Happy Memorial Day!

Just a note to say "Hi!" from the Littles. We hope that you are all enjoying the long weekend. We are!

We Miss Daddy!

Well, Jason has been back at work for four days now. It's hard being without him. Not just because I appreciate the help, but because I just like being with him. Espen agrees. :) Despite the fact that we both miss Jason terribly while he's at work (and I know he misses us too!), Espen and I have been doing pretty well while he's gone. We "read" books together and walk and dance around the house. And nurse. We do that A LOT! I'm sure Espen is hitting a growth spurt, as he wants to eat even more than usual. It can be a bit frustrating at times, as I don't really have time to even run to the bathroom when he gets on a milk binge, but if it helps him grow big and strong, it's totally worth it! The downside to all the eating is that Espen seems extremely gassy almost all the time, poor guy. I don't know why his poor tummy gets so upset, but he just scrunches up and cries. It doesn't happen every time, but often enough, and it takes a good hour to work it out of his system and then guess what it's time for??? Eating! :)

With the exception of his gas, Espen has been doing really well at night (sometimes he's up for an hour or two with an upset tummy, but he can't help that.)... until Jason went back to work. I don't know if the change of pace upset him, or if he could sense the stress of it all, but Monday night was maybe his worst since coming home from the hospital. He would not stop crying for anything, and that made me cry, and it was a big, tearful mess. It may not have been any worse than some of those nights at the beginning, but I was trying to let Jason sleep so he could function at work, and so I was tackling this all on my own. Fortunately this seems to have passed. He was fussy again on Tuesday night, so Espen and I slept in the living room, so as not to disturb Jason, and that was less stressful on me, as I could lay down next to his bassinet and try to comfort him. Last night was even better. Espen slept for 5 hours straight! YES!!! (He was awake for the next 2 hours with a bellyache, but I'll take it.) I'm looking forward to the weekend so that Jason can take a night shift. :)

I'm not sure how this will go when I go back to work, and the time is looming! Honestly, I am petrified at the thought of going back to work. Not only will I be totally exhausted, I can hardly stand the thought of leaving Espen. I know he'll be in good hands, as he'll be with one of his grandmas, but I feel like he is still so little and needs his mom. I'm also panicked about the logistics of the whole situation. I have no idea how long it will take me to get him ready and myself ready while dealing with his needs, plus what if I forget something he needs? Will there be any way I actually make it to work on time? Will I be able to focus on my job? And the biggest question... How am I going to deal with the milk issue? I have no idea how much milk to pack for him to eat, especially if he keeps up this "eating every hour" business. And lets not even talk about pumping at work. ACK! I think Jason and I are going to have to do a few trial runs. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't completely lose my mind!

On a much more fun note, Espen had a happy evening yesterday. We went for our evening walk around the block, and when we came back, I fed him and changed him. Usually after I change him, I lay him down in his crib so I can wash my hands. When I came back, Espen was cooing and smiling at himself in the crib mirror. It was so cute! He was batting his little arms around, making the rattles on the mirror shake, just giggling away. Jason and I must have watched him for a good 15 minutes before he started to get bored and wanted to be held. So adorable!

Fire Hazard

Warning!: Exposure to Espen's cuteness may cause damage to life, limb, and property!

We got an e-mail from Pat, a family friend, this morning, and I just have to relate this story! Pat writes: "Got the birth announcement today but only had time to set it aside before dinner. Just now, I decided to go to the blog and look at the pics. That baby is so damn cute that I forgot I had oil on the stove for popping my nighttime corn. Well, imagine my surprise when I began to smell the burning oil permeating the beautiful night air. After uttering an expletive, I leaped to my feet and snatched the molten hot pot from the stove and ran outside. Once there, I removed the lid and the pot burst into flames. Thankfully, I had earlier in the evening watered the flowers and the grass outside the back porch. I was able to kick over the pot and extinguish the blaze before the local Fire Department could find out how stupid I was. All because Baby Bosco's pictures are soooo damn cute!"

HAHAHA!

A lot has been going on this week! This is Jason's last week at home before he has to go back to work. AACK!!! I'm freaking out a little bit! (Ok, a LOT!) I really don't know how Espen and I are going to manage. I've gotten so used to having Jason around to help out. And he has been GREAT! I'm not sure I remember how to function on my own. :) I know that next week is going to be rough on all of us, since Jason isn't used to being at work either. Wish us luck!

So since this is our last week of double parenting, we've been trying to get a few things done that will be a lot harder with only one parent. Friday we took Espen for his 1-month portrait.

If you want to see them, follow the KiddieKandids link on the left. The sitting number is: 017022566 and the code is: 85FWDF8. Espen was so cute! And really good for the most part. He doesn't like being on his tummy much, so he got a bit fussy when they kept trying to get him to lay like that. I wasn't too thrilled about it either, as he kept mashing his face into the photo carpet and crying. All I could think about was all the germs from all the other kids that must be on there. YUCK! I hope Espen doesn't get sick. Jason made the point that he can't live in a bubble forever. True, but I'm still concerned. :)

Espen also made his first visit to Ferguson Optical! He looks so cute with his PD ruler and frames! Check out the three generations!

We took our first real walk (other than out to the mailbox and back) with the whole family (except Iggy the Iguana of course). Espen liked it at first, but got fussy about half-way. I think he was getting hungry, but what else is new? The hungry, hungry hippo eats every hour and a half or so!

That is, except at night. We have been really working with him, and Espen now usually (knock on wood) sleeps for 3-4 hour stretches at night. Sometimes even 5 hours when we're really lucky. :) Some nights are better than others, but SO much better than before. I still wake up about 100 times a night, but only to check to make sure he's still breathing. :) I keep having dreams that I've fallen asleep with him in the bed and I'm suffocating him. That jerks me awake in a panic, and happens at least 10 times a night. I'm just a tad neurotic. :)

I'll be putting more pictures up on Shutterfly today. I have slowed down somewhat on the sheer number of pictures that I am taking. :) Perhaps that will reduce the risk of fire. :)

Later!

One Month Down, Forever To Go!

I thought that I would do a quick update on Espen and his family. This is the first time that Dad is actually posting on the blog, so please excuse me if it is not as cool as Mom's updates. Well, Kris and I have officially survived month one of life with Espen. Fatherhood has been a great experience and it is almost impossible to imagine my life B.E. (before Espen). This past month has been filled with lots of happiness, lots of sleepless nights, lots of diapers, but most importantly lots of love. It's not always easy but it is well worth all the effort.

Yesterday, Kristin got to experience her first Mother's day and Espen got to be a world traveler as we visited both sets of proud Grandparents. This was his longest amount of time away from the home nest so far and he was on his best behavior, of course. Espen even gave Mom a special present for Mommy's Day...his longest night of sleep yet. We are hoping that his sleep schedule is starting to round into form but it is still way too early to celebrate anything yet. By the way, I picked up the book Good Night, Sleep Tight today at the library and hopefully this will help the process. Thank you very much to a couple of our friends that suggested it might help with getting Espen's sleep schedule regulated.

Well, there is not much else going on in the Little household except for the regular routines based around the little guy. I hope everyone is doing well and I will try not to be a stranger here...but no guarantees. Once again happy Mother's day to my wonderful wife Kristin and to all the Mom's out there, I am finally starting to realize the sacrifice it takes to be a Mom...so Thanks!

Who Needs Sleep?

Sorry it has been a while since my last post. It is easy to get caught up in the cycle of "feed the baby, change the baby, soothe the baby, feed the baby, change the baby, soothe the baby." We're lucky if we remember to eat or squeeze in a 30 minute nap, let alone have time for much else. :) It's especially hard to type when one hand is busy with the baby. He's sleeping right next to me for now, so I'm going to try to squeeze in a quick update. :)

Espen is doing great health-wise. He saw the doctor again on Friday and is up to 10 lbs. 8 oz. He eats almost constantly! This morning, in one feeding, I kid you not, he ate 7.5 oz!!!! I can't believe his little tummy can hold that much!

Espen is a very calm, happy, sleepy baby during the day, but is a vampire baby at night. :) He has his days and nights confused and is WIDE AWAKE from about 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. He's also insatiable during those hours, feeding every 45 minutes or so. It makes for sleepless nights for mommy and daddy, but the past two nights have been a LOT better. All of this started about a week ago, and for the first five nights, all he did was scream from midnight on. Nothing but a bottle would calm him, and the second it was empty, the screaming would begin again. When we met with the pediatrician on Friday, he said that there is no physical reason for the crying, but that Espen was feeding off of our frustration at not being able to get him to calm down. We have been making a special effort to be calm and deliberate when we soothe him at night and it has made a big difference. Now there's just a little fussing... no more scream fests. Now we just have to get him to let us lay him down at night. He is calm and sleepy when we're holding him, but the second his head hits the crib, the crying starts. As you can imagine, this is not very conducive to our sleep patterns. :)

Another thing that has really helped with the soothing is that he is FINALLY breastfeeding!!! I am so excited! TRIUMPH! My mom suggested that maybe he was freaking out at the breast because he is so used to the feel of the rubber bottle nipples, and got me a "nipple shield," which is a silicone nipple that goes over the real nipple. (On a side note: I feel a little weird talking about my nipples on the Internet, but my feelings of triumph have momentarily stripped me of my modesty.) It's not a perfect solution as it's a bit messy and awkward, but Espen latched on immediately and seems very content when he's nursing. :) He tends to fall asleep mid-meal, getting milk everywhere, but he's happy. :) We're still giving him bottles of pumped milk because he falls asleep while nursing and then wakes up famished because he's not getting a full meal. Again, a work in progress. Anyone who thinks breastfeeding is easy and just comes naturally is crazy! Add pumping to the already packed cycle of breastfeeding, bottle feeding, changing his diaper, cleaning the pump parts, soothing him, changing his diaper again, changing his clothes because he peed on them, and putting him down to sleep, and there's really only about 5-10 minutes before the whole thing starts over again.

We did manage to squeeze in a bath on Thursday. (Which means he's due for another one today.) His very first tub bath! Espen liked the bath. He liked it so much he pooped.... four times! Thank goodness we got a lot of towels and washcloths at the baby showers, as he used a ton during his bath. Hopefully we will get better at the bath thing and not have to change the bath water so often. :) Any tips are greatly appreciated. :)


Well, I'd better get going. Grandma and Grandpa Vogel are coming to visit Espen today and Mommy needs to take a shower and put on real clothes instead of pajamas. :) Later!