Funny Boy

Here's Joel with Dr. DaSilva. This was the doctor that delivered Joel.

Joel is more alert now and while you can't hear him he was carrying on quite the conversation here. His noises are really cute. He doesn't talk a lot but when he does he goes on for awhile.
This is one of Joel's new favorite places. He loves his swing. Sometimes he forgets that he likes to be in it and so he fusses for a little bit and then will relax and usually falls asleep. I like that because then I can get stuff done.
This is Joel's Obi Wan pose. I had to take the picture quick and get him out of the towel because he doesn't like to be cold so as soon as he gets out of the bath he likes to be swaddled so he stays nice and warm But he looked so cute all wrapped up in this towel- I couldn't resist.

One Month

So here's a picture of Joel on his one month birthday. It cracks me up how he really looks like a little man when he gets all dressed- okay so when I actually dress him. This is one of the outfits that "Auntie Kim" gave him. We went out to lunch with some of the girls from work and I got so many compliments on how cute he was- which of course I think but I am his mommy. Of course he was an angel and slept through the entire trip. I swear that carrier has magical powers.

Joel has started to find his voice and will makes sounds other than just crying. Some of them are very similiar to crying but it's fun to listen to him. He is such a happy baby. A lot of times I'll have him propped up on his boppy while I fold laundry and he will just watch and babble and sometimes smile. It makes folding laundry pretty entertaining. It's probably a good thing he makes laundry more enjoyable because he's a spitter and so I end up doing a lot of laundry. (This is where I thank everyone who gave us bibs. They have become my lifesavers so I don't have to change his ENTIRE outfit and he doesn't have to smell like sour milk!) Sometimes I am quite surprised at how far he can spit-up. Everyone warned me of the spraying you can get when you're changing little boys diapers so I was pretty prepared for that- but the spit-up is quite another story. But it's all part of the experience right?!

Catch Up

I have no idea where the time has gone and it's hard to believe that Joel will be one month old on Thursday! While our days are pretty uneventful it seems like there's never enough time to do everything I intend on doing. (This is where I apologize profusely to all of you who have left messages or sent emails or cards etc that I haven't responded to! I am so sorry!)

Joel is getting big quick. We haven't taken him to the doctor recently so I'm not sure how much he's grown but I can tell he is growing. He's feeding about every three hours and will stay awake for at least an hour or so in between- sometimes longer. So that is getting fun. He likes his bouncy seat although usually he has to get past the fact that he's awake and not being held. Then he's okay being in there for awhile. He's also loves his carrier. We put him in it and he will almost always fall right to sleep- usually before we're even in the car.

He's also getting quite the personality. He's starting to smile a lot. It melts my heart when he is all snuggly and looks up at me with a big smile. I know it's cheesy but it really makes it all worth it. He's pretty easy going. When he does start to get fussy I turn on the radio and dance around the apartment with him. I'm not sure if he likes it or if it frightens him but he stops crying either way. I just have to make sure the blinds are closed or the neighbors might think I'm a little loony.

Tj is still staying pretty busy. It's the busy season so he flies quite a bit and the days he doesn't fly he is in the office. It's a good thing he likes his job and the people he works with so much. Once he's home he tries to spend some time with Joel. He's taken over the nighttime bathing duties. He's better at it than I am- I haven't mastered the art of the perfect bath temperature. I usually make it too cold and then Joel screams the whole time! So Tj takes care of it and it gives him time with Joel.

Rough Night

So last night we had our first rough night. Now I don't know if it Joel just had a bad night or if it was because we were on our own since Tj's mom left yesterday afternoon but either way it made for a L-O-N-G night.
It started at midnight when Joel woke up for his feeding. He'd been a little fussy earlier in the evening but I didn't think anything of it. So I feed him, burp him and get him down and he starts to doze off and then he spits up all over! So now he's upset. I clean him up and try and get him to go back to sleep but now he thinks he's hungry. So I try to feed him again and he eats a little bit but goes right to sleep. So now I have to get him to burp half asleep- it took forever!
Anyhow, long story short take that routine and repeat it several times between midnight and 4:30 am. Literally I think I got maybe an hour of sleep.
Needless to say we slept in this morning and we've been trying to stay awake as much as possible so we don't repeat last night!
Speaking of he just woke up from his nap.

Life Changing!

Wow, what a month it's been! I can't believe how your entire life can change so completely in such a short amount of time.
So as most of you know Joel Thomas was born May 22 at 5:38 pm. He weighed in at 8 lbs 7 oz with a whole head of hair. He really is a beautiful baby! It was love at first sight and it's been pretty amazing. He is such a good baby. He rarely cries- usually when he's hungry or being changed. He's now starting to smile and it's so cute. He's pretty gassy though. It just makes me laugh when such a loud noise comes from such a small person!
After Joel was born my mom came out for about a week and a half which was great. Joel may be a fairly easy baby but he does like to eat. So mom did the cooking and helped keep the house running and took care of a couple of the late night feedings so I could get a couple hours of rest. The rest of the time was spent catching up, running errands and hanging out. (Thanks again mom!)
Then when she left Tj's mom came out for a week. She'll go home tomorrow. But she basically picked up where my mom left off. I don't know why everyone thinks having a baby is so difficult. Ha ha ha. Just kidding. While I have gotten more sleep in the last couple of weeks than I probably will get in the next several months there's something about getting it in two hour increments that is just not completely satisfying. In fact I was trying to remember the last time I slept through the entire night. I think it was sometime in January or maybe it was December. It's hard to remember any more.
But really having Joel in our home is amazing. I didn't know what to expect before he was actually here but it's better than I could have imagined. He's a wonderful boy and watching Tj with him has been a lot of fun too. Tj's already got him into watching sports- they've been watching the NBA playoffs together. The funny thing is Joel is always wide awake and alert while he's with Tj. At least for awhile. I feel pretty fortunate.