4 months, week 3

Have I mentioned I love my kid? Koen is amazing me with new things on a daily basis. He spends most of his time on his belly (aside from the time in my arms) with head and chest up exploring all the new sights from this new vantage point. He can move himself around pretty well, wiggling and reaching for toys just out of his grasp. It's always a surprise to see what position he's launched himself into during his nap... time to start baby proofing. He has a lot to say and his face contorts with ultimate concentration on getting his "words" out. His squeals and laughter are contagious and we find that it's hard to have a bad day around the Moore household. We walked through the local Harvest Fest this weekend and Koen was fixated on all the new people, sounds, and objects. He's quite the attention-getter; people just love babies and what used to take us 15 minutes to check out all the vendors, now takes us three times as long because people want to know how old he is, what his name is, whether it's a boy or a girl (our favorite), and then we get to hear their story on their kid, grandbaby, God son, etc, etc. We actually enjoy it and we find that we have the extra time to socialize. It's our new-found patience and relaxed mentality... hmm, welcome to 30s and parenthood.

He sleeps!

Thanks to my dear cousin Melissa's wonderful recommendation, we had a breakthrough last night getting our baby to sleep longer than 2 hours at a time. Richard Ferber is genius. We put our little guy down at 8 and went in to comfort him after 1 minute, 3 minutes, and then 5 minutes and he had fallen to sleep in his crib, on his own. He's used to eating every time he wakes up, so when he woke up at 9:30 I fed him once more and then upon his next waking at 11:30 Justin "reFerberized" him and he was again asleep within a half hour. I fed him again at 3:45 and he woke up cooing at 7 this morning. Now as for his mother... I was up all night worrying. Why hasn't he cried yet? Oh my Lord he's died of SIDS! Looks like I've developed a sleep association of having him by my side, so now I'll need to enlist the help of my husband to Ferberize me. Anyway, I feel like major progress has been made, so we'll see how night 2 goes. I feel like I'm well on my way to kissing sleep deprivation goodbye. But it is bittersweet. He's growing up too fast - he's graduated to his crib and it will feel like a week has gone by and I'll be cheering him on at his high school graduation. Boo.

growing up!

6 1/2 weeks

Finally

So finally I have decided to sit down (with baby Koen on my lap) and enter a new post! I've been having so much fun getting up every hour to feed that I've neglected the blog. Yes, this is one hungry boy and at 15 pounds, 2 1/2 months old, he's got the chub to prove it. He is a happy baby with a fabulous disposition and I couldn't be more lucky to have this wonderful kid in my life. Yes, I am one proud mama. I am so blessed that I get to stay home with him and watch him grow and develop; it's amazing and I love it. I wasn't sure if I would be one of those moms that grows stir crazy after a couple months, needing to get back to adult conversations and work full time, but I'm finding I would take this life over that one any day - at least for now. This kid's smile is therapeutic - it's impossible to have a bad day when he looks at you like you're the only thing that matters in his world. My mother-in-law said it best; there is nothing fake about a baby's smile. You know it's legitimate and real and it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. These last couple months have been an absolute trip. Being a first time mom is a serious job bringing out instincts you never knew you had, and tests your capability to function on next to no sleep at all. It's exhausting, rewarding, challenging... but I'm preaching to the choir; every mom out there can relate. I have serious compassion for the moms who started having children in their late teens and early 20s, those with twins or more, single moms, and those who have to work full time. I have it easy in comparison. The pictures above are taken at 1 week, 2 weeks, and 3 days old from top to bottom.

41 Weeks

I'll be 41 weeks in two days. I was hoping my next picture would be with the baby, but figured I'd do one more belly pic to show how big this baby has grown. I feel really tired and constantly hungry, but other than that there has been no indication this little person is ready to greet us. Justin and I have been getting a lot of comments like "did you have the baby yet?" and "are you really still pregnant?", which is slightly overwhelming because I ask myself these same questions every day. Next time I'm announcing that my due date is 2 weeks later than what it really is; it's just easier that way.

Baby's Sleeping In

Much to my dismay, little Moore is extending its vacation. I'm going on three days beyond my due date and even though I know it's not realistic to expect a baby to show up on time, I'm ready to get this thing started. The key to my sanity is staying busy with projects, so I painted a tree on the wall in the nursery (thank you Sara for inspiring me). It looks amazing if I do say so myself. I'll post a picture of the nursery when I'm not feeling so lazy. Justin is busy building our chicken coop, and it looks like we'll be able to fill it with egg bearing hens tomorrow or Tuesday. However, if I even see an egg before this baby shows up, that will be one fried chicken.