Monday: one month

Isaac is one month old today!

He got dressed in his Animal shirt because it had been a rough night. He kept waking up.

Isaac and Flurry are starting to get along better.

I pumped for the first time! I had wanted Isaac to eat before an appointment, but my attempts at gently waking him up failed completely. Next up is actually getting him to eat from the bottle though.

And sleeping. He took two amazing naps during the day; I wish they were at night instead.

Ben and I were talking about how much he's changed in just a month. He's grown a ton...clothes that used to be way too big are almost too small. His head can stay up easily during tummy time. He can roll over (when he's in the mood). He doesn't sleep as well at night.

Sunday: socks and sheets

This morning Isaac soiled the last pair of clean socks that he had. (That fit...he had some that were too big and lots of pairs waiting to be washed.). So since he was going to wear socks that didn't fit no matter what, I thought he might as well wear some of Ben's.

We also went to the new house and put our bed together. Guess what we found? The bottom sheet from our sheet set! The movers hadn't taken it off, which is why I was unable to find it in April.

It also snowed ton this morning. Around 7 I don't remember seeing much accumulation (although I wasn't looking very hard) and by 11 there was about ... 8"? I'm bad at estimating snow depths, but it was a lot.

Saturday: moving part 1 and tears

This morning I saw isaac's first tears...one from each eye. He had just conked his head on my collarbone pretty hard and apparently it hurt.

We also have all the stuff from the storage building moved into the house! A huge thanks goes out to Bens dad, who we didn't expect to be there but helped a ton. But all the furniture is in the house and in the correct room. Well, I guess there are a few pieces left, but nothing big.

Friday: 4 weeks

Today Isaac is four weeks old!

(the quilt is almost done, too)

We also went to the new house to get a few thing ready for moving phase 1. In doing so, we got some pictures of Isaac in his new bedroom.

Thursday: a house, a date

Today we bought a house! However, I don't have any pictures right now. We'll be slowly moving in over the next few weeks. Isaac was great at the closing and slept right through it. While the process was somewhat stressful, we had an amazing mortgage agent who was one of the most responsive service-industry people i've ever worked with, and that was great.

Then tonight Ben and I went on a short, but very nice date. We left Isaac with Dad and Pat and went to a nearby restaurant. Isaac was apparently on his best behavior while we were gone...hurray!

Wednesday: post 2

So here I am, feeding Isaac, and find that I already wrote tonight's post. So I thought I'd write another.

A lot of cool things are happening tomorrow. It will be an exciting blog post. Actually, it might not be. But it will have exciting news.

My finger pads are dry. Not cracked, but a lot drier than they were before Isaac was born.

I pronounce the j in bjorn (buh-jorn). I think it is because I read the word fjord before anyone said the word to me, and the hard j stuck. I even think I read it in "a wrinkle in time" but would need to reread the book to confirm.

Following jess' example, i've been doing a lot of reading to Isaac from the book I'm reading. And I've found out that weird names of people and places are really annoying. I have no idea how to pronounce them, so stumble over them a lot. It's especially annoying when the name is only going tobe used once. When reading to myself, I don't think that I pronounce weird names, but look at the letters in the name and go with that.

Isaac seems gassy tonight. I wonder why. It certainly isn't helping him sleep.

Wednesday: pictures and video

Today the baby pictures were posted!  Woo-hoo...I love them.  If you want to see all of them, you can go here: http://www.pictage.com/1203102

But here are some of my favorites (copied by permission).  Christen did a great job, and you can see more of her work here: http://www.christenbphotography.com/ (and she is available for other photo sessions if you're interested!)

 I might have to expand my picture wall.  How am I going to have all the cute ones of Isaac and still have other memories and people on it?

Here is another video of Isaac rolling over because that's the only trick he currently has in his repertoire.  It takes him forever, but he does it.  Sound was removed.

Tuesday: in the hood

Last night did not really go all that well. Isaac did not want to be put down, so we watched a movie. Then he was hungry about every two hours. :(

This morning we both had hoodie sweatshirts on. Actually we both had them on all day, not just in the morning.

We also tried the Bjorne again. Yesterday it didn't work, but today I realized I had to put some straps through some loops. Once I did that Isaac calmed down. I was hoping that he would stay awake in it, but he fell asleep. I had a 12:30 appt and I was trying to get Isaac to start a nap cycle in the car, but it failed completely. Oh well.

Monday

Today Isaac was cranky.

Here he wasn't cranky for 15 minutes...

(ok, there were several other times he wasn't cranky. But as he is getting older he is getting fussier.)

Flurry had an awesome pose during the above nap. She was trying to get my ham sandwich. Too bad my collection of water bottles joined her too.

And here are Ben and Isaac bonding before bed time.

Sunday: 5 diapers

Amanda removes a dirty diaper from Isaac (#1).

Isaac pees, soiling the diaper that is under him for such emergencies (#2).

Amanda gets a new diaper and wrap under Isaac. Isaac poops. (#3)

Amanda quickly removes the soiled diaper before it gets over anything. Isaac finishes pooping on the new emergency diaper (#4).

Amanda finally gets a clean diaper on Isaac (#5). Phew.

Saturday: one outfit

Today's big news is that Isaac managed to stay in the same outfit all day! Hurray!

Friday: 3 weeks

Today Isaac is 3 weeks old!

He also started using the next size diaper, which worked very nicely.

I put him down on the floor while I was going to the bathroom this morning, and made Flurry make a choice: get water but get close to Isaac or stay away from both. She decided to get the water, but stalked by Isaac very carefully and as close to the wall as possible.

Thursday: more rolls

We went out today and saw Christen and Samuel. And it was a lot of fun. It was nice to get out and see them and swap poop stories. (And a lot of other stories too.)

Then Ben was spending tummy time with Isaac and gently bonked him on the head with his head. And Isaac said "Ow"

 Then Isaac rolled over. We both saw it. Then he did it again. Then we got it on video.
 He just did it for a fourth time, and this time he didn't start with his arm under him but to the side.

Wednesday: busy

Today was another busy day, but good. It started with a trip to Grand Haven to get Isaac on my insurance and show him off to coworkers. He did an awesome job of being cute and sleeping while we were there.

Then Dad came over during lunch.

Isaac had his first real bath, but it didn't go very well and ended up being a half bath.

Then he decided to show his support for Hope College. (there was also a Hope/Calvin game tonight which I was completely unaware of at the time.)

(of course, he got it wet a short time later so I don't know if that is a sign.)

Then Grandma and Grandpa came over for dinner and a game of bean farmer. It was fun, and the food delicious, but isaac got fussy near the end. Ben weighed Isaac on our scale, which is only precise to the nearest half pound, but he was at nine pounds.

Tuesday: trifecta

scene: changing a diaper on a plastic changing pad

Amanda: all right! The diaper is just wet!

Amanda puts diaper in hamper.

Isaac poops.

Amanda: the outfit!

Amanda scoops up Isaac, hoping nothing got in the poop as the watery part runs all over the middle of the pad.

Amanda: now what do i do with you?

Amanda puts Isaac perpendicular to her on one of the pad sides and starts getting the new diaper ready.

Isaac pees.

Amanda quickly puts the diaper over Isaac.

Amanda: oh, you got me that time!

Amanda gets the diaper on Isaac.

Amanda decides that while the outfit was mostly saved, it should still be replaced and takes it off Isaac.

Amanda picks up Isaac to check his back and the diaper.

Amanda: You could complete the trifecta and spit up on me too.

Isaac burps.

Isaac spits up all over Amanda's shirt.

Amanda: thanks.

Monday: fussy

Last night and today Isaac was fussy. I was up an extra time or two during the night and when I was up they were longer stretches. Now, I'm sure it could be worse; we weren't carrying an inconsolable baby or anything. But it was still annoying.

The fussiness continued throughout the day...kind of the same thing. Only one person was able to hold him in one position or he wasn't happy. Oh well, we made it through the day.

Well, here's hoping for a better tomorrow. Especially since Ben wont be around during the day.

Sunday: this and that

Today Isaac got to wear his crazy drummer Animal

But it was short sleeved, so he also wore the sweater from grandma.

I thought putting those two articles of clothing together was hilarious.

Ben also had Isaac doing a "trick" this afternoon. When I came over to watch, he wouldn't do it. Then he got huge grin on his face. (I know it was gas, but the timing was perfect.)

Saturday: snow and dominion

Last night Flurry joined us on the bed for most of the night. She also got up with me for all of Isaac's feedings, which was nice of her.

It has snowed nonstop here since Friday morning, and we've probably gotten around a foot of snow. It's beautiful.

Some friends came over this afternoon with their seven week old son. Our goal was to finish one game of Dominion. We managed to finish two because both boys took good naps at the same time.

Friday: two weeks...and more

Isaac is two weeks old today!

But first, here is a sneak peak at some of his newborn photos. I really like all of them, but some of my favorites are the first one of me holding him (he has that look all the time after nursing), the wrinkled brow, and the basket. http://www.christenbphotography.com/?p=2898.

Here is isaac at two weeks

Good job with the head! (there haven't been anymore rolls, so it must have been a fluke).

Isaac also decided to play with a tiger.

First it scared him

Then it got him

Then he got the tiger by its tail

And finally Isaac captured the tiger. It was tiring work.

Isaac also lost his umbilical cord today!

Thursday: out!

Last night we tried a new swaddling blanket...with Velcro. It was awesome. It contained Isaac's hands while only requiring one adult to put it on. He also slept for over four hours at one point. Er, he waited four hours between feedings. I guess there is actually a large difference between the two statements,

In the morning we went out for the first time! It was a little challenging trying to remember what buttons on the stroller do what,but we got it figured out. We really werent out for long...we were home within 45 minutes and most of that time was spent in the car. But I was exhausted for the rest of the day

Wednesday: eating. Sleeping. Rolling?

Eating.
Isaac seems to have developed a few poor habits in regards to eating the last few days. 1) when he's hungry (and in eating position), he turns his head as far as possible in the opposite direction of where his food is. He is still looking for food, straining his neck, it's just in the wrong location. This of course makes him even "madder" than he was because he still doesn't have food. It only takes about 10 seconds to turn towards the correct direction, but it feels like a really long time. 2) Isaac sometimes just seems to play with his food. I'm not sure if this is because milk comes out so easily in the beginning that he gets a taste without latching and that makes him go crazy or if it is another reason. I'm not sure if this is interfering with eating.

Sleeping
Several pictures were taken of a sleeping Isaac today.

With his hand straight up in the air (it stayed there for a while).

In his crib

And in his bouncer. Flurry is jealous of the hanging things

Rolling?
I put Isaac on his stomach for tummy time. He got mad so I started patting his back. Next thing I know isaac is on his back. Did he do that by himself? Did I unknowingly help? We will find out.

Tuesday: more pictures

This morning Isaac slept until a little after nine, so I actually got up about ten minutes before he did...and it was wonderful. I was able to get dressed (at least as much as i "get dressed" these days) and get some breakfast together.

Isaac slept better in the swing this morning so I was able to do some light housework.

This afternoon we had our first official tummy time. (he's had unofficial tummy time on our chests.). Since he was awake I tried to get some of his facial expressions...it's amazing how many he can make in a short time.

He also took a nap on the floor. Flurry watched.

Monday: home alone

Today was our first day home alone. It went fine...not great but not terrible either. Isaac was a bit fussy so I held him more than I expected too. (although I'm sure I could have tried a little harder to get him to sleep somewhere else...but why would I want to? He's so small and cuddly.)

Sunday: another laid back day

Today was another easy day, although Isaac was awake a bit more today. He took an awesome nap on Ben's lap while Flurry slept next to me.

Dad and Pat came over for a little bit this afternoon and watched Isaac while Ben and I took a nap.

Saturday: laid back day

Today was a pretty laid back day. Isaac slept a ton.

At one point Ben was in the middle of changing a diaper when Isaac feuded he needed to urinate again. He pretty much completely missed his goal (Ben) and instead got himself in the face instead.

Friday: busy day

Today was a busy day, as we had another home visit from the nurse and newborn pictures.

Since there were pictures, we started the day with a bath.

"help! Im being eaten by the monster shark."

The nurse said everything is still looking great.

Isaac did a great job with the pictures. He was man-handled for three hours but only started getting fussy at the end. He didn't always do exactly what the photographer wanted, but at least he wasn't mad.

The photographs, of course, threw off any schedule that he might have and so he slept soundly for the rest of the evening.

Thursday: super Dad

So, continuing from last night. Around 1:30 I had no clue what to do. Laying him down didn't work, holding him didn't work because he would just root around, and feeding didn't work because he stopped to quickly. So Ben took over and managed to get him to sleep. And didthe same thing a few more times at night.

We have noticed that Isaac will more easily calm down in Ben's arms. He seems to have a magic touch.

The day again went pretty quickly, although not much of note happened. Yesterday I realized that I hadn't taken many pictures, so today I tried to remedy that.

This is the quilt I'm making him. It isn't quite finished, but enough for pictures.

This one is my favorite.