10 weeks old

If I say the words "time is flying" one more time, I might send myself flying off the roof!  But, really, it is.  Time, that is.  Michael is 2 and a half months old; he hit the double digits (10 weeks old) on Tuesday, the same day that Bobby and Maya turned 4 (a post on that is coming after this one!).

Michael is great.  He's still a chill little guy.  Unlike Bobby and Maya, who stayed on their 3 hour NICU routine (then evolved to a 4 hour routine as they got older), Michael is his own little man.  He rarely naps in the morning, except for the occasional doze at the boob (I guess breastfeeding is hard work!) or a periodic nap in the car (when he isn't yelling at me... not a car person!).  He's pretty much a one nap baby, beginning around 2pm-3pm (he just went down) and lasting anywhere from 3-4 hours.  Then, he's up, and back to sleep for bed between 7:30-8pm (closer to 8pm, and sometimes a bit later if things are crazy or we aren't at home).  He'll sleep until 7-7:30am, with a wake up to eat between 3 and 4am (depending on when he fell asleep for the night.  Until this week, Peter had been giving him a bottle when he woke up and I would pump, but as he's becoming more effective at milking, he's taking a bit longer between feedings in the late afternoon/evening and overnight, so I've been nursing him.  Usually, we both fall asleep together. :)  (I love nursing PJs... whoever came up with those clearly wanted more sleep at night!).  Depending on how close to 4am he wakes up, I usually just go to the couch and lay down, catching up on old Law and Order reruns.  My goal is to start putting him in his crib (he sleeps there for naps, but still not at night) and going out for a run.  But, I'm struggling to put him down.  I mean, really.  Do you know how hard it is to look at this face all day and not want to just snuggle him?

We're getting more and more smiles!  (and that's my shoulder- I promise!)

At his 2 month check up, he was closing in on 11 pounds and now, he has actually hit the 11 pound mark.  For comparison, Bobby was 4 months old and Maya was 6 months old when they were as big as Michael is now, at 2.5 months old.  When people say "Oh, he's so small," I cant help but want to say "You have no idea how BIG he is!".  To me, he's big.  And, we tried to fit "little" Doc into the outfit that Peter was baptized in (my MIL made this cute little "suit" onesie for Peter's Christening back in the late 70s and it still looks adorable!), and the chunkster didn't really fit.  It looked like some sort of hotpants on the lower half and we couldn't get the "belt" to close correctly; the neck was actually choking him.  Peter was only a tad younger when he was Christened and he didn't gain weight as quickly so... yeah, I don't call Michael small. :)

In Christening news, our little guy is being baptized at the end of the month!  I unpacked the Christening gown and every time I look at it, hanging in the closet, my heart flutters a little.  I need to take it to the cleaners to have it steamed and pressed, but really... it is ready to go!  I'm meeting with our pastor again on Monday to hand in the paperwork for the godparents (since they are parishioners at our old parish, they needed paperwork that states they are practicing Catholics in good standing) and to update Michael's birthday (we scheduled the Christening prior to his birth, so I didn't have the DOB to give them).  And, my mom is coming up!!!  Sadly, it will be just her as my (step)Dad, grandmother, nephew, and brother cant get away, but I'm so glad to have her!  She flies in the Thursday before the Christening and then leaves the Tuesday after.  And, lucky us, the kids are off from school that Monday, so they will get an entire day to love on her!

In postpartum news, I'm doing better.  Peter got me a treadmill off of a FB yardsale sight I'm on, and I've been sneaking in a few minutes of running when I can.  Even if it is five minutes (and sometimes, that is all I can manage in the day until he gets home), I find that it is enough to up my mood.  I'm not dropping weight quickly, but that is okay.  When I start to have negative feelings invade, I just repeat to myself that I'm nourishing a human being, that I'm eating wholesome foods, and that it took me 9 months to gain, so I have 9 months to get back to my prebaby weight before I'm allowed to start focusing hardcore on it.  May sound a bit nuts, but the self pep-talk is working.  It's hard to not be able to run close to a 9 minute mile (which was what I was working on sustaining for a long distance before I got pregnant with Michael) or to fit into my size 8s (I'm sporting a 14 right now).  It's also tough to get on the scale and see a number I'm not happy with.  But the fact that Michael is growing and eating well, and I have milk now (when I was starting to run out at this point with Bobby and Maya), these are the things that I try to focus on.  Today, I used some Kohl's cash and a coupon to buy a dress for Michael's Christening.  When I put it on and it fit, I ignored the size label and just enjoyed the fact that it was comfortable (and that I'd be able to nurse in it easily). 

It's hard to imagine that, in 2 weeks, Michael will be 3 months old and that, a quarter of his first year will be over.  Every day, as we all fall in love with him over and over again, is such a neat part of this journey.

10 weeks old