Four Years Old

Four!?  Yes Ace has had a wonderful fourth year on this planet and I couldn't be more proud of him.    He started out his fourth year in Mississippi and it comes to a close back in the NW.   He's quite the U.S. traveler! When we last checked in with Ace he was as busy as ever.  No slowing down since then.  :)

New things for his fourth year:   Potty trained (day and night!),  fully independent and sleeping through the night after we say good night (YAY! HOORAY!! REJOICING!!!), a *big* boy bed, first professional haircut, first filling, and preschool!

Yes, the Monday after he turned 3 I told him that all the diapers disappeared.  I prepped him all of August, made it a big exciting deal that potty training full force was happening and it was.   He of course did great.  Early progress can be read about here.  Overall, he's done great.  In January I decided that he had done so well with the night time pullups (I couldn't remember the last time he had peed in one in weeks and weeks) and so I told him when they ran out they were all gone.  They ran out the beginning of February and we've not had one accident.    A fully potty trained and self-sufficient pottier is what we have now!  Hooray.  Hopefully this marks the end of toilet talk for our eldest son! :)

In general I am in awe at how smart Ace truly is.  He uses sentences like "Actually mom if given a choice, I choose to do this because it seems like the best choice."  or "I just assumed we would be there shortly and that was why I made the decision not to take a nap in the car."  I know adults that aren't that articulate!  He is a sponge for language and words.   Every now and then he still has something just ever so off in his vocabulary or phrasing.   Our dog he calls "Pixeled", he still refers to yogurt as logurt.  It drives his father crazy because it is true Ace when pressed will properly call it yogurt, I find it endearing and cling to the shred of toddler he ever had in the first place when it comes to language.   My favorite misstep in language though has to be the dirty hamster.  I nearly die laughing every time he says it and since it's not a regularly discussed topic in our house I forget about it and it makes it all that much more funny... because honestly how often does one talk about the dirty clothes hamper?  hehe dirty hamster!  I love it! :)   He often thinks faster than his words coming out of his mouth and so this leads to a jumbled repetition of the early phrase of whatever his sentence is while he works out the rest of his thoughts.   Patience is key in these moments, but sometimes we have him stop and think and then speak.  :)

Ace has such a kind heart and it only continues to grow.  He has great patience for his sister - in spite of her right on track status of a younger sibling.   Don't get me wrong they still have struggle wars over non-sharing,  he still gets frustrated when his sister hits him, stands in his way of tv, etc.. but on the grand scheme of things he is quite the loving brother.   He is good to share with other kids in school, church, and play dates - yet doesn't let himself get bullied either.    He has a kind heart toward 'other kids' that are in need and is generous at giving away toys to others.   A sign perhaps he has too many toys himself, but I've known plenty of kids that have too many and still don't want to share with the less fortunate.  If I have to choose one I'll take the kind hearted motivation.   I think one of my favorite things is that on Loving Husband's birthday Ace came running in the moment he woke up and said 'Happy Birthday, Dad!' and then ran off to go potty (typically the first thing he does every morning.)  It was so sweet!  Made me smile, and I'm sure it made his dad smile too.    He is very good at giving positive feedback to others as well.   We were coloring something the other day (he, myself, and his sister) and he was quite the motivator.  "You're doing a great job, mom!  That looks really nice.  Sister's is very pretty too!"  I of course returned the compliment on his fine work as well.    

In this last year Ace has gone through waves of gratefulness and ungratefulness.  It's a learning curve for sure between entitlement and appreciation.    We had a few bumps but for the most part Ace is very quick to tell me thank you and to show me that he appreciates the things and activities that I do for him.  Loving Husband tends to get a shorter end of that stick and we're not entirely sure why other than maybe Ace doesn't feel he needs to provide as much feedback to his dad.  It's a current existing question mark as we trudge into Year FIVE.

Ace is growing!   In this last year he has gained 3lbs and grown 2.5" topping off at 32lbs and 39.5" in the charts.  The end of spring was met with a huge growth spurt that resulted in the need for new shoes.  The others made it about nine months.  Not bad.  :)  In all this growth somewhere along the way his car bed just became impractical!   Every night we'd hear him thumping his arm, leg, head, hand... everything on the side of that small toddler bed.   The next morning he'd complain my ___ hurts.  Poor kid was beating himself up!  So we knew we needed to upgrade.  I looked at a twin but figured that width wise and his star-fish sleeping habits that it wouldn't last long either and so we jumped head first into a full-size bed!  Yep my giant 3.5 year old now slept in this bed that made him look tiny... and I loved it!   He still looks pretty small once again after another summer growth spurt but that first night or so he looked utterly tiny to me and I cherished it!   Sleeping through the night has been in full swing most of this past year - but around 3.5 he was in massive stall before bed mode.   Thankfully as a general rule that has been eliminated and he is pretty easy to put to bed.   Napping is about 70/30 these days with 70% of the time no nap occurring.  For the most part I'd say he still NEEDS the nap but he avoids it and I don't push it unless it's dire.   I suspect in a few months they will cease entirely.

Ace started preschool in January.  We waited until January since our return from Mississippi landed smack in the fall semester and we didn't want to just throw him in right when we returned.  We wanted to ease him back into the NW and give him a good start in preschool.   Overall it was a great experience for his 2 days a week half day program.   He made one really good friend and the two of them started on the same day.  Ace loved school, being able to take a toy to show and tell on a few occasions, being the "special leader" and doing the music program there.   It was so great to attend my first Mother's Day program and his first graduation!   This mommy couldn't be more proud to watch my son sing (and squirm) on stage and sing to us. 

As far as favorite things goes his dad ranks #1 for sure.   He always wants to know where he is, when is he coming home, when is it the weekend and he's STAYING home?  It's adorable.   He has declared that his favorite song "is that one that says 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger' you know that one that girl sings"  Yes, it's true Ace's favorite song is Stronger by Kelly Clarkson at the moment. :)  A favorite series of phrases he's been on a roll with lately have been along these lines  "Sometimes I like to do stuff with just you, me and sister; and sometimes I like to do things with just me and you; and sometimes I like to do things just me and dad... yah."  He alters the the order, the coupling of people, etc but he always seems to say it in this soft and sweet voice sometimes with his head tilted and his eyes squinted.   It's adorable.    I also love his phrase "That's so sweet of you."    Ace is a people pleaser and is always trying to make those around him happy.   As I've said he has a very kind heart!

It's been a great fourth year for our little man.   He's kind, sweet, nervous at times, strong willed, opinionated, and full of energy and we love it all.  I love that he's so aware, engaged, and loves his family.    He loves to do 'something special'  nearly every day and as a mommy I try my best to find fun activities that create lasting memories, lessons, and excitement.   I can't wait to see what year five has for us!!!

1. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE T. V. SHOW? Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Meeeee (said singing.)

2. WHAT DID YOU HAVE FOR BREAKFAST?  (Skipped this question as we were still in bed and had yet to have breakfast and I wanted him to focus and finish... mentioning breakfast would have not worked in my favor.)

3. WHAT IS YOUR MIDDLE NAME? He repeated his whole name (No just your middle one.) I don't know.

4. FAVORITE FOOD? Apples.

5. WHAT FOOD DO YOU DISLIKE? Avocado.

6. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR? Black

7. FAVORITE LUNCH?  Apples (Seriously, what else?) Peanut butter and jelly (Hmm maybe I should make that more as I can't recall anytime recently that I made it.)

8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO? Go out with my dad.

9. IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ON VACATION, WHERE WOULD YOU GO? The owl park! (said with enthusiasm and it a park near our house, sounds like a cheap vacation and same vacay as last year.)

10. FAVORITE SPORT? Soccer.

11. WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY? August 24th!!!!!

12. ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT PERSON? A daytime to person that loves to eats apples.

13. PETS: Yah, Pixel.

14. ANY NEW AND EXCITING NEWS YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH US? Um... I don't know.  We don't really have that kind of stuff.  You guys do but I don't know I don't... I mean my birthday is exciting!

15. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP ? I don't know yet.  I just don't know yet. (An improvement from last year where 'nothing' often was the winning 'choice' for a profession.)

16. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CANDY? Blueberries!!!! (That's not a candy) The red things that are in red packages. (Skittles?) Oh yah Skittles. (He hasn't had them in months, but sure why not.)

17. WHERE IS THE FURTHEST YOU'VE EVER BEEN FROM HOME? Mississippi!

18. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK? The King and His Six Friends  (He and his dad do read this one together.)

19. WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?  I don't know... spending time with you?  (I'm not looking for a RIGHT answer but that's sweet.)

20. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE?  The Avengers with dad (He hasn't actually seen the movie - he just watches episodes of the cartoon with his father.  But in general  he has abandoned movies a lot in place of many many episodes of a variety of tv programs)

21. WHICH CAME FIRST, THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG? I don't know... The chicken... or the egg.  The chicken came out of an egg and grew up into a chicken. 

Year Three in Film

Ace born 8lbs and 21" long.

One Year old 18.10lbs and 30" tall.

Two Years old 23lbs and 34.5" tall

Three Years old 29lbs and 37" tall

What an adventure so far! 

One Week

Mae has now officially been in the hospital for one week. Today, Day Seven appears to be the last day as well. WOOHOO! She has officially been off oxygen for 31 hours and counting. :) And they are rumoring a likely afternoon release!


So happy to be off oxygen!
Yesterday was a great day. She had a few rounds of destating when she slept in the morning and early afternoon - similar to the day before. However THIS time she wasn't on oxygen so I wasn't as discouraged by it. She slept well though even though she was still not breathing as deep. It wasn't labored breathing it was just somewhat blocked breathing by the mucus. By evening though when she snoozed she was only causing the bell to go off (below 88) a couple of times and some of that was positional. In the night she was 95 or higher the entire time. WONDERFUL!

During the awake time during the day - she was so happy! She was smiley and talking up a storm. We had a good day smiling and cooing at each other. She was also super happy to move her legs around a lot - causing the oxygen monitor to go all crazy many times because it just couldn't read when she was kicking so much. :) She also is starting to get better at grabbing (or pulling towards her mouth) toys. Not quite entirely purposefully yet, but she knows what she wants to do and she gets it every now and again - and this time she was so excited to finally get the mouse to her mouth!


Success! I got it! Yum!
She still received 4-5 rounds of deep suctioning, but less to keep her stats up and more to just get the junk OUT. I continued to use RT Vibrations to loosen up the junk in her lungs and to get her to cough it up and it seems to have been productive - she sounds CLEAR in her lungs both the nurse and the resident doctor said this morning! Yay!!

My favorite two boys brought me some dinner and I was able to sit with Ace while I ate dinner in the family room, and I read him a few stories that they had in there. It was nice. to have a little time together again. We also found a place to measure him and Ace is officially 3ft tall! Loving Husband got to see how good Mae is looking and spend a little time with her. Even though she had some separation from mommy anxiety. :( She calmed down and got a good snuggle in with her dad.


Reading with momma
Her nighttime nurse came and got everything ready to settle in for the night - we weighed her and she has more or less maintained her weight since entering the hospital. She weighed 9lbs 10oz and she weighed in last night at 9lbs and 6oz. :) Not too shabby! The nurse swaddled her into a little burrito and she drifted off to sleep by 10:45! Woohoo MUCH earlier than many of these recent nights when she was squirmmy and awake until midnight or 1am! Eeek! After falling asleep at 10:45pm she slept until 4:30am before needing milk again - and honestly she probably would have kept sleeping, but she had to be poked and prodded for her vitals and so she woke up enough she wanted a snack. But she is working on some good stretches of sleep!

She continues to snooze this morning, but as mentioned both the nurse and the resident have said she sounded good and after the attending signs off on her release we can start the discharge process! Things we're up to this morning after she wakes up will be a BATH - it's been two weeks almost since she's had a proper bath. We are once-a-week bathers for her and her bath was due to be had the morning she went to the ER... so we're a bit behind. ;-)

We are so blessed that this was caught and that she ultimately fared very well. It could have been much worse and while we've been in the hospital for a week, it has been relatively positive experience. All the nurse and doctors are wonderful and we were in wonderful hands here at Children's. ... although I am sick of PB&J.... ;-) Thank you for all the prayers - continue to pray that we avoid any more illness this cold and flu season!

Year Two in Film

Ace born 8lbs and 21" long.

One Year old 18.10lbs and 30" tall.

Two Years old 23lbs and 34.5" tall

Can't wait to see you grow even more, little man!

Two Years Old

Happy Second Birthday, Ace!

I cannot believe that I have a two year old. I am destine to say that phrase indefinitely I'm sure as he continues to rapidly age before my eyes, evermore pointing out that I too am doing the very same thing. It's true, as of today, I have a two year old! Wow! What a year (two of them in fact) it has been. Every day is a joy, even as we begin to explore independence, tantrums, time outs, and 'no'.

Firsts in this 24th month of life: a new illness, a trip to Swasi, more vocabulary and sentences.

Ace is flourishing and is enjoying talking more and more. He's still a very polite little guy and says please most of the time, still often needing the prompt of 'what do you say?' but otherwise very happy to ask nicely after remembering. :)

To date at 2 years old he has 16 teeth, he is only lacking his final set of molars and I feel those are on their way in pretty soon. On the grandparents scale he weighs 21.8lbs with a diaper, at the doctor fully clothed he weighs 23.4lbs. So while he's still skinny according to the doctor's charts he's still ON the chart, so that's great! Height wise we'll know in another few days when we take him in for his 2 year check up.

Ace's last month has been filled with adventure of various kinds. His first long plane trip to Hawaii, where he enjoyed his first trip into the ocean and playing in the waves and sand. He had another overnight with Pop Pop and Gran that he enjoyed immensely and never once cried (in fact when mom came to get him he kinda said hi but was back to roaming around and playing!) He did a great job and his independence and comfort with them is growing and we're all so glad he's at ease with them.

Ace is an outdoor boy. He loves LOVES to play in the water, loves to eat his cereal outside. In fact he will wake up and say "I'm hungry. Cereal? Outside? I eat cereal outside?" It's adorable to see him remember and recall things that he's done only once or twice and to clearly want to do them again (regardless of the weather outside at the time.) :) He loves to go to the park, run around in the backyard, and is even getting more comfortable with the neighborhood kids playing with and/or around him.

Ace knows most of his colors, loves to play with balls, and enjoys doing 'school' with mommy on a regular basis during the week. He knows the letter 'A', 'G', and 'J' and tries to spell out his name 'A-D-N' it's pretty cute to see him learning and soaking up this knowledge. Ace can count to 3. He also can recognize most of the numbers 1-9. He consistently knows: circle, square, triangle, and heart. He also randomly chooses to remember diamond. He LOVES to read. We read at least 5 books a day, minimum.

His current favorite toy is his Tiger that he made for Sabria's 2nd birthday. He traveled with us to Hawaii (a very specific request!) and he went with Ace to the grandparents for his overnight adventure. Tiger sleeps often in his bed, but he's not typically a cuddler of the tiger - just likes to have it near, sometimes uses it as a pillow. He also is very into dinosaurs and loves to 'raaaarrr' as the dinees do. Although just the other day he started to call them 'dineesaurs' so already he's outgrowing the cute words he's developed :( He also enjoys playing with cars, balloons, and balls. He loves to throw balls, kick them, throw them at dad and asks dad to juggle them on a regular basis.

He still absolutely loves the movie Cars. He also loves Toy Story and Madagascar on a frequent basis. He wants to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse nearly every morning and I appreciate that they teach him shapes, colors, and counting.

In the sleep department his naps are doing fine - often an average of 90 minutes sometime after 1pm. Sleeping in the night still continues to involve one wake up session. The process of getting him to sleep reverted drastically back in June for some unknown reason and so that process is starting to slowly become easier again - with him not crying when we leave the room. We are hoping that now he's getting these antibiotics to cure him on being sick that he'll be sleeping better as a result as well. We'll see!

Ace has had quite the adventurous and developmental year. It has been a wonder to watch him expand his world, vocabulary, and love of everything around him. He's such a great joy to our lives and we're so thankful that he's happy, healthy and growing up into a great kid. Good bye to Baby Ace and hello little man! Here's to a great third year, where you get to become a big brother, live in a new state (for a short period of time), and hopefully potty train! ;-) Happy Birthday, Ace!

He's growing so fast... see for yourself! Eighteen Months, One Year Old, Six Months Old, One Month Old

Busy Boy

Ace had his eighteen month check up

He's 32.5" tall (57%)
His little noggin' is 47cm (22%)
He weighs 20.6lbs (1.29%)

The doctor was very happy with where he is at - he is growing at just the right speed for him. He's long and lanky and very very busy! He had the checklist test that they use to test for autism and he passed with no concern. He had his Hep-A shot, the last in the series (I think...) and he didn't cry at all - just looked at it funny. The doctor continues to recommend he remain rear facing in his carseat until he is two (by law in the State of WA you have to be 1 AND 20lbs) and she pointed us to her blog pointing to further information, although we don't need any additional convincing - he will remain rear facing until he's two. Which is only six months away. Really? When did that happen?!

A Year in Film

Ace born 8lbs and 21" long.

One Year old 18.10lbs and 30" tall.

Here's to another great year, little man!

Ace in Film and First Steps!

This is a 3 minute compilation of three different videos, there's a bit of lag time on cuteness at some parts, but I promise you if you turn it off before the end you'll miss his latest and cutest action. In this film you get some mischief*, some standing, some waving bye-bye, Wheel of Fortune watching, and some babbling.
No steps are recorded, but it is VERY note worth that yesterday he took 2 first steps! Yes, dad walked in the front door and Ace let go of the couch and walked toward him, one foot... two foot... and then realized he could get to dad faster if he lowered himself to the floor and crawled!!! But I stopped him by picking him up and gushing all over him with pride. :) 9 months and 2 days old, and my son took his first steps.
Other noteworthy milestones while we're on the subject. Ace says "cat" and "kitty". He says "kitty" on his own - sounds mostly like kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittthhhh (not high pitched) and if we say cat he will repeat it. On the "mama" front since The Betrayal , his latest and favorite game is when I say "mama" he says "dada" and smiles. He knows what he's doing. He has said mama - often he says it when he's tired and hungry but so far NOT when reaching for me. Siiigh. He'll associated it with ME someday.
Hope you enjoy these latest milestones. Today we went in for his 9 months wellness check up, and discovered that Ace is long and lean (officially) he weighed 17.10lbs (8.44%) 28.5" tall (58%) and his head is 45.5cm (55%) The doctor wasn't worried about him being on the bottom of the weight scale. She just chalked it up to him being skinny, but no need for him to watch his food intake. :)
*Please note in the video in the bathroom the tape measure and CLEAN underwear where brought in from the closet - a re-org game - which is a favorite of my son's.

Five Months Old

Really? Can it be possible? Ace is five months old today; and what a month it has been. From Christmas to California, Ace has had a lot of visiting and fun over the last month of his life.

New firsts over this last month? His first trip on an airplane, his first trip to California, his first theft, rolling over from back to front, his first Christmas, his first new years, his first pair of bell bottoms!

Ace began his fifth month of life on Christmas morning. He awoke to his Grandma Carol and Aunt A and Uncle S and 5 more inches of snow falling for his (and my) first white Christmas. It was wonderful. His visitors headed out to get Pop Pop and Gran from their house in the all-wheel drive vehicle and then we enjoyed Christmas afternoon and evening enjoying each other's company and everyone enjoying watching Ace enjoy his first Christmas. In the evening we enjoyed opening some gifts and received the GIANT Nemo.

The snow began to melt and Ace finally made it to his four month appointment (a week late) and he measured at 25" (76%) and 14.9lbs (56%) a happy and growing baby boy. The doctor agreed his little teeth were starting to make their way in as she noted some swollen gums. To date there are not any broken through, but you can certainly feel them right under the gums now.

New Years Eve rolled around and we had our annual New Years Eve Party and this year it was themed in the 70's! So little Ace enjoyed sporting the tie-dye and bell bottoms. Ace was a perfect angel for his mom and dad. He enjoyed the company of everyone coming in and saying hi to him, and like clockwork headed to bed (in the room with the kitties) right at 11pm. He went down perfectly and was out within 15 minutes. Slept through the new year and woke up for his nightly snack around 1:30am. So mom and dad were able to enjoy ringing in the new year with friends with no fuss! Such a big and cooperative boy.

The first of the year has been pretty easy going after all the holiday hussle and bussle. Ace has enjoyed staying at home with mom and playing on his play mat. He has started to enjoy playing in his Exersaucer now that he is tall enough and has started to sit up almost entirely on his own. He rolled over from back to front for the first time one week shy of being a month old and has continued to do it. Just today he started (when placed on his knees) to start scooching using his toes. He still isn't interested in using his arms... but he is moments away from crawling. Ace still enjoys Kokomo as his soothing agent in the car and just before our trip to California we created a cd exclusively of Kokomo. Whatever works.

On Thursday we took Ace's first trip on an airplane. He did wonderful. He fell asleep before we went up and then was awake and happy. He had a moment of fussing on the initial descent into the airport that caused him some discomfort, but overall he is off to a good start to be a world traveler. :)

Since being in California he has had many visitors from his Great Aunt & Uncle and several other Aunties and of course Grammie and Great Grum. His Grum has been trying to teach him the last few days how to wink. He really is trying to do it and it's adorable to watch his eyes twitch as he's trying to do it. We have a few more days of excitement here in California and Ace is enjoying the warm weather. Ace's sixth month is off to a good start today!

Two Months Old

Ace is two months old. It seems like he's always been a part of our family and not that he's only been here for 9 weeks! Already it's hard to imagine how he used to be almost half the size he is now. He's growing into such a little guy, already he's lost his look as a newborn.

Month two brought more firsts: His first giggle. The first time he rolled over. His first Presidential debates. His first long car ride. And his first cold.

Ace's second month of life was warned to be a fussy one, and to some extent that was true. Often in the evenings around 8pm he started to get fussy and on occasion wouldn't stop fussing until we laid him down for actual sleeping. NOT the "routine" we're hoping for. Our doctor warned us that month two with a baby is often more taxing than the first month due to the added fussiness. And although he has been fussy pretty regularly, it hasn't been intolerable, and all we want is to make him happy. Sometimes we let him fuss it out. He's a great baby in many ways, but one of my favorite are his distinctive cries. You know when he's sad versus just plain mad. So although the fussiness can be done without around here, it's not so terrible that either Loving Husband or I feel the need to run down to the garage and scream.

Ace due to the fussiness has been a little less portable for me this month. He doesn't like to take a bottle unless it is very much a specific temperature which is hard to achieve, so often I end up nursing him – and I have my cape, but still is awkward for some people and simply awkward in general to handle. Although twice now while out with Vanessa I've nursed him while standing the baby section of JCPennys. That's skill I say.

We also took 6 week pictures of him, which of course turned out adorable! He was a lot more alert. Stacy joined me on that venture, and she can attest to the fact that Ace was obsessed with something to his left. We're guessing it was the light, but we kept having to turn him so that he'd look at the camera, which didn't happen too often. It was cute though and certainly yielded some great pictures.He took his first long car trip (only about 90 minutes) to visit our friend Brad and Angie at their place. He did wonderfully in the car. He fell asleep for most of the ride there and back. We had a nice time visiting with Brad and Angie and are so glad that they're NW residents now!

Ace also this month has been more interactive with toys, he still doesn't totally understand that he has hands, but is starting to notice things around him more. He has a good attention span when we show him things, he stares at them for a while and then moves onto something he is more interested in (the wall, etc :)) The other day in the car he had his Nemo with him and I normally place it on his legs while we're driving, well he managed to pick Nemo up and hugging it with one arm, causing Nemo's face to be in Ace's face. He wasn't too sure how that happened, but he figured why not and put Nemo in his mouth. It was cute, I had to pull over and watch :)

Musical tastes seem to have started to form in this past week as well. I often sing to him when he is fussy ranging from just about anything from Jesus Loves Me to country songs. This has yielded the discovery that I don't know ANY song in its entirety, ah well. Well a Beach Boys song popped into my head the other day: Kokomo and while singing that he calmed down for a second. So I opened up iTunes and put on the Beach Boys and lo and behold he was instantly calm, and even a little smiley. Loving Husband didn't believe that it was specifically the Beach Boys, so we put on something else that was soothing. Nope, fussy… back to the Beach Boys and calm as could be. So I burned us a cd and we were off to church. I think he's got a bit more of Grandpa in him besides his eyes. :) My dad always loved the Beach Boys. LH said that we had to give him a variety of music and not lock us into a box of always having to listen to the Beach Boys… and so Ace's silly mother started listening to Christmas music on the 20th of October and so he's been enjoying lots of new music. I love Christmas music! It's just makes you so happy. Well, at least me. Humbug to all you Scrooges that think Christmas music should only be played in December. Humbug!

Ace had his two month doctor's appointment today. Besides having a bit of a cold, everything is a-ok. His ears and lungs were clear from any gunk and so the cold should process out of him just fine. He weighs 12.4lbs (65%), he is 24.5" long (94%) which is 2" longer than he was a month ago, and his head is now 39.5cm (39%). Developmentally he is right on track and where he needs to be. He is smiling up a storm and eating very well. He should have had his 2 month vaccinations, but I held off on those since he has a cold. The doctor said it wasn't necessary since he hasn't had a fever at all, but I wanted him to be feeling better in general before they poked him too much. So we'll go back on November 6th to get him all his shots.

Life here is wonderful, Ace is enjoying the fall colors and excitement of the seasons approaching. Every morning he wakes up with a smile and talks to us with his coos and goos. He loves to look at the bright colors in books and looks up at me when he's nursing with the greatest love in his eyes. This coming month will bring us lots of changes and excitement. Ace gets to enjoy his first holiday and oh boy Halloween is such a great holiday to be his first. He also gets to experience (although be totally unaware) his first election. What an exciting time for our little guy. Continue to stay tuned as I continue to make Ace the most photographed baby on the planet. I just can't help it – he's just too darn cute not to document! All our love!!

* Update * My mom provided me with some stats on me when I was a baby: On April 20, 1981 (almost 6 months old) I was 12.3lbs and 24" long. Almost the same, except I was 3 times as old as Ace is right now.

One Month Old

It’s hard to believe that at 4:14am one month ago, my life was about to change forever. It seems like Ace has been with us forever, yet only one month has passed since he joined us in this outside world 31 days ago at 4:15am. It has been a blessed month and I will always remember my first month as a mother, a role that I love dearly.

Ace’s fourth week of life came with some additional firsts: His first trip to trivia! His first bottle. His first outdoor wedding in the rain. He outgrew newborn diapers.

We also discovered/confirmed in this fourth week of Ace’s life that he is afraid of the dark. You say impossible to know? We disagree! It came to our attention that he’s never been in entire darkness since his emergence from the womb. When we were in the hospital, there was always one light on (not terribly bright, but not simply a “nightlight” either) since coming home Ace sleeps in our bed between us, and because of this we’ve always had a small desk lamp on. The first time Ace was in pitch blackness (more or less) was on our drive home from community group one night. Some of the roads that we take don’t have street lights on them… he became extremely fussy as we drove down those roads – similar to his cry of hunger, but as soon as we got back to street lights… he calmed down. Just a few nights ago, he was laying on my chest to head back to sleep after being changed and fed (he usually sleeps on me for at least one of his sleep cycles) and so Loving Husband decided to turn off the light (he doesn’t sleep as well with light on) and the second LH turned off the light our little guy started to cry. We turned it back on and he calmed down. Poor little guy, guess we’ll have to slowly introduce him to the dark.

Much of this fourth week of life was starting to get into a pattern of what most of our weeks will be like. Monday, September 15th Ace made his first trip to trivia – we didn’t make it there on time, but we didn’t really try to either. We went for an hour and Ace was wonderful he woke up and enjoyed everyone’s company and said hi to Matt our favorite trivia announcer. :) Tuesday night was community group – Ace’s second trip to CG. Wednesday, Ace and I went to do some errands and that went very well. He slept through his trip to Target and woke up at the end of our trip in BabiesRUs which was ok because they have a mother’s room, so we just stopped in there for a snack and then were on our way to get me some food and then head home. Wednesday, September 17th was also a first for our little man: his first bottle. Loving Husband and I (mostly LH) got my pump ready and working and so I pumped Ace some milk to take with us when we headed out for dinner. He was quite agreeable to take the bottle; the milk just has to be warm enough for him. Currently he is not a baby that enjoys cold or room temp milk, and that’s ok. Thursday was a relaxing day for all of us, enjoying one of the few days left on Loving Husband’s paternity leave. We went grocery shopping! Friday, Ace and I met Sabria and Vanessa for lunch at the mall and to pick up our pictures from JCPennys. We enjoyed a little shopping at the mall and then Ace and I left to go do a bit more shopping another trip to Target and then to Fred Meyer and Ace was great the whole time. The ability to carry a bottle around also helps me out and doesn’t make me quite as fearful/stressed to take him out.
Fall has also started to arrive this past week. We saw our first good rain on Saturday; unfortunately it also coincided with our friend’s wedding. So we bundled up our little guy and headed to an outdoor wedding in the rain. It was still very pretty and actually not that cold of a day so it worked out well. Saturday was also the first day I was able to fit back into my wedding rings! My diamond had been shed in late May, so it had been quite a while since I had worn it – and then my wedding band no longer fit in mid June. I told LH, it’s nice to be married again! :)

Sunday was a lazy morning and afternoon followed by church in the evening. Monday marked the first day of fall; Ace’s first season change! It also marked another mile stone in our household: Loving Husband going back to work. Monday was a very transitional day for us, considering the fact that I slept until 10:45 and Ace until 11:30 and then we left the house at 1:30 to go meet Loving Husband down at work, where we picked him up. :) So really a short time. Tuesday, was another trip to community group – Ace was very alert and relatively happy. It also marked a first for mommy! Due to the lovely pump AND for Claire getting a new job (yay Claire!) mommy was able to enjoy a glass of champagne! Yum!

Today marks Ace’s one month birthday! This was topped off with a trip to the doctor. Ace weighs 10lbs 4oz (63%) and he is 22.5” long (84%) and his head circumference is 38.5” (57%) he is a very healthy average baby. He has a little knot under his right nipple which the doctor believes is a gland exasperated by existing maternal hormones that are still working their way out of his system. We’ll keep an eye on it, but most likely it will simply go away on its own. He also has developed baby acne; again the doctor is not concerned and says that it is pretty normal. He likely will outgrow that before his next appointment.
Truly it’s hard to believe that an entire month has gone by. Ace has started to smile and truly does recognize both of our voices and faces. Sometimes I wake up and just stare at him. He’s growing so much and changing every day. He’s going to be crawling before we know it. Stay tuned for more updates!