Saturday, March 3, 2012

Funny Bunnies!

It's Saturday night; baby is asleep and Joe and I are watching T.V., enjoying a respite for the night from feedings, diapers and baby talk... Life has certainly changed for us and my hiatus from blogging obviously reflects the inherent change.

Where shall I begin? As of today, Julian is 15 weeks old! Exciting and sad at the very same time. He continues to amaze us everyday with new coos, sounds, smiles, expressive looks, giggles, stronger movements - and most impressively, how much joy and love he brings into our lives. Hard to believe just a few months ago, I was typing about the latest kick I would feel in my stomach or how many pounds I had gained to date in my pregnancy. Now our days are filled with sobering amazement at this little life we created while also injecting a bit of daily levity with baby talk a la Mireille and Joe. We laugh at these made-up words that mean absolutely nothing but still make us laugh. And make Julian laugh! We basically add an '-s' to most things and talk with a lisp. I know - total NONSENSE - but it's so freaking cute. We say, "Funny bunnies! Is your name Funny Bunnies Gennaro?!?!?" Try it - with a lisp lol. It's cute. Then we say, "Julian, go to sleepS." Note the '-s'. Or I say, "I loves you" or sometimes I modify it and say it with a speech impediment so it sounds like, "I wuvs you." Lol. Then there's 'burpies, sleepies, stinkies...' It goes on and on and oh how I cherish this secret dialogue we have. One day we'll have to start speaking to him properly so he doesn't start school with non-standard words and incorrect subject-verb agreement! No son of mine will have poor grammar, okays?

And while our vocabulary of baby talk continues to flourish, so is Julian! He is a growing boy, and I mean GROWING! It's no wonder I had a big belly - he's a big boy. (This would explain why I ate the volumes of food I did.) He weighs ~15.5 pounds (estimate). At his last appointment on 2/8/12, he weighed 14.4 pounds (so not even three months old at the time!) He is also in the 90th percentile for height and 85th percentile for weight. I have completely retired his newborn to 3 months clothes as he is now wearing 6 months (and in some brands, 9 months clothing!) His next appointment is on 3/26 and that will be his four-month wellness check-up. He'll get another round of vaccinations at that point. He was diagnosed at his last appointment with acid reflux. It's been an ordeal, managing constant spit-up and we did have an isolated incident that involved a little blood in his regurgitation, but thankfully, all is under control. And with a little help from baby-safe Zantac and a switch to Enfamil A.R. (designed specifically to combat spit-up), we are happily seeing some relief.


Another major transition was my return to work on 2/20. I took a total of 13 weeks maternity leave, and I cannot believe how quickly the time flew. I enjoyed every minute with Julian and was sad beyond belief as my leave waned. The first day back at work was emotional, but I kept it together. I dropped Julian off that morning at my mother-in-law's and gave Julian a big kiss. I got teary-eyed as I said my first of many daily goodbyes. He smiled at me, and I made sure I left before it became too difficult to part. When I got to work, I was greeted by smiling faces and dear friends, both of which were a welcomed diversion. Jessica surprised me with a 'welcome back' package filled with chocolate, tissues, water and a sweet card (thanks Jess - you're a sweet girl.) The day seemed to go by quickly, as I spent most of my time catching up on email and socializing with the crew whom I hadn't seen in a long time. To date, I've officially completed two weeks at work, and I must say, juggling both worlds is tough. I wake up every morning at 6:30 (gulp - if you know me pretty well, you know I am NOT a morning person and I rarely woke up before 7:30 pre-Julian, so this is a marked surprise). I feed the baby, change him, and get him ready so Joe can take him to the in-laws. Then I rush to get ready and make it to work *on time*. When we get home, we whip up a quick meal or rely on simple dinners to get us by, clean up, bathe Julian, feed him, read him some bedtime stories, and say good night. We have maybe an hour or so of TV/computer/relaxation time before it's time for bed so we can do it all over again the next day. Julian just moved into the next stage of nighttime sleep, so he is sleeping 10 hours at night. This is a welcomed transition as it will provide us with additional downtime before we go to 'sleepS' ourselves (see, it's addictive.) I must say, putting him on a schedule was by and large, one of the best pieces of advice I received while preparing for his arrival. I truly believe it was instrumental to achieving restful nights of sleep for him and us. More on that in another post.


Now on to some fun images and video to share! 

Here's a first for my blog: VIDEO! This is the makings of a mama's boy...





At the doctor getting checked and still managing to pose!


"Seriously Mom, let me sleepS!"

My beautiful baby boy!


Well, hello...


He loves his Baby Bjorn bouncer! Look at those long, lean legs!


"Mommy and me" time


You guessed it...His first Valentine's Day!


You sure are, honey! Already I know no one will be
good enough!







He loves to smile!

Time to say goodnightS before tomorrow's day of feedings, play time, naps, diapers and chats with funny bunnies starts all over again... I promise to write more frequently. Thanks for reading!
xo

1 comment:

  1. I cannot get over how cute Julian is! Those big eyes and constant smile! I just love him :)

    ReplyDelete