Weeks Five and Six

So while Judah sleeps in my arms, I thought I would take a minute to update you the home front. The last couple of weeks have been a whirl wind of ups, downs, and lots of firsts for all of us. Somehow God has gotten us through each moment and day with just enough grace. And to top it all off, Judah celebrated six weeks this last Friday.

Judah has had experienced a lot of firsts: first restaurant (Mustards), first holiday (4th of July), first visit to Bible Study, first visit to HyVee, etc. We have trying to get out of the house more and our first family outing was to the Des Moines Arts Festival. Judah does a good job riding in the car and often sleeps during the drive. We did take Judah to the fireworks on the 4th of July. This year we went to see fireworks in Windsor Heights since it was so close to a feeding time and it was only five minutes or so from home. Little did we know that they actually set off the fireworks in the Walmart parking lot. We discovered we were in the third row when the first one went off and Judah levitated out of Tim's lap, wet his diaper, and then fell back asleep. Worrying that it was too loud and we would get stuck in traffic, we left shortly thereafter. Judah slept through his first grocery errand although he just grinned in the milk aisle and frowned in the baby aisle when we bought diapers (I guess he knows). Judah also got his first big boy bath and he liked it!

To some degree, Judah has settled into a routine (course it will change as I write this). Judah has started sleeping from 11pm to 4pm or 5pm every night. Tim and Judah have moved to the nursery so that I can actually sleep. I usually put him to bed and do the early morning feeding while Tim will then take the 6pm feeding. Occasionally, Judah has had us up at 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, and 8pm for feedings and as a result, Tim and I have learned to survive by doing alternate feedings. Feedings have gotten better for both Judah and I. During the day, Judah and I have been taking a walk in the morning. He usually gets sleepy around 11am, otherwise we spend time on the play mat. Then we try to take a late afternoon nap before we do evening activities. Judah is again awake in the evening before the last feeding and so usually we spend time playing then too. Tim and I have learned though that before that last feeding, we all need to get ready for bed so that as soon as Judah is laid in his cradle, we are off to bed ourselves. I guess you could say it is the routine of survival.

Judah's personality has really blossomed and he has so many cute quirks. Judah is very social as he likes to talk to you or be held especially on daddy's chest. He has started really cooing and talking to you. He stays awake more often now and makes happy faces which are almost a full grin especially at momma (or when daddy tries tickling him). Judah also takes some time during the day to play on his play mat as he really likes to look at his elephant and giraffe toys. When we give him tummy time, he can hold his head up really good on his own. He has also starting squirming all the time; I like to call him Herman my squirming worming. He arches his back now, rolls on his side, and uses his feet to scoot that we now have to make sure to strap him into the swing and bouncy seats lest he falls out. Whenever we get him up and after feedings he curls his feet and just stretches his arms with his back arched again. He then makes hand gestures that resemble gang symbols. He also likes to make noises in his sleep and often grunts like an old man; in fact he will be sleeping soundly and all the sudden we will hear this full fledged chuckle. And Judah just keeps growing; our friend Shareen (who is a nurse) brought her scale during her visit last week and Judah weighed 9 pounds and 8 ounces.

While mom has experienced some anxiety over the last couple of weeks, Judah has overall been easy going making it a blessing for mom and dad. A lot of people have been over to help us as we are still trying to get on our feet and recover from the hospital visit and lifestyle change and so Tim can go back to work. We are so thankful for those who have come over to babysit so that I can nap, do our dishes or laundry, or simply offered encouragement. We have had more visits from both Grandmas who like to cuddle and play with Judah.

Guardian Angel

My first trip to HyVee!

Another Phase...

Just when things seem to be getting easier, we enter a new phase. This is the fussy stage. I guess you could say that God gives you just the right amount of energy at 4 weeks to deal with the next phase.

Monday we took Judah to the doctor's office for concerns about vomiting. It seems like over the weekend the little man has starting spitting up more frequently in an almost forceful, projectile way. Being up most of Sunday night, we had experienced this 4 times in the last 24 hours. On top of that, Judah has been either fussy or falling asleep during feedings. Since he is gaining weight (now weighs 9 pounds) and everything looks fine, the doctor says he is just going through a phase. For mom though this is the worry or try my patience phase. I better get used to it.

Then on Monday night, Judah had a little constipation. If he only knew that I was writing about it! Anyways, thank God for gas drops and a vibrating bouncy seat. After several hours of being up during the night, we all finally got some sleep the next day.

This week started out on the right foot though. Grandma Kreis came down to help again doing laundry and dishes. Then we seemed to get into more of routine with night time feedings going well. Tim has been slowly making his way back to work and I was feeling better enough to do more around the house. And the weather has been more bearable for us to be out on walks and sitting on the porch.

Sunday we officially took our first family outing in public. Unfortunately we missed church due to the feeding schedule but since the weather was nice we decided to go to the Des Moines Arts Festival to walk around (one of our favorite summer events). Everything went well for the two hour round trip and it was nice to be out. I think it will be funny to tell Judah that his first family outing was to look at art. Why not start exposing him to the arts and culture him early, right? Also, this week was not only the first family outing, but we have been out of the house three days in a row.

I am still getting used to being responsible for a child. For example, when we went to the doctor's office, it took a second to register when they called for Judah to go back, that they meant us. The same was true when we had to fill out his paper work at the two week appointment. In addition, today Judah got his first piece of mail with his name on it (other than all the cards from friends): his social security card. I guess you could say he is officially recognized now by the government.

The funniest thing happened this week. If you have seen Maestro play fetch, he brings over the twisty tie to you and expects you to throw it. Well, when Judah was on his play mat, I caught Maestro bring over the toy and drop it right by Judah. I guess Judah will have a play mate.