Someone has found his Magic Hands

My little man has figured out how to hold things now and seems to enjoy putting anything and everything in his mouth. It's so cute watching him hold onto his teething toys and putting them into his mouth, although he still prefers his hands.



Maxi loves to talk these days and while we are cooking he will just sit in his bouncy and talk to himself for hours. Of course we can't understand a word he says but it's so cute hearing him try to say his vowels now. He is such a happy boy and laughs and giggles all day long. The giggling especially melts my heart and it makes it so much harder to leave him all day long. He also loves to be held now and will sit on your lap and cuddle with you for hours which is something he never used to love doing for long periods of time.



He is finally over his cold and is sleeping through the night again. The past two nights he has been crying again when we put him down and so tomorrow night we will have to go back to Ferberizing him. Steve has been sleeping in the guestroom the past two nights so I could get a good nights rest since I'm still sick which has been really sweet.

We are currently discussing Max's Baptism and what we want to do. Do we want it to be just family or do we want to invite friends. Where do we want to have it? When do we want it? Who would the godparents be since we both want our sisters to be the godmother. All these decisions....and we aren't even religious haha But if it's important to Steve to have him Baptized then it's important to me. I'll keep you posted. xoxo

ps. We are off to Miami next week for my sisters wedding, can't wait for some fun in the sun!

My lil smiley man:



Daddy Time (of course my two men are looking at themselves in the mirror):

Home sick Home...

After five days of coughing, fever, sinus issues, a sore throat, the runs and body aches I finally forced myself to go to the doctor. It was becoming rather obvious to me that I wasn't suffering from a cold and needed some antibiotics. I still managed to go to the office though for two hours before I left to see the doctor. After waiting a long hour to see her she finally told me I either have bronchitis or a bad sinus infection and gave me some Bioxin. Now I'm in bed with a pharmacy to my right, my two dogs on top of me and a husband who made the best chicken noodle soup I've ever had. I've been trying for days now not to get my lil man sick which has been tough. He still has a minor cold but I'm praying that's all he gets. To add insult to injury my trigger thumb is acting up and keeps locking on me which becomes more and more painful as time goes on. I guess the shots did nothing and surgery couldn't come fast enough. I feel like my body has taken a bad beating and I am really looking forward to these meds kicking in so I can feel better and give my son the huge kisses he deserves.

Me sick in bed:

One year ago today...

Was one of the happiest days of my life. March 29th, 2009 I took a pregnancy test and to my dismay it came out positive. It feels as though it happened yesterday. It was a Sunday and Steve was working in DC. I had already taken three line tests a few days prior and they all came out negative...or so I thought. I didn't notice the faint line on the third one until that morning when I fished it out of the garbage. It was so faint I attributed it to being a few days old. What did strike me as odd though was that I was literally peeing every five minutes. I would need to pee, then I'd go back to the kitchen and five minutes later feel such an urge to pee again. It felt odd. So I went out and bought myself another pregnancy test, although this time it was a digital one. I remember peeing on the stick and going back to the kitchen to cook. That is when it happened. I was putting things away when I looked down and there it was: PREGNANT.


I swear my jaw dropped. I was in such shock, I started pacing the apartment and started crying. I knew everything was about to change, and boy was I right, it all did.
Over the past year so much has happened. Soon after we found out I was pregnant we put our Manhattan apartment on the market. We sold it a few months later and bought a house in Stamford, CT less than a month before Max's arrival. We bought a car and Steve moved back home after having worked in DC for three years. After nine LONG months of being pregnant we now have a four month old boy who is the love of our lives. It's only been one year, yet that year has changed my life forever. A new chapter has finally begun and I'm loving every moment of it.

No words needed....

Maxi learning to sit:




My lil man sleeping...I hope he feels better soon

Maxi got his first cold...

My poor lil munchkin got his first cold over the weekend and has been coughing up a lung along with having a stuffy nose. Last night I got up a few times trying to soothe him since he was having trouble falling asleep due to his cough. The poor lil guy would fall asleep in my arms but as soon as I'd put him down he would start coughing again. I tried to lay him on an incline, but as soon as I jumped back into bed he would start crying because he couldn't turn himself sideways, which is his preferred way of sleeping these days. Steve is taking him to the doctor today to make sure it's just a cold, which I'm being told it is. I hate seeing my lil guy in agony, I'm just glad he hasn't had a fever yet.
On top of it all, I think my son may have given me what he has. I was feeling under the weather myself and my throat is sore. We had a busy weekend with my sisters bridal shower which was great and were running around doing errands and seeing friends.

Sister opening her many gifts:



Steve had his second tennis lesson which he seemed to enjoy. Once I start feeling better we will start to play together. We purchased a grill for our patio and I'm so excited to be able to grill and eat outside. On Saturday we went to target and bought a bumbo baby seat which he likes to sit in.



His eyes are going from hazel to brown now, and my guess would be in two months time he will have my eye color. He is slobbering like crazy and chewing on his hands as if his life depended on it. Teething is a pain in the butt because we go through numerous outfits and bibs a day and he has been more fussy. He now officially sleeps through the night which is great. He can last from 10-5.30/6.30am which is great. These past two nights he hasn't been going down as easily as before , and I'm not sure if it's because he is sick or because his daytime schedule has been a bit off. Hopefully it will be better again because I hate hearing him cry when we put him down.

As much as my husband likes to deny it...our son says Mamma! Of course he has no clue he is saying it, but he does nonetheless. First time I mentioned it Steve he said there was no way. Then his mom brought it up to us telling us that Max says Mamma! I knew I wasn't crazy. But then on Saturday morning I had the baby monitor on while I was sleeping and I heard Steve changing him while Max went "Mamma"...to which Steve goes "Noooo not Mamma...Dadda"...I totally caught him in the act haha

I've noticed that whenever someone else besides Steve is holding Max and I walk into the room and he hears me he starts to get fussy. He knows my voice and can spot me anywhere in a room. I noticed at my sisters shower how Max would be across the room and would have his eyes on me. It melted my heart knowing my son knows who I am.

Steve and I interviewed our first nanny over the weekend. We are in the midst of deciding if we want to get a live in nanny or just one who comes to the house. A coworker also suggest a wonderful daycare center called Tutor Time which we will be looking into. It's the most difficult decision we have ever had to make, and one which will take some time. I'll let you know what we decide.

Here are more pictures of Max in his Bumbo with Chloe...and the love affair between my son and dog begins:







Max trying to touch Chloe:



Chloe goes in for the smooch:



One cute side note, last night when I woke up to Max coughing up a storm, I noticed that Daisy (one of my dogs) wasn't next to me. She always sleeps on my pillow with me. I didn't think anything of it since they get up at night to go drink some water and come back to bed. I got up to go check on Max and where do I find Daisy...laying in front of his door keeping watch. It was too cute!

Ferberizing completed...Day 7

As most of you know we have been using the Ferber method to put our lil man to sleep. I stopped updating as of day five because we had a power outage and have been staying in Queens since then. We still managed to continue the Ferberizing, and we are both astounded by how easily it worked. Daylight savings messed with his sleep schedule a bit but otherwise it's been amazing and I can't rave enough about his method. Tonight is officially day seven and we put him down at seven.

Let him cry for ten minutes...didn't have to!!! Yes you read correctly. He didn't even last ten minutes before he passed out and is now sound asleep.

To those of you wondering if you should try the Ferber method, I highly recommend you read his book and try it. It teaches you a lot about sleep in general and I found it highly useful. Good luck to those of you trying and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it continues to work for us!

****Someone asked me if the Ferber method is really that easy or if there is more to it...here was my response in the comments section but I'll repost here in case someone else was wondering the same thing:

I enjoyed reading the book because it goes into detail about all the different sleeping issues babies have and what their sleep cycle is like and how it keeps changing. I'm not even half way done with the book yet, but the first 100 pages explained what I needed. And it really is that simple. The most important things to keep in mind are: Start with 3, 5, 10 minute intervals, then increase to 5, 10, 12 and then 10, 15, 20 etc. Although i never waited 20 minutes since my son is only 3 months old. What helped me most was him explaining why they cry and what mistakes we as parents make. For example, I used to let him cry and go in after 20 minutes, but I'd pick him up and rock him a bit or feed him to make him stop crying and only then put him back and do it all over again. He explains that the point of going in isn't to make him stop crying, but to let him know that you are there for him. He says not to pick them up, but to just put your hand on their belly for a minute or two, give them a kiss and walk out, even if they are still crying. After a few days he realized that no matter how much he cried, he wasn't going to get anything out of it and so now he doesn't even do it anymore. Another very important point he made was if you're going to sleep train your child and they cry for lets say an hour (of course with you always going to see him in regular intervals), the worst thing you can do is pick him up and give in by giving him a bottle or rocking him to sleep etc. He says you might as well just do that from the beginning since he cried for nothing and will try twice has hard next time knowing that all it takes is lots of crying to get what he wants. I hope that helps!

What a Storm!

Over the weekend the Northeast was hit by a horrific storm. It was sooo windy and the rain wouldn't let up. Never in my life have I seen weather that bad. Trees were down everywhere. I was getting calls from friends to stay over since nobody could get home given the street closures. My parents house didn't fair too well, neither did the rest of town. More than half the town was out of power and as of Sunday afternoon we were one of them. The hotels were completely booked out and our cell phones had no battery. We packed up our things as it was getting dark and headed into the city to stay with my mother in law. Today we are hearing that the power might not come on until Friday!!! We are hoping that isn't the case, but for now we will be staying in Queens. Here are some pictures from the storm and some recent ones of Max.

Day 4 of Ferberizing...

And wow what a difference....tonight we bathed him and he was totally fine and so we brought him downstairs to hangout with us since it was only 6pm. He yawned twice and so we brought him to his room where he didn't cry for the first few minutes. He did start to cry after some time had passed so Steve went into the room after 10 minutes....

Let him cry for ten minutes....check
(He stopped crying once in there)

He cried for a few more minutes and passed out...this was by far the easiest night and we seem to be progressing rather nicely. This really has been a great method, although I still have to see if it will be like this tomorrow night...only time will tell.



Little Man on my monitor passed out on his side...now that he knows how to sleep on his side he prefers it this way...

Day 3 of Ferberizing

Here we go again, day three of sleep training. He ate 6 ounces at 5:45 pm, got a bath after that and started getting fussy so down he went.

Day 3

Let him cry for 10 minutes...check
(he was quiet when i went in and put my hand on his belly)

As soon as I left he started screaming like cazy

Let him cry for 12 minutes...check
(I went in after 10 minutes, I just couldn't take him crying anymore, he went quiet)

Left the room and he is still quiet...hmmm this can't be...ah, there he goes again!

He only cried for a few more minutes, played in his bed a bit and fell asleep. Wow, who would have thought this stuff really works! I'm curious to see if tomorrow gets even better!

Day 2 of Ferberizing....

Here we go again...came home and he had already been up for almost two hours. Bathed him which he always enjoys, but right after his bath he started to get worked up. So I tried to feed him which he had no interest in and so to bed he went.

Day 2:

Let him cry for 5 minutes and go in....check
(he stopped when i came in)

Let him cry for 10 minutes and go in...check
(he stopped when I came in, then he started to cry once he noticed i wouldn't pick him up, he then realized that wouldn't work and stopped...I left the room and it started again)

Let him cry for 12 minutes and go in...check
(he was quiet when i went in)

After the first 12 minute period he cried for another few minutes and passed out. I couldn't believe it...it worked! I just hope tomorrow it gets even easier!

Steve and I discussed switching his daytime routine so he could eat after bath time instead of two hours before. I hope that will help as well since routine is key. Phew, now off to eat and have a glass of wine.

Day 1 of Ferberizing....

Tonight we will attempt to change his sleep associations. He cries for an hour or more every night when we put him down, so tonight we will try to change that. So here it goes...I put him down at 6:48pm after his bath; he had been yawning since 6:15pm. He refused to eat, so to bed he goes. And the crying begins...

Day 1:

Let him cry for 3 minutes and go in....check
(he stopped the second i came in and put my hand on his belly)

Let him cry for 5 minutes and go in....check
(he stopped again when I came in and put my hand on his belly)

Let him cry for 10 minutes and go in...check
(steve went in and he went quiet)

Then the fire alarm went off...no clue why. So we went in to soothe him and gave him a bottle. He finally ate...cried for two minutes after we put him down and fell asleep.

Night one was not a total success, but it wasn't too bad either. The bottle was a bad idea, but he wouldn't eat after his bath and was obviously hungry. Tomorrow we try again.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

My lil man sound asleep...thanks to my hubby I get to see him even at the office.

To the doctor we go...

I was so bummed today because it was the first time Max went to the doctor without me :( He had to get his last two shots and they needed to do a checkup on him. Our little man is 13.12 lbs and 23.5 inches long. He is in the 50th percentile in terms of weight and 70th percentile for height. I would have thought it was the other way around, but I guess he is taller than average, go figure. Here is a picture of Mr. Man after his shots...look at those juicy thighs!



The doctor said there is nothing we can currently do about his nighttime feedings. He is too young and we will just have to deal. We asked if we could give him cereal at night in his bottle so he would sleep longer. The doctor told us that was a myth and no we could not, he is still too young. He should be eating around 30 ounces a day, which is more or less what he does. We need to cut his quantity back at each feeding since she said we are giving him too much and that is why he pukes it back up. Last night he slept from 8pm to 4am...his sleep patterns are getting better, but not every night is that good. He still cries his heart out when we put him to bed which is why I am currently reading the Ferber method. That way when he turns 4 months old Steve and I can start sleep training him.

Max or Mr. Man as we like to call him is still not rolling from his belly to his back on his own yet. He loves to talk and smile and is overall a great baby. He rarely cries unless he is tired or hungry. He loves to watch TV when there is one around. I have started to read books to him and teach him the alphabet...obviously he is too young for it but he loves to look at the pictures. He adores listening to music with his daddy. There is such a strong bond that has formed between father and son. It melts my heart seeing how good Steve is with him, and Max adores his father. Steve can get him to smile like no other, and I am so at ease knowing that while I'm at work our son is getting the best possible care.

These past few days Max has managed to turn himself around in his crib. He does a complete 180 and goes back to sleep. I don't know how he does it but I wish I could catch him in the act. Over the weekend I met up with a friend of mine and we took our babies for a stroll . It was such a great weekend and I am so looking forward to the spring/summer so we can be outside. Tonight I'm heading to an orthopedic to get my hands checked out. Right after Max was born I developed carpel tunnel on my right hand and now my left as well. My thumb hurts real bad and I can't move it properly. Over the weekend I played tennis with my father and tried to put a scrunchy in my hair and my thumb locked up and I couldn't bend it. I am curious to see what the doctor says about it, I really need it to get better. On that note I'm going to finish up my work so I can get there on time. I would just like to congratulate one of my oldest friends on the birth of her son Bennett Thomas...he is sooo cute!

(Don't mind me, I just played tennis and was sweaty...we were watching Daddy get his first tennis lesson...)

3 Months Old...

Max 3 months old compared to ten days old...what a difference!

I can't believe my little man is 3 months old today. It feels as though it was yesterday when my water broke and we rushed to the hospital. It was without a doubt the best day of my life. These past three months have been wonderful, and I know it's so cliche, but I couldn't imagine my life without him. He makes me the happiest I have ever been and being a wife and mother means everything to me.
Work has been tough, I honestly hate being away from my son all day long, but I have no choice.
I finally got my period yesterday. The funny thing is it came EXACTLY a year later. This time a year ago I got my last period, two weeks later we conceived. It has been a very heavy period with bad cramps at times which i hear is normal since it's your body's way of cleaning itself after pregnancy. Max managed to sleep from 7pm to 4am one night this week, but of course that was only once. Since then he has been all over the place. Now that he has turned three months old I definitely want to get much stricter with him in terms of his routine. Since I commute two hours a day I will start reading books on sleep routines to see what works best for Steve and I. If all goes well Steve will start work within the next two months, therefore we will have to start interviewing nannies or au pairs soon. That should be interesting and it scares me a little to think that someone I hardly know will be taking care of my son. It's putting someone who means EVERYTHING to me in someone elses hands and to be honest it terrifies me. It will take a lot of research to find the right person so we can feel comfortable with this. I know she is out there, it will just take some time to find her.
Last night I attempted to cut Max's nails with the clippers and it was going well until I cut his finger and it started bleeding pretty bad. I have never felt crappier and it freaked me out. From now on I will bite his nails or file them...clippers are banned :)
I am soooooooo excited for this weekend, I just want to spend quality time with my two boys and enjoy the nice weather. I signed my hubby up for his first tennis lesson, I can't wait to watch him in action. xoxo

Prayer

My Grandmother Nani (fathers side) is in surgery today. They are trying to close or minimize an artery in her stomach that has expanded. If it bursts it could be fatal, and at her age, the 4.5 hour surgery is considered dangerous. I can't stop thinking about her and I am praying all goes well. Please keep her in your prayers.

***UPDATE: The operation was a success, they said it was found just in time, her stomach had filled with blood. She will be in intensive care for two days...I'll call as soon as she can speak.

Las Vegas...what a trip

The three sisters:



This past weekend was my little sisters bachelorette party in Las Vegas. My older sis and I planned it for months and I was really looking forward to it. Sadly mother nature had other plans for me. As most of you know, the Northeast got hit with an awful snowstorm and so my flight on Friday got cancelled. Let me preface this by saying I was originally leaving on Thursday but had to change my flight when my boss told me I couldn't take Friday off. Having rebooked a flight for Saturday morning I was feeling better, however that didn't last long. It got cancelled as well...that is where the mess began. We called all the airlines and checked out all the surrounding airports...from DC to Boston etc, and all flights were booked. I was sooo upset, luckily my husband found a flight to Cali and a connecting flight to Vegas on Jetblue. It cost a bloody fortune, some of which my boss offered to pay for making me come into work.
I got to the airport on Saturday, so nervous since I had no room for error. I kept praying to my mom and Sergio asking them to help me. My flight was delayed and so I bought an extra ticket from Cali in case I missed my connection. Luckily I didn't. When I stepped off the plane in California I just knew my mom and Sergio were looking out for me. This is what was waiting for me as I walked off the plane:



After having flown all day and not eating anything I finally arrived and rushed to the hotel. My sister and I got the room ready, I showered and got dressed in record time and at 8pm Olivia's friends came to the room (we told Olivia to wait 10 min before coming).

The bachelorette:



Olivia, not knowing I was coming knocked on the door and when I opened she didn't recognize me. She just looked at me until she realized who I was...that is when the water works began. We ended up having a wonderful evening and the little bachelorette looked great. It was so nice seeing my sisters and her friends, even if the trip was so short. Luckily my trip back home was so much fun. The Canada-USA Olympic Hockey Final was on and it was the BEST game ever. The entire plane was watching and we were all cheering and screaming. It was great. We even had one of the Jersey shore people on our plane...Jwoww looks even better in person. As nice as the trip was, the best part was coming home to my son. I missed him more than I thought I would xoxo

The party planners and two older sisters:

From Work to Vegas- its been a crazy week!

My beautiful boy before bathtime...



My first week back to work was difficult on many levels, but it was also nice to see everyone again. Some days were harder than others when it came to being away from my son. I miss him so much during the day, my one bright spot is when Steve sends me a video or a picture of him. I must look like a crazy person, because I can't help but smile from ear to ear looking at him. My hours are long, I'm away from the house 13 hours a day and that is what makes going back to work even more difficult. My daily routine goes a bit like this:

5am Wake-up
5:30am Leave house for train
6.40am At work
5pm Leave work and head for train
6:00-6.15pm get home
6-7pm Hangout with Max, do his bedtime routine with him (bath, feeding)
7-10pm eat dinner, relax and go to bed

It's a long day, and I'm sad I don't get much time during the week with Max. Usually by the time I get home he is cranky because he is ready for bed and I'm exhausted from a long a day at the office. Sadly I wasn't able to spend time with him over the weekend either because I was in Vegas (I will post about my weekend trip a little later on).
Max is growing so fast, he laughs a lot more and is eating and sleeping more. He scratched himself all over his face over the weekend so we are waiting for the right moment to cut his nails. He is learning to roll over...here is is about to perform a rollover:



I can't wait for this weekend so I can spend time with him...it's the one thing I really look forward to during the week. xoxo