.




Two years ago around this time I remember fretting over the weather hoping for no rain since it was our wedding day. Can't believe time has flown by so fast. Tomorrow is officially our anniversary. Matt and I may try and sneak out to go see a movie. We feel like being a little more low key this year.

Speaking of low key that is pretty much how our weekend has been. Matt and I are usually running around like headless chickens trying to squeeze in too many errands during our 90 minute windows and decided to put everything on hold for a little while and just relax. It's okay if we don't get to those couple of returns or let our laundry pile up a little bit or let the carpets go unvacuumed.





Here's are some photos right before feeding time. This is when he's most alert.










Today Alex was invited to his very first birthday party. Our friends Colleen and Louisa have a little girl named Jane who turned 1 today. Alex has started to grow out of his preemie clothes and fitting into newborn outfits. He wore his first pair of trousers and a hoodie today.



He pretty much slept through the birthday and was good as gold. Can you find him in this photo?


Here's Mummy and Alex.





Here is Jane enjoying her birthday cake.


Lets end on one last photo of Alex in his new outfit shall we!


Oh, and here's one of Mau. We still love you Mau!