For a few weeks now Jasper would lay in his crib and with his left hand only (I think he’s going to be a lefty!) would make a little pincer gesture with his thumb and forefinger. Then he would move it in front of his eye almost like he was looking into it like it was a telescope. I couldn’t figure out what he was trying to do.

Then all of the sudden a few days ago he started making a fist instead and would bring it to his face and stare at it.. and then it hit me, he is trying to put his hand into his mouth! (Or at least he’s discovering that his hands are his and can control them).

It’s funny though because I’ve only seen him successfully reach his mouth a few times, most of the time he misses and hits his chin or his far head. It’s really cute though to see him concentrating so hard.. so I decided to capture it on video:

I’m hoping he masters the skill soon since he’s terrible at keeping the pacifier in his mouth.. at least this way he’ll have a self soothing mechanism!

Filed under: milestones, videos by ariana
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But first, as usual, a few new pictures!

Here we are apple picking at our Rockland Mommy’s Meetup Gathering:

Apple picking

You may notice that A) I am wearing the green sweater from Target that I blogged about and B) I am wearing Jasper in our BabyHawk Carrier.  (Jasper is also wearing the adorable hat his Great Auntie Diane knitted for him!)

And here are a few new ones of Jasper:

His Eyelashes seem to get longer every day, we still can’t tell what color his eyes are/will be though!

Ok, back to the “S” in Fussiness..

I’m talking about “Sleep.”

In preparation for Jasper entering Daycare in about two weeks I have been desperately reading the few baby books I have including Secrets from the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg.

I don’t agree with all of her ideas, but she has a method she calls “E.A.S.Y” for each feeding cycle which is an acronym for “Eat, Activity, Sleep and “You” (You being time for mommy while baby sleeps).

Her reasoning for putting things in that order (rather than Eat and sleep as many babies fall asleep at the breast or bottle) is that one, you don’t want your baby to become totally dependent on eating to fall asleep and two, its normal for people to eat and then do something (i.e go to work, school etc) rather than fall asleep right away.

I was a little dubious about how this would work because it seems like MORE work for me having to soothe Jasper to sleep after an activity rather than letting him sleep after eating and then do an activity.

Tracy advocates a schedule for mom’s sanity as well as baby’s comfort, her reasoning being that baby’s are soothed by knowing what to expect.

Truth be told, I really had no idea if we even had a schedule or pattern until I started just keeping track to see.. it turns out, not only did we have a schedule, but it was like clockwork!

Every two hours Jasper eats (that I did know and had been keeping track of,) but what I didn’t realize until this book is that he really did start to exhibit signs of sleepiness about an hour into his activity time and about 30 minutes before he was due to eat again. It might be a yawn, a glazed stare or, if I miss the early signs just all out crying and fussiness.

This is his way of saying “mommy, put me to sleep.”

The fact that I JUST this week realized that he needs to be put down for a nap every two hours makes me look back at his first 7 weeks (the “dark” ages of Jasper) when he was so fussy and colicky and wonder if much of the time when he was crying for “no reason” he was just tired and we didn’t realize it!

Of course he would nap, sometimes even for long stretches, but it was ONLY if he happened to fall asleep himself at the breast. We, in our infinite inexperience thought that if he was tired he would sleep by himself just because he SOMEtimes did.

Even now that I have him on a nap schedule, I am consistently amazed at how quickly and intensely Jasper will melt down when over tired and it makes it even more unbelievable (and seemingly cruel!) that we didn’t pick up on this earlier.

I am admitting to what seems like such a stupid parenting gaffe only because I hope it may help some of you out there if you are going through what we went through - I know you need all the help you can get!

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You don’t find much talk about postpartum.. every pregnant woman is so focused on pregnancy and the actual BIRTH that no one tells you about things like how unbelievably uncomfortable you will be for at least the first 2 weeks, how horrified you will be at the sight of your stomach and how you will feel about your body in general (yes, the 6 month pregnant look was cute when there was actually a BABY in there - without a baby, not so much.)

For a girl who used to have a borderline eating disorder and used to go to the gym sometimes twice a day, I think I’m handling the body issues pretty well, or better than I expected anyway. I attribute this partly to the fact that we don’t own a scale. I used to just weigh myself at the gym, and since my ass hasn’t seen the gym since our pre term labor scare at 30 weeks, I’ve only weighed myself twice since Jasper was born.

Unfortunately, the scale showed almost the same number both times, the first time 138, the second about 3 weeks later showed 134. That means I have 14 lbs to get back down to my pre pregnancy weight.

Granted, I haven’t exactly been trying.. it’s not like I have time to hit the gym though my flabby long neglected muscles are screaming out for some action. We occasionally go for walks, but that’s the extent of it.

All of this is a very long winded way of saying that I am still wearing my maternity pants. Thankfully I live in one of the blessed states that have an H&M that carries H&M Mama (their maternity line). H&M maternity pants are so fabulous in both style and comfort that I just bought two more pairs and plan on wearing them until they no longer fit, even if I do lose that postpartum paunch.

Other than the fact that the cuts are really current/stylish, I also LOVE the belly part which is a soft slightly stretchy cotton, not at all tight. Because the belly flap is so high, the jeans part can be really low rise, which I find to be more figure flattering.

If you have an H&M near you and haven’t checked out their maternity pants, I highly recommend it (the shirts are nothing special). Also, H&M baby has some of the cutest cheapest baby clothes I’ve ever seen..that’s where I got Jasper’s adorable bear hat seen below:

If you don’t have an H&M (Florida friends I am thinking of you here..) I just found some really great things at Target that I’ll share with you.

Mossimo Long and Lean Tanks:

Mossimo Long and Lean Tanks

I LOVED these tanks before I got pregnant, they are long, but you can wear them shorter just by letting them bunch up a little more in the stomach, but they are so thin than it doesn’t look bulky. Plus, they have narrow straps and the scoop is low cut so its just a really flattering cut.

I loved the tanks even more when I got pregnant - they are SO strecthy and long that they covered my enormous belly even up until the ninth month (and that was the size small too!)

Now that I’m nursing and am always on the lookout for easy boob access clothing, I was so thrilled to realize that these tanks are soft and stretchy enough for me to pull down below my boob. It’s a good thing, because I have so many of them.

By the way, they are MUCH more flattering on in real life than they look on these models.. try them in the store, trust me!

Merona Thermal Tops:

Merona Thermal Top from Target -$12.99

Because the temperature in our neck of the woods just dropped pretty dramatically, I needed something long sleeve to wear around the house that offers easy nursing access. This top does the trick, and again looks MUCH more stylish/cute on than in these pictures. I think they dress these models in clothes that are at least a size too big so everything looks so schleppy!

Now, I figure between these tops and the tanks, I can just throw over any button up sweater and will have a wardrobe this fall that will allow me to nurse/pump with ease.

Target currently has a ton of long button up sweaters like this one:

Tie waiste car coat / sweater

(It looks much cuter not buttoned all the way up) that you can throw over a tank and jeans, or these super comfy cable leggings that look great with high boots:

What the picture (and the description) don’t show is the silver snap details along the sides, which I thought were pretty snazzy:

Snap Detail Leggings

That’s it for now, I may add a few more things to my postpartum fall/winter wardrobe, but with our first ginormous day care payment pending, I need to curb the spending!

Filed under: postpartum, product reviews by ariana
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Make sure you ask for a rewards card next time you shop at BRU.. finally they have a points/rewards program! The benefits are a free shipping coupon and best of all, a buy 9 get one free Pampers program!

There are also “R US” bucks you can earn on all purchases at BRU or TRU -earn $5 for every $150 you spend between Oct. 15 and Dec. 24, 2008.

It’s about time!

Filed under: gear by ariana
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I am 35 today..

I don’t usually like birthdays, and anything that ends in 0 or 5 is usually another unwelcome milestone, a reminder that the next big one (40!) is just around the corner. But this one is different.

I found this exchange in my inbox from just before my birthday last year:

JEff:

>> Hi Babe,

>>

>> Before I get you what I was going to, I figured I better ask if

>> there’s anything specific you want for you b-day?

Me:

> A baby??

> JK, I don’t want anything :(

Jeff:

I saw that answer coming a mile away.

Ok you can have a baby… However, isn’t there anything you want that doesn’t require sex on demand?

I have everything I ever wanted… A wonderful, loving and supportive husband, a beautiful home and a precious baby boy. Life is good, even if I’m a little worse for the wear!

I also got a very thoughtful gift from Jeff, an electronic picture frame so that I can have tons of pictures of Jasper to look at when I go back to work on November 10th (so soon!)

But the best part was the card:

How cute is that? ;)

Filed under: milestones by ariana
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Some photos and a video of Jasper at 8 weeks old..

Dear Jasper,

At 8 weeks you love to lie on your changing table and laugh, “talk” and coo. You also love to lie anywhere that there is a mobile or hanging toy to stare at. You are very social and look everyone right in the eye, often smiling in greeting.  You eat every two hours, sometimes with a snack in between!  You like to bear weight on your legs (you will be standing before we know it!) and grab things like mommy’s hair and earrings. You can hold your head completely up, and you are already getting in your first teeth on the lower left front - months before you should be. Mommy thinks you are very advanced, Daddy thinks mommy is crazy!

You are still bothered frequently by gas, but lately it doesn’t make you as unhappy as it used to. In fact, you are happier now more than you are crying or unhappy!  Somewhere between weeks 7 and 8 you turned a corner, and now your inconsolable crying and fussing is the exception rather than the rule.

Every morning mommy wakes up with your warm little head nuzzled into her neck with a smile on her face, excited to see what discoveries the new day with you will bring!

xoxo

Your mommy.

Filed under: milestones, videos by ariana
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Gratuitous picture of Jasper

So now that I’ve been at this Mommy thing for almost two months (!) now, I have some experience under my belt and want to share what has worked, not worked and what I wish would work in case there are any expectant moms who can benefit from it.

First, the RAVES:

Baby Wraps:
Moby wrap - I love the way my moby style wrap looks and feels and I love how compact it is to throw in the diaper bag. What I don’t love is that when Jasper falls asleep there is no head support and I end up using one hand to hold his head.. enter Babyhawk!

BabyHawk - (or any Mei Tai style baby carrier) is a soft structured carrier that ties once around the waist and again in front - ie a bit easier to get on and off than the Moby. Plus, I can put Jasper in it more easily without waking him up. For example, I discovered a new trick - if Jasper is acting fussy and I know he’s just overtired, I tie the bottom tie that goes around my waist and let the rest just hand down. Then I either bounce him on the bouncy ball until he falls asleep or put him on the breast until he falls asleep. I can then just pull the rest of the carrier up over his back and tie it around us. Brilliant! This isn’t possible with the Moby, it requires too much maneuvering to get him inside the criss cross, he would wake up. Also, it has great head support so I can truly be “hands free”and is more substantial and therefor easier to wear over more bulky winter clothing.

I love my BabyHawk so much I ordered another Mei Tai carrier (much cheaper) from an Etsy seller that has a soft minky lining for winter. I will report back if it functions just as well as the more expensive BabyHawk.

Update: I got the new carrier. It’s so pretty and really comfy, but it does NOT have good infant head support like the Babyhawk does.. will be useful when J is a bit bigger and has better head control!

Graco Snugride Infant Carseat: it clicks on and off from our stroller and swing with ease.. it is also by far the lightest carrier and it is still damn heavy with baby in it so in my opinion if you get a heaver carseat you are nutso! ;)

Uppababy Vista Stroller - One of my very favorite things. It’s a tad heavier than the bugaboo frog, but in every other way superior in my opinion. For one thing, it folds with the seat on it! The unfold is so simple.. it has tons of room in the basket and turns on a dime. With the adaptor our Snugride clicks right into it and it comes with a beautiful bassinet attachment that we’ve never even used because we are always using it with the carseat. But it’s nice to know it’s there if we need it.  Yes, it was very expensive (thanks mom and dad!) but totally worth it.

Skip Hop Outer Space Playmat - I resisted getting a play-mat because I really didn’t like the fisher-price ones that have so many primary colors, but of course Jasper has to do tummy time.. so Skip Hop to the rescue. This play-mat is much more palatable design wise but still has enough to entertain. In fact, it was only when I put Jasper on his back on this mat that I realized how fasicnated he is with hanging toys.. which led me to put up mobiles in his crib in his nursery as well as on the bassinet downstairs and thank god because he can sit and stair at a mobile for 30 minutes at a time! It’s the only reason that I have time to get dressed and brush my teeth these days.

Pamper’s Swaddlers Sensitive Diapers: The line that tells you if the diaper is wet is brilliant - All I have to do is take a peak under his onesie. The downside is they are hard to find.

Exercise ball: I bought this for the birth, but didn’t use it… but now holding him and bouncing on the ball is is the only way to soothe Jasper, even from the most frantic state.

Miracle Blankets: we haven’t been swaddling lately anymore, but when we did, these are the only way to do it.

Velcro toys that go on carseat handle: Got these at carters, Jasper can stare at them for hours and be entertained.

Disappointments/Pet Peeves:

Diaper Champ: Ok, so it does keep smells contained, but the damn thing gets jammed EVERY TIME we put a diaper in it! IMO, the design is simply flawed. So annoying.

Graco Sweet Peace Newborn Soothing Center (swing) : It’s a nice swing, Jasper doesn’t like it too much yet, but it’s soooooo noisy! Plus, there is an abrupt “stop” that it makes as it swings to the front, almost like it hit something.

Swadle Me blankets: We got about 10 of these as gifts.. unfortunately they just don’t work!

Things I WISH someone invented..

Some sort of attachement that lightly rocks the Graco snugride (I know they make a swing base for it,  but I’m talking like a little tiny “pedal” or something that just goes under it.)

A bouncy seat or swing that bounces up and down rather than side to side.. so I could give the bouncy ball a rest once in a while!

I’ll probably keep adding to this list.. for now, poor Jasper has his first cold and we’re both cranky and exhausted!

Filed under: gear, product reviews by ariana
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Jasper is 7 weeks old today. I can’t believe how fast time is flying by..only 5 more weeks until I have to go back to work. More on that later.

But first, some pictures of Jasper and his Grandpa F. who came all the way from Marco Island Florida to meet him:

Poor Grandpa, Jasper was on his worst behavior this weekend.. seriously, it was a whole new level of fussing, and just when we though we were seeing some improvement!

He did have some OK moments like when we all went for a walk and Jeff got to wear Jasper in the tricked out Bjorn that Jay & Sarah gave us for our shower:

Aren’t my men handsome??

I was attributing Jasper’s behavior to the fact that I have a sore throat and though maybe he did too, until I realized today that he is teething already! I can’t believe I missed the signs until now.. a few days ago he started drooling which he’d never done before. Plus he’ll put anything in his mouth to suck on, like the straps of his baby carrier, carseat or whatever is around. All of that would be anecdotal except that I actually can see the whites of at least two teeth pushing up on his lower left gums.

I can’t believe we are going from colic to teething with no break in between!

The past two nights I have given in and stopped trying to swaddle and put Jasper to sleep on his back. He has slept on my chest all night long. We both get MUCH more sleep that way, it’s just that my back starts to ache half way through the night. I think I’d rather have the sleep though.

Also, I am starting to get freaked out that Jasper has to go to daycare in 5 weeks.. he has a lot of shaping up to do before he could possibly be ready. For one thing, he has to be able to sleep on his back, and for another he has to fall asleep other than on the boob or from me bouncing him - at least I assume they won’t have time to bounce him to sleep. At the very least they certainly won’t be nursing him to sleep.

And of course I am completely torn up at the idea that I have to leave him at all.. 3 months just seems so young still for that.

Speaking of young, as in brand new, my good friend and frequent commenter Dawn gave birth to a beautiful baby girl September 22nd.. I just wanted to publicly congratulate her and Walter on the new addition to their perfect little family and say welcome to the world baby Kate!

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And no longer tongue tied..(more on that later). But first, introducing Jasper Bear:

Jasper at Six Weeks

So I think it’s true what they say, babies get worse until 6 weeks and then start getting better until 3 months. This past week there have been several really good days, particularly Sunday when Sarah, Jay and baby Daphne came to visit. Jasper was playful, slept peacfully (during the day) and we even took him to the mall where he drank the bottle I brought with no fussing and we even breast fed for the first time in public using my hooter hider.

This doesn’t seem like a big deal, but anyone who’s watched him breastfeed at home would know that it’s quite a coup given the way he pulls off and needs to be burped every minute or two!  It felt so liberating just knowing that I can bring him places and not need to rush home to breastfeed, particularly since he’s been eating every two hours for the last 10 days or so.  That extra hour we used to get made such a big difference, I hope we get it back someday!

He had his tongue tie “surgery” last Thursday. I can’t say it wasn’t traumatic for me, but Jasper took it like a champ. I had to leave the room and my mom held his head steady.. when I came back in he had some dried blood smeared around his little mouth and it broke my heart. I cried the whole time I was out of the room listening to him cry. He started screaming at the top of his lungs the minute they swaddled him to confine him and my mom said there was no discernable difference in his cry from that to when they actually made the two snips (upper lip and tongue).  The Dr. said the part they hate most is when the Dr. has to apply pressure inside the mouth for 4 minutes to stop the bleeding.

After that, he breast fed immediately and calmed down and slept the 75 minute drive home. He was pretty good that night too, though the next day I think his tongue hurt him because he would let out little random cries periodically. But the worst of it was over within 48 hours.

The crazy thing is that we could see the difference in his mouth and expressions right away! I saw the tip of his little tongue for the first time ever. He also moves his upper lip more now, and can stick his tongue out beyond his gumline. I’ve also seen it go up to his soft palate, which was the whole point of the procedure to begin with.

I wish I could say it’s solved his tummy problems, but it hasn’t yet. I can feel that he’s capable of latching deeper now, but he still gulps, chokes, sputters and loses suction, particularly during let down. It could be that he may never be able to handle my over active let down, or, it could just be that he hasn’t learned to use his “new” tongue correctly yet. I have the lactation consultant coming back on Thursday so maybe she’ll be able to help us.

The good news is that he’s becoming a really happy daytime baby! The periods of happy, calm alertness are increasing and it seems that he only cries if he’s wet, has a big burp that needs to come out, or is hungry.

Nighttime is a different story.. he still has terrible gas pains that keep him crying, grunting, squirming and groaning in his sleep - and keep me from getting much sleep! If I put him on my chest, it stops some of the crying, but he still squirms too much for me to sleep well. He farts so much that I can’t tell if it’s all a result of air he swallowed while eating or if its an intestinal reaction to the content of the breast milk.

So, for now, the mystery of Jasper’s digestion continues. In the meantime, as we draw nearer to that magical 3 month mark, he will probably (hopefully!) grow out of it before we ever find out what it is!

Filed under: Test & Procedures, milestones by ariana
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So it’s not ALL bad over here at the Dark Lord’s Lair..we occasionally get some rays of sunshine, like when jasper smiles - and we can actually capture it on video!

We also had a fairly decent day yesterday - Jasper seemed more comfortable than usual, maybe it’s the wellements gripe water I started giving him? He seemed his gas was passing more freely yesterday without so much crying and grunting and groaning from him. It could also be that I’ve been giving him the full max dose of Zantac, but that wouldn’t effect his lower GI, so I’m not really sure to what we owe our pleasant day.

Even more exciting is that Jasper slept from 9pm - 3am yesterday! And then again at 6am. Now I understand why he wanted to be on the boob from 7pm through 9pm straight…he was trying to gear up for the night. Or maybe I give him too much credit. Either way, it was the most restful night I’ve had since he was born.

We also had a great morning, Jasper started cooing and laughing on his changing table after I changed him.. he was on his back, so that’s rare! We played some peek-a-boo and danced to Bob Marley and then he ate and is now sleeping!

He’s also getting more interested in the things around him. We put a mobile that moves and plays music on his basinnette/co-sleeper and he’s totally fascinated by it. Makes me wish I didn’t get so many toys that don’t do flashy things  - like all that FP rainforest stuff that I aesthetically HATE, but clearly they serve their purpose - babies love them even if parents don’t.

Here are a few pictures of Jasper enjoying his Skip Hop Spaceship Tummy Time Mat that his auntie Roxy bought him:

I guess I’m starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel… A sneek peak into the happy baby boy Jasper of the future and I love it!

Filed under: milestones, videos by ariana
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