Ollie Bear Update

I'm still trying to get the hang of this Mom thing. Honestly it's much harder than I expected, and not in the ways I thought.

Ollie has been very reluctant to sleep lately. It's been extremely hard to get him on a schedule, which means that doing anything, even just the bare minimum, is almost impossible. He gets himself so worked up that he isn't able to be calm enough to sleep for much longer than 20 minutes. I'm reading a book that talks about getting babies into a routine so I hope that will help, and he'll stop fighting against all my efforts to help him be more balanced.

So yeah, thats my excuse for not blogging much. Most of my life these days is spent holding and walking and nursing and changing and bouncing and kissing. And eventhough it's definitely the hardest, most frustrating, most physically trying thing I've ever done, I love Ollie so much, and I know that this won't last long.

So here's an update on Ollie boy!

He's now 8 weeks.

When he's happy, he's very smiley, and has started laughing and squealing with excitement, which is the cutest thing I've ever seen in my whole life.

He out of his newborn clothes finally, and is quickly flying through the 0-3 month clothes.

He loves to suck on his fingers, and seems to have a lot more control over them now. He's having a much easier time getting them to his mouth, but has a hard time not choking himself. For that reason, we usually stick with the passy.

His golden locks are growing ever longer. Everyone still coments on the huge amount of blonde hair, and it is striking if I may say so. It makes him look more like a little boy than a baby.

He still loves riding around in the Moby, and over the past few very fussy days, it's been a lifesaver. (The Moby Wrap is a cloth baby carrier that ties around you and holds baby next to your body, so it calms Ollie down pretty well most of the time.) Thanks Megan!

He's good at going to sleep by himself at night, but not so much during the day. I'm struggling with deciding when to move him into his crib, I think it will be soon because he only really wakes up once during the night, usually. But of course it's a little sad for me to be moving him already. I think I'm just having separation anxiety and I need to get over it. On another note, instead of a bassinet, we have a co-sleeper, and I cannot say enough wonderful things about it. It's been PERFECT. In case you're looking for a bassinet type thing. Get a co-sleeper.

Ruby is starting to get attached. When we come home, she has incorporated Ollie into her greeting routine by sticking her head in his carseat and sniffing, ever so gently, and maybe licking a toe or two. She has done so well with Ollie. It reminds me of the Good Dog Carl picture books I loved when I was little. Minus the mom leaving for work and leaving the baby alone with the dog all day. Also minus the crazy shenanigans and messes they created.

I've started walking with Ollie and Ruby both this week. I was nervous at first, because my abdominal muscles have felt extremely weak since Ollie's birth. Carrying or pushing a baby and holding the dog was a bit daunting before now, but it has gone really well. Ruby has been walking great, and O has loved getting outdoors. The weather is starting to cool down (we have snow in the mountains), so we don't have to go on walks quite as early in order for it to be a tolerable temperature.

Uncle Yakie (my brother Jake) has come out here for school at Utah Valley University, so we've gotten to spend time with him this week, which has been so fun! I'm really glad that he's here and that he likes us enough to spend time with us. Ollie and Ruby are glad also. And Justin.

Nicknames for Ollie include: Ollie, Squeaker, Baby Bear, Ollie Bear, O, and Snorty. Feel free to use any/all to address him in 15 years.

For those of you who care/are interested, nursing is going WAY better. I have to say that was the hardest, most painful thing I've ever experienced. Worse than labor, without a doubt. Maybe that's because I had an epidural before labor was over, but still, it was terrible. Now it's so much better, and I'm hoping to learn to like it more as we go. I still get frustrated when I have to nurse in public, or the back of the car, or miss out on things because I have to go nurse. But that's just selfish reasons, and once he gets faster at it, it won't be as much of a hastle. We're still taking about an hour per feeding, so I hope that gets shorter soon.

Ollie is the second love of my life (after Justin of course. Or maybe tied.). Being his Mom is the biggest blessing I could ask for. He was worth the wait, and after waiting a long time for him to come, I really feel so grateful that he's ours and we have this chance to raise him and spend our lives together.

I just hope we don't mess up too terribly :)