You Smile, I Smile

My little man has one big smile. I have countless videos of him showing off his toothless grin, but this video is likely my favorite (so far!). Enjoy! :)

What I Want to Remember (0 to 1 Month)

I cannot believe that Tristan is one month old today! He is 1/12th of a year old! When I think of it that way, it makes me sad. I just know his first year is going to fly by. And, as a means to savor every moment with this little man, I plan on beginning a monthly blog series called "What I Want to Remember" where I will document the little things that I would otherwise forget.

What I want to remember about Tristan:

• His grunts. When he wakes up, it takes him a very long time to work up to a cry. He just grunts...and grunts...and grunts.

• His raptor noises. Do you remember the raptors from Jurassic Park? If so, picture that noise coming from a newborn baby boy. It is so funny! Aaron and I said, "He's raptoring it up." He mainly makes this noise when he's stretching.

• If he could be held 24/7, that would eliminate so much fussing and crying. He loves to be held. And, it doesn't matter who holds him, so if he's in the right mood, Ella can hold him while she watches a show and he would be totally content.

• The power of the boob. If he's fussy and clearly tired, nursing him puts him to sleep right away. And I mean, within seconds!

• I have to pump at night and then feed him pumped milk because he just falls asleep while nursing. It's an absolute pain, but this way, I know how much he's eating and he doesn't fall asleep while drinking from a bottle.

• His nighttime routine varies, but he typically goes to bed between 9:00 and 10:00, then wakes up between 12:00 and 1:00, stays up for an hour, then wakes up again between 4:00 and 5:00. This second feeding is the hardest because he is very awake and getting him back to sleep is near impossible. He's ready to start the day, but this mama is not! Actually, getting him back to sleep is not hard, it's laying him in his bassinet that is hard. The mili-second he feels his weight shifting to be placed in the bassinet, he starts grunting. Since this changing/feeding/rocking session is done around the time Aaron would usually be getting up for work (right now he's on Christmas break - he's a teacher), I just bring Tristan back into bed with me. He sleeps perfectly fine in my arms or right next to me. I just need that extra hour of sleep before Ella wakes up. And, then Ella climbs into bed with me when she wakes up, and although groggy, sleep-deprived and somewhat grumpy (I'm not a morning person until I get some coffee in me), these two blessings fill my heart with so much joy.

• He loves baths. He goes into them crying and comes out of them crying (if we don't get the towel around him fast enough), but while in the tub, he is perfectly content. I lay the warm washcloth on his tummy, and he's simply in Heaven.

• He has such a strong grip, and his arms are as big as his legs. I have a feeling he's going to have the athletic build that Daddy has.

• He's not a fan of the car seat, but loves car rides.

• I'm still not producing enough milk, so he's having to drink formula about 50% of the time. I either feed him or pump every 2-1/2 hours during the day, and then every time he wakes me up at night, but I still cannot make enough. This wasn't an issue with Ella, so I'm pretty bummed. Thankfully, Tristan can latch onto me and drink from a bottle without any nipple confusion.

• The most he's eaten during one sitting is 5 oz.

• Tristan does not like to be changed (clothes or diaper), but when he's not being changed, he loves his changing table. (Go figure!). In fact, one time, he fell asleep while waiting for me to change his diaper.

• And, last but not least, Tristan is binky handicapped. Ella was power sucking on her binky straight out of the womb. I have pictures of her at the hospital, perfectly content with that oversized binky in her mouth. Tristan, on the other hand, can't seem to suck it right. It goes in and then nearly all the way out, and then he quickly sucks it back in. It's actually really funny to watch. If we hold it in his mouth, the sucking soothes him and it helps him fall asleep, but if we don't hold him, it torpedoes out of his mouth. No joke! :)

Tristan's Glowing and Growing

This is going to be a quick post, but I just wanted to show you all some pictures of Tristan from this past week and give you a quick update. His expressions and mannerisms are maturing (already!). He's still pretty mellow, but is now learning (and mastering) the art of crying. The main thing that makes him cry is changing his diaper. He just can't stand it for some reason. But, he does love baths. Place him in warm water and he stops crying immediately. He's showing signs of recognizing our voices and is very content being held. A nighttime routine is pretty much set. He wakes up every 3-1/2 to 4 hours, and we like to get him down between 9:00 and 10:00. So, he's up around 1:00 and 5:00, and is awake for about an hour each time. And, then sweet Ella wakes up before I know it and my day has begun. However, when he charges through a feeding and is tired enough, I can get him back to bed within a half hour. Usually, though, I nurse him on one side, then change his diaper, re-swaddle him and then nurse him on the other side, and after rocking him back to sleep, it takes about an hour. An hour of listening to Aaron snoring in the other room is torture, but I wouldn't trade these special times with my newborn son for anything. Even if it means constantly living in a sleep-deprived state. Thank goodness for Christmas Blend Starbucks Coffee!

Look at that smile! He's going to be such a handsome little man when he grows up.

In just a couple weeks, he's already changing! Becoming more alert, more aware and more personable.

I wonder why he's covering his ears in his sleep? Perhaps it's because of a loud big sister. :)

Getting to Know My Son

Tristan is already 12 days old. I can't believe it! Most of my days (and nights) have been spent getting to know my son. Getting to know what ticks him off and what makes him happy. What position it likes to be held in, what makes him fall asleep, his signs for when he's hungry and for when he's full and what his noises mean. It's amazing to see his little personality emerge. He is a very, very mellow baby. Laid back like Daddy, which is good, because Ella's "high maintenance" personality (which she clearly got from Mommy) began to show right away. God knew I needed a mellow son, and Tristan is just that. :)

He cries when we put him in the car seat (only sometimes), but the tears quickly pass once he's in the car and we start driving. He quickly calms down once the car begins rolling. He's a good little boy in the car. And, I cannot tell you enough how much Ella loves having somebody sitting in the backseat with her. I'll always remember the first time she rode in the back with him. "Tristan gets to sit in the back with ME???" Pure happiness.

The only other time he really cries (and, again, it's only sometimes) is when we change his diaper or clothes. If he's awake and not hungry, changing him is easy pie, but when I change his diaper in the middle of the night or as a means to wake him up to feed him, he isn't having it. I'm honestly very surprised (and very pleased!) that Ella sleeps through her brother's screaming. She has a noise machine in her room, so I really think that's the magic tool. The possibility of Tristan waking Ella up was a concern of ours, but it's not even an issue.

Tristan doesn't cry when he's hungry or wanting to be held. He just does this cute grunt thing. It's so sweet. He just grunts, over and over again. So, needless to say, because my husband is the deepest sleeper in the world, he doesn't get woken up by Tristan during the night. Luckily, I am a very light sleeper (well, not lucky for me!), so I hear Tristan in the middle of the night just fine.

Right now, Tristan is sleeping decently at night. We wake him up around 10:00 to feed him before we go to bed. He's usually asleep by 11:00. He then wakes up between 3:00 and 4:00 with a big ol' slammer (as we like to call it), and is up for a good hour to 1-1/2 hours. He nurses so slowly in the middle of the night. He eats for about 45 minutes. I've tried to cut it shorter, but then it's nearly impossible to rock him to sleep. His stomach needs to be fully content.

He then sleeps until 7:00 / 8:00, which is when Ella wakes up, so it's working out pretty nicely. He wakes up very hungry, so again, I nurse for awhile. Right now, Aaron is home with me, so he is a huge help in the morning with Ella. I can't imagine what it'll be like once he's working. Yikes!

However, when Aaron and I decide to go to bed earlier, Tristan wakes up twice in the middle of the night, and getting him back to sleep the second time serves to be very difficult. He's pretty much up for the day, but I just cannot get myself to start my day at 5:00 in the morning, so I nurse him and pray he goes back to sleep. It can go either way.

Tristan is most alert in the morning. He's fully awake, looking around, and very content. He sleeps through most of the afternoon and then is alert again during the evening.

Tristan loves his swing (which was Ella's swing), so whenever I need a free moment from holding him, I know the swing will give me that moment. He can't stay in there too long, though. He does start to grunt, which eventually turns into a cry if ignored for too long.

Tristan dropped down to 7 pounds, 2 ounces at four days after his birth, but is now back up to 7 pounds, 14 ounces (so he's gained an ounce since birth). He looks longer, though, and his hair looks to be getting thicker. No question about it...he has Daddy and Ella's hair color. Who would've thought my dark hair wouldn't be dominant for both kids? My brown eyes are, though, and I think he's going to have beautiful brown eyes like big sister. Right now they are dark gray, which is how Ella's eyes started out before they turned brown.

Everybody keeps commenting on how strong Tristan is. His grip is amazingly tight and pulling his arms away from where he wants them is really hard. In fact, he is already really good at holding his head up. His doctors and all the nurses commented on his strength, along with how much he looks like Daddy. Tristan's arms are seriously bigger than his legs. I have a feeling he's going to have a strong build like Daddy. He's gonna be a beast, as Aaron likes to think. After all, Aaron did give him the nickname Tank. :)

And last but not least, this baby boy loves, loves, loves to be held. He sleeps so soundly in our arms and then wakes up when put down, even in the most plush, warm spot. As you can imagine, this is somewhat frustrating during his nighttime feedings. I think he's sound asleep, but he has me fooled.

I love getting to know my son. He's such an amazing little man. He is just perfect. :)