Reaching Out

This week has been a big week with Conner. He's been reaching out more and more, batting things with his hands and even grabbing a few things. Here's a short video of him batting around a toy the other morning. (Sorry about the sound - we're a little new to playing around with video. We'll get better, we promise!!) Conner has also gained a lot more control over his head and he's sitting up better and better every day. His new thrill in life is the "helicopter" as I call it. He loves being up high -- it's no so bad as long as the drool isn't dripping down!

A long day

Today was an especially fussy day for the little man. Not sure why, but he's down for the night now so ... tomorrow's a new day! He slept a lot too, but still found some time for smiles :)

Conner is changing every day -- it's really quite amazing to watch. He wants to sit up so bad, you can see his little shoulders lifting off of whatever he's leaning against. And he's always looking around -- he has, and has always had, a really strong neck, and when I burp him he rarely is laying on my shoulder. When I try to burp him over my knee, he goes stiff and straight across.

He's growing, too. It seems every day we're filtering through his closet to see what still fits and what can be packed away. I'm sure he'll be in the next size diaper soon enough!

Next appointment is March 4 with the pediatrician. Also, it seems to us that his hernia is getting smaller. Lets hope for no surgery!

3 months (and then some)

If I had a nickel for every time I've said time is flying by, then maybe we could pay off some of these bills! Conner turned 3 months old on Tuesday, waking up to a fresh layer of snow that melted away fairly quickly.

In these first three months, Conner has more than doubled his weight and this week he moved on to his 3-6 month size in pants. Christina and I are both surprised at the size difference with pants -- he's once again getting eaten up by his pants, but I know that won't last long.

Conner is setting up well - not quite on his own, but it'll happen pretty soon. He's also beginning to suck his thumb quite a bit. And the smiles are bigger and bigger every day. We have to sneak in the camera though to get the smiley photos - he's easily distracted by it.

The next couple of months are shaping up to be busy. In this short month of February, we'll have visits from family all over as Conner's baptism is mid-month, followed by Christina exiting the 20s. I'm also looking forward to getting Conner used to NASCAR Sundays! ;) In March we'll have a quick trip to Virginia Beach for a double-purpose trip - Christina has a Mary Kay seminar and I am running in the Shamrock Half Marathon for the third straight year.

It's show off time!

As Conner nears 3 months of age, his smiles and attempts to laugh grow more and more each day. It's so much fun to see. As you can see from the photos, he's starting to show off a little bit. He's also getting pretty strong. While he's certainly not sitting up by himself, he's got good control over his head and loves being pulled up.

His doctor's appointment went well the other day. Long story short, we were pretty much told to come back in about a year. While it seems that no one I know has heard of an umbilical hernia, it's quite common and it's generally not serious. So we're keeping our eye on it and not worrying about it. And, to me, it's actually gotten smaller recently.

11 weeks = sleep

At least for Conner and us it does! It seems as soon as he hit the 11-week mark, Conner started sleeping more through the night. Tuesday night he (finally) went down at 9 p.m. (he just didn't want to go to sleep) and was up around 2 a.m. then was up for the day at 7 a.m. Thursday night he went down at 7:30 p.m. (more his normal bedtime) and didn't wake up until 1:45 a.m., then was up for good at 7 a.m. Then again last night he was down between 7:30 and 8 and didn't get up until 3:45 a.m., then was up around 7:15 this morning. Woo-hoo!!

It seems as though Conner's growing in his sleep, too. We're slowly working the 3-6 month clothes into his wardrobe, and he's not yet 3 months old. He's more alert during the day, talking and smiling a lot. There's always something new, it seems!

Conner's first big road trip

We had a quick, cold, but fun trip to Ohio this past weekend. Christina's grandmother turned 90 last week and there was a great turnout for a party for her. Here's a look at some of the pictures of Conner's first visit to frigid Ohio.

The whole family.

Big smiles all weekend.

Bundling up for the single-digit temperatures.

Four generations of family.

Not-so-little man

After a two-month hiatus, I'm back! I'm still working on getting into the swing of life, but I thought I should take a minute to update you on Conner, who we affectionately call "little man." Well, we found out Monday at his two-month check-up how "little" he is. He weighed in at 12 lbs 14 oz and is 23-1/2 inches long. That's pretty impressive for only being 9 weeks old! Both his doctor and my doctor have complemented me on my milk supply's magic. :)

Overall, Conner is great. He's growing like he should and progressing at an appropriate pace. His smiles come more often these days and he's so alert and aware of us. It's so neat to see his changes every day!

On the down side, his head is a little flat on one side, but that can be worked out by us making sure he lays on the other side more often. Also, he has a herniated belly button. It's not pretty. For those of you who don't know what that is, here's the scoop: basically, the muscles in his abdomen didn't grow together like they should have, and his intestines are coming through the opening, making his belly button stick out. It's gotten much worse since our last trip to the doctor, and Dr. Grossberg referred us to a specialist during our trip Monday. Our appointment is scheduled for Jan. 27. Dr. G. said they usually don't do anything until the babies are 6 months old. It seems to bother us more than him, so we're not too worried about it right now.

Conner's sleeping habits are slowly getting better. The last two nights, he slept for 5-hour stints, as opposed to his 3- and 4-hour ones. His bedtime has also gotten earlier -- he gets really tired around 7 p.m., and he's usually down for good by 7:30 or 8. Our schedule is constantly changing!

I'm glad to be writing on here again and updating you on Conner. It was a tough first couple of months for me, both physically and mentally. Motherhood is a blessing, and I am so happy. I love seeing Conner's little smiles and hearing his little coos. He is really growing into a neat little person, and every day I am reminded what a miracle he is. At the same time, motherhood is a huge adjustment, bigger than I thought, I think. I struggled at the beginning with breast feeding and my emotions were haywire for a while. And it's a lot of work to figure out a schedule that will work around meals and naps. But I'm getting there -- we're getting there -- and every day gets easier.

Conner doesn't go back to see Dr. G. until March for his four-month check-up, but we'll update you on the appointment with the specialist. Supposedly, hernias are very common in babies, especially when they come into the world early like Conner did. And they can be fixed rather easily -- a small incision under where the belly button should be where they go in and stitch the muscles together. We'll let you know what we find out!