Another Week: A Growing Baby

This week Will has discovered the mobile in his crib. He absolutely LOVES it, and it entertains him just long enough for me to scarf down dinner in peace without having to hold him. He is still sleeping in his bassinet in our room, but we have play time in the crib to get him used to it so the transition won't be too difficult... at least we hope not.

Will loves to sit up either propped up against the couch or on a pillow. His head is a little lopsided here. We think he looks like such a big boy in this picture.

He is so sweet when he sleeps. He has started sleeping less as he requires less sleep and gets older and has more awake time, but I just love how peaceful he looks when he's sleeping.

Will contemplating....
Then he let us know what he was thinking... His daddy thinks he's going to be a preacher. We'll see about that. Other comments on this picture has been that he's telling about how he almost caught a fish this big or saw a snake this long... haha. If only we could really know what he was trying to tell us...

So Will is now 6 weeks old. The weeks are truly flying by. We have started getting out with him a little more. Last Sunday we went and Stephen got fitted for Ryan and Casie's tux at the mall and grabbed dinner out. It was nice to just get out of the apartment and do some of the things we did before Will was born. Then Wednesday night we went to Trunk or Treat at church. It was a lot of fun. We really enjoy being social and getting to experience our new life as a family with a baby. Look for another post this weekend about Trunk or Treat and pictures from Halloween and such.

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

So that entails this week... the good, the bad & the ugly. It's been quite the week with Will. We've had many emotions run through our house over the last few days. There have been some trying times with Will. In the past couple of weeks Will has started getting fussy at night and crying for no reason... which the doctor said is normal. There's nothing more wearing on you than hearing your child cry and not being able to calm him down. We hold him every way possible. We feed him. We change him. We rock him. We sing to him. Sometimes nothing works. But eventually the crying stops and he goes to sleep and tomorrow is a good day and it's all forgotten.

But aside from the bad and ugly that comes with parenting, the good and the great come with it too. Will has "grown up" so much over just the last week even. He's to the point where he needs to be interacted with and stimulated. It's the sweetest thing to see Will be amazed by a singing giraffe that he has.
Now, I know you can't really see the giraffe in the picture, and I know Will's head is cut off, but I took this with my cell phone real fast so not to lose the moment. This is Will's first interaction with his toys. The giraffe was playing the music, and Will was looking at it, and then out of no where, he reached for it and this is what he came out with! It was the sweetest thing ever. When he grabbed it, you could tell he was like, "What did I just do?" and then he made one of his "Caaaa" noises that is heart melting sweet.

Since Will was so amazed by his giraffe, I decided to let him try and watch a Baby Einstein movie he has. It says from 3 months and up. But man, Will loved it. It's 31 minutes long, and he sat through 22 minutes of it. He loved all the shapes and colors that came across the screen. It will definitely become a daily activity from now on out.

I let Will sit in his bouncy seat while I set up and he watched the movie. The first picture below depicts how calm he was at first. Then he was not very patient with me while I was trying to get the DVD on. He started fussing and throwing his arms all around. Well, on his bouncy seat there is a toy bar. One of the toys that dangles is a rattle, and the other is something that plays a short song when pulled. Well, he throws his arms around and they end up grabbing onto the red thing that plays music. Again, he stopped for a second as if he was amazed at the feeling... which I'm sure he was. But then he started back up again with his arms and this ended in him pulling the toy which then started singing which really got his attention and calmed him right down. It was so neat to see him start noticing the things around him... even if on accident. The second picture below shows him holding the toy. Again, it's blurry because I snapped it with my cell phone before he let go, plus Will was moving the whole time.

Overall, being a parent is still amazing, but it's definitely a trial and error and learning process. We're still learning what Will likes and doesn't like and how he likes to be held when he's fussy and things of the sort. He's starting to smile some, which when he smiles it melts my heart! As long as at the end of every fussy, bad time Will lays his head on my shoulder and holds onto my shirt so tight and looks at me with those beautiful blue eyes that I can tell love me, I can handle the bad times. We have some other new pictures as well, but we'll post them later when we have more time. Oh, and Will's Social Security card came in the mail so the government now recognizes him!

Meet Will's Godparents

So this is Ryan & Casie Adams (almost!). They are engaged and are getting married on November 22, 2008. We are so excited that they are Will's Godparents. They are such a great couple. Ryan graduated from Lipscomb in May of 2008 and is working full-time while Casie finishes nursing school. She'll graduate in May of 2009. Then Ryan is going to grad school next fall. They are such a loving, patient Godly couple... the type we'd love to take care of Will if something were to happen to us. (Although we definitely prefer for nothing to happen!). We are so glad that they accepted such an important responsibility. We look forward to them being involved in Will's life and being his "Aunt Casie" and "Uncle Ryan".

Will is One Month Old

It is so hard to believe that it's already been a month. It's absolutely flown by. He is such a great baby overall. I mean, he is a baby so he does have his fussy moments, but they are really few and far between.

We went to the doctor today for his one month check-up. He is quite a healthy baby. He weighed 9 lbs, 5 oz and was 21 inches long. He had gained 28 oz in 21 days... absolutely amazing. His weight was in the 40th percentile, so he is still a smaller baby. But the doctor did say his overall weight gain was above average. Him being 21 inches put him in the 20th percentile... but no one in either of our families is tall so we weren't expecting a long baby. His head circumference was 14.5 inches which was in the 25 percentile. So we have a very healthy baby, and we are so thankful for that.

Here's Will at One Month:

Recovery is in Sight!

So it's been another week. Time is still flying by. I am finally starting to feel better. It's been very difficult being sick and taking care of Will... AND a client called and ordered a transcript of a case I had covered before Will was born. The unexpected money will be very nice but squeezing the work in was a little hard.

Stephen's mom came as mentioned in the previous post. She was a great help. I was able to rest a lot during the days and work on my transcripts. We enjoyed just her company too. Plus she gave us a little extra cash and we were able to splurge with the grocery budget at the store this past week... which was super nice! On Saturday, my mom came up. It was very nice to see my mom. Then on Sunday my dad came up. I'm so glad that Will's grandparents are involved and want to see him and watch him grow. He's very blessed.

Will & I are headed to Bama this weekend to watch Uncle Jon play football since it's his senior year and there are only a few games left. Plus we are going to my cousin Tatum's baby shower, which will be fun for Will because he'll get to meet all of my aunts and cousins and stuff.

As far as an update on Will during the last week, not too much has changed. He's slept a little more than he did before. I miss his wide-eyed talking time but I know he needs his rest. And depending on who you ask, Will has either strawberry-blonde or red hair. It's cute on him! Maybe you can see it in the pictures below!

Will is growing so fast!!

It is so hard to believe that Will is 2.5 weeks old already! Where is time going?!? He is such a great baby. He cries very little and is very content just laying on his boppy looking around. It's so nice that he's easy going and sleeps a lot. He's growing like a weed too! He weighed 7 lbs 8 oz when he was born on Friday, September 19. When we left the hospital on Monday, September 22, he weighed 6 lbs, 12 oz. Then when we went to the doctor on Monday, September 29th (a mere week later) he weighed 7 lbs, 9 oz. His doctor was amazed!! He warned us that Will is going to develop neck rolls and leg rolls but not to limit his food intake and keep feeding him on demand... oh boy! He's started communicating already. If you talk to him, he'll look you in the eyes for a while and then say, "Caaa". Haha. Not really much of communication but it is the sweetest sound. He has the strongest legs ever as well. He kicks and can move himself around a great deal. It's actually kind of scary. Oh, and his cord fell off today so we officially have a belly button.. and I'm glad to report it's an inny. :)

I have the crud... runny nose, headache, earache, sore throat.. the crud. It's hard since I can't take anything for it since I'm breastfeeding. It's definitely a challenge being a new mom and having to sacrifice so much... like when I feel like crud and just want to rest but Will needs to eat or needs a diaper change or just wants to be held.. but it's also amazing how much I love him and how it doesn't bother me at all to love on my little guy...although I can't kiss and hug on him too much since I don't want to get him sick. Stephen has been a great help during all of this. I still let him sleep at night and try not to bother him since he does work full-time and go to school full-time. But he'll take care of Will from the time he gets home until he goes to bed except for feedings & diaper changing. I have tried pumping and letting him feed Will and Will just doesn't like it as much, and I'd rather let Will eat than pump anyways so I don't mind feeding him. I think it's a sweet, fun time. But I enjoy my downtime and rest time that he allows me to have. He's a fabulous husband and father.

Stephen's mom is coming tomorrow for a few days. I am looking forward to having some help since I'm sick. And of course Stephen is gong to enjoy having his mom here... after all, there's nothing like your mom! :)

Oh, and we went to church this past Sunday for the first time. We only went to worship service but it went great. We sat on the back row right by the door in case Will did get fussy and needed to leave. But he slept the whole time. He really loves music and singing. He always kicked a lot in the womb when we were at church during the singing, and he enjoyed the music this Sunday at church just as much. Anyways, that's what's been going on with Will and us over the last 2.5 weeks. I'll attach a couple of pictures of Will... they are all of him sleeping, because, well, that's mostly what he does besides eat.