Thanksgiving Special

This is going to be my final blog post. For November. Because it's the last day of the month, silly!

I have great news, I finished Reed's mobile! You really just have to come see it because I discovered that it doesn't photograph well. I tried numerous times but to no avail. I had to choose a couple pictures to post, so this is what you get.

I enjoyed it so much that I offered to make on for my friend, Janice. She’s having a boy in January and her colors are black/white & orange. I have some ideas now that I’ve completed mine, but who knows when I’ll get hers done!

Thanksgiving was very special. We had Mike’s parents as well as his brother’s family. I always enjoy spending time with Mike’s family so of course we had a good time! Reed met his cousin, Luke, for the first time. Too bad they look nothing alike. *sigh* Luke is a year older than Reed and has a little brother on the way so Reed will have another cousin soon! They were able to participate in our Thanksgiving tradition- in our house we make pizza on Thanksgiving day.

I'm sure they thought it was a little odd, and to please everyone we still did the turkey on Friday, but as long as Mike and I have lived together, we've done this. So we had all the toppings that anyone could want and we rolled out our dough and made our pizzas. I remember the first year Mike and I did this at the condo in Salt Lake and I ended up burning my arm taking the pizza out of the oven. The scar isn't even visible anymore but when I sent the picture message out I got a lot of "Pizza on Thanksgiving??" replies. The best part about having family come to visit is you don't feel quite as much pressure to "host". However, the worst part about having family come to visit is you don't have that pressure to "host"! My only regret about the Thanksgiving holiday is I wish I had been a better host.

Normally, Mike and I will have an itinerary ready for guests who come to visit. A whole list of options so the days can be jam packed with memory-making activities! This time we did a whole lot of relaxing! I hope they didn't mind too much!

Speaking of visitors, my mom will be coming soon! It's going to be wonderful and I'm just aching to throw my arms around her and wrap her up in a big hug. I've been missing my mom pretty intensely lately. I suppose she was feeling the same way because all it took was one conversation about her coming to visit and the ticket was bought! Its difficult for me to visit her in the winter because there are many smokers at my mom's house and I can't just go outside to avoid it. We're talking about temperatures below zero, and Reed just doesn't have clothes that are warm enough! So, the warmer months are much more comfortable. Not to mention the chances of getting stuck in Denver in the winter... no thank you!

Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have the most wonderful husband? Mike is the most competent daddy I know. Reed loves playing with him and I already see a special bond. With Mike, Reed is always learning. It's either some kind of exercise or his alphabet, shapes, or colors. Reed has recently started his "grabbing". We are in the very very early stages but we're working on the hand/eye coordination. Mike held out a toy, very steady until Reed grasped it in his little hand! He got so excited about this that he started kicking his legs and when he let go he just wanted to grab it again. So, Mike held it for him again and it took a while, his poor little hand floating around very near the toy while he strained to control what he was doing with it, but he got it again. They also do push ups together. Okay, Reed does tummy time while Mike shows him how to do push ups. I mostly dance with him, that is, when I'm not feeding him! Mike and I split night-duty. He keeps offering to take care of Reed for a whole night so I can get the entire nights sleep, but that's impossible. As a breastfeeding mom, even sleeping on a sheet saver isn't going to get me through the whole night. Besides, lately Mike's been having a little trouble soothing him back to sleep quickly in the night. I think this is because Reed thinks dad means playtime!

How do you ignore that angelic face and those huge eyes looking up at you with that mischievous grin?? It's difficult, but you have to do it. He tries to pull that with me, too. I don't look. Strict rule: No eye contact at night! Okay, so I've fallen for it once or twice. Last night Mike gets up with Reed in the night but in the end he brings him to me and explains that Reed is wide awake and he just can't get him back to bed. So, I get up, nurse him and have him in his crib within 15 minutes. Sometimes Reed just makes me look good. It's really probably because he was full, clean, and faking Mike out with the bright eyes, even though he was so sleepy.

One last thing- we thinks we had Reed's first laugh! And WHO made him laugh? Mike's brother! Dang it, David!!! Oh well, at least we were all there for it! I've been trying to get Reed to laugh for me for days now. No such luck!

3 months yet?

So Reed is now 12 weeks old but by date he won't be three months old until the 28th, which is still a week away. And I know that when people ask me how old he is they don't mean they want to know exactly how old he is, but I feel obligated to be honest and not mislead them so my answer is almost never straight forward. I have been responding with "almost 3 months" but sometimes I end up in a long winded explanation about exactly how old he is.

About 3 weeks ago we started sitting him in his Bumbo- it's great exercise for him since he can sit and work on controlling his head and balancing his body. Plus its just super cute to see him sitting up "by himself". He uses the opportunity to examine his hands and work on his hand-mouth coordination.

He also loves to stand, he's just so strong that if you stand him up he'll be straight as a board. Touch anything to his feet and he'll push against them. We first had to use this trick in the early weeks when he wasn't having any poo diapers. A little exercise does a body good!

Although he enjoys almost any movement or position he is an acrobat deep down and loves to be held high above our heads. The sweetest thing is that gravity pulls all the weight of his face down until he resembles a monkey. He smiles almost automatically, which is dangerous because once you get that smile going, there is no stopping until the shoulder muscles give out! He stiffens his body and holds his arms down to his sides in fists like a tiny baby super hero- sans tights.

The poor guy started losing all his hair a week ago. People kept commenting on the fact that he still had all his hair and we were very optimistic that we were going to escape the curse. But sadly, no. Since he sleeps on his tummy, he has pretty severe balding going on above each ear for the length of the side of his head. I sometimes give him a scalp massage to get those hair follicles reactivated.

3 nights ago we had a miracle happen. Reed slept 8 hours straight and got us both very excited. I still had to get up at 4:45am since he went to bed just before nine; it's amazing how fast 8 hours can go. He has since resumed his normal 2-3 hours at a time. Poor little guy has been stuffy and mucusy the last couple weeks so that's not helping him sleep either. We're getting better with "The Bulb" and trying to help him as best we can. Its pretty sad when there's not much we can do.

I've been storing up milk like it was the end of the world. It started in the hospital as a way to help extract nutrients since Reed wasn't eating well and we had to use it to encourage his latch. Then we got home and I knew I would need to get a good stock pile for going back to work so we wouldn't have to ever supplement with formula. Although it looks like we have plenty I still can't stop and always feel like I'm behind in his needs. I know its psychological because I'm clearly producing more than he's eating in a day or the storage would be going down not up, but I cannot help the way I feel. Even when we're running out of room in the freezer. I just want to have enough so that when I stop nursing, Reed can continue without formula.

The logical part of my brain says to stop worrying about having enough milk. I don't need the stress in my life. Especially when it's completely imaginary.

Speaking of stress, I have rededicated myself to a stress-free more positive attitude. During pregnancy I made it a high priority to keep negative thoughts and feelings out and try to stay happy and relaxed. I wanted Reed to have a happy environment to grow in. I did a fairly good job, if I do say so myself. However, since his birth I have noticed that I do allow things to bother me and find myself dwelling in a negative mood. How terrible! I say enough of that! I'm bringing the smiles back! In my defense I was getting a lot more sleep back then, but it is just as, if not more, important now. So, consider me officially rededicated!

2 &1/2 Months Wellness Visit

Today I took Reed to see Dr. Garrison for his 2 month checkup. Last night I was looking over his discharge papers from the hospital and found his begining stats amusing. His height and weight started out near the 75th percentile. However, his head circumference was at 9%!! I actually had never noticed that before but then I started thinking about it and realized that he does have a tiny head. The bottom 10%, crazy. I just thought everyone else's babies had giant heads. Come to find out, my baby just has a miniature head!

He was in such a good mood this morning and I was dreading taking him in. Even when we were in the exam room waiting for Dr. Garrison, Reed was so playful. He was smiling and kicking all over the place. He has recently became pretty vocal, which is very exciting for Mike and me, and he was cooing and ahhing away. What I enjoy about his doctor appointments is I get a chance to ask all the questions that have been bothering me. Reed's tear duct clogs off and on and right now it's a mucus machine, which is gross. He gets little bumps on his tiny little chest and tummy, which we found out were normal/common and just from irritants on clothes. His toes are fused and Dr Garrison said it's a simple orthopedic procedure if we wanted to fix them when he gets a little older. He started spitting up a lot more than normal the last couple days and come to find out 4 to 6 months is pretty much a peak for that, but he also said Dad could be feeding him too much. His tummy only holds about 4 or 5 ounces so it will expand to hold more but it won't like it and will push it back out if he's uncomfortably full.

His height is still in the 75th percentile and his weight is down in the 50th, so he's completely average there. His head has gained 6 cm since birth- he is now in the 15th percentile. I don't think it means much right now as long as he stays along the same pattern for his growth chart. Any big changes from how he is currently growing would be worrisome.

So the nurse comes in to do the shots and Reed is lying in my arms. He played his little heart out while waiting so he's a little tuckered out and is sucking my thumb. She gives him a little dose of liquid tylenol in a syringe and he slurpes it up. He knows "the birdie" and is really good at drinking from a syringe since this is how he learned to breastfeed. Then he's up on the table and I'm leaning over him, talking to him and letting him suck on my thumb. She says, "Are you ready, Mom?" and I said, "No." and she stickes the effing needle in his leg- his eyes POP open and he starts screaming- then goes to silent mode. She sticks the other two needles in and he still hasn't taken a breath. His face is dark red and frozen in a scream and thats when I notice a tiny stream of bright red blood under his curled tongue. I say outloud, "why are you bleeding? Did you bite your tongue?" Because in all the comotion I forgot that my 2 month old son doesn't have teeth and therefore cannot bite his own tongue. The only explanation is my thumbnail, I suppose, but it's pretty short so I'm still confused about the blood in his mouth. I'm actually thinking about blaming the nurse for poking him while giving him the tylenol.

After I pick him up and swaddle him up, I plug my thumb in again and he falls swiftly to sleep. Great, because he's still only wearing a diaper and I have to get him dressed in order to leave!

He slept for about 30 minutes and woke up mid-Lowes shopping. Content in his car-seat (for once) he lets me finish and when we got home I laid him down on his "gym" and he starts batting the toys around and smiling just like before. So all my guilt washed away and he didn't hate me after all!

I'm trying to work on his mobile to hang above the crib. This project started about two weeks ago but I never have the hands to do it. While I was at Lowes today I bought the rest of the supplies and could finish it if I just had a couple hours. And I'm talking about a couple hours straight, not in 5 minute segments. It's going to be really cool. I'm not going to describe it here just so the anticipation is at the highest possible level when I finally post pictures.

Last weekend we had a few generations of Franklins in the house. This was the first time Reed met his Great Grandpa Malcom and Great Grandma Jan. They came with Mke's parents, Danny and Connie and just stayed a couple days. It was a really nice weekend- sunny, breezy, and fun! We went to Braum's for ice-cream and Malcolm took my suggestion and got the butter brickle. He said something really funny about how awesome the ice-cream was but I don't remember exactly what it was. I do however remember exactly another funny thing that he did say that day. We were at Ross and he said, "put a cart in front of her in this store and she's like a blind dog in a meat plant!" Mike's dad could NOT stop laughing. I would look over at him every once in a while and notice him rubbing his eyes, laughing, shaking his head and saying, "a blind dog in a meat plant!"

And then they were on their way and we were alone again. It was a whirlwind trip and much too short. They were on their way to Vegas for the week but we were grateful that they made the stop here in OKC. Then I started thinking about Connie's face as they were getting ready to leave. She was tearing up and getting emotional about leaving Reed, I understand how hard it is, he's freaking awesome, and I asked if she wanted to hold him one last time. She wiped her eyes and said, "no, it will just make it harder to leave." Mike's legal first name is Danny (for those of you who don't know this, he goes by his middle name) which is the same as his dad's and I share the same name as his mom. I think we should have just traded them places and gone to Vegas with Mike's grandparents and let his mom and dad stay here with Reed! It's a perfect plan!

Apparently I was the only one who thought so.

Oh well, I enjoy putting my tiny man-baby to bed in his crib each night and I'm definitely not ready to skip town without him yet.

Men’s Day Wednesday

Let’s just call it what it is. My men are home together on Wednesdays while I go out into the world and win bread, or make dough. Either way somehow I’ll be bringing home some bacon.
They are absolutely adorable together. One thing that makes it so sweet is that most of Reed’s clothes are not baby clothes. They are tiny little man child clothes. When we are shopping Mike likes to say, “If I won’t wear it then Reed can’t wear it”. So a lot of their clothes are very similar. Soon I will take some pictures to illustrate what I’m saying.
I haven’t a clue what they’re up to right now but I’m dying to know. They’re probably doing push ups or something manly like that. Perhaps they’re just sitting around in their underwear eating pizza. I feel blessed that I have a husband who makes it such a priority to spend time with his baby. To him, it’s very important to use his vacation days to be home with Reed for the entire day (ten hours!) once a week. He’s the most capable new father in the world and I feel very confident saying that. Mike has never once turned away from a dirty diaper and most times just takes Reed to change him without even being asked. In fact, the system usually goes: I feed him, Mike burps and changes him. Do I feel guilty about this? Do I feel like I’m taking advantage of my husband? Actually yes, I do. I didn’t in the beginning, before I went back to work because I was home all day with every diaper until Mike got home so I had no problem tagging him in for diaper duty. However, since we both work now, I actually do feel like I’ve relinquished too much and the scales are tipping unjustly. Now that I’ve admitted to it, I’m going to have to start working on it. (Dang!)
Halloween was good! We invited a whole bunch of our friends and ended up with a small get together. The costumed Harpers and Gospodareks joined us for chili and caramel apples. Keith and Cassie had great costume ideas! They came as Forrest Gump (the long haired runner) and Jenny (the long haired hippy) and Allissa was an ipod, which was pretty cute. The Gospodareks came as cowboys, but Miss Sophie was a pumpkin. Mike and I decided on the football theme.

I made Reed’s costume with a borrowed sewing maching and it was custom fitted two weeks ahead of time. This was tricky because he’s growing so fast it ended up being pretty snug! I was a referee and Mike was a coach! He got his big noise cancelling headphones and wore them on his hat, like the coaches do, and had a binder called his “playbook”. My referee costume was the most decent sexy one I could find. I had to wear shorts under it but the zipper gave Reed easy access so that was important.
I planned on taking Reed out and “trick-or-treating” in the neighborhood to show him off to neighbors that we know but time just slipped away and before I knew it the night was almost over! I remembered that Halloween is kind of annoying because whatever you’re doing is constantly interrupted by the door bell.
Since this was my first attempt at sewing a Halloween costume I am pretty proud of myself for how it turned out, I’m actually thinking about selling it on ebay next year. I think Reed like it because it was kind of like wearing his pajamas all night. Not that any of his clothes are really that uncomfortable! One thing Reed and I have in common is our love for elastic waist pants!