A Whole Week!

So a whole week has gone by with no blog update. Sorry about that...

Not too much has happened this week. Reid is working on his business. I'm working on finishing up Our Town. Wesley is working on being the world's loudest and highest pitched screacher. He is also working on holding his head up which is getting better every day.


This week Wes had decided that the ideal wake-up time is between 5 and 6 am. He is usually awake, happy and kicking for about an hour and a half (just long enough to get mommy and daddy really awake) and then he's ready to go back to bed until between 9 and 10! Yep, already training mommy and daddy well!

They burned our drainage ditch this weekend... honeslty not sure who "they" are. Luckily it all burned quickly and went out near our house without trouble. Down the road and around the corner wasn't so lucky where it jumped the ditch and burned part of a field. It also jumped the railroad tracks but luckily didn't get across the highway! When Reid came home there were a whole bunch of fire trucks putting it out. I understand the need to keep down weeds in this part of the country but there has to be a less risky way to do it, I would think.

Our ditch burning... they only did the roadside so I'm thinking it's the county.

And now... lots of pics from the week!

Wes found the monkeys above his crib!

He loves chewing his fists!




Watching movies with mommy and daddy = exhausting!

"What is that down there?"

"Oh! It's Winston!"

He's so cool!

"I'm over here!"

"Now I'm over here!"

"You found me!"

Some of the cutest baby socks ever!

Don't look now, but there are feet at the end of these legs!

Look Auntie Sarah! The monster onesies you brought him fit now!

This was one of Raley's onesies that was one of my favorites... It's too little for Wes already!

Looking cute in one of his adorable outfits sent to him by family

"Wake up Daddy! I want to play!"

Mission Accomplished!

Sleep...

Last week we were up to one four hour stretch and in fact had one that was 5 1/2. This week we are back to three hours. Last night he nursed at 11, 2, 4, 6 and now 8am. Good thing he's cute!

Is there anything cuter in the world than baby clothes hanging on the line to dry?

Laying outside on a blanket for the first time last week... it was gorgeous!

"Shall we dance?"

Having a serious stare down with our stuffed monkey... who is going to win?

Right before we left for mommy's birthday lunch, sporting our stylish baby jeans!


All smiles!

"Look! I'm a pre-sitter!" I love this picture!

31!

I turned 31 on Saturday... I'm not sure how that happened as the last time I remember I was 26. But I certainly don't mind. I told Reid that I am quite certain 31 is going to be one of our best years yet. We have a baby. We're working well on a budget. Reid's business is going to take off. Yep, a good year indeed.

For my birthday, Reid, Wesley and I went to Johny B. Good's, a 1950s inspired diner in Monte Vista that we had never been to (mainly because they are only open for breakfast and lunch). They have great hand-dipped milkshakes and yummy sandwiches. Then all of us and the dogs took a walk through downtown Monte (which doesn't take long)! Reid then brought Wes home and I went shopping at one of the thrift stores in town for new (to me) tops because so many of my shirts still don't fit (a perk of breastfeeding, I guess?). When I got home my present was on the table. Reid bought me a necklace and matching earrings from the Firedworks Gallery, an art/jewelry gallery in Alamosa. Then it was time to go off to the 3rd Annual Chili Cook-Off where Reid's chili took a close second place! We visited with colleagues and I talked babies with a few of the mommies there.

All in all, a very nice and low-key birthday... as I look at my little man swinging in his swing across the room (who is amazed by the mirror and twirling butterflies above him), I know for a fact that this year my best possible present I get to enjoy every day... and he is perfect for me! I am going to love my first full year as a mommy. Hooray for 31!

A Few Things to remember

I find myself several times a day thinking "I should write that down. I'll never remember it." But alas I rarely do just because of lack of time/energy or because I've already forgotten it by the time I sit down!


But a few things about Wes right now I really want to remember...

First, he is incredibly talkative right now. If I make eye contact with him he almost always smiles but more often than not will also let out a baby noise or two. And sometimes he will get on a roll and talk and talk. He is really enjoying exploring vowels right now. He has gotten quite good at "Ah", "Oh" and "Ie." And of course there is lots of random cooing and some really high pitched squealing which I love!

Second, this week we have turned a corner (hopefully for good) in night time sleeping. He has slept at least one four hour stretch each night this week. Two nights ago it was a 5 and a half hour stretch but last night we were back to almost exactly four hours. Still, I'll take those over the 2-3 hour stretches we were going before.

Sleeping on daddy last night

You're blowing lots of bubbles with your mouth. You've regularly found your fists to chew on. And you've found the mirror and animals above your swing which get regular studying.

Studying those moving things above you!

We have started doing cloth diapers here at home to cut down on waste and disposable diaper expense. Of course you can soak a cloth diaper completely through in less than an hour. So we're spending a lot of time at the changing table!

Long skinny baby in a cloth diaper!


Mommy being silly with you on e changing table... doesn't his jacket look like big wing ears?

And finally, he is growing so quickly! He is now wearing almost exclusively 3-6 month sleepers (despite only being 10 and a half weeks old) because all of his 0-3 month ones are too short in the leg. And most of the sleepers we have in 3-6 month fit him perfectly in length now... which means by the time we get to month 3, 4, and 5 I have no doubt he'll be in the next size up! He is long and lean. I really look forward to his 4 month check up just to see how much longer and heavier he is!

Wes still opens his eyes very wde sometimes!

This Past Week

This past week has been a good one for the Neilsen household. Reid has recommitted himself to his blacksmithing and is making all sorts of useful items in his forge. He also has a new website that he will be continually updating with items into his catalogue as he makes prototypes. Feel free to check it out: http://www.whitemountainforge.com/ I am very impressed by my husband's work and I think you will be too! And if you have any desire for hand-forged iron work, you now know who to talk to!


Wes and I spent a fair amount of time at school this week as we worked on Our Town and will be there at least a few times this week too. After a failed attempt to locate and/or rent an 1890s suit for one of our actors I have decided to just build one. I have the patterns here at home and went to Walmart this weekend and bought cotton duck cloth (the only bottom weight fabric they have that isn't upholestry stripes!) in a dark brown. So today work study students will be washing and ironing all of that fabric and then we'll start cutting it out and fitting it. Fun, fun... but at least at the end of it we'll have our first period appropriate late 1800s man's suit in stock.

Rocking his adorable pajama pants and blue hoodie before we headed out to go shopping Saturday!

We have also been on several shopping trips (the grocery, Walmart and thrift store mostly) and yesterday the whole family went to Alamosa and walked around Cole Park and along the river. The weekend weather was PERFECT... upper 60s and little to no wind (especially in the mid-morning when we ventured out). If it could stay like that through the rest of the spring I would be very happy.

Our walk on Sunday... I can' wait until he can hold his head up so he can ride forward facing in the Bjorn carrier and then he'll actually be able to engage with going on a walk!

Wes and I also took our first shower together. It was alright though I realized almost immediately that showering with someone who can't yet hold his head up on his own is challenging... I got my hair washed and that was about it. He, I think, was enjoying the water and the skin-to-skin time until he tried to nurse and water ran into his mouth as well. After that was a total meltdown that was only finally calmed when he was out of the shower, wrapped up in my cozy towel and sitting in his bouncy seat.

Cozy!

I LOVE this little boy...

Wes has found the mirror and flying animals over his swing. He will spend several minutes staring at them and then regularly falls asleep there. How long he stays asleep varies greatly from a few minutes to an hour. But it is definitely nice to have a little reprise once or twice in the day where I'm not holding him.

His vocalizing is becoming really interesting to listen to! He is making a lot of different vowel sounds and is starting to mimic Reid and I when we make baby talk to him. The other day I was in our bathroom and Wes was on the changing table "talking" to Reid and I would have sworn I heard Wes say "Hi." Of course I have been saying it to him over and over since and haven't gotten him to repeat it but talking will eventually come. His smiles are contagious and we have even heard a few little giggles, though most are in his sleep (apparently his dreams are a whole lot funnier than mom and dad).

But apparently Mommy can elicit a smile here and there!

Wesley says "Hello! Come on over and play!"

Our "Big" Boy

He is so cool... :)


At first he appears angelic... then you notice he's sticking his tongue out at you!

I can't believe it has taken me almost a week to write this... Wes had his two month appointment last Thursday. He is doing really well in all regards! His hematoma is slowly going down and the pediatrician said she has been told it can take 12 to 16 weeks. At this point, because it is going down and it is obvious that it is not affecting him cognitively, I am really not worried about it. It is cosmetic and it will go down eventually.

But the good news is that he is really growing! He is now 10lbs 6oz, meaning he gained 2 lbs 4 oz in one month! He also grew almost 2 inches in length, and is now 23 1/4inches long. With these two numbers his weight is firmly in the 25th percentile and his length puts him in the 50th. Both of those are up from his one month check up. In other words, "Milk... it's what the body needs."

He also received his first round of shots. He slept peacefully all Thursday evening and I thought "Ha! Our baby is so superior that the shots didn't affect him at all!" But alas, we woke up to a very fitful baby at around three am. He had a temperature and was just not very happy but eventually settled down if he was laying in just his diaper, under a blanket on top of either Reid or I. And of course, his silly mommy didn't even think of the baby Tylenol until around 9am, about the time his fever broke.

Laying with Daddy Friday morning... aren't they adorable???

He and I are going to be busy over the next few days working to get the costumes for Our Town done.

We're also exploring day care options for the fall, something I am not enjoying but don't really have a choice (we've crunched the numbers and both Reid and I have to keep working...). Our first choice daycare says they won't know if there are any spots available until June. So, I guess for now it is a wait and see. I have a call in to one other daycare but I'm not sure what age they start (I do personally know the director and quite like her) and have a few personal providers to follow up with if neither of the daycares pan out. The truth is I don't want anyone but Reid or I to care for him so looking is hard... but we'll find something that works I'm sure.

This is the best of our Easter photo shoot... it was too cold to go outside and apparently things to the left and the right of him were WAY more interesting than mommy (as he is looking to one side or the other in every other picture).

And finally... this is why tummy time isn't always productive time around our house. If the point is to lift your head up and look around, you usually do have to be awake :)