3 Month Baby Boy!!

Harrison is officially moving from being a newborn to a baby! It is crazy and amazing and so fun to watch! Everyday there is a new discovery, a new challenge, & a new accomplishment! I cannot even express how exciting it makes me to see my baby grow and develop a little bit every day. Month three was a big one for H (You'll notice I often refer to Harrison as H these days).

Since my time to sit and do things for more than ten minutes at a time is pretty non-existent these days I shall fill you in via list!

Here it is:

- He pretty consistently sleeps from 6:30-2/3. Nurses then is back in his crib in 20 mins then sleeps til 7/730.

- He slept "through the night" for the first time on Christmas Eve. From 9pm-7am

- 12.28.14 was his first time in his own room in his crib!

- 1.4.14 H found his feet on a nice cozy Sunday morning when we were having family time in bed before church. On the weekends when H wakes up Christopher goes and gets him and lets the dog out of her kennel and we all sit in bed and chat for a few minutes before we get up.

- He is a drooling spit bubble making machine!!!We think he has begun to teethe.

- He has begun to enjoy his bumbo. He must be squeezed in and out due to his massive thighs, but he enjoys it!

- 1.11.14 he has his first real laugh!! We were undressing him and singing to him to get him ready for his bath and he let out this adorable giggle!!

- 1.12.14 he rolled over for the first time! twice!! Both to his left. He has since rolled over many times to his left and a few times to his right. Chong thinks he will be left handed. He may be on to something!!

- Harrison flew for the first time!! And he rocked it! He slept the whole time on the way to Nola and then he was awake for takeoff on the flight back to Dallas, but quickly fell asleep. He was a super trooper!!! Funny antidote, H chose to have a gigantic poop just as the doors are about to close. So Christopher and I just stared at each other like what do we do.... it was on the verge of leaking out kind of big! Fortunately the plane was not crowded and we had the middle seat to use as a changing table. So we quickly changed him and put him back in my Sakura and rocked another parental challenge!!

- He attended his first wedding! Uncle Ryan and Aunt Maurie got married in Lafayette.

- He attended his first baby shower for Aunt Ruth and the twins!

- He met and got loved on by so many people when we were in New Orleans for his first time! It really made me feel so amazed to see just how much this sweet little is loved. He is so lucky, we are so lucky to have such incredible people in our lives!

-  He attended his first Christmas Eve mass and enjoyed his first Christmas!

- He got to meet his namesake: Uncle Chris!

- Harrison went to the track and watched the horsies for the first time!

- We enjoyed out first NYE as a family of three. We went to the Lee's house and hung in there until 1am! wowza! H slept on me the whole time!

- He loves love loves his bath time! Aunt Teeta got him a new bathtub and it has made his bathtime so amazing! Thanks T!

- We are killing tummy time!!

- Liuzza celebrated her first birthday!

- Drumrolllll: Harrison's baby cousins were born!! On January 12th! Adele Mireille & Louis Boudreaux Accardo! Sweet babycakes! We flew to NOLA to see and meet them and it was amazing!

Those are all the things my mommy brain can think of! I try to make a note every time something happens. But I am sure we missed something!! It is amazing to watch this little guy grow and change!! As always pictures to be attached below!!

Some of my mommy goals:

- Keep track of pictures in order to make a year scrapbook. There is a great mashup of pictures from months 1 & 2 and I can only distinguish some of them to where they belong.

- Naps in his crib! SideNote: he has napped in his crib twice today. Once for 40 mins and once for 20 mins. Butttt that is technically in his 4th month, so that will be for the next post!

faces, faces, faces

Fam photo at Uncle Ryan and Aunt Maurie's wedding! Besides the first 15 mins of the wedding, when I was a reader, H was an angel!

Road Trippin' from Lafayette to NOLA 

I mean.... hahaha! Photo booth at the wedding

Aunt Amanda's bday dinner at the Hester Hilton. Met lots of family for the first time!

faces, faces, more faces!

Aunt Ruth's baby shower! Clearly amused by his bubble!

Happy tummy timer!

Love this face!

Christmas Eve before mass

Merry Christmas!! First family photo at Christmas!

Christmas Day!

Many of the awesome people who came to visit H!

A Daddy and his boy!

More awesome people!

more more more awesome people!

Harrison and Christopher and their namesake - Uncle Chris!

Being silly in our morning bumbo sesh

New Years Eve!

Tummy Time puppy cuddle sesh

Bath time baby!

Liuzza is 1!!

Watching sister eat her bday cake toy

Morning bumbo sesh s'more

Just reading Little Blue Truck 

Yoga with mommy!

First plane trip! He rocked it!

Meeting cuzzies - Adele and Louis for the first time!!!

My 3 month photoshoot!!! He is very much into eating his hands these days...

Harrison is 2 months old!!

Happy 2 Months sweet buddy!!

I cannot believe how fast these months have gone!! I remember thinking those first few weeks, "I am not going to survive. I need sleep. I cant do this." But then telling myself, "it will get better, it is not always going to be this hard. Take it one day at a time and remember this too shall pass." Man o man there have been good days and bad. But all in all I am beyond obsessed with and head over heels in love with this sweet little guy. I cannot imagine my life without him and I cannot imagine loving a tiny person more. Do not get me wrong, there are plenty of days where being a stay at home mom is that hardest thing I have ever done. But no matter what, when Harrison gives me that big old smile or talks to me, it all goes away. And all that matters is this little baby. This little guy who needs me to make his world go round. And in the process he makes my world go round. I cannot tell you how much fun he is now. During his second month there are so many things that have changed, I just hope I can put them all into words for y'all!!

Here are some bullet points about Harrison's second month of life:

- Weighing in at 13lbs 15oz

- He is 24 inches long

- He discovered and is obsessed with ceiling fans. They can be on or still, but they rock his world!

- He loves baths. He doesn't always love the drying off and getting dressed part. I have noticed that if we get him warm and dry before laying him on the bed that helps. Also having a binky handy. He enjoys being sung too, our current song sessions are me making up songs to Christmas music. I cant tell if he smiles are my lyrics or "amazing" voice....

- He is obsessed with his letter wall and talks to them when he gets his diapers changed. He likes to be naked so I let him hang lose if it has been substantial time post nursing and he has had a solid full diaper.

- He has become the mostly smiley baby. It is amazing how he recognizes Chris and I an just gets this big old gummy smile. It melts my heart and takes my breath away every single time. I don't think I will ever get used to it!!

- Dr. O says he has the neck strength of a 6 month old. And man o man is he strong! If he kicks and you move into it hurts, when he gets a grip on your finger he doesn't let go.

- He is mostly a happy baby and seems to really appreciate being on a schedule, see below for talks of our schedule.

- On Tuesdays we go to bath time babies swim class 

- Harrison took his first road trip. We went to Houston for Thanksgiving. He did great!!

- He survived his 2 month shots with no reactions or fever. Phew! What a releif for mommy and daddy 

- He met the big guy aka Santa! He was not sure what to make of him. I think he did not appreciate Santa's beard. He didn't cry, but he most definitely didn't smile... See pictures below

- Grandpa, Uncle Paul, and Aunt Sue all came to Dallas to meet Harrison. He was instantly smitten and in love with his Grandpa! It was mutual!

Around thanksgiving, when we were in Houston he began only having one night waking for a nursing session, then back to sleep. It was amazing how much that change really benefited us as a family. We were all much happier and well rested.

Our schedule is:

(disclaimer: I keep to this time frame within the hour or 30 minutes. Some days he isn't interested in eating then, or he is sleeping, or he wants to eat a little sooner. I have learned to go with the flow and except that is is not going to be exactly the same each day. But I do keep it as close to the desired time as possible. Man parenting has made me flexible, I wouldn't go as far as to say I am no longer type A though... hehe)

- Wake around 7am

- Social time for 15-30mins

- Nurse 730am

- Read/Play/Talk/Activity mat for 15-30mins. Depending on when he starts to show signs of tiredness.

- Swaddle and Nap in swing from 8/830-10/1030. It is usually a good 2 hours. This is the time that I get things done, pump-clean-wrap Christmas presents-wash dishes-fold laundry-etc...

- Nurse 1030am

- Get dressed and hang in the solly wrap for  little and then we run our daily errand. Unless it is yucky weather, then we snuggle on the couch

- 130 Nurse

- 3pm take the pup dog on a walk and distract baby from wanting to eat

- We begin out cluster feeding at 4pm. Nurse 4pm.  We have found that if he stuff him he sleeps better.

- 430ish Daddy comes home

- 6 cluster feed session #2. Nurse 6pm.

- Cook dinner as a family after Harrison finishes nursing at 6

- I take a shower shortly after his 6pm nursing or after dinner. Then Chris takes Liuzza on a walk. If I am lucky I get a bath. A bath where the baby is not crying and I can enjoy it.

- Bath or butt wash (depending on the night) begins around 745/8. Also depends on how Harrison is and how his day went.

- Once he has been lotioned, massaged, and covered in lavender Christopher gives him his bottle that I pumped that morning. I pump while they bond and freeze what I pumped.

- Chris has been giving him the first 4 ounces and I finish up with 1-2 more.

- We then swaddle him and put him in his bassinet. This is usually around 830-930.

- Once he is down we both take full advantage of sleep and climb into bed until he wakes us up again.

- He wakes up for his night nursing around 3-330am. Knock on wood he would go back to sleep pretty easily after being nursed.

- He wakes up around 7 and we begin again!!

We are off to Louisiana for my cousin Ryan's wedding in Lafayette and 2 weeks home in NOLA. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!

Here is a glance at some of his second month:

The many faces of Harrison

A little play mat action. He isn't grabbing for anything yet. But he looks.

Gobble Gobble my first thanksgiving!! That top center photo... I die!

Meeting my Grandpa for the first time! They were both so in love

More and More face of Harrison

His Chong/Grumpy/Sir/Hondo/Name to be determined bought Harrison a camo outfit so he could be one of the hunting guys!

Snuggles with daddy. This was in the morning after he got up. He can get out of swaddles sometimes.

This is a glimpse of swim class. This is the goodbye/tummy time song. Harrison is going to work on tummy time

breakfast in my bumbo with my grandpa

Post 2 month shots passed out baby

Handsome 2 month photo shoot

toooo many cute photos

Play date with my bff Sofia

Santa!!

Ryan & Maurie's wedding. He was a champ!

Some more Harrison faces for your enjoyment!!

The Janes' have made it a month Y'all!

As I sit here (in the bath... thank you to my marvelous husband who is lovingly caring for our sometimes crying child) I think about this past month. It has been the most challenging, exhausting, educating, amazing, marvelous, spectacular, surreal, wild ride of our lives! I could keep going, but I will spare you, you get the picture! Harrison has made it a month in the care of these two brand new parents. Phew, that feels good! It seems so silly, a month is just a blip in time. It went so fast. We were tired most of it. I cried a few times. But we watched this incredible little human change some everyday. It is amazing how much love you can have for something so small!! I cant even explain it.

Harrison has been a joy to watch and love. Even when he is fussy (between 630-730pm), or wont go back to sleep without waking up a few times and having to be loved back to sleep (2/3/4am) we just love him so much. We spent the first two weeks with help from our parents and could not be more grateful for them. Then we were on our own, and I do believe we have done a great job. We have tried and bought about ten thousand different "swaddles" hoping for one to be "the one." I am beginning to think there is no perfect swaddle. He either HATES them, like hates them. Or he tolerates them, but they don't make a life altering difference in his sleep. We have tried:

- swaddle me

- wombie

- hospital blanket swaddle

- miracle blanket

- sleep sack

- aiden & anais swaddle blanket

- halo sleep sack

He went a few nights in each, except for the swaddle me and woombie. He lasted all of 2 seconds. He either gets out of it or gives you the look of death while screaming bloody murder. We have learned he does not care for his arms to be restricted but still be able to move them. So far the miracle blanket is the only one he tolerates. We are considering trying Merlins Magical Suit next. He likes the sleep sack, but then we are faced with the whole waking himself up when he flails his arms situation.

His favorite things these days seem to be:

-being held (24/7 if you let him). I wear him a lot. Sakura Bloom ring sling when out of the house and Solly Wrap when home. He is happiest there and our pedi says all is fine for now. I do try to put him in his crib, bouncer seat, and swing. Sometimes he goes for it, other times not. He will be content there for 5 minutes or 20. And other times he touches it and he disagrees. We had a few day stretch where he napped for 30min-2hr in his crib. That was nice.

- his fur sister. She loves him too so everyone wins here!

- nursing/eating... until this last week every few feeds he is fussy. We aren't sure what that's about, we may go to a lactation consultant for an opinion. He clearly is not lacking food though. See his one month check up report below.

- He enjoys the car once you first put him in and when you get moving. But if you wait too long between the two he lets you know he does not agree! The only place he will take a paci is the car. Which is fine, we offer and let him choose what he wants.

- The blow dryer. He has a pretty nasty diaper rash a few weeks back (when I was on antibiotics). So we would make sure his bottom was nice and dry. Man did the blow dryer change diaper changing. You start that thing blowing on him and he is a happy boy.

- Smiles in his sleep. so cute!

Things we have noticed:

- The saddest thing ever: he has tears when he cries. Breaks my heart!

- He has started talking to us. He says "ohh" or what sounds like it.

- He loves to look around and give you smiles

- He likes his butt washed nightly but does not care for baths in his bathtub. He enjoyed his shower with me though.

- He successfully took a bottle for the first time. On 10.15 at 430pm. He ate 2.5 oz and his daddy fed him! We thought he may want more after, but he did not. He happily fell asleep!

- He seems to like his daily book read. He has yet to actually look at the book, but since he doesn't scream his head off when we read I consider that a win!

One Month Check-Up stats:

- 12lbs 3oz

- 23 inches long

- 15.5 inches head circumference

First date! With Sofia

One month morning photoshoot

Wearing his first mono outfit from aunt Al and uncle Per! And his daddies gown. We also believe this gown was worn by his great uncle Timmy!

First bottle for Harrison and Chris

Success on all accounts