Archive for 2013

wesley - 5 months

i am behind on my monthly wesley posts, but hopefully i can catch up...  funny how once you have a baby, you no longer seem to have time to blog about the baby (or anything else)!!  wesley was 5 months old on november 21.

stats:  we did not have a dr appointment this month, but we did end up taking him in early december for an ear infection, so based on that weight, i'm guessing he was around 14 lbs, 6 oz at 5 months.  he's still long and skinny.  he was still wearing his 3-6 month clothes.

 
eating/sleeping:  wesley continues to take 3, 5 oz bottles to daycare, and is nursing 3x a day.  he is still a good sleeper - although his love for rolling around in his crib means that we usually have to move him back to the center a few times a night.  he also still loves his pacifier at night, and will start to get fussy if he wakes up and doesn't have it.  overall he's doing great with sleeping, and always wakes up with a big smile in the mornings.
 
his daily schedule is very similar to what i wrote in his 4 month post, although he seems to have dropped his evening nap.  he's still napping really well at daycare, and we're working on trying to make sure that he naps on the weekends.

 
milestones:  wesley still loves to smile, and "talk" to you.  this month he started being able to sit up unsupported for a few seconds, or longer when being held, so we start putting him at the table with us when we eat dinner.  he really started reaching for toys, and playing with them.  since he also likes to be upright, we bought him an exersaucer.  that's been nice to have, because he can play in that in the kitchen when we make dinner, or try to get a few others things done.

 
misc:  wesley dressed up as a skeleton for his first halloween.  he wore his outfit to daycare, and then when we passed out candy that evening.  he's also showing more interest in our pets.  i think that our cat eze is his current favorite.  she likes to sit next to him, and will tolerate him "petting" (pulling on) her fur.


my cute boys!  mike decided wesley needed to wear his tie onesie so that they could match.



 
such a happy little guy!

1 Comment

wesley - 4 months

stats:  at wesley's 4 month doctor appointment, he was 13 lbs 13 oz and 25.5" in length.  he's still at 75% for height and head size, but dropped down to 20% for weight.  the doctor didn't seemed concerned since he's eating well, i guess he's just a long skinny guy (obviously didn't get that from me!).  he's still in 3-6 and 6 month clothing, he has a ton of outfits in this size so i hope he's able to wear them for a little while longer. 


eating/sleeping:  wesley continues to eat and sleep well.  the daycare ladies thought that he seemed a little hungry after his 4 oz bottles, so we added an extra oz and have been sending 3, 5 oz bottles to daycare and he's been doing well with that.  he's still a good sleeper, although he discovered how to roll over this month, so we usually have to get up a few times a night to roll him back because he'll get himself stuck against the side of the crib and start to be fussy.  usually we can get him to fall back asleep by flipping him over, and giving him his pacifier.  in the grand scheme of sleeping issues, i know that this is minor, but i am hoping that it ends soon, so that we can all sleep through the night again!

he seems to have a somewhat predictable schedule during the work week - we are still waking him up at 6:30, he nurses, we all finish getting ready, and leave the house at 7:15.  typically he takes a short nap in the morning at daycare (about 45 mins), and then another longer nap in the afternoon (2.5 hours).  he's drinking his 3 daycare bottles about 3 hours apart.  i pick him up at 4:15, and we will play for a little while once we get home, and also wash diapers and bottles for the next day.  he usually nurses again around 6 or 6:30.  sometimes he takes another short nap in the evening, and sometimes he's awake and happy just hanging out with us.  we are doing a bath every other night.  he nurses again between 8 and 8:30, depending on when he seems like he's getting tired.  mike takes him upstairs after he's done eating, puts him in his crib in his sleep sack with a pacifier, and he'll be out in a few mins.

the weekends never seem to follow the same schedule which is fine with me.  he tends to sleep a little later (sometimes until 8, funny how i now think that is "late"), and doesn't seem to take as many or as long naps during the day.  if we are out and about, he'll sleep in the car, but he's generally awake most of the day.  our evening routine is similar, although sometimes he'll be up a little later depending on what we're doing.  i haven't worried about trying to keep him on the same "schedule" - as long as he's happy, i prefer the flexibility!


milestones:  he loves to smile!  he hasn't given us a really big laugh yet, but he's come close and will giggle or do this laugh/snort thing.  probably the biggest thing this month has been rolling over - he can roll back to front, and front to back.  he still likes to "stand", and wants to be held upright most of the time.  he also really likes to be vocal, and will become very chatty, esp when in the car.  he now recognizes our voices and smiles when he sees us.  that's probably my favorite development so far!  he's reaching for toys now and can hold on to most things.  the daycare ladies think he is teething, but i'm not so sure.  he does drool a lot and puts things in his month, but i haven't felt any teeth yet.  mike thinks that he felt some though, so we'll see.
    

misc.:  this month we did a few new things.  mike had to travel to chicago for work, so since he was gone for several nights and it was during the week, my mom came out to stay with me to help with wesley.  it was nice to not have to worry about getting him to daycare and still getting to work on time!  and of course we enjoyed having mom around.  we did manage to find time to check out the new outlet mall too!

mike won tickets through work to go to one of the cards playoff games, since it was on a saturday during the day, we decided to take wesley.  he did great!!  i was impressed.  he was awake the entire time, and made frieds with all of the people around us.  
 

later in the month we drove over to illinois and went to a pumpkin/apple farm.  we picked some apples, went through a corn field maze, and just enjoyed the fall day.


after we got back from the farm, mike was watching football and i noticed that wesley was watching the game with him, i thought that the photo was too cute not to share.


last weekend i had to go to chicago for a work event.  my first night away from wesley went better than i thought - i missed him, but he did great at home with mike.  mike sent me the picture below, such a happy little guy.  went i got back from chicago i actually got to go to the 3rd world series game, which was amazing!  the cards won, too bad they couldn't keep that up...

 

wesley continues to be a sweet and easy going baby and it's been fun to see more and more of his personality develop!

1 Comment

wesley - 3 months

stats: no dr's appointment this month, so not sure on his weight or height. but he seems like he's just getting longer. he still is a skinny guy. right around 3 months we made the switch to 3-6 month clothing, mostly because he was getting too long for the smaller size. 

 
eating/sleeping:  wesley started daycare when he was 11 weeks old, and i was a little worried about how that transition would impact his eating and sleeping schedule.  it took us a week or so to figure out how many bottles (and how much in each bottle) he needed for daycare, but we seem to be on a good schedule now.  he is still sleeping through the night, although we had to stop using the swaddle because he was moving around too much.  he still isn't really rolling, but he's all over the place in his crib, often 180* in the morning from where i put him the night before.  we have a breathing/motion detector monitor, and while it is nice to have that reassurance that everything is ok with him, he tends to set it off at night because he moves so far away from the sensor pad.  waking up to the alarm going off is not fun!
 
our schedule during the week has us waking wesley up at 6:30.  he is usually still sound asleep, but is happy after he wakes up, so i try to not feel too bad about waking him.  he will eat, and then just hang out while mike and i finish getting ready for work.  he tends to drink 3, 4 oz bottles at daycare, spaced about 3 hours apart.  sometimes he takes a few decent naps, sometimes not.  he's never had a predictable nap schedule.  he seems to really like daycare, his teachers are so nice and he's always happy when we drop him off or pick him up.  wesley will eat again when we get home from daycare, and then still is awake most of the evening.  it's nice to be able to spend time with him playing before he goes to bed.  he usually eats again around 8:30, and then we put him to bed.
 

DSC_0660
 
milestones:  probably the biggest milestone this month is smiling!  wesley loves to smile and we love to see him smile.  he also has started to take extra interest in his hands, and is beginning to hold on to small toys, blankets, and our fingers.  he has also started to coo and "talk" to us, which is fun.  sometimes he has a lot to say!
 
DSC_0615

misc.:  the most exciting thing this month was our first trip to ohio!  wesley and i flew to ohio a few days early for labor day weekend.  as worried as i was about flying with a 9 week old, wesley did great on the plane.  he smiled at everyone around us, and was happy the entire flight.
 
 

we got to see lots of friends and family while in ohio.  wesley met his great-grandparents, and his uncles.  we also got to spend time with a group of friends from high school, and meet their kids as well.  it was a great weekend and i'm so glad we were able to make the trip.  mike drove to ohio on friday to spend the weekend with us, and then all of us drove back on monday.  wesley also was a champ with the 7 hour car ride, we only had to stop once to feed him!
 
 
wesley also got to go to his first rugby game this month.  we showed our team support with the purple outfit (it is hard to find purple for boys!).  wesley seems to like to be outside, so hopefully we will be able to continue to go to mike's rugby games throughout the fall.

 
on the day that wesley actually turned 3 months old, it was really nice outside so we went to the park to take some photos (with the good camera!  really need to take more nice photos... i tend to take more with my phone). 
 



DSC_0672
 
DSC_0670

1 Comment

wesley - 2 months

please ignore the fact that he will be 3 months old in just a few days...  hopefully i will be more on top of things next month :)

 
stats:  at his 2 month appointment he was 12 lbs 1 oz, and 23.5" in length.  he was still in the 50% for weight, and 75% for length and head size.  in his second month, wesley was still fitting in most 0-3 month size clothing, although a few things were starting to get a little short on him.  


 

eating/sleeping:  wesley stayed on pretty much the same schedule that he had put himself on during his first month, except that at about 6 weeks old he dropped his 4 am feeding, and started sleeping through the night.  i know... we are lucky.  he was getting up most mornings around 7am, eating, and then typically took a decent morning nap.  he would eat again around 10 and 2, sometimes napping, but he really was awake most of the day.  he would eat again right before dinner time, and then before bed we'd give him a bottle.  he was going to bed around 9:30.  so he was nursing 4 times a day, and then getting a bottle for his 5th feeding.  and sleeping pretty much from 9:30pm-7:00am.  our bedtime routine was pretty simple - swaddle, sleep sheep, pacifier, and then just let him fall asleep on his own in his crib.  right at the end of the second month we had to start swaddling him with his arms free, because he was just moving too much and was starting to turn on his side when sleeping.
 
 
 
milestones:  we really started to get into a routine the second month.  wesley continued to be a relaxed and happy baby, which allowed us to start getting out of the house more, and just to be able to do more things while at home.  he continued to do well with tummy time, although he was starting to get bored.  during his second month he discovered that he liked to "stand", and prefered to be held upright instead of just doing tummy time.  he also gave us his first real smile.





misc.:  at the end of the month our friends made the drive out to visit us and meet wesley!  we had such a good time catching up, and spending time with them.  two of our friends have a little girl who was 9 months old (wesley's future girlfriend??) so it was fun to play with her, we don't get to see them nearly enough. 



wesley's second month was a good one, it was exciting to see him start to do a few more things and really start to show off his personality.  he's such a fun little guy.

(sorry for the weird picture format, something is wrong with blogger and i can't figure out how to fix it...)

2 Comments

wesley's room

we actually finished wesley's room back in may/june, but i never got a chance to post about it.  better late than never?  esp. since my last update was in april!  looking back over my recent posts i realized i am behind on several house updates...  i'll work on that.

anyway, wesley's room.  we didn't do a "theme", we just wanted to keep it simple, and make good use of the small space.

DSC_0268
 
right inside the door we have his books, the chair, and a small bench for additional storage.  i ended up putting the ikea cart beside the chair, but might remove it once he starts being more active.  i am still looking for some kind of light to put in this area for middle of the night feeding so i don't have to turn on the overhead light.  maybe a lamp behind the chair?  i love all of the books, and i can't wait for wesley to be excited about reading them.
 
DSC_0271

on the other side of the window, we have his crib, the animal prints, and a themis mobile. probably not a traditional choice for a baby mobile, but i liked the bright colors and shapes and hopefully wes will too.  

DSC_0269
 
DSC_0270

next is the closet.  i forgot to take a more recent photo, but it is full now!  thanks to the grandmas, wesley has lots of clothes.  the closet never fit adult sized hangers, but works perfectly for baby size hangers.  we added the shelves for extra storage, there is also a shelf above the clothes rod, it must not have been installed when i took this photo.  we added the bottom shelf to cover up the angled floor - the closet is over the stairs.  it is difficult to tell in the photo, but the closet is painted gray, we used a sample paint left over from another project.

DSC_0240

between the closet and the door, we have wesley's dresser, which we are also using as a changing table. i was excited when i found this dresser on craigslist, it is the perfect size to fit in the small space. since we are cloth diapering, the hanging wet bag is for dirty diapers. 

DSC_0469
 
the map above the dresser is actually made of cork, i thought it would be a fun way to add photos of friends and family.
 
DSC_0470

and that's it - the room is only about 10'x11', but it has everything that we need for wesley.  i really love the wall color and am glad that we decided to keep it.  i think that i've previously posted about some of the items in the room, but if you have any questions, let me know.

8 Comments

wesley - 1 month

a little late, but i thought that i should a least try to do a monthly wesley update post.  if nothing else, it will be nice for us to have a record of these things, plus i'm assuming that at least the grandparents will read this :)

Untitled
 
stats:  at his one month appointment, wesley weighed 10 lbs 2 oz, which put him right at 50% for weight.  he grew an inch in length and was 22", which is 75%.  his head size was also at 75%.  he never really fit in newborn sized clothing, and is currently wearing size 0-3.  he's actually already outgrown some of his clothes in this size.

iPhone backup 7.22.2013
 
eating/sleeping:  welsey is doing great with both eating and sleeping.  he seems to have put himself on a schedule, and has been on it since he was 2 weeks old.  he has some off days, but for the most part he gets up around 9, eats, and then is happy just hanging out and napping.  he'll eat again around 1, and then take a decent nap in the afternoon.  the afternoons are also when i try to run any errands or make appointments.  he eats again around 5, which has been really nice because he is usually ok with hanging out in his swing while we eat dinner.  he's awake most of the evening, and that's when we try to do tummy time, bath time, go for a walk, etc.  he'll take a bottle from dad around 9/9:30, and then he's been going to bed around 10 or 11.  he will usually sleep most of the night, getting up once around 3 or 4 to eat.  he's actually even slept through the night a few times.  no complaints from us!
 

iPhone backup 7.22.2013

milestones:  we started using our cloth diapers around week 3, and have been really liking them so far.  we've also gone out for a few walks, and have been able to go out to dinner a few times.  wesley is generally just really relaxed and happy, so we've been able to do more than i thought we would in the first month.  per our dr's recommendation, we introduced a bottle a few weeks ago to make sure we had time to work with him before taking him to daycare.  he took the bottle like it was no big deal though, so no issues there!  he's great at tummy time - he seems to have good head control and has even managed to flip himself over a few times.  we also had our first date out without wesley this past month, we went to our favorite wine bar for a drink when mike's parents were visiting.  wesley did great with his grandparents.

Untitled
 
misc.:  we've had 2 family visits over the last month.  my parents drove out when wesley was born, and then mike's parents and youngest brother visited a few weeks ago.  it was so nice to have extra people around.  the pets have been doing really well with wes.  murphy esp. loves wesley and loves to give him kisses.  both cooper and murphy will run to his room in the morning to check on him, and have to make sure he's ok if he starts to cry.  

iPhone backup 7.22.2013

the first month has gone by very quickly and i can't believe how much he's changed already!

4 Comments

wesley michael

wesley was born a few weeks ago on the 21st, 4 days before my due date.  he was 8 lbs 3 oz, 21" long, and had a head full of dark hair.

55699-IMG_5756

we had a few scares during labor, but he is just perfect and i have had a good recovery so far.

DSC_0347

i'm hesitant to say this because i know it can quickly change, but we're doing really well.  he's a decent sleeper - we usually can get a 3-4 hour stretch each night.  he's doing great with eating, and is just generally a happy baby.

DSC_0384

we've mostly been hanging out at home, but have managed to get out for a few walks, and even went to a family dinner on the 4th.

DSC_0390

we are so in love.

5 Comments

the bathroom sink

one of the biggest challenges in our bathroom project was the sink.  as you can see from this old photo (after we did our temporary update when we moved in), the bathroom is very narrow, and i actually always felt like the old sink was too deep.  for reference, the top portion was about 19", and the bottom was 16.5".  we had a tight budget for this remodel so moving plumbing or re-configuring the layout was not an option, the new sink would be installed in the same spot:


we looked everywhere for a sink/vanity/cabinet/something that was 16" or less in depth.  ikea had one, but the style did not really match what we were looking for, plus the length was not really right.  i found a few options online, but they were all super expensive...  i even looked at pre-made console tables, or end tables, hoping i could find something that matched the dimensions we needed, and that we cound install a sink in.  eventually, i gave up trying to find something that would work and decided instead to explore the option of making our own from scratch.

enter ana white.  have you seen this website?  it is fantastic - lots of tutorials on how to build various pieces of furniture.  i found this tutorial for an end table, and decided to use that as a starting point for our sink base.

i found a white ceramic undermount sink on overstock, and came up with this:


starting with ana's basic design, i lowered the shelf to try to cover up the plumbing mess that we have coming out of the floor.  i also added an apron along the front and sides to cover the bottom of the sink.  and then changed all dimensions to fit our space.  

building the top took awhile because we had to biscuit join each board, cut to length, and then add the mitered frame to finish it off. and then cut the sink hole... i should mention that in the middle of this process, our (very old) table saw tried to kill us, so we also ended up buying a new table saw.

DSC_0226

then we started working on the legs... murphy was obviously helping.

DSC_0241

and the rest of the base...

DSC_0244

and finally added the top and the bottom shelf.

DSC_0247

murph kept helping.

DSC_0230

once the sink base was assembled, we drilled the holes for the faucet, and then stained the entire base.  we used a walnut stain to match the door.  after the stain dried, we coated the entire thing with many coats of waterlox.  this was a long process because you have to wait 24 hours between coats, and then almost a week before attaching the sink.  and it still needs 30 days to cure!  we are hopeful that the waterlox will create a waterproof finish though.

DSC_0261

finally installed in the bathroom!

DSC_0264

i really like the contrast of the dark wood with all of the other light/white finishes.  we still need to do the closet, but the rest of the bathroom is done.

DSC_0265

i'm very happy that we decided to tile the entire bathroom, i love how it turned out.

DSC_0266

6 Comments

search

Swedish Greys - a WordPress theme from Nordic Themepark. Converted by LiteThemes.com.