I've got a one month old!

As I sit on my couch watching Army Wives, checking my facebook, and thinking about blogging I look to my left to see a little tan dog curled up in a ball lying on a pillow and a thirty pound beagle, who thinks he's a little dog, lying on the back of the couch. A typical evening at our house... ... then I look down and see two little feet. One sock on, one off. Little legs curled up, a chubby belly going up and down with every breath and a cute little face with chubby cheeks, mouth open and a discarded pacifier tucked under his chin. One week old! It's crazy to think that a month ago our life changed forever. Transitioning from a mother of two to a mother of three has been a pretty seamless transition ;) Okay, maybe being a dog mom of two doesn't really count as motherhood but either way.  It may be a little odd, but I like to challenge myself to see how many tasks I can get done during the time it takes me to microwave something. It's amazing how many things you can get done while you make Ramen. I set the timer, push start, and I'm off. I might run to the bathroom or take out the trash. When I get back to the microwave I'm always surprised how much time I have left, so I'll wipe off the counters or load the dishwasher. Amazing what you can do in a minute thirty! Lately I feel a little bit like I have a three hour timer set during the day to get one thing done in between. Sure, I could do more than one thing, but it usually ends up just being one thing. Instead of a microwave beep though, I have a crying baby every three hours wanting to eat! So, when the feeding is done, my timer begins! I can take a nap, eat something, do laundry, run an errand, or just sit on the couch and be lazy. I often choose to just be lazy, but I feel entitled since Clinton is still home and there's nothing that really needs to get done.  It is crazy how life changes with a baby. When Clinton and I leave the house I'm constantly planning ahead... "When will he want to eat?" "Where will we be?" "Is there a place to feed him?"... I recently experienced my first nursing-on-the-pot-in-an-extremely-cramped-bathroom-stall. Exciting to say the least. I'm not complaining though, I love breastfeeding and it really is simple, I don't have to remember to take anything with me! The only "challenge" is other peoples awkwardness towards feeding in public. So, I try to avoid it. I love his little hairs I anticipated the changes that would occur after having a baby. What I didn't anticipate was how "easy" the transition would be. I thought I would feel more "limited" than I do. Granted, I DO still have Clinton home with me. Plus, I don't do a whole lot anyways... so not a whole lot has changed for me. Nevertheless, it's all been a pretty natural transition. I actually think having children will probably help me to be more involved and to get out and about! Speaking of getting out and about, I don't think I've ever mentioned that I started going to MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) when we moved here. Obviously I was still pregnant at the time, but this past Tuesday Caius and I had our first MOPS meeting since he was born! Being the little handsome man he is, he was a real charmer :) Thankfully he was happy the whole meeting and was wide-eyed as he took in the experience. I didn't want to be a stalker so I tried to take this picture as discretely as possible... One of the sweet "Mentor Moms" really took to Caius. Now, I realize I have an excessive amount of pictures but I haven't blogged much this past month and I have to show everyone the past month in photos.  I also have a bazillion things to blog about... I just can't seem to get caught up! Whit has done well so far. She is even a little protective of Caius at times. The past couple of days, though, she has stolen a pacifier, destroyed a different pacifier, and she stepped on the baby. The pacifiers were in the co-sleeper by the way, which means one of the dogs (I'm gonna guess the little nimble naughty tan one... not the clumsy clunky black and white one.... just a guess.) hopped into the co-sleeper to get the two pacis. I can deal with the pacifiers, but Whit didn't know what hit her when she stepped on baby man... literally, I smacked her. As much as I love Whitaker that's just not gonna fly with me! He looks like his daddy... This was Clinton Erich... ... and here is Caius Erich This is Oma and Clinton... and I just realized both Clinton and Caius have birds on their outfits :) Just like daddy :) I know that babies recognize their mothers almost immediately after birth, but I didn't really feel that Caius actually needed me much besides feedings. He is a pretty easy baby and is mostly content. So, besides wanting to eat, he didn't really seem to "need" me much. Recently I can tell that he is discovering who Clinton and I are and there is a certain security he finds when he's with us. He has discovered that his momma has long hair and I can tell he finds comfort in holding onto it when he is upset. While he is still a super good/easy going baby, I can tell that sometimes all he needs is to be held. I love it when all his needs are met... his diaper is changed and his tummy is full and yet he still unsettled and needs something. It is then that I know that he really just needs Clinton or I. That is when I feel most needed and I can just take him in my arms and snuggle him until he falls asleep. His little hands hold onto my shirt or hair and he drifts off to sleep. He just needed his momma... or daddy. Those are the best times. Caius uses 6 month pacifiers so they look huge on his face! I think he's cute even when he cries You can tell that there were only a few seconds in between these two pictures and I didn't do anything to make him stop crying. So, looking at these two photos I'll bet it went like this... "Whah! whah! whah!... oh, I've got soft hair... I'm okay" for some reason he loves sticking his tongue out while I take pictures of him Avery isn't quite sure what to do with Caius. He's pretty calm and gentle around him. I think he senses that if he hurts the baby he will get in BIG trouble. Tummy time! When Caius was three weeks old (aka last week) I put him on his tummy for some tummy-time and almost immediately he rolled over onto his back. I assumed it was a fluke because it's pretty early to be rolling over. A week later I set him down and... "whoop"... he did it again. So either he has figured out how to roll over, OR he's just really good at getting the right momentum and gravity does the rest. I'm still not sure, but either way he's rolling :) He's got a little reindeer tush :) He's started "playing" (laying) on his mat from great aunt Jane and cousin Melissa (THANKS!). He has recently started to follow moving objects and I can tell he can focus in on people and toys. It's fun to see him reach little milestones. At his two week doctor appointment he had grown an inch and gained a pound! 7lb 13oz - 20 1/2 inches According to our scale at home I think he is about 10 lbs this week! couldn't get a smile... I'll have to try again This week his newborn clothes are moving out and the 0-3 month clothes are moving in. It's bittersweet, because I loved him being teeny tiny and I also love him getting bigger and rolly-polly. I just love him. So as sad as I am to see him get bigger, I love watching him grow and develop! A month seems like a long time in baby terms, but tonight Clinton commented that he has had thirty days of living so far... when I heard it put that way I realized he's still got a lot of living and learning ahead of him! Happy one month Caius!