Bigger each day!!!

Okay so obviously I'm not writing every day but I'm really going to try and keep this up as much as possible. Sadly, not a lot of interesting things have happened. Last night was a first however. DJ slept in his crib all night for the first time! Well, he didn't sleep all night but he spent all night in his room verses with us. He finally went to sleep around 11:00 and then woke back up around 2, back to sleep around 2:30 and then up again around 5. We both got up for the day at 7...he ate and I had my delicious coffee...lite of course.

I have been noticing that DJ has been focusing more on objects that are in front of him. He does an excellent job following a rattle and today it looked like he reached out for it although that could have just been a reflex. I like to think that he was trying to touch it though. He smiles at it too, like he's happy to see his toy!

One new thing that he did today was look straight at me while sitting on my legs. Usually he just looks down but today he raised his head a bit and looked right into my eyes and smiled. I just think it is such a gift to be able to see your child develop.

November 7th

There's nothing like the weekends! Even during my maternity leave I welcome a Saturday. It's still a break for me because David is home to help with DJ. I woke up today pretty tired since we had gotten home late the night before. I left David James with David and my mom and I went to a "Sip and Shop" party at Sugarloaf Country Club. There were so many cute things to look at and we ended up getting a couple of special items for DJ. One is a set of Christmas pajamas and the other is a onesie with his name on it. He's going to be so cute in both! DJ slept a lot today so I'm interested to see what his plans are for sleeping tonight. I'm hoping I can count on the Swaddle Me to perform another miracle!

November 6th

Today was David's birthday so we decided to go out for the evening with some friends to see a concert of one of our favorite bands. Omie watched DJ from 7:45 until 1:45. This was the longest that I had gone away from him and I must admit that I missed him a lot. I definitely had a great time being out with adults but I was ready to hold my baby. I was shocked when I my mom said that he had slept most of the time...3 hours! I figured it was the Swaddle Me blanket...that thing works wonders!

When we got home it was time for DJ to eat again but he went back to sleep for another 3 hours. I think I'm going to go to the store soon and pick up some more of those blankets.

Today was my 6 week postpartum check up with Dr. Whitmore. Everything is great and she gave me the go ahead to resume normal activity. Crunches here I come! Sure...

My mom and I went to this Vietnamese restaurant for lunch. They have the best soup. It is chicken broth based but very light. It comes with a ton of rice noodles and then sprouts, basil and jalepenos on the side. DJ decided to fuss while inside so I was unable to eat as much I had wanted but I suppose that's a good thing. I'm determined to think that this is how new moms loose their pregnancy weight!

Tomorrow is David's birthday! We're planning on going to see Reckless Kelly at The Peachtree Tavern. I will be our first real outing since DJ was born. I'm really looking forward to it but I'm a little afraid I'm going to miss our little man!

Well we survived our first night on our own without David. It definitely is more convenient when you have someone else home with you to help out. I certainly have a new appreciation for those single mothers out there!

We ran a few errands and hit up Walmart and Babies R Us. I am really trying to de-clutter our home as much as possible these days. We're running out of extra space fast but would like to stay in the house for another year or two.

I picked up some bins at Walmart to store my maternity clothes and our Halloween decorations. Of course, in the process of going to Walmart to remove items from the inside of our house, I also purchased a few things. What is it about Walmart? You go in for maybe two things and end up with a cart full.

One of my favorite (at least today) things that I bought was the Swaddle Me for DJ. We have been having a tough time with him sleeping on his back. The second he goes down he wakes up and cries, regardless if he were asleep or not. The Swaddle Me wraps him up nice and tight so he can't get his arms out. As cruel as it sounds I think he was very snug and secure in it. He only woke up during the night to eat and went back to sleep pretty quickly. I'm hoping this is the remedy to our problems at night. We'll see. From what I've read babies tend to trick parents into thinking they have it all figured out.

Just an ordinary day

Well yesterday was a typical day for us. DJ took his morning nap and then decided to stay awake for most of the early afternoon. He did nap long enough for me to scarf down a quick lunch, however.

Except for a bath, there wasn't a whole lot of other activity at home. I put DJ in the BabyBjorn and took some pictures of the beautiful trees that we have in our front yard. One of the things I love so much about Georgia is our Fall. It's absolutely gorgeous! I really enjoy taking pictures and would like to start taking some courses in photography in the future.

We did leave to go for a walk around Mountain Park. We did two miles and DJ handled it nicely. There were a few times that he whined a bit but as long as he had the pacifier in his mouth we were fine.

Since David went to Chicago for the night I decided to have dinner at Omie's and Opie's. I packed a bag just in case I decided to stay the night but figured it would just be easier to come home since I still had to take care of the animals. We got back around 9:00 and after I took care of the animals and got us ready for bed it was close to 9:30. DJ fed and we went to sleep. He did sleep in his infant sleeper for about 2 hours so I was pleased about that. We woke up around 12 am for another feeding and I'm pretty sure we woke up every 2 hours after that. It's hard to remember with the lack of sleep!!

First Blog!!

Okay. I'm starting a blog for the first time and wish I had actually begun earlier. The main purpose is to write about DJ and all of the changes and adventures that we experience but I'm sure I'll add some other stories as well.

So let's see DJ is six weeks old today and I can hardly believe that the time has gone by so fast. I would have thought that with staying home the time would creep on by but that has surely not been the case. I'm trying my hardest to savor each precious moment with him for I know the next time I turn around he'll be off to college.

In the six short weeks that he has been here, DJ has brought such pleasure to us. We haven't gotten on a set routine yet but I am starting to see some kind of pattern. Currently he's eating about every 2-3 hours. He loves being held as I'm sure most babies his age do. I do believe he is beginning to stay awake longer during the days which makes for a better night's sleep for all of us...sometimes. Last night he woke up a few times and then decided to stay awake from 4:30 am until 6:00 am. Thankfully David was wonderful last night and changed him a couple of times and then snuggled with him so I could get some sleep. I'm sure it makes for a long work day though.

DJ's first Halloween was this past Saturday. He was the cutest giraffe that we've ever seen!! Omie and Opie came over to watch him while David and I had a few hours over at The Browns' home. I only stayed away a short while to feed but then headed back...it's nice having friends so close!

Today is my grandmother's birthday. She passed away March 11, 2008 and we still miss her very much. I wish she could have met David James but know she is looking down at us every

moment.

We don't have any wild plans for the day...maybe go for a walk later. I'll update when possible!

Oh, since I didn't start sooner I'm going to go ahead and post pictures since DJ's birth.