Month 2 - J Meets World

I keep thinking things will get a little easier and he'll get a little more self sufficient each week but nope. Third month's a charm?

Late week 6 we finally we got out of the house on our own. Our first outing was to Starbucks to meet my other Mom friends which went surprisingly well except for the wailing there and back because of our intense hatred of the car seat. Once there, he did great and he finally got to meet his buddies, Jude (6mo) and Emilio (3mo) whose Moms, Melissa & Erika, I've been getting together with since before J was born. The following friday, Erika had us all over to her apartment where they have a super nice pool we'll be getting in soon.

In addition to that...this month we had tons of visitors and J got to meet his great grandparents, grandpa Steve, Ashley, showed his eyeballs to Kelsey (finally!) and next week OUR AUNTIE MAGGIE IS COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Our month 2 check up with Dr. Berger was on Monday and we weighed in at 9lbs 1oz! All of his other measurements appear to be right on track too. Got another prescription for Nystatin because our thrush came back the day after we ran out of the first bottle. This time I'm using it more aggressively and also on myself. I'M SO SICK OF DEALING WITH THIS! He also twisted my arm about some vaccinations (dTaP & MMR) but I wanted to read in my vaccine safety manual about them first so we declined them for now. Since I'm a stay at home mom, (we'll be on a hefty vitamin/amino acid/probiotic regimen) and we're not planning on traveling at all until February (he'll be almost 9 months then -- BTW Pertussis is no longer deadly after 6mo of age), I don't really see disease being a huge issue for us.

UPDATES!

• SMILES! By the end of week 6 we started getting them. Big, gummy, gleeful smiles. My favorite! I'll try to get a picture of one soon. J also spends a lot more time awake and alert now; way more fun for me although I'm never quite sure what to do with him at this time aside from the regular singing/dancing/conversating.
• REACH & GRAB! When we have play time on our play mat, J now reaches for things and makes a good attempt to grab them. Sometimes he gets them, sometimes not which frustrates him but I try to let him sort it out before assisting him even if he's crying about it.
• Aaaaand lastly....we still hate the car seat even though we've been trying to get out at least twice a week in it. Makes me afraid to try the stroller but we'll test that theory next week, when I'd like to get back to our regular dog walk which may be too long for my back to be able to wear J.

Helpful Reading:

• "No Cry Sleep Solution" - Elizabeth Pantley
• "Attachment Parenting" - Dr. Sears
• "The Vaccine Safety Manuel" - Niel Z. Miller
• "Your Self Confident Baby" - Magda Gerber  

I've started a new page on this website called Baby Notes where I've taken notes from a book or two I've read because at this point I'm so tired every single day that I can't retain anything I read. 

 CLICK HERE FOR BABY PICTURES!
  
"The pressures of being a parent are equal to any pressure on earth. To be a conscious parent, and really look to that little being's mental and physical health, is a responsibility which most of us, including me, avoid most of the time because it's too hard."
~ John Lennon 

And OMG is this hard...