Landon and Alia

More fun at daycare with my chatty friend Alia:

2 Month Chair Photo

Yeah I am behind...sue me. Here is Landon at 10 weeks:

Daycare Pics

I took some pictures at lunch yesterday of some of the tykes playing around:

http://picasaweb.google.com/bemann/DaycarePhotos?authkey=Gv1sRgCMO-j8vog7aGTQ

Update on Daycare

Landon ended up taking a 4 hour nap. So to outline, he ate at 7...went to sleep at 9:30 and slept until 1:45. Then awoke and ate 2 bottles in a rush. Silly boy. But the real reason he slept so well, HE ROLLED OVER ON HIS TUMMY! I had seen him up on his side when he was playing before I left but I didn't think he would progress that fast. Daycare (and us) put him on his back but once he turns himself over, we are allowed to leave him (re: SIDS). To add to this, we were still swaddling him for nighttime. Obviously we don't want him turning over without his arms so tonight we are swaddling him with his arms out. We shall see how this goes......

On another developmental note, he found his feet this weekend. He enjoys finding them during diaper changes...just to make it difficult. It is pretty cute to watch though...him throwing those legs up. :)

Of course...

So today is my first day back at work. Everything is going fine. He slept for 5.5 hours last night, ate, and then went back to sleep until 6 when I got in the shower but went back to sleep on Kevin in the bed. That means I got like 8.5 hours of sleep! Made it to daycare by 8...even beat the teachers. Left him playing with toys and he rolled over on his side! Anyway...my plan was to go feed him at lunch since he would have eaten at 10. I just called to check to see if that was still on track and no...he has been asleep since 9:30! Yeah...the same kid who napped all of 2 hours total all day yesterday. What a turd....

Chatty Cathy

Landon was talkin up a storm today and I happened to get it on video:

2 Month Check Up

Friday was Landon's 2 month check up. He is a whopping 11 lbs 4oz and 22" long. Pretty average...he was around the 50 percentile for both. Everything else checked out and then he got his first round of shots. He took them like a champ. He had the one big scream where it didn't look like he breathed for 30 seconds but then Kevin scooped him up and I fed him...and he has been fine ever since. He slept some really long stretches last night and I actually woke him up this morning since I was about to explode. :)

Daycare Playing!

A video from the awesome day 2:

Daycare Day 2

BEST DAY EVER! So first off, he slept long stretches Wednesday night. Including a 4.5 stretch between feedings! THEN Kevin went and got him from his crib while I was in the shower and he fell back asleep in our bed and we left him until we left for daycare at 7:45. He went in the carseat happy and I decided to change his clothes and diaper at school. He was super happy all the way to school and NEVER cried and wasn't sleeping. This was a monumental thing in itself. We got into daycare with no problems. I changed him with happy smiles and lots of coos. Then while I put all his stuff away, he played with his jungle mobile until I fed him. He then went back to playing as I left.

When I got back...I saw this:That's right...asleep...in his crib! He had been asleep for 45 minutes. THEN she told me this was his 3rd nap in his crib! AND he even put himself to sleep once. YIPPEE! He took his bottle just fine and had lots of fun playing with the black and white mobile (they took it down from the changing table for him to play with on the floor). We then came home to visit with Aunt Johanna and Aunt Rebecca. He then napped on me for a little bit and had a great night. I am one happy mommy!

How to photograph your Baby

I get told a lot that I take nice pictures. People think it is because I have an SLR camera. This really mean nothing. I have more settings but you can do a lot with a little ol point and shoot. A lot of my "talent" is just being able to frame a picture and follow these simple rules. So fellow mommies(except Jodi of course...she gets the real deal), here is a book I recommend. I also own the companion DVD. I heard the author on my podcasts and loved him. This is a series of easy tips on taking better photos. You can check it out from the Wake county library. I got the older version which talks of film so I haven't read the new one but the points are the same.

The basics are 1) Get closer to your subject. I notice this with people pictures in general. If you want to take a picture of someone...take a picture of them. Fill the frame with a person...not a person and a table full of crap or a background of cars.

2) Turn off your flash. Flashes on cameras suck...plain and simple. Find natural light from a window or something like that. If you have to take pictures in a dark space, invest in something to at least bounce the flash. Here is how to make one. An example of bouncing light is(this was a relatively cheap bounce flash bouncing off a wall mirror in a dark room):As a comparison case here is with flash and without:
Granted they aren't great shots of him but you get the point. See the shadows? Also the best outside light is dusk and dawn. The best pictures I have ever taken are outside at sunset. Midday light is horrible for the most part unless you find shade.

3) Take tons of pictures. Keep hitting the button...that is the glory of digital. Take them using the view finder(not the screen) and don't look at the screen everytime. You can delete later...just keep taking them. Especially with kids, you can get great action shots this way. If you have a continuous shooting mode, even better. Just hold the button and it does the work.

Well those are the basics. Try it and you will see. Here is a link to the book and his website:

Book

Website

Little Monkey

Tell me this doesn't look like a monkey:
He loves to hold onto the collars of your shirts...and sometimes Daddy's chest hair.

First Day at Daycare

Tuesday I decided to take Landon up to daycare for a few hours so he could get used to it, I could see what kind of routine I will need, and so I could get something done! He had a lovely time playing with new toys and took a nap on one of the teachers. I hung out for a couple of hours to feed him and just play and see the other babies. He will be going back on Thursday for a few hours I think too.

HOORAY FOR LATEX!

Soooo the pursuit for a bottle was not easy. At first we tried Medela(since those are the bottles I pump into). He would get WAY too much milk even with the slow flow nipple and choke himself. Next up was the Playtex vent bottle with a playtex nipple that seemed slower to me. Same thing with the choking and screaming. I then bought Playtex nursers with the liners and we had a winner. I figured it had to do with the drop ins and it supposedly regulates the suck pattern more like breastfeeding. I then went and bought a box of them and brought them home. Tuesday, Deb tried to feed him with one of the new ones and he wouldn't have it. Fuck. Then I realized my mistake, the original one had a latex nipple(paid no attention when I bought it) and the new set was silicone. Switched to latex again the other night for Kevin and bingo...he was just fine. But even more exciting, I started thinking..."hmmmm I wonder if this same concept will apply to pacifiers?" Landon has fought them from day one but once he gets the rhythm again, he sucks away and it really calms him. Today we went out to BRU and bought some new nipples and a 2 pack of latex pacis and BINGO. He went to TOWN on that thing and I just put him to bed with it in his mouth. It took 3 minutes to calm him down from screaming to sleeping. PRAISE THE LATEX GODS!

A little more than the blues

Sorry for the pause in postings. I have been busy this week and also taking it a little more easy. I had a few tough days last weekend and by Tuesday, I was crying at pretty much anything. Me....the one who never cries...the one who never once "cried at a kleenex commercial" during pregnancy. I kept waiting for that one day that I just got all weepy at nothing...and it never came. Apparently the hormones were just saving up their power for now.

So there...I am having a tough time. It has taken me some courage to admit it but the first step is acceptance right? With the combo of sleep deprivation, hormones, an active baby, and long days at home...I have had some trying times. The reason I am writing about this is because I know I can't be alone. There are times it sucks...I admit it. When my back is on fire from carrying him for hours and I haven't eaten anything AND he is still crying...it sucks. When he has been awake for 3 hours and still won't nap..it sucks. I long for a nap...a margarita..heck even an hour of testing would be better.

My other enemy was reading books to try and "help" the situation. I was trying to figure out how to get him to nap...to no avail. "Newborns sleep all the time" everything said. I wanted to throw something. Now I did learn some good things from them I think but overall I think they were just making it worse. So I sent them all back to the library.

On Tuesday, I hit the breaking point. Like I said above, I couldn't stop crying. I even had Kevin at home in the morning but I just couldn't stop. When I would try to talk with him about it, I would just cry harder. It hurts to admit it isn't the picture perfect experience...especially to him. I am frustrated and have thoughts of unhappiness...THEN I feel guilty for feeling that way. What kind of mom, with a perfectly healthy baby, has such feelings? It just snowballs....

Finally Kevin suggested I call health care and talk to someone. So I called to get an appointment. I couldn't even make the appointment without crying. Poor Kim seemed to sense it on the phone and refused to make me wait until the next day. She found me the first person who could see me...on Flu shot day. I saw the new Dr. and just talked about my feelings. I know they are medical doctors but I wanted to just make sure it wasn't something else. She said she was very proud of me for coming in and it was good to talk to someone. That it is very common and I am not alone. She also checked my blood sugar, thyroid, and something else that I can't remember. She recommended a postpatum depression clinic out of UNC...so I am going to see them on the 14th.

The rest of the week has gone much better. I have kept busy to not let the walls close in and LT has done very well. I know it gets better...just sometimes time seems to crawl. Also many people have said that 6 weeks is the peak...so hopefully that will prove true. Today Kevin stayed home and it was fabulous. I can say it probably has been one of my best days since his birth. He slept most of the day actually and was very happy in his awake times. There was very minimal crying but having another set of hands is always helpful. I actually got laundry done, slept in until 8, packed up all the announcements, and finished up all the DVR! AND we got LT to bed by 7:45! I am living one day at a time and trying to just go with the flow. Tuesday I plan to try and take him to daycare to maybe get a few hours to myself and see how he does.

Overall I am lucky to have a baby who knows what night time is...who sleeps for longer than 30 minute stretches...that knows my face...who is gaining weight...and is pretty fucking cute if I do say so myself :)