Where's Mommy?

Now when John finds himself awake in his bassinet, instead of simply sweeping his face side to side against the mattress, he pushes up on his arms and peeks over the edge to look for me. It's quite endearing.

Note photo above: When John is lying prostrate in his bassinet, he only has about two inches remaining on either end!

John's First Baseball Cap

On this brilliantly sunny Wednesday morning, John and I went for a neighborhood walk and, for the first time, I put him in a sun hat instead of a warm, winter hat. As much as I don't prefer baseball caps, especially with logos on the front, I must admit that he looked darned cute wearing one.


John spent most of the walk examining his left hand instead of enjoying the neighborhood scenery.

We Need a Bodyguard

This morning I asked Chris if we could increase the household budget to afford hiring a bodyguard. I think John will need one to protect him from the mothers who will become crazed and want to kidnap him when they see him wearing such a darling outfit during our errands this morning.


Now I understand why mothers (and you know it's the mothers) put shoes on their infants' feet. It really takes the outfit from sweet to so-cute-I-want-to-eat-you. (As an aside, I bought the overalls, polo shirt, and shoes at the recent consignment sale, probably for $8 total. I never want to buy new again! My big, healthy boy John at 3 months is wearing 6-month overalls and shirt.)

For a couple of weeks, John has been discovering his hands. Well, specifically his left hand. He has not yet made the acquaintance of his right hand. Sometimes he'll even be crying and his left hand will pass in front of his face, causing him to stop crying and stare at it intently. "Whoa, there it is again! I must have that hand! Come here, little hand, come into my mouth, I won't hurt you. Oh yes, I will! Mmmggppfgrfmmm . . ."

Don't Tell Daddy

"Shhhh! Don't tell Daddy that I'm taking you out in public in such a silly, pointy cap!"

This morning we unofficially weighed John (I stepped on the scale first, then stepped on again while holding John): he weighs about 14-1/2 pounds at 12 weeks old today!

Three Lauer Men

The Lauer Men: Three Generations, Six Chins*

* Just so everyone knows, my husband staged and captioned the above photo!

In the last two days, I've twice visited the Northside Consignment Sale, where I did a bad job resisting fabulous deals. We bought John what I think is a beautiful rocking horse, even though he probably won't be able to ride it until he is two years old. Nonetheless, Daddy helped him try it out:

Also, I bought a roller coaster bead maze, which sells new for $50, for only $7.50!

John Rolls Over

You know you're a first-time parent when you are this excited about your baby rolling over!

Yesterday I realized that I have not been giving 11-1/2-week-old John any "tummy time" because I have fallen into a routine of keeping him upright as often as possible to prevent his copious spitting up. So, this morning, a safe hour after eating, I put him on his tummy on his play mat, not even sure if he'd have the muscle development to push himself up with his arms.

First he stared at "the baby in the mirror."


I saw that he could not rest his head with the pillow beneath his arms, so I removed the pillow. He promptly rolled over, front to back! Here is a shot a moment later:

I wondered if John had fallen over accidentally instead of rolled over, so I put him on his tummy again. This time I was able to snap a photo of him mid-roll:

Once I knew this was not accidental, I ran upstairs to wake up Chris. We then videotaped the momentous feat, which you can view here:

video of John rolling over

Our Little Catholic Boy

Today was John's first Ash Wednesday. You can see the ashes on his forehead in the photo below; they were originally darker and in the sign of the cross, but John smeared them effectively on my shirt.




After receiving the ashes, John was becoming tired and fussy so I retired to the cry room. There a three-year-old girl asked her daddy in a very loud whisper the way three-year-olds do, "Does that baby have ashes on his forehead?!" The father replied, "Yes, that baby was not afraid of the ashes." (I noticed that both parents and all the girl's siblings had ashes on their foreheads, but that little girl didn't!)

It Is Not Halloween

It's not Halloween, but today I dressed John in a lion costume we received from someone (can't remember who) amidst many wonderful hand-me-downs. At 11 weeks old, John barely fits in this 3-month-old outfit, such that I couldn't button the top button.



The outfit comes with a mane and ears . . .

. . . and even a little tail!

Riddle

Riddle: How do you awaken a sleeping baby without making any sound or touching him?

Answer: Have his exhausted mama try to lay down for a nap somewhere in the house. (Alternate acceptable answer: Have his mama try to sit down for a hot dinner.)

I don't think John has heard the oft-repeated advice, "Nap when the baby naps."

You Know You're a Mom When . . .

. . . you're not sure whether the smear on your shirt is baby poop or peanut butter (and you're too tired to care very much).

I am amazed at how much laundry having one measly newborn creates. In John's early days, he might go through five outfits a day. Now he emanates less bodily fluids, but he still goes through two to three outfits per day. Also, in the beginning I would change his outfit if he spit up, but I quickly learned to change him only if he utterly soaks himself in spit-up or if he pees or poops on his clothing.

Not only do I have John's clothing to wash, but he dirties my clothing as well. I used to stretch any given item of clothing for more than one wearing, but no longer. I think it's a good day if I wear only one top and bottom in a day and not more than that.

For example, yesterday at Mass John spit-up all over my blouse. (Better than last week during Mass when John pooped on my dry clean only skirt.) Then I came home, changed blouses, and he promptly peed all over my skirt.

As another example of the rhythm of my life, this morning I crawled out of my warm bed in the wee hours to change John's diaper. Once back in bed, he spit up profusely on his outfit, so I wearily crawled back out of bed to put him in dry clothing. I crept back into bed, and within moments, John simultaneously spit up all over his new outfit and filled his diaper. Out of bed again . . .

John Was the Cutest Baby There

On Saturday we attended a reunion of past and current classmates of Sallie's Bradley-method birthing class. We enjoyed a great lunch at Minerva's Indian restaurant. Unfortunately, none of the other three couples from our particular class showed up! In fact, only current pregnant students were there.

We knew that John would be the cutest baby there anyway, but now he won without debate!

Below is a photo of John in the outfit he wore to the reunion. I am always trying to perfect just when to dress John to an outing. The more hours he is wearing the outfit, the higher the chances that he will ruin it with some explosion of bodily fluids. But if I wait until the last minute before we leave, he might be sound asleep and I'd much rather load a sleeping John into his detested car seat than wake him up fully by dressing him, get him nice and grumpy, then load a screaming baby in the car.

I dressed John about an hour before we had to leave for the lunch. One minute after taking this photo, he spit up all over his new train sweater.

John's First Homeschooling Field Trip

Today a group of homeschoolers from our parish took a field trip, organized by Chris, to the Cyclorama, where Grandpa Lauer is the director. We took John, which made it his first homeschooling field trip!




Here is John napping in his Boppy pillow, which helps keep him upright enough not to spit up.

Happy Valentine's Day

A few weeks ago, I called my husband from an aisle in the grocery store to thank him for supporting me to stay home, making it possible for me to be shopping peacefully in the middle of the day with my sleeping infant instead of trying to buy the groceries when I'm exhausted after work and the baby is exhausted after daycare.

Today I want to thank Chris again for supporting me to stay home so I can do things like sing with my baby son like I did today. For Valentine's Day, I bought our son John two CDs of nursery rhymes and this afternoon played the first one. I held John in my arms and sang along with the CD in an animated way. John particularly loved "Old McDonald Had a Farm." He smiled and grinned and "laughed" (in the way he can at 10 weeks old). What price could possibly be paid for me to voluntarily give up such joyous moments?! Thank you, honey!

Grandpa Neil Visited

My stepfather, now Grandpa Neil, visited from California and we had a wonderful time! Neil had not flown anywhere since 1994, but considered meeting Baby John important enough that he couldn't stay away. He could only stay from Sunday afternoon till Tuesday morning because he is the sole caregiver for my mom, who is disabled and couldn't fly out here. We loved our short visit very much.





Grandpa Neil was so happy and proud to be able to make fussing John stop crying and fall asleep:

My mom may have been unable to join Neil on this visit, but you can see her right between our heads in the photo in the background:

By the end of the day, both Neil and John were asleep!

From 5 Dots to 8 Dots

Here is another side-by-side photo of John. In both pictures he is wearing the same pants and lying on the same blanket. In the last 7 weeks he has grown from 5 dots tall to 8 dots tall. Impressive!!!

Discovering his Hands?

Is it possible that our 9-week-old is beginning to discover his hands already? On Thursday, he was observed on two different occasions slowly putting his left hand in his mouth to suck. Also, while sitting in Mommy's lap, he grabbed my index finger and five times slowly brought it to his mouth to suck on it.




John is smiling frequently now! It is fairly easy to cue him to smile over and over again, especially in the mornings when he is most rested. Unfortunately, we still have been unable to catch a good one on film.

Outgrowing His Bassinet

John has a cute new train outfit (thanks, Ginny!):



I always wondered how babies outgrew their bassinets. Couldn't one put even a one-year-old in one of those things?, I'd think. Today we noticed John's feet hanging over the edge, so I dug into my files to find a photo from the first weeks of his life. So, this is how babies outgrow their bassinets!

2-month Well-baby Check

John is doing super! The nurse said that he is gorgeous. Here he is with Dr. K., whom we think is great:




(Although, where on earth is his right leg hiding?)

The stats:

Height: 22.5 inches, 32d percentile
Weight: 12 pounds 5 ounces, 64th percentile
Head circumference: 40.0 centimeters, 49th percentile

Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys

Our son likes polo shirts.



On Sunday, I got together with my husband's side of the family to celebrate my thirtieth birthday. My mother-in-law made the loveliest lunch and we had a great time. I dressed John in an adorable cowboy outfit will real pearlized buttons:

In the evening, we tried letting John have "tummy time" using a pillow as a prop. He did great!

The Verdict: A Great Birthday!

My thirtieth birthday was great! After my wonderful breakfast, I spent the day quietly puttering, not doing housework. I took my cute son (see photo evidence below) shopping for size 3-6 month clothing.




In the evening, we ordered take out. I enjoyed my excellent eggplant parmigiana . . . by myself while listening to the "tunes" of Chris soothing crying John via the baby monitor. Then Chris entertained John for an hour so I could take a bubble bath! Finally, we ate ice cream sundaes while watching any TV show I desired.

Three little princesses (my nieces in Atlanta) sent me the below delightful birthday greeting:

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my thirtieth birthday! My morning began with my husband bringing me roses, a card from him, and a card from my 8-week-old son. Then Chris cooked me his fantastic French toast and bacon. (Unfortunately, we remembered it was Friday before I could finish the last of the crispy bacon!) We ate breakfast while watching last night's recorded episode of our favorite show "The Office." I've received many cards, some gifts, and even flowers from my friend Alea in California! It's a good day.

No Longer a Pregnancy Patient

Thursday was my final postpartum medical appointment. All is well, of course. I feel a bit sad that I'm no longer a pregnancy patient!

This is a photo of my midwife Margaret who delivered John:

Two Nights in a Row!

On Wednesday night, I managed for the second night in a row to cook dinner! I wore John in my Maya Wrap and made braised pork chops with apples (for Chris), a soy burger (what Chris calls my "hockey pucks" for me), roasted red potatoes, and broccoli and red bell peppers with butter breadcrumb sauce. I'm on a roll!

John has doubled his birth weight in eight weeks. Here is a photo of our chubby boy sleeping:



Chris put a thermometer in the master bedroom to prove to me what temperature it is at any given time. During pregnancy, I knew that I felt artificially overheated all the time. Now, I still am plagued by hot flashes, apparently because of lactation hormones. I usually think the master bedroom is extremely and unpleasantly warm. Sometimes I've even accused Chris of turning up the thermostat beyond 68 to 80-something!