Life is Great

We've been so busy watching Kai James grow and develop. I'm still amazed each and every time that I look at him that we actually "made" him and I gave birth to him. This morning waking up, it dawned on me (again) that not only did I make this little person, but that I have to teach him to speak, read, write, and the list goes on and on. Wow, what a big job. I love him to pieces and can barely remember life without him. He brings me incredible joy. His smile lights up a room and his giggle is absolutely contagious. I have such wonder about the days and months to come.

The last week or so he's been able to sit up on his own for 30 seconds or so before he starts to teeter off. I can see his little core muscles working so intently. He's taking an interest in Bentley and Sophie and I catch him following them around a room with his eyes. His sleeping habits are still not "optimal", but I do welcome the early morning cuddle. I can still hold and stare at him for hours. He really does have the cutest little smoochers and his eyelashes are getting so long and lovely.

Kai's First Christmas

I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew that Kai's first Christmas would be one that he wouldn't remember, but I hoped to capture as many memories for him as possible. It was really amazing and I can only imagine what the years to come will bring. Christmas made me all nostalgic this year, thinking about what life was like when I was a kid, when I believed in Santa. I have so many fond memories of Christmas as a kid. Whether it was the glass Christmas lights hung on our tree that I so loved or the projects that I did in school that would help me count down the days to Christmas. I remember Christmas Eve was amazingly fun with my huge family. I remember going home from my Aunts house on Christmas Eve and my dad would religiously tell my brother and I that he saw Rudolph's nose beaming in the night's sky. I especially remember the feeling of waking up Christmas morning and running down the hallway to the living room and seeing the presents sparkle under the tree...

Bentley Claiming his territory.

to be continued...

Kai's 4 Month Check Up

Kai had his four month checkup this week and I am proud to report that he is 16lbs 8oz, 25.75 inches long and his head is 16.75 inches in circumference. He is growing like a weed.

Over the last couple of weeks I've really noticed his transition from an infant to a baby. If that makes sense to anyone. He's really coming into his own and his personality is really shining through. He has a contagious smile and his giggles are worth a million bucks. He is really starting to hold objects and reach for them. He has actual interest in playing with toys. He can sit in his swing or bumbo for awhile and actually enjoy these things. He's very strong and loves to kick his legs. We are enjoying every minute of him. I feel that I am starting to get into a groove...but I am sure that since I just typed that he will shake up our world soon and will leave me feeling insecure.

I am still breastfeeding and thankfully was able to improve my milk supply some. I started taking fenugreek a couple of weeks back and while I am still not the milk producing goddess like I imagined myself to be pre Kai, I was able to improve milk production. Also, thanks to my wonderful network, I learned some techniques to improve milk expression from the dearly dreaded pump. I am still tweaking this though and hopeful that I will be able to yet still improve my milk production and expression--stay tuned. When I was at the pediatrician earlier this week with Kai, she mentioned to me that sometimes milk production can improve with the next baby.  I'm wondering if anyone out there with multiple children that have breastfed noticed this? I'm hopeful this is the case. She described this as if it was like your body was already primed and ready to go.

Kai was suppose to have a couple of shots this week, but I declined them at this visit since he's been sick. I think the pediatrician was somewhat annoyed with me, but I really don't care. I have my strong opinions on vaccinations in the first place, but since Constant and I agreed to vaccinate Kai with an alternative schedule that we both feel comfortable with, I didn't think it would hurt him to hold off a couple of weeks until he was back to normal. I guess I just find it odd that it would be OK to vaccinate a baby when they were sick. As the nurse pointed out, "as long as they don't have a fever" we can vaccinate. Then this nurse politely lectured me about cleaning Kai's gums after he got a bottle. Are you serious???  It's amazing at work how I can be interrogated and speak eloquently on Missile Defense without seeming squeamish, but when it comes to my son's Doctor's apt's and checkups and things of this nature it makes me feel anxious and inadequate. I'm also amused by the fa sod that some of the Nurse's have when they question you on the growth and development of your child. The Nurse told me that Kai should start to say Mama and Dada any day now. Now I know my son is advanced and just accepted his full scholarship to Harvard, but this just seemed a little advanced. So I pushed back and questioned the seriousness of her statement. "Well, I am just saying, this is something that you will notice in the future". No shit Sherlock.


Couldn't you just get lost in those eyes?

Kai is 4 Months Old

It's Saturday morning and I am sitting here thinking about all of the things I need to do this weekend and I remember that I haven't written in my blog in nearly a month (Thanks Katie for the friendly reminder).
I am hoping that one day soon I will get into the motherly baby groove where I can graciously tackle all of the items on my to-do list and still have time to cook dinner and looked put together. I am hopeful.

Kai James was officially four months old yesterday. 4 months old. Wow, where does the time go. He's getting to be such a big boy. He's roughly around 16lbs. It's amazing how many changes we see from week to week and even day to day. He's still very serious, but pops a smile much easier now and giggles quite frequently. His cheeks are growing equally as fast which makes it harder for me to see any sign of a dimple.

I didn't think it would come this early, but we had an "incident" at school earlier this week. I actually had to sign an "incident report" and all. One of Kai's friends dropped himself and a toy on Kai's forehead leaving a minor scratch the size of my middle finger on his head. He's recovering quite nicely..teehee. I am glad my baby is fine and that the school took the incident seriously, but it's sort of a little silly to see how much of a production was made...I am sure this will be the first of many scrapes and "incidents" we deal with. The first thing Constant said when I when I told him was "which kid was it". As if that really matters..the kid that did it couldn't have been any more than 6 or 7 months old. *chuckle*.

It was a very big week of memorable moments this week at school. On Thursday I got a note on Kai's daily report that he was flirting with Ava. They were both doing tummy time facing each other and apparently Kai was smiling and giggling and yes, FLIRTING with her. What a tramp Ava is...she's a new arrival to the school and already enticing my son to flirt with her! I can see where this is going.

Here are some Christmas Photos of My Santa Babe. Love this guy!!!!

My Cutie Patootie

My Future Model?

 I've been going into to work for 6am so C does school drop off and I do pick up. He's been sending me pictures at work of how he's dressed our little man. Don't you just want to eat him up?

I captured this lovely smile today while Kai Bear was in his bumbo. This smile lights up my day. Love him.

You've Got This...

I knew from the minute I found out that I was pregnant that I wanted to breastfeed Kai. I had heard stories that it could be difficult, but that didn't bother me.  In my experience, pretty much anything worth doing or fighting for hasn't necessarily been easy. I was up for the challenge. In typical me fashion, I read, I consulted and I joined. I was ready to take on breast feeding head on (no pun intending). There were some hiccups in the beginning, but in all sincerity thanks to my great friends and support networks I conquered the bumps and have been going strong for the last three months. I'm not going to lie, it hasn't been necessarily easy, but for Kai it has been well worth being  "inconvenienced". So as you know, on 11/2 I rejoined the work force with pump in hand. Though I was very worried about my milk production and keeping up with Kai's demand, I never once gave much thought to the fact that I wouldn't "enjoy" pumping at work. I thought it would be a breeze as I was one of the fortunate breast feeding working moms that had an office with a door. I saw (well not literally) my friend Katie pump for several months at work and it seemed like a breeze.  Again, I was wrong. On a side note, how is it possible that I can be wrong this many times? As if going back to work wasn't hard enough, pumping at work has definitely made it that much more difficult. In fact, since this is my blog, I'm going to be totally honest, I hate it. I hate the whole thing. I hate lugging the damn thing and it's side kick "the milk cooler" around.  I hate being "exposed" in my office. I hate scheduling the time to pump...wah, wah, wah...the whole thing feels incredibly unnatural to me.

I'm literally taking it one day at a time and repeating the words that my sister in law said to me last weekend...you've got this....

Back to Work Blues

It was inevitable that the dreaded November 2nd would eventually catch up to me and I would have to rejoin the ranks as a working mom. It came, I cried, and cried some more...two weeks later I can't say that I am over it, I guess I've just gotten numb to it. Rather than crying in the morning, my new routine consists of crying in the evening after I pick up my little guy. I really thought that when I picked Kai up at "school" the first day that he would greet me with a big huge smile. You know, the smile that I've worked hard to capture a picture of. The smile that melts my heart and lifts my sorrows. Nope, that wasn't the case. I swear I am not this naive. Kai pretty much acted like he didn't know me, sort of like Bentley does after a weekend away at doggy day care. I really wondered if Bentley got to Kai first and taught him this. All of my kids, 4 legged or two legged have already aligned forces. Yeah so that pretty much broke my heart that he didn't seem to have any noticeable bond to me. The last three months I've been sort of secretly relishing that I was Kai's best friend and that I could sooth him in a second. That's not the case anymore...in one short day at school we are no longer BFF's. If the truth be told, I've wondered if his teachers have wondered if he's unhappy at home. I've tried different approaches to the pick up routine, but ultimately as soon as I pick him up he cries. Not only does this break my heart, it brings back vivid memories of the feeling I get when I pick up other infants and they cry as soon I pick them up. For clarification purposes, Kai's cry isn't just some subtle whimpering it's an inconsolable cry. If I didn't feel guilty enough before, it's in full force now.