Six Week Appointment

Ian had his 6-week doctor's appointment today. He is doing well and growing like a weed. Dr. M was impressed with Ian's eye contact and was surprised that he was already cooing for her. He's losing quite a bit of hair on the sides of his head, and I'm hoping he doesn't end up with a mohawk. Then we would have a little rebel Ian. :)

Ian weighs 13 lbs, 1 oz, and is 24 1/4 inches long! He's at the 95th percentile for his age and is measuring as a very proportionate 3 month-old! Not surprising since he's generally wearing 3-6 months clothes already.

Leave to my two to be at opposite extremes of the growth curve.

Happy Baby

Ian didn't sleep but 20 minutes for his mom yesterday, but at least he was a very happy baby. Just wanted to keep his eye on all that was going on. His vision is quickly improving as he tracks our movements, and he isn't too happy when someone walks out of sight. I tried to keep him entertained while I got a few things done, but he seemed only content when he had my full attention. I finally got the hint and sat down by him, asking him if he just wanted mommy to sit down by him for a few minutes. To this, I got a big grin and a GIGGLE! And then the one and only nap for the day - he's definitely learning how to reinforce my behavior!

Road trip!

Ian had his first road trip this past weekend, and he did fabulous. He finally got to meet one of his great-grandmas, Great-Grandma D., so it was well-worth the drive. He also got to cuddle with Grandma and Grandpa P.

I forgot how nice it is to travel with a newborn who sleeps the majority of the trip, despite lots of talking around him. Especially coming from the back seat. :)

One month!

From handwritten signs with Audrey to these - how I've evolved! This will make the monthly pictures so much easier as Ian becomes mobile. Catching Audrey during months 10 - 1.5 yrs was a disaster! Of course, now Audrey loves to be in pictures!

Let's see - what has Ian learned over the past month?

1) What stretching out feels like...
2) How to show off his head control
3) Reaching for objects - especially anything on his activity mat.
4) How to roll from belly to back
5) How to spray most things around his changing table...including his parents...and into his mouth!
6) Smiling! Smiling! Smiling! He smiles a lot for me, but I have to admit that I think his favorite things are the ceiling fans and his musical star...baby Audrey's favorites, too...

And, Ian spent his first night as a 1 month-old in his own room, in his own crib. He's growing up so fast! :)

Four weeks!

I remember having this argument with Eric regarding Audrey being 4 weeks vs. 1 month. But, since he's not in charge of the blog...Ian gets a 4 weeks AND a 1 month picture. He's so lucky!

Sleep!

Ian is really quite a good sleeper considering he will be only 4 weeks tomorrow. Though we were fully prepared this time (as much as one can be) for him to have his days and nights mixed up, he never did. Perhaps having a toddler who wakes during the night at times was helpful in making sure that Ian was rocked to sleep in-utero, even in the middle of the night. It's not to say that we wouldn't mind more sleep. I mean, on the request for Ian's birth certificate, I wrote his last name as my maiden name. And, when completing paperwork for his first pediatrician appt, Eric wrote Ian's name as 'Ian Ruby'...

Last night was pretty typical of the nights thus far, with Ian waking around 2 and again around 5, with Eric and I each taking a turn. I took the 2 AM feeding, and though Ian at times likes to try to be cute and coo at that time of night, he really was more interested in falling back to sleep. I had just gotten back into bed and heard Ian stirring a bit. The next thing I know, Eric is standing up, half asleep, mumbling something.

"Wow, that was really quick. I mean that seemed really short."

I have no idea what he's talking about.

I am usually pretty entertained though when Eric is conversing while half asleep.

Not amused when he tries to get Ian out of bed.

"Um, I just fed him. It's only been 20 minutes since he woke up last."

"Thank God!"

I think he was back to sleep before Ian...

Pictures thus far

In keeping with my weekly to then monthly pictures...

Weeks 1 - 3:

These pictures are sooooo easy to get at this age. :)

Catch up...

Ian arrived home on Father's Day. After all, my children must always arrive home on a particularly special day...

Since that time, Audrey has been a doting big sister, and Fris has barely noticed him. And I have been sprayed too many times to count. The laundry is immense. It's never ending. As are the diaper changes and clothing changes.

But, this little guy is such a snuggler. He seems to really like being around me to sleep, ahem, to be held, and it's a good thing a newborn can't be spoiled. It's so nice to put him somewhere and come back to find him there a few minutes later.

However, these days are numbered, I'm afraid. Yes, Ian decided to roll from belly to back at 2 weeks, 5 days. Ridiculously early. He seemed to need to find some sort of entertainment while it was 85 degrees in the house. Poor kid. The a/c was in the process of being replaced, and it was so uncomfortable in the house. A box fan we had bought the night prior had already broken, and Eric and I were checking out the warranty info. Needless to say, we looked up to see Ian on his back. He was not a happy little boy when he was turned back over to his belly to see if he could do it again. It's hot in here people!

He also started smiling at 2 weeks, 1 day. He certainly smiles when he's sleeping or has gas, but he also flashes his glorious smiles at me. Mostly when he sees it's about time for a meal. He likes to have a full tank, then he's all smiles.

I think I'm smitten. Again.

Introducing...

Ian Eugene.

I really thought about how to go about a shared blog for Audrey and Ian, but since I use this as a baby book of sorts, with the plan to give them each a hard copy when the time is right, I thought it best to keep their blogs separate as well. No doubt there will be some necessary cross posts, but that is a simple copy and paste for me.

To introduce Ian, he is an extremely laid back little boy who we had the pleasure of meeting 3 weeks ago now, on a beautiful Thursday morning. He is similar to his sister in that he had no plan to enter the world on his own, needing some 'coaxing' to meet his family. Unlike his sister, pregnancy was easy from the beginning, with only a mild amount of nausea. Eric and I decided to not find out the gender this time around, and though it was hard to do so, I'm glad we did. We were thinking boy from the beginning given the difference in symptoms, though in the end we believed we were having a girl due to what we thought was a slip up by my OB at the 36 week ultrasound ("Wow, that's a big girl!"). I thought she either later covered herself well, or she didn't really know the gender either. But, we came up with 2 possible girl names, just in case our hunch of having a little boy was wrong.

I was admittedly disappointed but not surprised that another c-section was scheduled. My babies for some reason just prefer to hang out longer than the doctor thinks they should, primarily given their large size. I had felt this little one was larger than his/her sister from about the halfway point, but I also thought my memory was likely a little fuzzy since it had been 2 1/2 years since Audrey's birth. But, when the 36 week ultrasound estimated a current size of 8 lbs, 6 oz, we all agreed that a scheduled c-section was for the best.

Eric and I dropped Audrey at school in the morning - me not being allowed in the building as Eric thought I would be too emotional. How could Audrey possibly comprehend how life changing this day would be - for her? For each of us? So, I kissed and hugged her good-bye, and watched Eric walk her inside. She was so excited about her dance class for the day that getting to meet Baby P later in the day was exciting, but really not the highlight for her. :) Our drive to the hospital was spent discussing which name we would choose should we have a little girl that day. I NEVER thought we would not have made a decision by this time, but Audrey was campaigning hard for a little girl name I had fallen in love with and had brought up in conversation with Eric on more than one occasion when Audrey was within ear shot. But, I loved the other name which he and I had agreed on, and told him the decision was ultimately his should Dr. Klus give us the good news of another little girl.

We arrived at the hospital at 8 AM for a scheduled section of 10 AM. My doctor called around 9 to confirm that she was running on time. Eric and I had a private room and spent most of those 2 hours talking and watching the History channel - Eric had the remote. :) At a little before 10, I was walked to the OR where I got to experience the worst part of my 2 c-sections - the spinal. I don't know know what it is about my spinal cord but both anesthesiologists had a heck of a time locating the "right spot". This anesthesiologist was very apologetic that it took so long, but in the end, I didn't mind. Eric was allowed in the OR then, with camera in hand. My OB had taken the time while I was getting my spinal to give Eric a tutorial about our new camera as she had the same one. She called him "the tourist" and asked that they bring him in when I was prepped, and she was ready to begin.

I was much more emotional during this surgery than with Audrey, not sure why other than perhaps there being more unknowns, especially if we were about to meet a little boy or a little girl. When Dr. Klus announced it was a boy, I remember repeating her words, and looking over at Eric, who appeared in shock. When the NICU team asked him for our little boy's name, he had trouble remembering it and double checked with me. I was so glad that we had a healthy little boy. When they held up Ian, I was shocked that his hair was so dark. And it seemed forever before they announced his weight. The medical team took guesses of what his weight would be - with Dr. Klus saying he had to be 10 lbs. She whispered to me that we had definitely made the right decision to schedule a repeat c-section. She later congratulated Eric and I on our beautiful family and wished us a good weekend. I was so glad our little boy was here. And I couldn't believe how flat my belly appeared. :)

When Audrey arrived later in the day with grandma and grandpa P, she immediately asked if she could hold baby Ian. She offered him kisses without any prompting and started to show off her very compassionate, caring side. How lucky Ian is to have such a great big sister.

Ian's middle name had been decided generations ago by Eric's family. Eric and I had talked about the name Ian prior to finding out Audrey was to be a girl. We had little discussion about boy names this pregnancy (especially in comparison to the hours of discussion regarding girl names!). A few boy names were talked about, but we kept coming back to Ian. It is the Scottish variant of John (God is gracious). And, we thought it was a perfect name for our little boy.

Let his story begin.