3 Months of Miles!

Miles is just over three months now an just continues to grow like crazy and is becoming more and more of a little person every day, he loves to play, listen to music, is starting to enjoy sitting in his bumbo, but hates tummy time.

Waiting in line for the Easter bunny

So excited on Easter

Miles and his favorite toy, Bump the Monkey

Not quite big enough to reach anything yet, but enjoys sitting in it

My new swim cap for this summer

At the Botanical Gardens

At the Botanical Gardens

At the Botanical Gardens

First time with the easter bunny

Oh my miles

Happy 6 weeks Miles!

Our first rave

So Callie and I purchased tickets to Lady Gaga back before Miles was born and we went to the concert on February 2nd at the Kiel Center.  Miles stayed the night at my parents giving us the whole night to ourselves, which was nice and delightfully restful.  

Bunny Muffins

Well back to the concert for the first pre-Gaga show a lady came out dressed like an old school pre-Twilight vampire with cloak and all and played some keyboard music, not bad but different then put on a darth maul looking mask and did a weird dance while music played, changed and did the dance dressed as a Native American Indian and then finally came out in a wedding dress looking outfit and did some more keyboard work.  All in all it was a bit strange but OK.

After that the rave started and while I listen to loud music and have been to plenty of concerts this is the loudest and bass-iest music I have ever heard. I am not anti-dubstep, I can enjoy some but the guy just had his Macbook up there and jumped around while lights flashed constantly and not really to the beat with a screen behind him that has images just constantly flashing and changing.  The music floated between tolerable and terrible and the loudness and flashing lights did not help.  I presume the only reason to play music that loud with all the lights and screen images is to distract from how terrible the music is or potentially a pre-Gaga seizure test.  I am not a big fan of sun glasses at night in a building but they would have been nice to have.  I am pretty sure at this point I have lost more brain cells and hearing than I had lost cumulative up to that point.

Rave time

Thankfully the earsplitting eventually came to an end which led to the mandatory 30 minute wait for the main act to ensue despite the fact that the main stage is already setup and the only thing they seem to need to do is raise the curtain.  I do expect that they need to do some final checks and replugin a few things but the amount of time required seems high to me and while this may serve as a time to build anticipation, it is not increasing mine, good news it is giving them a chance to run adds on the side screens (Pop water, Virgin mobile and Skype).

Waiting for Gaga

Once all that was done we were finally to who we came to see Lady Gaga.  Unfortunately it was a bit of a disappointment to us.  Below I will just list off our thoughts rather than trying to type it up in paragraph form: 

-She has great backup dancers, but she is not a great dancer and the fact that she does not match he dancers speed or moves can be kind of distracting at times
-She had a backing track, which in and of itself is not bad, but she spent an inordinate amount of time, in our opinion, relying on the backing track and her live vocals did not seem to match the track well enough when she was singing over it
-The show was more art than music, really it felt like a play, which was fun
-She was very very into her message of tolerance and acceptance of everyone, which I am totally onboard with and thought it was great to see people expressing themselves at the concert, but at times she would talk ove nearly an entire song, which detracted from the show
-Her stage setup, costumes and such were absolutely amazing
-However she changed her costume between or during every single song
-Her performance was unnecessarily over the top at times, it seemed to be over the top simply to be over the top

So overall we were disappointed because we really wanted to just hear her sing and do her songs, but it was more art than show and more talking than singing.  As an experience we were glad to see the show, but were disappointed by the music itself.

6 to 7 the sweetest hour

Nights are going much better. Matt and I are now in shifts. Matt takes 8-1, I take 1-6. So both of us are getting 5 hour stretches of sleep, and Miles as he approaches 6 weeks is sleeping in 2 1/2 to 3 hour stretches. This also helps to make our shifts easier!

At 6am I bring Miles back to our room to lay in bed with us the last hour before Matt gets up for work. This is my favorite hour. Matt usually sleeps with Miles on his chest, the cats are cozy around us, and its wonderful. My entire little family in one cozy happy place. I hold one to each minute in this peaceful hour, knowing all too soon Matt will start getting ready for work, and Miles will be hungry and wet and our day will begin. Its the most peaceful hour of the night- even if it is the start of the day.

It is that hour that makes me fight co-sleeping with every ounce of my body. If I could stay at home and not go back to work, we probably would co-sleep. But, being a pharmacist, and having to think clearly at work, in the long run I fear it would be the wrong decision. It would be much better sleep NOW, but I fear as months or years go on, it would lead to less sleep. Plus, hes doing better in his crib. Every night gets a *little* bit better. We have come a long way from up every 45 minutes.

*matt with miles on his chest at the hospital after he was born. I don't have a current photo of this process, but there you go. You get the idea. Only our bed. With cats. All 4 of them. :)

Pure Craziness

Callie has been running with the updates lately so I wanted to get on here and throw in my two cents on everything so far.

Miles is a wonderful little guy and I love him to death.  He is doing very well and growing like crazy, this week we actually had to pull some clothes out of the rotation because he was getting to big for them!  Pure craziness.  Nights are going better in my opinion, we have finally settled on a night routine of bath around 7 then food and finally sleep.  The process is not perfect yet, but he seems to be slightly aware of it.  Another interesting note is that lately he eats a ton, but he seems to like to eat a small meal and then 30 minutes to an hour later eat a larger meal, which holds him longer.  I appreciate his effort to eat regularly and avoid a few large meals a day, but even for me just giving him bottles feeding nearly every hour really puts a damper on getting anything done, especially when you throw diaper changes in the mix.  Usually we can get him settled for stretches, sometimes and 30 minutes sometimes a couple hours, it can be hard to tell how long he will be calm for at times.  One thing that really seems to help is music, Callie plays him a bunch of childrens songs, I push for just classical music, but she says he does not like it as much, so we get a bunch of highly repetitive, somewhat violent and in my opinion scandalous songs.

Saturday night, 1/18, he got the chance to meet his new cousin Daniel Joseph Glass, we went over to my sister (Jess) and her husbands (Brian) house and my parents came over as well and they got to meet.  In terms of them meeting it was pretty uneventful, neither even noticed the other as far as I could tell, they both just wanted to sleep. Grandma and Grandpa were delighted to have them both in the same place at the same time with Madison (Jess and Brians oldest) and they spent as much time holding the trio as they could. This was Miles first trip out of the house other than the doctor since it is flu season.  I  have to admit I am curious how it will go with Miles once we do start taking him out when run errands and stuff, I guess it will just be another one of those little things we get to find out about.

As for me, I started back just after he was a week old, and he is now three weeks old, so I have had two weeks working and coming home to Miles.  So far so good, thankfully Callie is able to handle the night work for the most part and her mother has been able to spend about a week or so down here as well to allow Callie to heal up more from her c-section.  I will say I love Miles and love seeing him and look forward to the weekends with him, but it is nice to be able to work and get out of the house, I feel for Callie being stuck in the house right now while she heals and since it is flu season and all and we are not supposed to be taking him out.  I do enjoying coming home and being able to talk to Miles and play flash cards with him, nothing fancy just black and white drawings that he seems to like, but it is fun and fun to see him react and concentrate on them.  I am really looking forward to him being able to hold his head up and while I know once he starts moving things get even crazier, I think it will be fun as we will be able to be more interactive with him.

Other than all that having a baby has certainly been a change, my favorite thing to mention is about how we had one of everything he needed, but after having him we quickly realized one of most things is not enough as anything he touches or uses will be quickly covered in some sort of baby gunk.  I am still trying to run several times a week depending on my energy level and have not been able to get my morning workouts in at all as I am just too tired, hopefully I can get going again like normal in the next couple weeks/months.  Callie is doing an excellent job of making or at least getting something around for dinner most nights.

Appendix:
Flash Cards - Wee Gallery Art Cards for Baby
http://www.amazon.com/Wee-Gallery-Cards-Baby-Collection/dp/B001CBAJBQ/

Songs
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/100-favorite-childrens-songs/id506561566

All Miles- All the time

In true bunny muffin fashion we've fallen off the blog thing pretty quick again. Despite our best efforts and goal to really update and document his cute little life- here we are- postless again. Sigh. The reason? We're exhausted. C-sections are a horrible, cruel, miserable event- and by the time I'm done tending to Miles and making dinner (literally the only 2 things do in a day) all I want to do is lie down. Thankfully my mom is in town this week again which gives me extra sleep and 5 minutes to collect something that resembles a thought process!

Miles had his 2 week appointment last Friday. We was up to 7# and 3 oz!! Wa-hoo!! Thats 3 oz above his birth weight! I was so nervous for this appointment because breastfeeding has still been a major headache and we are still supplementing with formula. I'm trying to get the supplements down- but at the same time- I don't want to be starving him either. Slowly but surely we'll get there Miles. One day at a time!


Miles also has good nights and bad nights. Last night he went straight to bed at 8pm. Except for one diaper change- he slept all the way until 10:40. (I had fed him ~ 7:15 before bed so it was time for him to get up and eat) Then he got up at 11:30 again for a diaper change. Long story short- I was up with him until 1am because he was taking what I can only describe as the longest poop of his entire life. (all 2 weeks of it!) I kept changing him, rocking him back to sleep, then I'd hear "it". Sigh. Change him, rock him, wet fart. Finally I just got on my cell phone, played scrabble for 30 minutes, then changed him, rocked him back to sleep, only for him to decide that he's now HUNGRY from all that pooping. Sigh. So then we nursed, rocked, and FINALLY went back to sleep. He then made it til 4 am, where I brought him back in to lay with Matt until Matt gets up for work. It works out pretty well, and is the best of both worlds for us. Matt is usually up by 6 am- so its only 2 hours of cuddling- and he still sleeps most of the night in his own bed.

He still loves the swing, and he loves Matt a lot. They cuddle together and watch ESPN and bowl games, liverpool games, etc. I have a feeling he is going to be a total daddys boy!


Also for the Miles one week birthday we had a photo shoot with JSI photography! Hopefully in the next week or so we'll have those images back and we'll be able to post/share them. :)

Miles comes home and the cats surive

I was in the hospital for a total of 7 days. I went in on 12/26/12 and was released on 1/1/13. (aka i was admitted LAST YEAR and just got out!) Thats a lot of time to be stuck on the 5th floor of a hospital. I wasn't allowed to leave the floor, even to go to the cafeteria! So needless to say I woke up at 5 am ready to rock and roll!!

The most annoying part of our day was the fact that we couldn't leave until Miles was circumcised. Miles was born on FRIDAY. Its TUESDAY. Why are we doing this TODAY? We had Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to get it done! UGH! So we didn't get discharged until 11:00 and we were discharged with a very unhappy baby who is going to rupture vocal cord when we change his diaper. Oh well- I was going home no matter what they did to that baby today!

We got home, and introduced the cats to Miles. This was a *highly* anticipated moment for Matt and myself! I put the carseat on the floor and held my breath. I waited and waited- but none of them cared. Truthfully- they wanted to see me and Matt- eat their fancy feast cans, and have their head scratched. Then they scurried off and did their own thing. They come up and watch him, or sniff the top of his head, but then walk away. Baby cat gets anxious and upset when Miles cries and he begins to pace. Tonight Deuce is laying on Matts legs and Miles is laying on Matts chest. We don't even think Deuce knows Miles is there. (Deuce is a tough read). Scully comes into the room, looks, and then leaves and hides in the closet. Skeeter is the bravest and sniffs him, but then just runs off. So- there you have it. It might be O.K. in our house after all!

Our first day home with Miles was uneventful. We did a lot of laundry (everything that was in the hospital needed to be boiled- just had to make sure no germs came home with us) and Matt went to the pharmacy to get my much needed pain pills, and then to Target to pick up a few odds and ends of stuff we needed. We folded laundry, tended to Miles every need, watched football bowl games, had dinner, and now we are waiting for Miles 10:00 feeding so we can all go to bed. (fingers crossed it goes well!)

Miles seems to enjoy our house so far. He looks around his room a lot- and his favorite thing is his swing! Seriously- this boy LOVES this swing and I'm so happy we have it! You almost forget we have a baby when hes in it! Hes quiet- sometimes asleep, and sometimes wide awake just looking around, chewing on his hands. This is the swing http://www.fisher-price.com/en_US/products/45667 if you are looking for an awesome baby gift for someone. Because this swing ROCKS! (pun intended- no sleep and percocet make me *think* I'm really funny)

I am still sore beyond words. I keep telling myself it was surgery, but, holy guacamole! Night is the worst time for me. I do great in mornings, alright in afternoon, and night is just a lost cause. All in all morale is high in the Shearer house, the only thing we are anxious about is my milk coming in. It still hasn't so I got one of these awesome devices http://www.momandbabyshop.com/medela-starter-sns-80ml-collection-container-sterile-0097003s.html?utm_source=googlepepla&utm_medium=adwords&id=24706946984&utm_content=pla to trick him into continuing to feed. Matt has been in charge of holding it while I feed, and tonight, he got me a ball cap to clip it to so he doesn't have to sit there and hold it. Its pretty funny- and pretty effective, but using this device, feeding Miles is at least a 30 minute event and overly complicated. When he eats every 2 hours to 90 minutes and it takes 30 minutes to feed him, not counting set up or clean up time, well, it really sucks. But, we are plunging on ahead!

So Miles- cats- and Matt- congratulations on surviving our first day as a family of 3 without hourly nursing care and assistance! Time for that last feeding- and lets hope the night goes as well as the day does! :)

Leaving with Miles hospital shoot photos. :) Because hes so cute and I have to put a photo up of his precious face! (this week our wedding photographers are coming and we are so pumped to see what they can do with him if this is what the hospital photographr could do!)

I still can't get over this boys HAIR! I imagined him 1,000,000 times in the past 9 months. I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined him with strawberry blonde hair. The first thing I asked Matt about him was "does he have any hair?" and when matt said "its blondish red" I think I peed in my cathater! I really hope it stays like this. I'm madly in love with it. If it does get darker, thats OK. Matt and I both have dark hair so it would be expected. But- this hair is AMAZING and I can't stop stroking his head and admiring it. I love it.