2 Months

Well the little man is 2 months old today. Hard to believe. I feel like we're finally coming out of the hard part. He's started to sleep longer stretches at night (5 or 6 hours at a time), there's starting to be a bit of a pattern in the eat, play, sleep patterns (although not in their timing). He's more predictable in public. And I just generally feel more confident about what I'm doing. And even the sleep deprivation is worth it when he smiles and laughs and coos at me.

Here's his 8 week bear picture. He's really not as fat as he looks in this picture. It's so hard to get pictures of him sitting up without it looking like he has a million chins. Not that he's not a chunky thing, just not quite as pudgy as he looks here :-)

Overall he is such a GOOD baby, though, that I can't complain. It occurred to me the other day that he has never had an uncontrollable crying fit. Ever. I thought all babies had those. He really only over cries if he's hungry. He also gets fussy when he's tired. But that's it. We're so lucky.

I'm trying really hard to run and get to the gym as much as possible. It's hard, though. I can't take Will to the gym and I can't run with him when the weather is bad. It's rained constantly for the last week and Tim's had stuff in the evenings so he hasn't been able to watch him so I haven't been as active as I would have liked. I'm getting really frustrated because I'm STILL in maternity clothes. It's starting to get cold now and I'm running out of things to wear. I did get into a pair of non-maternity jeans today, but they're 10's. I was an 8 when got pregnant and that's what all of my pants are (other than these particular jeans). I went to the OB's the other day (for yet another follow-up in the ongoing saga of my delivery recovery) and my weight is only about 5 pounds over what it was when I got pregnant. I can't believe that 5 pounds is an entire jeans size. I'm starting to get nervous that my shape has changed in such a way that I may never be an 8 again. I don't really care if I'm a 10 over an 8 as long as I'm in good shape, but the fact remains that I have an entire wardrobe built on being an 8. Thousands of dollars in pants, jeans, and suits that I won't be able to wear. Even my running shorts don't fit right. Having to replace all those close would really suck, especially given our upcoming financial situation.

Speaking of the financial situation I went in a officially told my boss I'm not coming back full time last week. It went better than expected, but I am really hoping to be able to do some consulting for them (both from a sanity and financial standpoint) and I feel like I'm not really getting anywhere with them on that. She was pretty positive at first, but has not seemed like she's on board since and I can't get a straight answer out of her. It's getting irritating. Oh well, everything works out for the best and I still think I am making the best decision by staying home with him. Something will work out and if it doesn't then we will just have to cut back on our lifestyle a bit. It really would be nice to have something to kind of mentally challenge me, though, and make me feel like I haven't dropped out of the adult world completely.

The good news is that I have been able to keep myself fairly busy on the social front. I go to lunch once or twice a week with other people (including other moms like my friend Beth from running group). I definitely need to build up more of a stay-at-home new mom network of friends. I went to a La Leche League meeting a few weeks ago. There were 3 moms there. They were really nice, but all into home births, attachment parenting, home schooling, cloth diapers, etc and I don't really think that's my crowd. I'm going to go to a StrollerFit class with Holly Duffy this week so maybe I'll meet some other moms there. It's in Hyde Park, though, so it may not be my crowd either.

I have been able to get back into running more quickly than anticipated, which is good. I did 3 miles last night which is great since I've only been running for 2 1/2 weeks. I was slow as molasses, but at least I'm getting the mileage in. The Reggae Run is this Saturday and I'm planning on running it, although I'm sure I'll have to walk a fair amount since it's a VERY hilly course. I've done it the last 2 years and have always been proud that I did not walk at all either time. Guess I have a pretty good excuse this time, though. At least it will be fun.

Will's 2 month checkup is this Thursday. I'm excited to see how big he's gotten and what percentile he's in. I feel like he's really long. I am not excited for the 3 or 4 shots he has to get, though. Tim's leaving work early to come with me because I think it will break my heart too much to do it alone.

6 Weeks

Time sure is flying. Everyone said that it would, but you really have no idea what that means until you're in it. Will is getting so big! I wish I knew how much he weighed (we still have another few weeks before we go back to the pediatrician, though). I'm guessing it's in the 10-11 pound range at this point. I can definitely feel it when I'm holding him! He's also getting a lot pudgier. His little cheeks have filled out and his hands and feet aren't so thin.

Here's his 5 week bear picture.

He's started to smile for real now when he sees me or Tim. It's absolutely precious! I've been trying to get pictures of it, but have not really been successful yet.

We're getting out more, which is good. Last Saturday my friend Katie came over and Tim, her, me and the baby walked across the street to the mall, ate lunch, walked around, and sat outside at the Pub while Tim had a beer. It was a gorgeous day and it was so nice to get out. Will did such a good job. I had to feed him at the Pub, but that wasn't too big of a deal. I think I'm just going to have to get over my uncomfortableness with feeding him in public. If not, I'm never going to get to leave the house for any period of time. At this point he eats every 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours. That's from the beginning of a feeding, though, and he eats anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes. That means that I really only have 1-2 hours to get out, do what I need to do, and get home. I ordered a "Hooter Hider" nursing cover the other day. It's supposed to be here next week. Hopefully that will help. It clips around your neck and has an opening at the top so you can look down and see the baby. I hate using a blanket because it's always falling off and I can't see the baby. The other option is a sling carrier. You supposedly can nurse in those pretty privately. Plus, you can nurse while you're standing or walking around. That would be great! I could get so much more done at home! They're so expensive, though. Like $65. That's ridiculous for a piece of cloth with some metal rings!

The baby's sleeping a bit more at night now, which is good. He had 4 days in a row where he slept from 10 or 10:30 until 4am. I got 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. It was heaven! Last night he was back to waking up at 1am, though. Hopefully he'll get on more of a schedule soon.

I went in for my 6 week check up earlier this week and got cleared to run. Yippee! I went with my friend Elizabeth on Tuesday night while Tim stayed home with Will. We were able to run a little over a mile off the bat. We did a 3.25 mile loop, but walked parts of it. Not bad, actually. It's definitely going to take awhile to get back to where I was, though. I went out with him in the jogging stroller this morning. That was a lot tougher. I couldn't really run for more than 6 or 7 minutes at a time because I was getting too tired. I figure between the weight of the stroller, the car seat, and the baby I'm probably pushing upwards of 25 pounds so it's not surprising that it's harder. Plus, it's more challenging running without being able to pump your arms. I'm going to have to get used to it, though. At least it's a good workout. My hope is that the more stroller running I do the better I'll do when I run on my own. I'm going to try to run without him 2 days a week (while he has some daddy time), run with him one day a week, and then get to the gym 1 or 2 days. I can also do some ab and core stuff at home. I just really need to get back into shape. I can't fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes yet and it's very frustrating. There's about 8 pounds that are sticking around and won't go away. I'm getting tired of these maternity clothes and once it gets colder I'm not going to have anything to wear if I don't get my butt in gear. I also REALLY want to do a 1/2 marathon on the spring and if I'm going to be up for that in May I need to start getting into shape now.