To Smock... Or To Not Smock

Smocking+Little Boys= ?

When I found out I was having a little boy, one of my first thoughts were no hair bows and dresses.  To be honest I was a little sad!  I soon realized that you could find TONS of cute clothes for boys too.  But then came the question: Are smocked outfits okay for boys?  Well, I never doubted that smocked outfits were perfectly fine for baby boys, but my husband had another idea.  He of course was not so keen on the idea of smocked outfits.  As you can imagine he does not see them as very boyish.  I personally think ALL babies are precious in smocked outfits.  So started the debate between the two of us.  He of course mentioned that he was worried I was not going to dress our little boy manly enough!!!  

I grew up in the south and Vestavia..... smocking is seen on all little boys and girls.  Parker was only going to be a baby once and I felt comfortable putting a smocked outfit on him at least till two years of age.  Lyle finally gave in and now thinks the outfits are cute.  Of course he would rather see him in a football/baseball outfit everyday.  

I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion and some people are not keen on boys wearing smocked outfits.  I just think he looks so handsome and cute in them!

So I say Little Boys + Smocking = Pure Cuteness!

Four Months...

Four Months...

The BEST month so far!

Parker is such a happy baby this month!!!  He smiles and giggles all the time and is becoming a little bit of a mess.  I can already tell I am going to have my hands full when he gets older :)

He had his four month check-up this month.  He weighed 16 pounds (75th%) and was 26 inches long (90th%).  Looks like he is going to be a tall boy like his daddy!  He did great with the two shots he had to get.  He did not even cry until the second shot was over.  He only cried for a couple of seconds and then was fine.  He even did great afterwards while Mommy and G shopped.  Dr. Stone said he looked great!

Sleep: Parker is still doing great with the whole sleeping at night.  He goes to bed around 8pm.  Around 7:30 I give him a bath and then a bottle.  Right after he finishes the bottle I rock him for a little while and he goes right to sleep.  In general he does not fight going to bed.  I hope this is always true :)  I only have to get up once to feed him around 2:30-3.  He still goes RIGHT back to sleep after he eats.  This month he also slept through the night for the first time (8pm-5am).  It was great!  He is not consistent at it yet but I think he will be very soon.

Naps: Ha ha.... naps are still very inconsistent.  Sometimes he will nap for over an hour and other times only for 30 minutes.  The positive is he does nap!  During the day he can still only go about 2 hours and then is ready for a nap.  Sometimes it is less than 2 hours depending on how long his nap was!  I am really hoping one day we can be more "scheduled" about his nap times.

Food: He is still drinking a 6oz bottle about every 3 hours during the day.  He also gets some cereal around lunch time.  He LOVES to eat!  We are going to start baby food soon.

First: Parker took his very first trip this month to the beach!  He did great.  I will say not being able to put sunscreen on him does make things a little more challenging.  He enjoyed the beach but LOVED the pool.  He is a water baby!  Another first was sleeping through the night.

Likes: baths, being outside, his jumperoo, watching Jasper, his bottle, being rocked to sleep, his fingers!

Dislikes: being hungry, being tired

Overall, Parker is a wonderful baby and it is a joy to watch him change on a daily basis.  I am really going to miss spending my days with him when I go back to work.

Three Months....

Three Months...

Wow.... how things change!

Finally mommyhood started getting easy for me.  This was the month I really felt adjusted and confident in my new role/job.  I finally started enjoying myself again and felt excited about being a mommy.  I also started feeling confident that I could do it all over again and was ready to have another baby( when the time was right of course)!

Parker also adjusted to his new life outside the womb and was getting even more predictable.  He started sleeping more at night and really only getting up once to eat.  The best part about him getting up was that he went right back to sleep after the bottle.  All I had to do was feed him and put him on my shoulder and he was out!  So in all I only had to get up for about 20-30 minutes at night.  It was great!  During the day he would eat about every three hours.

Parker started enjoying his toys and could entertain himself more this month.  This made getting things done around the house more manageable.

He also started being able to stay awake for longer periods of time during the day.  In general he could stay up for about two hours and then he would need a nap.  The length of his naps were very random and inconsistent.  Sometimes he would nap for over an hour and then sometimes for only 30 minutes!  So you never knew what you were going to get.

He loves getting a bath and being on his belly.  He started smiling more and more and just seems to be a much happier baby.

In all this was a very low key month!

Two Months

I was ready to give up on the blogging world.... but my mom talked me back into it!  She informed me that I could use it as a form of "scrapbook" for Parker and that I would enjoy having it to look back on. So here we go....

Two Months....

The beginning of the the second month of Parker's existence was still a little rough.  I still had not completely adjusted to my new role/job and Parker was still adjusting too.  Towards the end of the second month is when things started getting "easier."  I started learning how to be a good mommy to Parker and started knowing what he needed.

I also adjusted to my new sleep schedule and this made things much better!  Everyone tells you to sleep when the baby is sleeping.  This is probably the BEST advice someone can give you.  Do not worry about your house, laundry, or anything else.  If you are not getting enough sleep everything will fall apart.

Parker had his two month check-up this month and his first round of shots.  He weighed 12 pounds and was 23 inches long!  Overall he did great with the THREE shots he had to get.  He of course cried but it was very short lived and he was smiling by the time we got to the car.  I thought it would be hard for me to watch but it was not as horrible as I thought it would be.  

Parker started sleeping better at night this month.  We still had some long nights but overall he started adjusting to sleeping at night better.

At the end of the month he rolled over from his belly to his back for the first time!!!  It was by far the cutest thing I had ever seen and I was so proud of him.  

The most memorable memory from this month though was my six week check-up with my OB, Dr. Heaton.  Lyle had to work on the day of my appointment and my mom had something planned.  I thought I could handle going on my own with Parker.  My mom did offer to cancel her appointment and come, but I told her I would be fine.  Hahahaha..... was I wrong.  Everything that morning started off great.  I got myself and him ready and to the doctor on time.  I was so proud of this accomplishment.     Of course my doctor was on call that day, which meant it was going to be a long wait.  About 15 minutes after we got there Parker got fussy.  I was able to subdue this fussiness and he seemed fine.  Then all of the sudden..... I was in BIG TROUBLE.  He decided to have a COMPLETE MELT DOWN.  Nothing worked... the paci, bottle, NOTHING.  I tried my best to subdue this meltdown.  I of course got very flustered and decided to just leave (after about ten minutes of him crying in the waiting room).  So I did!  I did not even tell them I was leaving.... but I think they figured it out.  Parker cried screamed ALL the way to the car.  Yes, even in the elevator!!!  The second I got to the car I lost it.  I called Lyle and my mom in tears.  Finally, Parker fell asleep and I met up with my mom :)  They called me and said "We take it you had to leave."  Um you think!!!  Luckily they let me come back later that afternoon (I think they felt bad for me!)  I OF COURSE took my mom with me this time around.  And of course Parker was an angel.  I joked with the nurses that I brought his twin brother this time.  Wow what a day!

Overall, I still LOVE being a mommy and feel blessed to be Parker's mommy!