Baby Cliche

Matteo is growing up so fast. That's my age-old baby cliche as of late. And he is literally growing fast - he has been in 3-6 month clothes for a couple weeks now, well before his 2 month "birthday", which is this Sunday. He'll have his 2 month check up the week after next but I estimate him to be near 14 lbs. Lord knows how long he is but he certainly does not feel like a newborn anymore. This make nursing a lot easier as he is stronger and can hold his head up more but its bittersweet. I was never a newborn person but with my last baby, I find that I am missing it even as it goes by.

Because of his improving head control, I dug out our bumbo seat and he has been hanging out in there for a few minutes at a time. This has made dinnertime so much easier! I usually feed him shortly before giving the twins their dinner so that he is settled. But even then, that 5pm - 6pm is rough for a wee one like Matteo and he is hard to keep happy. With the bumbo, I can put him on the dining room table (shhh!!) and he can face me while I do dinner with Sebastian and Collette. Being part of the action at least somewhat distracts him from his bedtime fussies.


His growth has had some not so great consequences as well. He has been busting out of every swaddle I can do because his legs are so long and strong that he untucks the wrap with his kicking. I will have to try what I did with the twins around 3 or 4 months old, and wrap his arms down underneath a Velcro swaddle sleep sack. The problem is, they only come in newborn size (that I can find) and he is WAY too long for that. So, I think I will cut out some feet holes for him so he can fit. The things we do for sleep...

I really never thought I would miss those newborn days. Billy is scared that I will demand another baby, seeing how much I have enjoyed these past two months with Tater. But all that is a post for another day. (No worries, though. I am NOT planning a baby #4!)

One Month!

Believe it or not, Matteo is now over one month old! And he is doing so well - eating and sleeping are both still great (back to waking up once at night now that his bedtime is a firm 730pm) and as he is more aware during the day, he is starting to enjoy his play mat and bouncy seats more.

The day after his one month birthday, he got to attend his first wedding. My dear friend/surrogate sister tied the knot on Saturday and Tater stayed awake to watch the whole ceremony. The commotion was too much for him, though, and he had to nurse twice during the reception to help him fall asleep. Thankfully, by the time dinner was served, he was out cold for the night. Billy and I even got to dance a bit before packing it up.

Also, I am now officially "on my own" with kiddos - my MIL left after 3 weeks of tremendous help. Tonight went really well though. Not a single tear was shed during bedtime and Matteo only started to fuss right at the end as I was getting Sebastian and Collette into their sleep sacks. I may have to add feeding the baby into their bedtime routine but we'll see. I'll be tweaking things as we go but I now know that its definitely doable. Hopefully things go just as smoothly tomorrow night when I actually have to bathe them...!

Lastly, we will continue the tradition of chair pictures with Matteo. Same chair, new baby! Here he is in his wedding outfit:

Matteo, one month and one day old

Keep an eye out for more posts coming up. I have a lot to share after being away from the blog for so long.

Life with 3 under 2

Now that Matteo is three weeks old, we are all starting to get used to each other. Sebastian and Collette like their new little brother. Or at least they accept him as part of the family. They like to give him kisses and Collette will even go so far as to bring him blankets. They both like to point to his body parts - a little scary when they try to poke him in the eye. And Sebastian especially likes it when he wears onesies that feature cars. Other than that, they pretty much ignore him which is much better than acting jealous. Hopefully things will stay this way once I am on my own with them and they aren't getting all that extra attention from Mimi (my MIL).

As for Matteo, he has inserted himself nicely into our lives. He must now how spread thin Mommy will be because, for a newborn, he seems to be making things pretty easy for me. He nurses like a champ and has since day one. He gets right down to business and is finished within 15 minutes, sometimes just 10! This makes feeding him and watching after the twins manageable. And he is already developing some very promising sleep patterns. He generally takes a longer nap from about 9-11 and then again from 130-330. Otherwise, he seems to take shorter naps, especially in the evening when he is nursing more frequently. Plus, he is already showing signs of readiness for an early bedtime. he gets crabby and needy around 6pm if he isn't asleep. If this goes on, I will probably just incorporate him into the twins' bedtime and that way they will all be down by 730ish. That may mean I have to give up my one night feeding (usually around 130am) but it might be worth it to have my evenings back. Or is that idea totally age-inappropriate?

So, all in all, life with 3 under 2 is going well. It's hard to believe that in such a short time I opened and closed the book on having babies. It'll be a tough first year but I know it'll pay off in the long run!

Welcome to the World!

My dear friend Lena had her baby yesterday and I could not be happier for her and her husband. Michael Timothy O'Neill III made his debut into this world at 1:40am on St. Patrick's Day - already a good Irish lad! He weighed in at 9lbs 3oz and is 20.75 in. long!

Mommy and baby are both doing great. Actually, better than great: When I called (just now), the baby was nursing so I said to Michael (daddy, not baby) that I'd call back. But he had already put Lena on the phone. She had no problem chatting it up with me while nursing her day old little boy! What a pro :)

Now I just have to figure out when I'm going to meet this little bugger!