First Smiles

I can't believe that Collin is already over a month old!!! The past month seems like a blur (I'm sure that has to do with how exhausted I am!).

Collin is still doing well. Last week, I started supplementing with formula. Not a lot... just an ounce or two after each feeding. I feel really good about it, and am so much more confident knowing that Collin's tummy gets to feel full. Ethan and the kids enjoy feeding him his bottle, too, which is nice.Collin has also been falling into a nice routine. We've been trying to get him into the cycle of: eat-play-sleep. He's done really well with it, and his schedule is fairly predictable now. At night, he was waking only once a night last week, but now is back to waking two times a night. Oh well... The only thing I forgot about was the time change. Here in England, we changed our clocks back last weekend. Previously, I had Collin waking at around 6:45am each day. So, of course, with the time change, he was then waking before 6am the first few days. We're trying to shift that. It'll just take a little time, I suppose.

Last Friday, Collin gave me his first official smile. A big gummy one! It was so precious. I've been trying to take a picture of him smiling, but he gets too distracted by the camera. We also started putting Collin under his gym during his play times. He just loves it. He gets all excited and starts kicking and swinging his arms. It's so fun watching him.

The rest of us are doing well. The kids have this week off of school, so they're getting to spend a lot of time with their brother. As for me, I have some great days, where I am out and active and getting house chores done, etc. And then I seem to come to a crashing point where I am just exhausted. Last Wednesday, I called Ethan at work, completely crying from exhaustion. My dear husband actually took the afternoon off from work to come home so that I could sleep. What a guy!

Collin at 3 weeks

Hi everyone! Sorry again for the lack of blogs. It's all I can do to get showered everyday, let alone get on the computer (I trust all you moms out there remember what it is like!).

Anyway, we're all doing well! I am particularly pleased that Collin is gaining weight just as he should be. I had issues nursing my other two kids, so I was hoping that the "third time would be the charm" for this baby. And so far, so good. Last week, I sort of had a melt-down after Collin hadn't gained weight over a 3-day span. So, on the advice of the midwife, I began pumping after a couple of feedings each day. Three days later, he had gained over 5 ounces. And now, a week later, he has gained another half of a pound. I am just thrilled! Thank you God.

Otherwise, we're just trying to get into a routine here. It's a little more challenging as I have to get Tim and Maddie to and from school and their activities, but we're managing. This week, we've started having Collin get used to his crib, and have tried having him put himself to sleep. So far, it's not working too well. He really gets himself all worked up. But, we will persevere.

And although he's only 3 1/2 weeks old, we already see some of Collin's personality coming through. Here are a few of his likes and dislikes.

Likes:

• being fed
• his binky
  
• his brother and sister (no matter what they do to him, it seems)
• having Mommy rock him to sleep
• listening to music (like Daddy playing his guitar)
  
• staring at the cat picture on his changing table
  

Dislikes:

• being buckled into his car seat
• being swaddled
• being naked (bathtime, diaper change, etc.)
  

Well, I suppose that's all for now; especially as I am now typing one-handed while holding a sleeping Collin in the other! :)

Thank the Lord for Mommies!

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of blogs this past week. I'm sure you can understand. It truly is amazing how much time a newborn requires.

Anyway, we are all doing well. My parents arrived last Saturday, and have done an incredible job of taking care of us. My mom has done countless loads of laundry and dishes, made meals, changed diapers, prepared kids' school lunches, etc. And my dad has helped out by being the bus driver... taking the kids to and from school and their after-school activities. I haven't had to lift a finger, which has been so nice. It's allowed me to focus on taking care of Collin, nursing, resting, etc.Collin is doing just great. He's gaining weight nicely, which is so encouraging to an unconfident, nursing mom like me. He was 9 pounds at birth, and was 8 pounds 11 ounces yesterday. He's already a professional pooper, often granting us a second curtain call after we've just changed him. He's been sleeping well too, and once we get him to sleep, he usually sleeps for most of the night-time, except for feedings (and yes, I am knocking on wood as I am typing this!). He seems to be pretty content so far, and doesn't seem at all affected by the chaos in the house. It's apparent that he feels very at home with his big brother and big sister, who just love him. Maddie, in particular, just smothers him with attention to the point of literally squishing him. She's learning, though.The hardest part about this past week, is that I came down with Mastitis. It hasn't been particularly painful, but I had 3 days of severe flu-like symptoms that just wiped me out.... chills, fever, headaches, etc. Thankfully, we caught it early, and I was able to get on an antibiotic right away. Again, I don't know what I would have done if my mom wasn't here.

So, come Monday, my parents will be flying home, and Ethan and I will be flying solo (well, duo, I guess). I really have no idea what condition our home or kids or refrigerator will be like a week from now. I suppose it's a good time to focus on the priorities for survival, and let the rest of the details find their way back in someday.

Thank you to all of you who have emailed us with congratulations and words of encouragement. It's amazing how loved we feel even being so far away from you all. And, please feel free to leave any advice for us in the comments. We can use all the help we can get!