Trip to Boston

Greetings All,

We had our first trip to Boston this past weekend. We drove up on Saturday morning, grabbed some lunch at our favorite Burrito place, and went to my friend, Lin's house for a visit to meet the recent addition to their family. Aidan Chen was born one week before Owen was. He is quite handsome! Here is a picture of Lin holding Owen, Me holding Aidan, and big sister, Alyssa in the middle.


Chris went to get his haircut by his favorite Boston stylist, while I stayed at Lin's for the afternoon, and then we headed over to our friends, the von Rohr's, for dinner. They prepared lots of wonderful food for us, but unfortunately our visit was shorter than I would have enjoyed. They baby had just traveled as many places as he could stand, and we were already out well past his typical bedtime at home. We cut our visit short and returned to our hotel room. Fortunately, once Mr. O was in his warm bath, he relaxed instantly, and forgave all of the stress of the day. He has been sleeping between 5 and 7 hours at least one stretch each night...even when we were traveling! What an AWESOME baby he is! Look how happy Mom is to have some sleep!

Owen had his first immunization shots today

Owen is sleeping peacefully this afternoon. He saw the doctor this afternoon for his first round of immunization shots. Chris and I decided that we should go ahead and have all of the standard shots done for Owen, since we live in a huge, diverse city, where he could potentially be exposed to anything. Not being alarmists...just practical. Owen only cried after the 2nd shot, once he knew what was coming. Since we got home, he was crying more plaintively...I think the tetanus shot probably stings if it is anything like the last one I got! I put him down for a nap, and I think he somehow understood that the best way to avoid the discomfort was just to fall asleep for awhile. I hope he won't be too uncomfortable tonight.

Owen continues to keep me in awe. He is the easiest baby on the planet from my observations of the other new moms and their babies. Owen hardly ever fusses, and when he does it is obviously from actual pain, and not just moodiness. He usually wakes with a smile, and even 2 minutes after having his shots this afternoon, he was cracking smiles at me on the way out from the office. He is good at sleeping, consistent with his nursing schedule, and mellow and observant when he is not sleeping or eating. I can't imagine how Chris and I were so blessed to have him, but I am certainly grateful.

I stopped at babies r us to get Owen a summer hat, and did a few other errands on the way home. I had three different conversations with people telling me to enjoy every second because it goes by so fast. I can believe it!

Right now, my little O awakens...until next time!

Owen's new Play gym

Owen week 7

Happy Boy!
Owen coming close to discovering his thumb!
Owen enjoying his swing

Owen slept through the night

That's the good news. The bad news is, Mom didn't!

Owen slept about 5 or 5 1/2 hours straight last night, but from 3 hours onward, I was anticipating his next waking...mostly due to his vocal and active movements while soundly asleep...so I only slept through about 2 1/2 of his total time.

Today I attended another New Mom's group, this time in Hoboken...which is much closer to being in my neck of the woods. Hoboken is the next town over from Jersey City, and it only takes me about 15 minutes to drive there with midday traffic. I met some really great women at the meeting, and then was really pleased to be invited to lunch with a group of 5 afterwards. We looked like a baby parade strolling all of our babies into Panera! I had to laugh on the way home when I thought about the intimate details of my childbirth and recovery that I happily blabbed about with a woman who had similar experiences, that I just met an hour or two before.

It struck me that no matter how educated and varied our careers were/are, we are all dealing with being novices as moms. It is also the first time since starting college that I can remember coming into a new situation hoping to make friends, where everyone else was there also hoping to make some friends. -I have moved many times in the last (dare I admit) decade and a half since starting college, and usually I am trying to make friends with people who are already well-established in their social circles. I have already been invited to a play-date on Friday afternoon...Chris asked, What does that look like when all of the kids are under 3 months of age? I will tell you...a bunch of moms sitting around visiting at the park with big Lattes in hand! It is a playdate for Moms, really, not babies.

Our sweetie boy is down for sleep tonight. Cross your fingers that he stays there!

Owen is 6 weeks old today

In celebration of Owen's 6 weeks on the planet, we would like to share some delightful photos from his post-bath time last night, and some happy pictures taken this morning.

I went to my New Moms support group today, and had a great time talking with other women in the area. Had the chance to ask some questions about how to help Owen sleep longer stretches through the night, and have continued to discover that baby textbooks are not to be taken all that seriously! "Go with what works for your kid" seems to be the mantra of the group...there isn't a right or wrong, but there are about a 1000 different opinions and approaches to nursing, sleeping, introducing solid foods, etc. Whichever one suites your child, and allows the parents to keep their sanity...that is the one to go with.

I also learned from the meeting that Owen is really an easy-going baby. I am grateful for that!

Good news

I have several items of good news to report. The first is that Owen slept for 4 hours and 40 minutes last night between feedings...nursed before bed around 9:30, woke at 3am and then slept until after 7am when we get up for Chris to go to work. Heavenly sleep, welcome back! 5 hours is the duration considered as "sleeping through the night", and we are very nearly there.

The other good news is from Owen's pediatrician visit yesterday. Owen is now 11 pounds, which falls in the 50th percentile for his age. (perfectly average!) He is also 24 inches in length, which is in the 90th percentile for his age. His doctor finds him very alert and responsive.

He has begun to smile at us, and that is really fun to see.

We are planning a drive to Brooklyn on Sunday to see our friends Suzanne and Paul. The weather is cool and sunny, and driving is still preferable to taking the train. Dr. says we need to wait until 8 weeks before trying to ride the subway with Owen. --Mostly, we are concerned about heat and crowds.

Chris is working from home tomorrow, and I am going to the New Moms meeting in the afternoon. Should be a good day for everyone.

More pictures

Chris Spiked Owen's hair last night after his bath...wants him to look like his Daddy!

long friday

It was a long day yesterday. I think part of the problem was that I was overly ambitious as to what I could get accomplished in the day. In the morning, Owen and I went to have the oil changed in our car. He slept pretty happily the entire time, and I visited with a woman who was also getting work done on her car. She apologized for "chewing my ear off" with talk, but I assured her that it was the most conversation I was going to have all day and that I didn't mind. She and her husband both worked for the NY Port Authority (she is retired now) and were apparently in the WTC from the beginning, and through both terrorist events. I learned about her daughter being a voice major in college, and this woman's recent trip to Las Vegas. We talked a lot about babies because she is awaiting her 2nd grandchild in August.

In the afternoon, I took a carefully timed trip to Target to get a few articles of summer clothing for myself. Owen was sleepy through the whole trip, but it was really hot outside, and when I got him home and out of his carseat...he was really warm. I think he has been getting prickly heat when we go out lately, in addition to the baby acne that is on his face, neck and chest. He had a good nursing session, and I made the mistake after he had drowsily gotten into his swing, of believing that I could start cooking myself some lunch. I had the stove on, the oven on, corn muffins half assembled, and he started crying like there was no tomorrow! I had no choice but to leave him cry, running back and forth to him and then my kitchen, hoping not to cause an accident to any of us. After that, Owen was inconsolable and overtired the rest of the evening. He had the worst projectile spit-up yet...and the question was, did his being upset cause the spitting-up, or the spitting-up cause the upset? It is the age-old chicken/egg debate. Chris had to work late, so I was on my own until he arrived around 8pm to join in the fun. By 9:30, we put him in the carseat and drove to the grocery store...which FINALLY got him to fall asleep for a while.

It is fascinating to me how as a parent, I can go from feeling content and in control to absolutely desperate in a matter of minutes or hours, depending on the duration and intensity of the crying from a baby. Last night I saw the next three months of hot summer weather flash before my eyes, and suddenly feared them being a house arrest. Perhaps that had something to do with my only conversation of any depth being with the woman from the car dealership, and I didn't even learn her name. When Chris got home, I told Chris it was okay if he wanted to move back to Cincinnati in the future. Friends and Family. He understood; some days are just that way.

Last night was much more manageable with Chris helping, and me going back to bottle-feeding. By the time I nursed Owen this morning, his eagerness was "like an alligator snapping at a young child" (Chris's words) I hope the rest of today will be more peaceful than yesterday.

One of the things I really appreciate is checking the blog and reading comments from folks, and knowing that people are checking-in. Even if the novelty is wearing-off for our readers, please keep the comments coming, if only for my sake. Thanks.

P.S. Owen let me practice for two hour long sessions this past week. When he can tolerate being in his swing, he sleeps in it, in the living room while I play Beethoven and Schubert in the same room. I would think it would seem too loud for him, but he doesn't appear to mind. That is good news for me; I can make some progress on my Beethoven Sonata now.

Hope you are having a great weekend too.