Changes

I cannot look at these pictures of Drew without thinking about how much he has changed in the past couple of weeks! He is definitely starting to grow into his looks, and is looking much more like a little boy than a newborn. Where has the time gone?

He has also started to become a lot more alert and aware of his surroundings. When we read stories together, I no longer feel as though I am reading to myself while he is entranced by the irresistible siren song of the floor lamp. Yes, you heard me right. It is not unheard of for an entire 3-4 stories to be read with my baby not so much as glancing my way, but staring captivatingly at the floor lamp next to our chair. I have considered turning it off, but figure that if it's keeping him quiet and happy, I'd rather have reading time with the imposing floor lamp, than no reading time at all.

In addition to following along as we read, he's also become much more active during his quiet times. He has an ocean themed floor mat as well as a vibrating seat, both with toys and links on them which he loves to hit and kick. It is so cute to watch his arms and legs move simultaneously as he explores his surroundings!

Drew's funniest habit of late, though, occurs when I put him down at his changing table. Above his changing table are three frames, two of which contain pictures of him with his grandmothers, and one of him as a newborn. Lately, whenever I put him down to change him, he immediately looks up at the pictures, and starts smiling his huge, drooly, goofy grins. I like to think he recognizes himself and his loved ones and is smiling accordingly...I'm betting the grandmother's are apt to agree with that interpretation!

I think this quote sums up this post wonderfully...

...

Change always comes bearing gifts. ~Price Pritchett

...

It's true, dontcha think?

the little one sends his love....

Happy Wednesday, everybody!!

Love, Drew

Eye Candy

Just wanted to post some love in the form of Drew eye candy for Aunt Cat and Aunt Jessi! My sister, Cat, is in Pennsylvania for 6 weeks working as a climbing specialist for an area private school, and Greg's sister Jessi is in China for 4 months. Drew misses his Aunt's and sends his love!!

The "B" List

As cute as the pictures of Drew in last post's Father's Day gift were, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share those that didn't quite make the cut! It was hard narrowing it down--this kid is a natural in front of the camera (says the proud mama bear)! See for yourself...

Daddy's Day

I am apparently so confident in my belief that my husband reads my blog so infrequently, that I have no qualms about posting about his Father's Day gift a good 36 hours before he is to receive it. If, by some chance, sweet husband, you have happened upon this page before the Father's Day celebration commences Sunday morning, well...SURPRISE! For all others who need a cute, last minute gift for Daddy's Day, look no further...

My mother-in-law, a few months back, sent me a blog post from this great blog. In it, the author shares this equally great idea for a Father's Day gift. From the moment I saw it, I knew that's what I wanted Drew to do for his daddy for Father's Day. Simple though it looks, it was quite the project...and I am glad I had the foresight to start it as early as I did! When you multiply the number of hours (or, more accurately, minutes) of "good picture" lighting our house gets a day, by the amount of time Drew is in a good enough mood to take pictures, minus the number of hours in a day that Drew is NOT outfitted with spit up, milk, etc., and THEN subtract the amount of time it takes for me to run around the house looking for the camera...well, you get the picture...I started this project several weeks ago and it just literally came together late last week. In the end, though, I LOVE the final product, and had a lot of fun choosing pictures and putting it together.

As an aside, Greg did come across the wooden A and D a few days ago and asked about them...I quickly came up with some explanation of how I was going to spell out Andrew's name to display in his bedroom...lucky me that that explanation worked out, huh? Not sure what I would have said if we had named our child something else!

Happy Father's Day!!

End Justify the Means?

Wow-is anybody else with me in my shock that Drew is 10 weeks old today? It feels like the whole birth/recovery experience all just happened, when, in fact, it happened 2 and a half months ago. Crazy. Drew is continuing to be his happy, curious self. He has recently discovered that hands are so much more than just a means to pull mommy's hair and scratch at her face when she is trying to feed him-they are also a tasty, ready-to-eat treat! It is so funny watching him sit there and suck at his little hands. He hasn't figured out how to open his hand and suck on his thumb or fingers, right now, he's mainly just trying to cram the whole thing in at once. Quite charming.

My sister had her graduation party Saturday night, and Drew, being her "date", had to look the part. I've seen these tie onesies before and thought they were cute, and I loved how it turned out! He got so many compliments on it! Isn't he precious?

Goodness, I just looked at the clock (9:30 am) and can hardly believe how much I've accomplished so far today compared to most. The difference? Drew slept 9 hours in a row last night! It was amazing. Again, the difference? I gave Drew a small bottle of formula to top him before bed last night, and I'm not sure if it was the bottle feeding or the formula, but WOW.

In short, Drew usually eats his last full meal around 9-10 pm, and I put him down by about 11-11:30. Before I put him down I like to top him off to encourage him to stay down longer. For the last few nights, though, he has been so fussy and uncooperative that he eats for no more than 5 minutes or so, and is fussy and unhappy the entire time (hence the aforementioned hair pulling/scratching). I assumed that it was because he just wasn't hungry an hour after a full meal. A friend suggested trying a bottle, and, to my surprise, he drank almost 4 ounces of it last night! Afterwards he laid down with minimal fussing and was out until 8:00 this morning.

So the question of the day is this: was it the formula, the bottle, or a combination of the two? Greg and I have decided to try another bottle feeding tonight, but this time with breast milk and see how that goes. I really do believe that, if he had nursed last night instead of being given a bottle, there would have been no way he would have taken anywhere close to the 4 ounces he took in the bottle. Can anyone come up with a theory as to why? The nipple on the bottle is low-flow, so it's not like he's being forced to eat when he's given a bottle, and I also know that he could easily have gotten 4-5 ounces from nursing, so low milk production doesn't make sense either. Either way, nightly formula is not a habit I want to get into at this point, but, if I can achieve nearly the same results with breastmilk in a bottle...well, I see no harm. Do you?

Party Time!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

I love you!