Pictures and video

This kid is so frustrating. All day long he looks right in my eyes, and when I pull out the camera, he is determined to look everywhere but at me. Such a disobedient child. Cute though, so I put up with it. Tonight has been tiring. Ezra has been exceptionally fussy, wanted to eat but then would cry when he started eating, and felt hotter than usual, although we couldn't get a consistent temp reading on him. A few of the temps were high enough that I called the pediatrician. I feel so bad for him because I know he is uncomfortable and probably hungry but doesn't want to eat for some reason. He finally fell asleep with some help from his daddy and I am the only one awake now. I am sure tomorrow will be a better day.

Notice the title says "pictures AND video." I have tried to post a video a couple of times, but Blogger won't let me. It's probably too long. I'll try to get shorter clips to post.

One month

Who could resist this sweet face?I know I just did the "four weeks" post, but today little Ez is one month old. My family is always commenting that he looks so different in the pictures I post than when they saw him, but he even looks different to me from day to day. Every day when he wakes up he looks so much older. We are having so much fun and I am not having a problem at all filling my days. Here are a couple pictures I took today. Ezra got some new wheels so he can accompany me on my walks and runs. I didn't realize that I would need a jogging stroller, but the regular stroller was way too bumpy on our roads when we went walking, and I didn't even attempt a run with it. So today, we went on our first run. Here is Ezra before the run (poor kid doesn't have a hat that fits)...And here he is after:I guess he liked the lull of the road because he went to sleep almost immediately when I started running. Needless to say, he likes his jogging stroller (a nice reprieve from the carseat).

I am finally starting to get back into the swing of things as far as exercising goes, and not a moment too soon, because a woman today mistook me for being pregnant. I had to hold back tears. Oh well, if people thinking you still look pregnant isn't motivation to get back in shape, I don't know what is. So I am getting back into a running regimen (very slowly, but surely) and I have done the 30-day shred DVD a couple times (no, I'm not planning to do it in 30 days). I am taking it easy, but I really really don't have anything to wear, so I'd like to at least get back into some of my pre-pregnancy clothes sooner rather than later. And really, that story about that lady wasn't a fish for compliments, it was just a story. I realize I just had a baby a month ago, and I realize I need to take it easy. Don't worry, I am.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

4 weeks

Ezra is 4 weeks old today! Here are some things about our baby boy at 4 weeks:

1. He has started to smile a lot, and most of the time it's just little smirks, but every once in a while we'll get a big, gummy, eyes-closed smile. This alone is reason enough to become a parent.
2. Like I mentioned yesterday, he's about 9.5 lbs now. He was 6 lbs 14 oz at birth.
3. He wakes up every 2-3 hours to eat, plays a little bit, then goes back to sleep. He only wakes up about every 4 hours at night, and goes right back to sleep after eating.
4. He has started to "talk" a little bit. Also adorable.
5. He's a pretty even-tempered baby and very predictable. I already mentioned he cries in the car, and he also gets pretty fussy in the evenings about every 3 or 4 days. As long as you feed him and give him a quiet place where he can be left alone to sleep, he is good to go.

Friday our little guy will be one month old. We can't believe he's already been here a month! I am trying to just take in and enjoy every moment.

A weekend of firsts

This weekend was filled with "firsts" for me. Chad went to the cabin with a couple of friends to get the deck railing finished, so I was on my own with our almost-4-week old all weekend. It was good to get over that little milestone of caring for our child all by myself, especially since Chad is such a HUGE help around the house and with Ezra--possibly more help than the average husband (not an insult to the other husbands out there, but a big compliment to mine). I was able to prove to myself that I could do it (with quite a bit of help from some good friends...). Also, can I just say that I have a HUGE respect and admiration for parents who are the sole caregivers for their children? What an awesome, exhausting experience...I was ready to pass the kiddo off the minute Chad got back home so I could have just a little break. Anyway, everything went pretty smoothly. We ran a few errands, including our first trip together to the grocery store and our first trip to Target by ourselves. Ezra is still not a fan of riding in the car (understatement), which my mom says is a direct trait from me. Here is the look I get when I put him in his seat, right before I strap him in and he starts crying hysterically:Every once in a while if he's JUST been fed, is not in the least bit tired, and the stars are otherwise aligned, he will not cry. But most of the time when we get in the car, he cries the entire time and the minute we get to where we're going I get him out and hold him he is fine. So I have found the best accessory to have when running errands is my sling. I can put him in it by myself (unlike the Ergo carrier--haven't figured out how to do that one alone yet) and he falls right to sleep. Then my hands are free and I am free to shop in peace. Plus, no lugging around a big old carseat or having it take up most of my cart. I am determined, however, not to avoid leaving the house or going places because my child cries in his carseat. I think staying at home all the time would make me even crazier than the crying does.
Here's a cute photo I took of Chad and Ezra right after Chad got home yesterday. I love the way Ezra is looking up at him and studying him: "I think I might know you." In these photos, especially the first one, you can also see where Ezra is losing a lot of his hair. He has male pattern baldness, with a little ducktail in the back. Some might call it a mullet. So I guess he's going to lose it all, which I wish would go ahead and happen. He is so adorable, but the poor thing looks like an old man with his eyebrow wrinkles and receding hairline. I wonder what color his hair is going to be when it comes back in.
So today is the first day of school for pretty much everyone I know. It was really weird not getting ready last night to get up this morning and start a new year. Instead I spent the night waking up to feed my baby, sleeping till 10 (after waking up a bunch of times, so don't be too jealous), mopping the floors in my house, and spending time with Chad and Ezra. Quite the change from my usual schedule up until now. It's 4:15 right now--I would just be getting out of school if I was still teaching. Who knew the day would go by so fast? Last night I told Chad that I was really looking forward to today after the weekend being so busy with church, errands, a wedding shower that I helped host, etc. Odd when your weekdays are more relaxed than your weekends. I think I can honestly say that this is the first Monday EVER that I have looked forward to. I'll stop going on and on just to say that I feel so blessed to be able to spend this time with my child and husband and that life is really really good.

So tomorrow my baby will be 4 weeks old. Time has really flown! We are ready to get back into some sort of normalcy in life, and I am ready to get back into my clothes. I know it will take a while but it's getting old wearing maternity clothes, and even some of those are too small or too big. So I am getting a jogging stroller to take Ezra on my walks and runs, and I will be joining Chad's gym soon. I go in for my 6-week checkup just two weeks from now, and once my doctor gives me the okay, I will be upping the workout regimen. Speaking of weight, we did an informal weighing of Ezra today, and he weighs almost 9 1/2 pounds! I couldn't believe it. But I knew he was feeling heavier.

**Attention: Do not read this next paragraph if you don't want to read about baby poop. You have been warned.** This is changing the subject a bit, but I know some of you out there will be able to help me...tell me what you do to get baby poop stains out of clothes. Yes, my little dear has had 3 blowouts in the past few days--two at church and one at the wedding shower. Really looking forward to starting those cloth diapers and hoping they contain things better. My apologies to those of you who do not want to read about baby poop, but you were warned.

And finally, here is another video of Ezra just playing on that little mat he has. I thought the grandparents/aunts & uncles would enjoy.

That's it for now. Who else can't wait for the crispy fall weather to get here?

First real bath

So Ezra had his first "real" bath tonight since his umbilical stump fell off. I guess if I'm posting videos of him sucking the weird pacifier, it makes more sense for me to post picture of his first bath. A very momentous occasion. And look how un-vain I am by posting this first one. It was the only one where the baby didn't look like he was crying. Really, he wasn't crying.
Unimpressed/embarrassed about his naked body/still asleep/"Mom, get that camera out of my face."

Some pictures and video

Ezra's favorite toy...he will stare at it for about 20 minutes before he decides he's sleepy or hungry. (And this one really shows his receding hairline)This melts my heart.
We call this his shifty eye face.
A couple videos...nothing special, just what Ezra does when he's trying to wake up, and a weird one of him sucking one of those pacifiers where you can see the inside of his mouth. What can I say, we're easily amused.

All smiles

Ezra is 3 weeks old today and doing great!

Pictures from the weekend

Granddad, Ginny and Mackenzie came for a visit this weekend, bringing up the caboose of the family members who have come to visit Ezra since his birth. Here are a few photos from the past couple days...I've found that the swing is my go-to baby item that I can put Ezra in when he is awake, turn on the mobile and the music, and he is entertained and happy. Half the time he'll fall asleep, which is very helpful at 5 in the morning when he is ready to go for the day and I'm not. :)
Ezra found granddad's chest particularly comfortable for long naps.
He has been awake for longer times and more often lately. He has started smiling here and there, but I haven't been able to catch it on video or in a photo. Soon enough.
I wouldn't normally post pictures of my baby crying, but I wanted to talk about this "Happiest Baby on the Block" thing. We watched the DVD in one of the classes we took at the hospital and read the book before Ezra was born, and it seems to work to calm him down. According to the pediatrician that devised it, babies have this "calming instinct" that happens when you combine a bunch of different techniques. Here it is in action:
Step one, swaddle.Step two, shushing. Step three, turn baby on his side, kind of facing the floor. Cradle his head in your hands and jiggle (like a vibrating motion). There are a couple other steps like sucking on a pacifier and swinging (it's called the 5 S's), but you only do the ones you need. Most of the time Ezra calms down after he's swaddled. He just can't stand those flailing hands hitting him in the face.
Shortly after this Ezra fell asleep. Now, I will be the first to admit that he is fairly easy to calm most of the time. But I am sure anyone who has ever had a fussy baby will agree that it never hurts to try something, and this works for us.
My two favorite people. :) Chad has become an expert at ignoring me when I have a camera in my hand.

A couple more from today

When we went to the doctor's office our pediatrician said that Ezra needs to be spending 10-15 minutes a day on his stomach. I got some video yesterday of his first "tummy time" (why does that phrase annoy me so much?) but I am going to refrain from posting it because he is not too happy at all about having to push his little head up. I got another really cute video this morning, but I had set my video settings too high on my camera so blogger won't accept the video. Anyway, these pictures are from the second time we put Ezra on his stomach, and before he realized that he really doesn't like it.

8-13-09

8-12-09

Bathtime
Another heart-to-heart conversation with dad.
Little baby boys in hoods are the cutest thing ever.

I got my new camera yesterday so I was able to start experimenting with it a little bit. I like it a lot so far. Ezra is asleep most of the time, so I tried to get a few shots of him this morning when he was awake. Then I had to delete half of those because he was cross-eyed. I will post more video as soon as I figure out how to work it.Ezra's favorite sleeping position is with one fist up by his face. For a child that can't control his arms or legs, it's interesting to me that he always ends up like this. Aren't baby feet the cutest thing ever!?The worried look has been partially replaced by just a somewhat serious look. We took our little boy to his two-week checkup today, and he is doing well. He has gained 10 ounces since birth, so he is at 7.5 lbs now. He is almost 21 inches long (which means he would have grown 3 inches in two weeks, but we think he was longer than 18 inches when he was born). So we went to the doctor, out to eat at On the Border, and then Ezra's first trip to the bookstore where granny bought him whatever he wanted. He picked out 6 books and off we went.

We were also finally able to finish Ezra's room. Emma had finished the two side paintings a couple months ago and was waiting on us to pick out a name before she could do the middle one. I love how they turned out and how they look in his room! Just a reminder, here is the quilt that hangs up on the wall...
And here are the paintings that Emma did. Thanks Emma!

Two weeks old

Ezra is two weeks old today! Chad has gone back to work so things are becoming a little more "normal" around here, although we are still having family members come to visit. My mom is here now, and once Ezra meets his granddad & Ginny, I think he will have met all the immediate family. He is taking it pretty easy on Chad and me so far and starting to become more alert, and we've even begun to catch a glimpse of what his adorable little gummy smile is going to look like. He's a keeper and we love him more than anything!