My Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Rick told my mommy that she should make a journal for me. They did the same thing for her when she was a little girl and it's really fun for them to go back and read all the things that she did when she was little. My mommy thinks that this will be a great way for all my grandparents to keep up on the cute things that I do, too.
Since Mommy already posts a lot of things about me on our family blog (stevenandambereliason.blogspot.com) this site will be a lot of the things that she thinks I might be thinking and feeling, and it will be written from my point of view.
Since I am already almost 6 weeks old, (my mommy and daddy can't believe I'm already so big) it would be hard to go back and talk about everything that has happened, but these are some of the highlights of my first 38 days on earth:
-I tried really hard to stay in my mommy's tummy for a long time because it was nice and warm in there and she never had any choice but to take me everywhere with her. I guess she was ready for me to get out though, because the doctors at Utah Valley Regional forced me out four days after my due date.
-I don't like nursing ONE BIT. Since I wasn't very good at latching, my mommy would have to pump colostrum while she was still in the hospital and then she would try to trick me by feeding it to me through a syringe while I was at her breast. I was WAAAAY too smart for that, though. I realized really quickly where the good stuff was coming from and I would just suck straight out of the syringe. Mommy would try to take the syringe out of my mouth when I would do that and keep trying to make me nurse while she would put the syringe in the corner of my mouth, but I kept figuring it out. I finally would get SOOO MAD when she kept taking my food away. Then Mommy tried to use a nipple shield to help me latch. I like to chomp at the end of the nipple shield and I guess that kind of hurt Mommy, so she would always have to pull me away and start over. That would make me really mad, too. Finally, Mommy started pumping and then bottle feeding me. I like bottles. They're really easy to eat from. Mommy still tries to get me to nurse every once in a while, but I've been spoiled by bottles now, so Mommy is thinking that I'll probably never learn. Mommy is really determined to keep giving me breast milk, though, even if it means she has to pump for the next 6 months. It's really important to her that I only get breast milk until I'm at least 6 months, maybe even a year. We'll see how everything goes, especially when she has to go back to school.
I am a really happy baby and I sleep really well for Mommy and Daddy. I started sleeping 7 hours straight at night when I was about 4 weeks old. Mommy loves that, especially since she gets up with me during the week. On Saturday nights, Daddy gets up with me so that Mommy can get a good night's sleep. I'm so use to Mommy's routine with me, and sometimes, I'm kind of fussy when Daddy wakes up with me, but I'm learning more and more about him each day. I love my Daddy and I love when he comes home from lunch so he can snuggle with me. This is one of my favorite times of day.
I really love my puppies. Daphne thinks that I am her little baby and she loves to give me kisses. Mommy doesn't mind if she kisses my hands or feet, but Daphne loves to kiss my face and Mommy doesn't like that one bit. Daddy is really nervous that Daphne will literally smother me with kisses, so he is especially cautious when he sees her near me. Rupert is still understanding how he needs to act around me. He really likes me and gives he kisses every once in a while, but sometimes, he gets excited when he wants to play with Mommy and Daddy and he has jumped on me a couple of times. It doesn't hurt, but it kind of startles me. Daddy gets REALLY mad when that happens and sometimes Rupert even gets little spankings. I feel kind of bad when that happens, because I know it was an accident. Daddy is just really protective of me because he loves me so much. When I'm a little bit bigger and I can crawl around, I know I'll love to play with my puppies.
Daddy figured out that one of my favorite things is the vacuum. Whenever Mommy and Daddy are having a hard time getting me to stop fussing, they put me in my swing and turn the vacuum on. Mommy and Daddy aren't sure why I like it so much, but it really calms me down a lot. Sometimes, when they think it's time for me to go to bed, they will put me in my swing and turn the vacuum on and I fall asleep in just a few minutes!
I LOVE my baths. Mommy is really excited to take me to Grandma and Grandpa's next summer to play in their pool because she says I'm a water baby. I'm not really sure what that means, but every time she gives me a bath, she tells me that. Mom loves to take baths with me and she holds me so that just my head is above the water and I LOVE it. It reminds me of being in Mommy's tummy, so it's really soothing.
Finally, I have started smiling at Mommy and Daddy. During the day, I smile only a few times, but each time I wake up, when Mommy and Daddy come to get me out of my crib, I always give them a great big smile. I am just so happy to see them! That is one of my mommy's favorite times of the day and it makes getting up to get me a lot easier because she knows that I'll be there to greet her with an adorable grin.
There's lots more things that I do, and I'm growing so fast that there is always something new to write about, but we'll stop there for now. I'll try to get Mommy to write here often, but sometimes she forgets. I'm sure she'll do her best though.
