3 Months

Cam Jam is now 3 months old. He is actually older than 3 months but I didn't this post done till today.

Where did my newborn go? How did it go by so fast? My brother, Sam, said the other day that Cameron is a little person and no longer the souless blob. Sam never really got the whole newborn thing of a sweet smelling, sleep and eat all the time, that loves to cuddle and falls asleep on my chest blob. Those early days were hard ~ no smiles, no consistency, crying, crying, crying. . .but now I look back and miss my sweet little newborn baby. I tried to savor every little moment but I worried and I stressed about his life and my life and if we were doing everything right.

Things have smooth out. Cam and I have figured each other out for the most part. I get to enjoy the little moments of each day more now that my boards are over and am leisurely looking for a job. Life is good.

Cameron has developed so much of a personality. I can see his likes and dislikes, interests and even at times when he is scared. He loves to interact with people, just smiling at faces and taking it all in. It is amazing to watch this little guy grow. I have a feeling that Cameron is going to have a shy temperament because I see him sit with me or his dad and watch everything very closely. He likes the comfort of what he knows and then will watch something new from afar, taking it all in and getting use to it.

Cam Jam Stats:

Weight: about 13 lbs, probably a bit more now as we weighed him two weeks ago
Height: 23 inches

Things that have changed: more and more talking, can definitely see what seems like across the room, a bit of an increase in active/alert time, and he is starting to mess with his hands, so close to actually grabbing something. I am so excited for him to start picking things up but I forget that once this happens nothing will ever be safe. Oh, and he is drooling ALL THE TIME. Everything is covered from mucus sliding out of Cam's mouth. Bib wearing is a total fashion must right now.

Likes:
Bath time!
Mommy
Changing table & Mobile
Car Rides
Tummy time - from the start he has preferred his stomach and now he would rather be on it than on his back
Standing
Being naked

Dislikes:
Having to wait for Mommy
Being put in the carseat before we get into the car
Being dressed

Thank you Cameron for everything you are and everything you are going to be. I love every single little piece of you.

Spring Fever

It is so typical to talk about the weather but really it is truly something to be celebrate lately. This time last year we probably still had over 30 inches of snow on the ground. Today, it was 70 degrees and gorgeous. And when the sun is out and the day is warm, everyone is happier. We have been blessed with a very mild winter this year and I am all for that after last year's crazy snow and this summer/fall wicked weather (yup, we lost power twice for 5+ days - yea hurricane Irene and snow on Halloween) Let's just hope this feeling of spring is here to stay and there is no freak weather in 2012.

Here is what my husband and dog looked like in last year's winter:

This year is looking like a lot more fun:

Love those two :)

Sleep Training at 3 Months

We decided that it was time to start a sleep training schedule with Cameron. Cam wasn't one of those awesome babies that start to sleep through the night unexpectedly. And I had noticed lately that he really wasn't eating during the night but more so snuggling up into my chest and falling back to sleep. I went back and forth on if Cameron was too young (he's 3 months). But I came to the conclusion that he was ready for this when I noticed he wasn't even awake when he was fussing and crying in the night. I would wake him up by turning on the light and picking him up. Plus, I really wanted to stop bad habits as soon as possible, thinking that it would be less detrimental to Cameron the earlier on we dealt with this.

After a lot of research online and in books, I found Moms On Call. These women are Pediatric ICU nurses and moms who have developed an online class to help parents create a schedule for their child and get some much needed sleep. I took the 3 - 12 month online baby seminar last week and we started to practice their ideas on Friday night. The whole thing about the Moms On Call schedule is that it is 3 nights of work with your infant to get them to sleep through the night.

At the same time we are transitioning Cameron from his cozy bassinet which he is getting to big for - to the pack and play (as we don't have a crib yet - should probably work on that) This is also moving him from right next to our bed to the other side of the room - yes I did cry. I can't imagine right now a whole room away from us, the sadness, the loneliness.

Night One (Friday) - Cam woke up three times (12/2/4). I think I woke up every hour to just watch him for a bit. I eventually got him out of his bed around 6:30 am and fed him. The day routine was harder to stick to the MOC schedule but I think you can work on that after you really establish the night routine.

Night Two (Saturday) - Cam woke up once I think at 4 am. We got a little thrown off of when to wake him up because it was Daylight Savings - so I got him for his feeding at what was 7 am on my cell phone (spring forward time) but was really 6 am from when he went to sleep the night before. I woke up once or twice this night.

Night Three (Sunday) - I am pretty sure Cameron slept through the night!!! At least I did not wake up and hear him. My husband had to get up to go to work at 5 am and said Cam was awake but I didn't get him out of bed till 6:50 am and fed him. SUCCESS!!!! I slept from 10 pm to 5 am - that was the longest stretch of uninterrupted sleep since before Cameron was born. Hallelujah!!!!

Now, will be the true test to see if this works. And I have to try to start to follow the daytime schedule which is going to be a little bit harder. But I am really happy with the results thus far. The only issue I have to figure out now is the engorgement from not feeding Cameron in the middle of the night. I am waking up to quite a mess in the am.

Sweet sleeping baby

Back on the Band Wagon

I am going to try to do this for real this time. I really wanted to try to blog like many new moms while I was pregnant and especially when my little man was first born. I wanted to try to capture that time and write down everything and anything so we could remember it always. But life is busy (as always) and I haven't had the focus to give this a try again.

The past year has been a complete whirlwind. And has done a 180 degree change for us. Now, my family is at a place where life is not happening so so fast. I really want to try to enjoy what is happening right now. Not look to the past and not always be looking toward the future. Just take in what is right in front of me now.

For now, I just want to try to write down what we do each day. Whatever is happening in our lives. Everyone tells me this time in my life flies by and soon you are wondering where it all went. This is my try at attempting to hang on to those moments.

So to start off, here is a small video of my little man from last night (4/8/12). After he takes a bath he comes out of the tub super happy no matter what mood he was in before. This is one of my favorite times in the day together. What makes this so special is that we usually have this time together, as a family, just Matt, Cameron and I.

Belly Picture Week 13

I am a little late starting the belly pictures. I wanted to start awhile ago but I couldn't figure out the outfit (which probably will change) or a place in the house to take the picture (which may change to) Today I finally just bit the bullet and took a couple. Here is it:

I may just be a bit blotted too because I have been having oh so much fun cramps ever since lunch today. My belly button is sticking out today and has done so in the past but I have found other days it decides to go back in. Weird. I am told the cramps are from ligaments and tendons stretching. I will take that as a good sign of growing. Maybe next week we will be a little bit bigger. 

13 Weeks

Yesterday I hit 13 weeks. Here is what is going on in "our" world:

Baby Gummy Bear:
Isn't really a gummy bear anymore. He/she has limbs and fingers and toes and a nose and ears and I could go on and on. There is a little person growing inside me now. It's pretty crazy.

I am told the baby is about the size of an orange. That is getting pretty big now. I am so use to a pea or sunflower seed that to have something the size of my hand feels really significant. On average, babies now are almost 3 inches long and 1 ounce in weight. The babies eyelides are now fused together to protect the eyes, tissue that will eventually make bones is starting to form (osseous tissue from my anatomy class) the ribs and in the arms and legs. Vocal cords have developed also. What is really neat is that the baby is already starting to bump and move around! We saw this last week when we went for an ultrasound. The baby wouldn't stay still for the doctor to have a good look. Maybe I already have a future dancer!!! 

Me: 

I am feeling really good. I have started to "pop" and have a little belly forming. Though I have noticed weight in other fun areas also. I still gag at bad smells/yucky food. I am hoping this will start to subside more as I start a clinical rotation in the hospital next week and don't want to be gagging a lot in front of patients. I think that might lower my quality of care. My hair feels fuller finally and my nails definantly feel stronger. Oh, and I have had some acne pop up. I have to look into some better moisturizer for my face, probably something for oil. Besides that things are trucking along. I have to do a lot of reading this weekend for my Maternity Nursing class so I am excited to learn some new things. 

Matt and my brother Sam are away on an all-men camping trip and my Dad took off for the weekend so it's just me and Finley hanging around. It is gorgeous this weekend but I am stuck doing too much school work inside. The only pro to this is that it does protect me from laying out in the sun and getting sunburned. 

Our Little Secret

So I have left off for a bit but I have a really good reason. I have been keeping a secret. This secret has been taking up the majority of my head so I haven't really had anything else to say besides this secret. But now the cat is out of the bag and we are ready to share our news with the world.

WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!!!

This is beyond a dream come true for me. I can't put into words how excited both my husband and I are. There is a little person growing inside of me and it is just so amazing!!!!

I am in my 12th week and our due date is December 9th. Not much is going on with me so far in terms on any belly or morning sickness (that's a good thing right?) I am extremely lethargic and could probably sleep the days away. Besides that everything feels good thus far.

I feel so blessed to be at this stage in my life and be able to make a small family with the man I love. Though we are not 100% ready (who ever is) I have complete faith that everything will work out. This is just the beginning of something truly beautiful.