Sam - Two Months

Dear Sam,

You were two months old a few weeks ago!

You, my dear son, have got to be the sweetest baby on Earth.  Your dad and I have hit the baby-jackpot twice now, and I can't believe it!  You have the sweetest, most pleasant disposition.  When you're not just laying there being sweet and quiet, you're smiling and cooing at anyone that will talk to you.  Really, the only time you get upset is when you're hungry, tired, or have gas.  You are still pretty gassy, which upsets you a lot.  I honestly can't believe the amount of gas that comes out of you sometimes.  You love to be held, but don't really mind being put down either...unless you're tired, hungry or have gas :)  

You are making the sweetest cooing sounds these days and really starting to find your voice.  Every now and again you'll give out a big, loud shriek of excitement!  It's so cute.  It's almost like it startles you to hear it!  You are becoming more and more alert, sleeping and waking at more predictable times.  You are eating about every two-and-a-half hours during the day, which I think is helping you sleep better at night.  In most recent weeks, your last feeding has been around 10 or 10:30 pm, and a couple of times you've slept until 5 or 6 am!  You are still in the bassinet in our room but quickly outgrowing it.  I didn't even realize it until yesterday, but your head and feet are almost reaching the ends!  I'm thinking it won't be too long before you're in your own little room in your own little crib.

You are getting to be such a chunky little monkey, and Mommy loves it!  At your two month check-up last week you weighed 13 lbs. 12 oz., were 23.5 " long, and had a head circumference of 15.5".  That puts you in the 90th, 75th, and 50th percentiles for weight, length and head.  You had to get four vaccination shots and one oral vaccination.  You were pretty upset the rest of the afternoon, which completely broke Mommy's heart, since you are normally such a happy baby.  You are currently wearing size 2 diapers, although a 3 will work too, and size 3 month clothes.  I've put a couple of 6 month size outfits on you though, and they aren't all that big, so I'm thinking you'll be in those pretty soon.

Okay, I have to mention "the hair".  You have THE WILDEST head of hair.  It just stands straight up!  Since you've been born it's gotten thinner (you're starting to bald in some places), lighter in color, longer on the top, but it is still standing up :) Everyone (and I do mean everyone) comments on your hair.  It really is cute.  I guess you're taking after your brother!  He had what we called "feathers", and now you do too!

Like I said, you love to be held and talked to.  You haven't shown any real interest in any toys yet, but if we are talking to you, we have your complete attention.  You love your big brother, and he loves you.  It is so heart-warming to see that big smile come on your face when he talks to you or kisses you on the forehead.  Jack has to give you a kiss every night before he goes to bed.  The other day I looked in the backseat of the car, and he was holding your hand.  Melt.my.heart.  He did get a little rough yesterday and actually bit you on the forehead.  Whoops.  I explained to him that we don't bite, so hopefully it won't happen again.  You were very upset and rightfully so.  Sorry, Sambo.  But he does love you very much :)

Well, that's all I can think of for you 2nd month of life!  We love you very much, sweet Sambo.  You are the perfect addition to our family.

Sam - One Month!

Dear Sam,

You were one month old two and a half weeks ago! 

My goodness, a month passes quickly!  Especially when you're juggling an almost-two-year-old and a newborn!

At your one month check-up, you weighed 10 lbs. 9 oz. and were 21.5" long!  You were in the 50th percentile for your weight, 75th for your length, and 50th for your head.  You are currently wearing size 1 diapers and 0-3 month size clothing.  You are kind of in that in-between-stage where your newborn outfits and especially your jammies are getting snug, but your 0-3 month clothes are a little big. 

You are a very good eater, and I can tell you are starting to fill out a bit.  You are beginning to lose that itty, bitty newborn look, but your little arms and legs are still small and haven't quite plumped up yet.  You eat about every two-and-a-half hours during the day and about every 3-4 at night.  You are able to go back and forth between nursing and a bottle with ease, which is very exciting for Mommy.  It makes going out and doing things so much easier when I can just pump a bottle and go!

We've had a few LOOONG nights in this first month....I'm talkin' STILL up at four in the morning long.  You're a pretty gassy baby, so that bothers you a lot of the time.  Unfortunately, it's bothered you a couple of times at night, but we made it through!  Other than that, not much upsets you!  You cry when you're hungry, sleepy and have gas - that's about it!  You're a pretty noisy baby - you grunt and make noises all day and what seems like all night.  Although, don't get me wrong - you are a very laid back baby and just as sweet as you can be :)

You've yet to show much interest in any kind of toy.  I've laid you on the activity mat once, but you didn't seem too interested.  I'd say your main source of entertainment comes from your big brother, who loves to hug and kiss on you constantly :) Fortunately, you don't seem to mind it, so that's good!

You love bath time.  You get completely relaxed in the water and love to have your little head scrubbed.  I can tell you don't like being cold and don't really like having your diaper changed.  You don't get hysterical or anything, but you definitely let me know that you're not happy.  One of the many cute things you do is when you're upset, your little mouth will actually turn down into a little frown.  It's so cute!

You are sleeping in a bassinet in our room (right next to Mommy), and I imagine you'll be in there for at least the next month.   You are becoming more and more alert each and every day but still sleeping a lot, which is to be expected :)  I haven't recognized any kind of schedule really, just the usual eat, sleep, poop routine.

Sam Little, you are such a sweet blessing and such a wonderful little addition to our family.  Your big brother doesn't fully understand what's going on or that you're here to stay, but I can tell you he's excited and loves you very much (more on that later).  Your Mommy and Daddy also love you very much.

Happy first month, Samuel James Randall!

Sam

Samuel James Randall Little

Born August 9, 2014 at 2:02 am

7 lbs. 9 oz. and 20" long

We are so excited to have our little Sambo here!  He is healthy, adorable and just as sweet as can be. 

I've been meaning to put Sam's birth story on the blog for a while.  Well, a month.  He's 1 month old! Hopefully, I can remember all the details!  Since I obviously dropped the ball (surprise, surprise) on updating weekly during my pregnancy, I'll touch a little bit on the end of the pregnancy (ie. how I was feeling, progress, that sort of thing)  Ok, here goes...

So, I think it was at my 37 or 38 week appointment, Dr. Davis told me that I was 1 cm. dilated and that he was head down and really low.  The 1 cm. part came as a big surprise to us, because I never dilated beforehand with Jack.  It actually took nine hours in the hospital to get to 1.5 cm with Jack, so this was very exciting news!  

Mentally, I had been "ready" to have Sam for weeks.  Jack Little, being the wild-man he is these days, really kept me on my toes in those last few weeks when all I really wanted to do was be off of them!  I was uncomfortable, not sleeping well and just plain exhausted at the end of the day.  I was hoping Sam would decide to make an early appearance, and to our surprise, he did!

Jack and I went to my 39 week doctor's appointment at 10:30 am on Friday, August 8th, and as usual, Mom went with us.  The news from Dr. Davis was the same as it had been the last couple of weeks:  1 cm. dilated, head down, really low - great position.  After expressing my desire for Sam to make an early arrival, Dr. Davis said, "You never know, the day's not over!"  I'll never forget that :)  

We left the doctor's office and went to our weekly lunch spot, Bogue's, for our usual meat and three lunch.  Jack had fallen asleep in the car, so Mom went in to get our order to go.  While she was in there, just minutes after leaving the doctor's office, I had my first strong contraction.  It felt different from the Braxton Hicks I had been having for months, and I got cautiously excited.  I told Mom when she got back in the car.  We decided to go home, eat lunch and then maybe go for a walk and wait and see what happened.  That was at around 12:30 pm. 

We went walking/shopping in downtown Homewood as my contractions continued to get stronger and closer together.  I wanted to wait to tell Jonathan until I thought that I was actually in labor, because I knew he was in a training class for work that day.  I waited until about 3:00 pm to tell him, so by the time he got home at 6:00 that night, my contractions were coming steadily at 5 minutes apart and were quite painful!

Fortunately, I had packed my bag, Jack's bag, and Sam's bag ahead of time, so they were all there and ready to be loaded up into the car.  Mom and I loaded the car up and waited for Jonathan to get home.  Once Jonathan got home, we headed to Josh and Bonnie's to borrow their air mattress to use in the hospital, and then realizing we wouldn't be able to eat for a while, we headed to McDonald's!

When we got to the hospital, they put is in a room where they could monitor my contractions and make sure that I was actually in labor.  I thought, heaven help me if I'm not, because by that time, I was in a lot of pain.  The first time she checked me, I was still at 1 cm.  She then proceeded to tell me that if I hadn't made any progress by the next time she came in (which would be in an hour), then they were going to have to send me  home...not an option in my mind.  Lucky for me, the next time she came in, I was at 2.5 cm.!

After that, the rest of the night went rather quickly!  We got checked into a room where I got my IV and epidural.  I was at 2.5 cm. at around 10:30 pm that night, and she came in to check my progress about every hour to hour and a half.  I continued to make steady progress throughout the night, and around 1:30 am, we were ready to start pushing!  Jonathan had fallen asleep on the couch, so I had to wake him up so he could get in on the action as well ;) After about 30 minutes of pushing, our sweet little Sam was born at 2:02 am.

Our hearts are full of love and thankfulness for another healthy son.  We love you so much, sweet Sam.  Welcome to the family!

Baby Little - 18 Weeks!

(By the way, I'm still waiting to look like a pregnant supermodel in one of these pictures . . . I believe I'll be waiting a while :)  These pictures aren't flattering, but I'll be glad I documented the experience, I guess?)

How far along?  18 weeks

Gender:  It's a BOY!!! 

Name:  Yikes!  We still don't have a name other than "Baby Brother" or "New Baby"!  I'm starting to panic a little, not because we don't have time to pick out a name, but because I feel like we may never agree on one!

What is baby up to?  He is about 5 1/2 inches long - about the size of a bell pepper - and weighs about 7 ounces.  He is busy flexing his arms and legs, which I can feel very faintly every now and then - so exciting!  His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position.  A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born.

Total weight gain:  I went to the doctor on Monday, and I believe the scale still showed a 6 lb. weight gain.

Maternity clothes:  I can still wear a couple pair of pants that aren't maternity (they are low enough that they don't smoosh the belly), but mostly it's maternity jeans and maternity tops with a few non-maternity tops mixed in.

Stretch marks:  Nope!

Sleep:  I've been sleeping very well lately, so hopefully this keeps up for a while!

Best moment this week:  Still love thinking about my boys together!
From last weeks post:  I've had so much fun thinking about my two little men growing up together and all the fun they'll have, matching outfits (when they're little - eek!), baseball games, etc.  All the things that will make having two little boys so much fun and such an adventure :)  

Miss anything?  Not really!

Food cravings:  Nothing fun to report here!

Anything make you queasy or sick?  Feeling hungry

Exercise:  I haven't done too well on the exercise this week :(  I'm going to try a new tactic:  get up and go before Jack wakes up.  We'll see if this actually happens.  I have great intentions at night and then morning comes, and I think, "what was I thinking?!?"  So, we'll see.  I'll report back :)

Labor signs:  None

Symptoms:  Feeling queasy when hungry and tired and out of breath sometimes - ok, a lot.

Most looking forward to:  Getting Jack's big boy room ready and the nursery ready for Baby Brother!

Baby Little #2 - 17 Weeks!

How far along?  17 weeks

Gender:  It's a BOY!!! 

Name:  We have a very short list of names, mostly consisting of family names.  I would like to do a little more research though into names on both sides of our families before we pick one.

What is baby up to?  He is about 5 inches long - about the size of an turnip - and weighs about 5 ounces.  Baby Brother's (his name until we pick one) skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the placenta is stronger and thicker!  He can move his joints, and his sweat glands are starting to develop.  

Total weight gain:  Last I checked at the gym it was 6 lbs. . . 

Maternity clothes:  I have uncovered a couple pair of regular pants that are low enough that they don't squoosh the belly, but my maternity jeans are most definitely my go-to pants these days.  Still rocking both regular and maternity shirts, although some of my regular shirts are getting to be a little short.  Last I checked, mid-drifts aren't too cute on pregnant ladies, or on anyone for that matter.

Stretch marks:  Still no sign of any, thank goodness!

Sleep:  Still sleeping pretty well!  Although sometimes I'll wake up in the night and not be able to fall back asleep, which never used to happen.

Best moment this week:  I've had so much fun thinking about my two little men growing up together and all the fun they'll have, matching outfits (when they're little - eek!), baseball games, etc.  All the things that will make having two little boys so much fun and such an adventure :)  

Miss anything?  Not missing too much this week!

Food cravings:  I had a delicious turkey sandwich yesterday in Vail Village with lettuce, tomato, cheese, sprouts, and avocado on it that fulfilled my deli sandwich craving for the week. I asked the girl to toast the bread and heat up the meat, and man, it. was. good.

Anything make you queasy or sick?  Feeling hungry

Exercise:  I went to the gym twice last week!  

Labor signs:  None

Symptoms:  Just feeling tired most days, chasing after Jack-man :)  And also feeling hungry.  Very hungry.  They said Baby Brother would be having a growth-spurt soon, and I believe he most definitely is!  

Most looking forward to:  Getting Jack's big boy room ready, the nursery ready for another little boy, and getting a few matching outfits for the boys.  I think matching siblings are so cute!

Vail Vacation

We left this past Saturday for Vail, Colorado!  We are still here, and we are having a blast!

The plan was to surprise Brett and Sarabeth and not let them know we were tagging along on the trip.  They pulled a similar stunt on our trip to Beaver Creek a few years ago and successfully shocked Jonathan and I, so we felt like this would be the perfect opportunity to get them back.  I think we pulled it off - they seemed pretty surprised, and pretty excited - as were we :)

So, after a VERY long travel day, which ended with a two-and-a-half hour shuttle ride from the Denver airport to Vail, during which Jack belted out exorcist-sounding screams for the last hour of the trip, we made it to Vail and checked into our condo at the Montaneros!  Oh, and did I mention there were ten people on this shuttle?  And it was night-time?  And it was snowing?  Fortunately everyone on the van was very nice.  I apologized profusely and explained that he "never does this" (which I'm sure they all believed).  Just one of those moments in parenthood that you'll never forget!  I'm sure those seven other passengers will never forget it either . . .

Anyone with kids knows it can be difficult to get out the door some days.  So when you have cousins who are on two different schedules, it can be challenging to say the least!  For the first couple of days, we didn't make it out of the condo until late in the afternoon.  Breakfast, then naps, then lunch, then another nap, and there you are, it's three o'clock already!  We still had a lot of fun, and actually made it out for lunch today!  Mummi and I are the only ones not skiing at all, and Sarabeth is only skiing a couple of days.  The boys - Doc, Brett, and Jonathan - are doing their usual hard-core-all-day skiing and snowboarding, which gives the girls a lot of time to hang out and play with the babies :)

Speaking of the babies, we took them sledding yesterday, and they had a blast, Jack especially.  Here are a couple of pictures from the trip thus far.

One from the plane.  He really did well on both flights, thankfully.  Ok, so maybe I did bribe him with five twizzlers a twizzler and some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but it worked like a charm!  

Sledding and playing in the snow yesterday afternoon

Two-man bobsled :)  I love this picture!

Everyone took their turn on the sled with both boys.

Dinner the first night at El Sabor

Lunch today at Moe's BBQ!  We didn't intentionally sit at the table with all of the Alabama paraphernalia, but I sure did love looking up and to my surprise seeing pictures of both Nick Saban and The Bear :)

Nothing like some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to get the day started :)

Like I said, we are having so much fun!  Yesterday, Mummi, SB, the boys, and I all took a bus over to Vail Village and did a little sight-seeing and a little shopping.  We are going to take the boys sledding again this afternoon and will probably go out to eat tonight.  Oh, how I love family vacations!

Baby Little #2 - 16 Weeks!

How far along?  16 weeks

Gender:  It's a BOY!!! 

Name:  We have a very short list of names, mostly consisting of family names.  I would like to do a little more research though into names on both sides of our families before we pick one.

What is baby up to?  He is about 4.5 inches long - about the size of an avocado - and weighs about three and a half ounces.  BabyCenter says that in the next few weeks, he'll have a major growth spurt, doubling in weight and adding several inches in length!  Right now, his legs are much more developed, and his head is much more erect than it has been.  His eyes have moved closer to the front of his head, and his ears are close to being in their final position.  

Total weight gain:  I believe it's still 5 lbs., although it feels like 50!

Maternity clothes:  Maternity jeans are a must!  Still wearing both regular tops and maternity tops.  I can still squeeze into some of my dresses, although pretty soon, I'm thinking they're going to look a tad inappropriate.  I can't wait for spring and summer, so I can pull out some of my maternity clothes that I wore when I was pregnant with Jack!

Stretch marks:  Nope 

Sleep:  Still good! 

Best moment this week:  Finding out that we have another precious little man on the way!

Miss anything?  My smaller clothes, my smaller body, and clearer skin 

Food cravings:  Haven't had many recently . . . If I think of something that sounds good though, I have to have it . . .  you just can't ever really tell what's it's going to be though. 

Anything make you queasy or sick?  Feeling hungry

Exercise:  The goal is to go AT LEAST three times a week, and I'm bound and determined to make this happen!

Labor signs:  None

Symptoms:  Skin issues - although I did switch makeup and moisturizer, and that seems to have helped.          

Most looking forward to:  Choosing a name and getting his nursery all ready for him :)