Grandma's come and Grandma's go....

Last week we had Albert's mom and sister come visit for a week. It was great. Albert's mom got to meet Antonio for the first time, which she loved. That also meant that we got out of the house a lot more and there was a TON more stimulation for Antonio. He did pretty well considering. However, he already seems to be calmer now that is just him and I at home during the day. We went on his very first ferry ride to visit my moms for lunch and the afternoon. It nice since it was the hottest day of the week and we were out of the house! Then we went to the annual summer BBQ at my work on Thursday. On Friday we noticed he had been sneezing more than usual, a little coughing and a snotting nose so I called the doctor thinking he might be getting a cold. Well we took him in and all was fine except for the fact he is huge! He weighed in at 13lbs. 8 oz!!! At 5 weeks! No wonder Alberts back is hurting and my stomach muscles continue to ache. Man oh man! Saturday we had my parents over for a fun dinner with possibly just enough wine to get us all goofy. That next day they left for a year long vacation all over the world; literately. It was so hard to say goodbye to her. I have never been away from my mom for more that a few months before this. When they return August 2010 Antonio will be a boy ( not a baby) and very possibly walking. So sad. Monday we all went into Seattle to go tour Safeco Field. It was a surprisingly good tour. I have been there numerous times including a fanfest one year so I wasn't sure how much I'd actually get from it but it was fun! For those of you who live around here I'd check it out. It was $9 a person but we had two buy 1 get 1 free coupons from the entertainment guide so it was a steal! Poor Antonio has so much Grandma love since he was born between my mom and Albert's and now they are both gone. Hopefully he'll survive! ; )

In the past couple weeks Antonio has gained weight as mentioned above, started to smile which is amazing. However, he seems to be smiling at everyone and everything but me. Doesn't he know I am the one who carried him for 9 months!?! Geez. He even smiled at my mom while they were over for dinner; she loved it! I think he has even kinda giggled! So sweet; I can't wait until he does it more regularly. He continues to sleep in his crib and the next step is getting him to sleep through the night. We think it is close though. Albert gets up with him every night to feed him (it's their bonding time) and says that the 2am and 5 am feedings are less and less. Meaning he isn't eating as much so we hope that is a sign he may not need to wake up and eat! We're hoping so at least.

Tia Nelly, Albert, Grandma & Antonio

Grammy, Antonio and Grandma

Antonio & I

Albert, Antonio and I

1 month today!

It's pretty amazing that just 1 month ago my life was so completely different. I slept in on weekends, the only things that interrupted me was my urgent need to pee (in the end of the pregnancy) and the need to get off my feet (again, at the end of the pregnancy). Now, if I sleep in until 9 it is because Albert has the day off and he and Antonio go downstairs to hangout together. Otherwise I sleep "in" until maybe 7 am. I am completely on his schedule. My life revolves around feeding Antonio, comforting and holding him and hoping he will stop crying and fall asleep! : ) He is amazing; he really is and I wouldn't change a thing; unless you ask me in the middle of one of his "freak outs". Then I might consider it for a moment; but just for a moment.

In the past month Antonio has grown a ton; literately. The day he was born he weighed 9lbs 15 oz and was 21" long. They weighed him the day he was circumcised (last Tuesday, the 4th) and he was 11lbs 8 oz. Knowing him he has gained since then too! At the last Dr. appt ( July 27th ) he was 23.75" long! Amazing! From day one he was able to hold his head up for maybe 10 - 20 sec. on his own and now, probably for a min at least! His vision has gotten better and he spends more time awake looking around at things. He seems to be making eye contact every once in awhile with us too. You can just see the wheels turning in his head. For some reason he is obsessed with our brown couch. He is always seems so captivated by it! The tv also catches his attention; those flashes of light are just so cool! He has found his voice as well. Not only is his screaming and crying louder (oh yay..) but his is making a lot more sounds. Not necessarily the typical "cooing" or "oohing" just noises. Every once in awhile he will let out a shriek or two out of the blue then look a bit curious on where that noise came from then go back to being content. So cute in a weird way. Two nights ago he slept in his actual crib. I wondered if it was or would be a one time thing but he did again last night again. It is sad in a way but I am so proud of him in another. As my cousin said, my baby is growing up! : ( However, I tried it more because his bassinet we have been using was getting a little to cozy. He still is not sleeping through the night yet...soon we hope! If he would just eliminate that 2-3 am wake up call we'd all be happy!

Neither Albert or I can believe how fast time does fly by; it's so sad. He is just so perfect to us. It is amazing to think that WE created this amazing human being; I grew him in my belly. It/he really is a miracle. We are mesmerized by him all the time. Becoming a parent is such a stressful, frustrating, amazing, emotional, happy and proud thing. It truly is and it has only been a month. No, I don't want another baby unless I don't have to go through the 1st or 3rd trimester and unless the baby will just fall out without and pain or recovery time! ; )

He is official!

Today we got both his birth certificate and his social security card in the mail! Hooray, he is an official little person in this world! He is still growing like crazy; as of Tuesday he is 11lbs 8 oz! Will he ever stop growing? I have the feeling the answer is no. We went and saw Antonio's Great Grandma today and he was so good! He laid on her lap, she fed him and then fell asleep! It was perfect. My mom took some cute pictures of the two of them! On Monday we went to our first "Living with Baby" class that we get free for a month. It was fun, not what I expected but to be fair I don't know what I expected. There were 3 other people and babies there; a 7wk old, 9wk old and 12 wk old. Antonio was as big as them; especially the 12 wk old girl! Scary! We sang songs, which I think he really liked, talked about SIDS/baby safety (there is a different topic every week)and talked about what our babies were doing and concerns we had. We got a few good tips from the others since they were long past the 3wk mark. It was encouraging! We will definitely go back next week and through our free month!

Umbilical Cord Stump

Finally the cord stump fell off! It had been hanging on by a thread for the last day or two and was looking pretty nasty. Every once in awhile there would be some spot bleeding on the inside of his clothes recently too. (which apparently is very normal; yes, I called the doctor to ask.) I can't believe he can't feel it; I mean this big nasty scab thing is attached to something then just falls off. Weird. Anyways, I went to change his diaper and looked and it was gone; I couldn't believe it! Finally! They always said it would just fall on and you'd never find it; but he hadn't been many place since his last changing so I looked for it. Sure enough it fell out of his onesie...I quickly tossed it in the diaper pail. Nasty! I ran over to wash my hands then went back to change his diaper. So glad to have that gone! Below is the after photo!

If it isn't one thing it is another right? Right. Tuesday he gets circumcised...finally. We were going to have it done at the hospital but then he ended up in the NICU and didn't. I had somewhat been putting it off because as much as I want it done I don't want to have that happen to him. My OB told me not to put it off because the longer I wait the more complications can come up. So I made the appointment and now am dreading it. So we/I go from one "gross" thing to another. Please pray for Antonio's and my sake that he heals fast and there aren't any complications. I will be very anxious for it to be healed and done with.