The Crow's Nest: April 2010

Friday, April 23, 2010

Fun Times with Cannon

Just thought I would post some recent pics of Cannon. He's growing so fast - all his newborn clothes are starting to fit him really well now - so exciting - a whole new wardrobe is awaiting him :) He is doing really well. We made the transition this week for him to sleep in his own crib in his own room and so far its going well. We pretty much by-passed trying to get him to sleep in the cradle in our room. We are all sleeping so much better now with this arrangement. We received a video monitor as a gift and we are loving it - can't imagine how I lived without one with Brookie when she was a baby. It gives us such piece of mind - and its so nice to be able to just roll over in bed if I hear him fussing and just turn on the tv part of it to see what he's doing and if I really do need to get up. I think I am going to get another camera to go with it so I can put one in Brooklynn's room too. We know we are on borrowed time right now with her still sleeping in her crib - so once she's in a regular bed, the camera will come in handy to see what she is up to. Oh how I am dreading her being in a normal bed - I don't think she will ever sleep again - and I can imagine the trouble she will get herself into.....hahaha.

Another change that has happened this week is that Cannon is finally starting to enjoy his baths. Up until this week he has HATED being bathed - he would just scream and scream the whole way through bathtime.....but last night he didn't even make a sound and just sat there and looked around. Bathtime is so much fun with little kids - so we are thrilled he has finally turned the corner. He is also starting to calm down for diaper changes - same thing as bathtime - he just screamed the whole time. I have noticed the last couple of days, he has just laid on the change table and looked out the window as I changed him - much more peaceful :)

Anyway...here are some recent pics of Cannon and how much he's changing. Enjoy!

Daydreaming during diaper change

Getting closer to his first real smile....any day now :)

I couldn't resist taking this picture...I was trying several of his outfits on him to see how they fit - he was NOT enjoying it....hahaha. Now when Brookie was a baby, I could try on tons of outfits on her and she would just lay there happy as could be. Must be a boy thing :)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

One Month

Can anyone believe its already been a month since Cannon surprised us with his early arrival? I know we can't (and apparently even Cannon looks shocked...lol)

Its been crazy how fast these weeks have flown by! We have been adjusting to having a newborn in our house again, but honestly this time it seems to be going a lot smoother. We definitely see a different personality in him compared to Brookie. He is a very content baby and also LOVES to be held. So far (KNOCK ON WOOD) he doesn't seem to have a regular 'fussy time' each night like Brooklynn did - for which I am so thankful. (except for tonight he is unusually fussy...how lovely)Brooklynn was a happy baby until the evening hours hit and then it was like someone flipped the switch and she became a crying mess for several hours. Cannon is pretty mellow and even-tempered and just kind of goes with the flow.

The adjustment period continues for Brooklynn - she definitely loves her little brother and gives him kisses all the time, but there are some little hints that her world was turned upside down. Before Cannon's arrival, we were doing wonderfully with potty training - she got the hang of it really quickly and was having very few accidents. Well as I was warned, potty training pretty much went out the window with Cannon's arrival. She just didn't care to have anything to do with it anymore. We decided to just leave it alone for the most part for a little while b/c it was too much of a struggle and we all needed a break. We are slowly starting up again - M&M's are the reward of choice right now, so hopefully they will continue to motivate her to get back on track :) Brooklynn also seems to be coming around with not getting her feelings hurt as easily. She was a mess the first couple of weeks - she would fall to pieces at the smallest things. It was heartbreaking with the face she would give you - pouty bottom lip and big tears streaming down her face. She seems to be handling things a little better with each day. Other than those 2 issues, she has been adjusting really well. She's still full of energy and is bouncing off the walls most days - but thats just Brookie :)

Anyway, here is a list of what's going on in Cannon's life as he reaches 1 month:

Weighs 8.6lbs (according to our bathroom scale)

Wears newborn size diapers

Wears newborn size clothing - still a little big, but we can definitely tell you are starting to fill them in more and more each day

Still has his pretty blue eyes

Great eater - eating 4 ozs about every 3 hours during the day and about every 4 hours during the night. We have had several nights where he has gone as long as 6 hours in between feedings (I was one HAPPY mom those nights).

Great sleeper - like I said above, we have several longer stretches during the night between feedings. I generally feed him the last time around 10:30pm before going to bed. We get up between 2:30-3:00am for a diaper change & bottle and then Andy changes & feeds him before work between 5:30-6:00am. Then we normally get up for the day around 9:30am-10:00am (except for the days when I have to drive Brookie to school - then we are up at 8am)

Loves to be held and cuddled

Loves to sleep on me - those are the nights where we have gone for 6 hour stretches. I am definitely noticing that he is getting heavier when laying on me so I have started putting him beside me on top of the pillow and he sleeps just as long and looks so happy and comfy. We are still working on getting him to sleep in his cradle - its hit and miss. We have better luck with the bouncer. We know we will get there eventually, so we are just enjoying keeping him close :)

Seems to be getting close to giving us real smiles. He enjoys the floor activity mat with the lights & music - this was one of Brooklynn's favorites too

Loves being in the swing - takes naps there just about every day.

Loves going on walks around the neighborhood each night

Anyway...here are some fun pics that I have taken over the last week...enjoy!

Well gotta get back to the fussy little boy......Grandma was nice enough to hold him so I could finally get this post finished. Hopefully this is just an 'off night' and he will be back to his normal, mellow (happy) self :)

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Easter Fun

We've had a busy weekend with lots of Easter festivities. We figured we would have a busy weekend originally - only for a different reason. Like I have mentioned before, Cannon decided he was done 'cooking' a few weeks ago and joined us 3 weeks early. Well today was my Official Due Date - April 4th, Easter Sunday. I am so thankful that instead of dealing with the rough last few weeks of a long pregnancy, I have been able to hold my baby boy in my arms and enjoy him the last 3 weeks. We have enjoyed every minute of being new parents again - its so different the 2nd time around - makes a huge difference once you've been through it before and have some clue of what is going on....lol. He is a GREAT sleeper (knock on wood). He sleeps a good part of the day and sleeps pretty well during the night. I normally feed him before I go to bed around 10:00pm and then he will normally wake up between 2-3am for another feeding and then Andy will give him a feeding before he goes to work around 5:30am to top him off until we get up - we usually get up for the day around 9:30am (of course the days that Brookie has school, we are up around 8am). So I really can't complain - I am normally only up once during the night - so its definitely manageable - we are able to get decent sleep - especially considering he is only 3 weeks old.

Anyway, onto our busy weekend. Friday we had some friends over with their 2 kiddos over for dinner and to meet Cannon. We had a good time catching up and the kids had a blast playing together - it was chaos in our house - and Cannon slept through the entire thing...haha.

Saturday, we headed over to the church for the annual Easter Egg hunt......always a good time for the kids. This was Andrew's last year to participate as it only goes up to 5th grade.....so he made the most of it and tried his hardest to find 'The Golden Egg' but unfortunately, with dozens of these older kids searching for the same single egg, the odds were against him - but he still had fun anyway. Brookie's age group was a lot more calm and relaxed...lol. She got tons of eggs and had a blast picking them all up and putting them in her basket.

Heading to the Easter Egg hunt...

After the Easter egg hunt, we headed over to the grandparents house to enjoy the beautiful weather and visit and color Easter eggs with the family. The weather right now is gorgeous - we are enjoying every second of it b/c we know what is just around the corner. The kids had a lot of fun and wore themselves out running around all day.

Each of the grandkids got to search for their giant Easter egg filled with lots of fun goodies from Grandma Cheryll.

Coloring Easter eggs with Daddy

Easter Sunday we headed back over to the Grandparents house to celebrate Easter. We had a delicious lunch followed by another Easter egg hunt for everyone.