Happy Anniversary!

Happy 4th Anniversary to the most amazing husband and new father a girl could ask for. The past 4 years have been fantastic and I am beyond excited to see where the next years take us!

First Swim

This week, we finally decided to try out Evan's very cute swim outfit and head into the pool!

The plus side of it getting to 100+ degrees every day is that our pool was nice and warm - perfect for a little baby.

Evan did great! We got in up to his waist and he never cried or got upset. We got to swish his legs around in the water, which he seems mildly interested in.

I was a bit worried he'd be slippery, but his swim outfit took care of that :). We also waited to go in until 5pm, so the backyard was in complete shade.

And afterwards, we wrapped him up tight in his stingray towel! Our little "swimmer"

Evan's Nursery

I'm finally ready (and able) to share some pictures of Evan's finished nursery. It doesn't necessarily get a lot of use yet (except for monthly pictures), but we are so in love with it!

Two Months Old!

Stats: 
Weight - 15 lbs 10 oz. ( + 6.5 lbs from his lowest. How is that possible? Above 97 %ile)
Height - 24.5 (+ 4.5 in from lowest; 95%ile )
Head circumference - 16.5 in (+ 2 in from birth 90%ile)

Cannot believe how much he's grown. Makes me both very happy that he's so healthy and very sad that he's growing so fast. As the nurse today said, he's the size of a sixth month old!

Cupcakes for his 2nd Month-day!

Likes:

Evan is really becoming so much more of a little person, and seems to be enjoying life so much more now that he is much more aware of the world. He still loves his changing table a ridiculous amount, and is (almost) always happy there. Of course, he also loves peeing in the middle of changes, which accounts for lots of extra outfits and diapers. Thank goodness we're doing cloth. Bath time is no longer torture, and he's even started kicking around a bit in there. He also loves staring at his daddy - when Ed walks by, Evan can't take his eyes off him and will follow him back and forth. Ed also gets lots and lots of smiles, especially when he rubs Evan's tummy. Evan still loves to eat all the time.

Can you believe how much he's grown since that first week! And the last picture isn't even all that recent. *Sniff* he's becoming such a big boy!

He's actually starting to like the car seat some, and half the time is smiling when he's put in it. He still really likes his wubbanub pacifiers and uses one every night when he goes to sleep (though it falls out about 20 minutes in and he's fine without it for the rest of the night). He's just recently started liking the swing and his bouncy seat, and just generally staring at the world. He also loved our trip to Flagstaff.

Dislikes:

Hates being dressed, but he's so, so cute!

He still doesn't like to sleep in his pack n play for naps, though we've finally conquered it for nighttime sleep (yay!). Evan likes to be worn in the moby wrap, but still is getting used to the Ergo and isn't a huge fan. He seems to really dislike those few moments right before he falls asleep and often gets super fussy right before he passes out. The past week, he's been a bit more clingy than usual, wanting lots of cuddles and less alone time. Tummy time is still not Evan's favorite, though he's definitely getting stronger. However, his least favorite activity seems to be getting dressed. Boy loves to be naked and dressing him is akin to sheer torture, especially at night.

Important Events:
This was another very full month. Ashley and Kortney came to visit, which was fantastic. Evan was so happy to meet his aunts and get to spend time with them, and was showered with love (and gifts).

He has grown so much this month - it is amazing just this past week what a transformation he's gone through. He now looks around at everything with these huge wide eyes when we are out together, and is often cooing and smiling. We love having little "conversations" together. His sleep has also hugely improved - he now sleeps 4-6 hours for his first chunk and then 2-3 hours for the second (plus a 3rd 1-2 hour chunk if we're lucky). He is much easier to put down to sleep, which we attribute to our bedtime routine: feed, play, bath, massage, pjs (and however much of a story he will tolerate) and then another nursing session where I sing him a song and then put on the musical seahorse. He almost always falls asleep while eating but then wakes up when he's placed in the pack in play. He gets his pacifier and either can fall asleep or, if the pacifier comes out too soon, needs it put back in once. Bedtime is between 8:30-10 depending on his naps that day, but we're hoping to get more consistent.

Today, in fact, he hit a big milestone....that Ed saw but I missed. He rolled over!! Tummy time is definitely paying off :). Hopefully he'll do it again for me soon.

Successes:

I think the biggest success is that we have a solid nighttime routine and *knock on wood* rarely have trouble getting him down for the night for at least a 4 hour chunk of sleep to start. I'm also feeling much more confident taking Evan places (wearing him in the wrap has been huge for this). We've gotten a nice routine of going to a coffee shop together as a family a few times a week, which is really special.

Challenges:

Little boy makes the funniest faces sometimes

We continue to be lucky with this little boy. I think the biggest is just finding a balance between getting out of the house and respecting nap time. And, more importantly, figuring out a schedule that works well for all of us. Ed's been pretty busy with working, so we're also still figuring out how to share responsibilities.

We're not struggling with weight gain anymore, obviously, but his latch still isn't great. We've been struggling with him choking while eating, and he's started adopting a shallow latch to compensate. His choking has gotten better, but eating has gotten more painful again. The plan is to talk to the pediatrician about it and possibly make an appointment with a lactation consultant. Still, nursing is much more enjoyable and less stressful than it used to be, and I'm so thankful to share this special bond with Evan.

Mommy Successes:

I've gotten involved with a great group of ladies that has made motherhood much more fun. We attend storytime every Wednesday and breastfeeding every Friday, plus some other activities thrown in for fun. I'm generally pretty shy, so this is a huge success for me. I'm also a lot more comfortable feeding Evan when we're out and about, which has made it much easier to go on errands and do things with our little boy.

Daddy Successes:

Ed continues to go above and beyond helping to take care of Evan and I by cooking, cleaning, and being an extra set of hands. He's still taking Evan almost every morning and playing with him, and is treated to the most smiles of anyone. Evan loves his daddy so much and it certainly shows.

Best Moments:
It has to be the start of these smiles and cooing. There really is nothing better in the world.

Flagstaff: Evan's Favorite Place

We had a fantastic Father's Day celebration for Ed. We started at home with presents.

I totally failed and accidently let Ed see part of his present the day before (which may have induced a few tears from this tired and emotional mom). Still, he loved his gifts :). 

I gave him these two pictures in frames (he saw the baseball one) as well as a baseball that we'll put Evan's handprint on (I realized trying to do that solo was just about impossible). The other frame I made at my breastfeeding group, which was a surprise at least.

Once we were done with presents, it was time for our first family roadtrip! Initially, I balked at the idea of traveling that far with Evan, but after a few more weeks of motherhood under my belt (and the never ending heat), I agreed with Ed that an escape to the mountains was a great idea. The drive went really well with one stop about an hour in for Evan to eat.

Once we got up there, we went to MartAnne's, a delicious (and popular) mexican breakfast place. Our 30 minute wait was in fact almost an hour, plus another 40 minute wait for the food, but Evan did great. Our wait time was filled with another feeding, diaper change and general looking around (which he is much more willing to do lately while in the wrap) and he fell asleep right as we got seated and stayed asleep until the very end of our meal.

The food was fantastic - we spoke to the owner and on her advice both got meals with the pork green chile, and were not disappointed. 

Evan was unbelievable smiley on this trip - more than we have ever seen before (or honestly since). I think he liked that it wasn't so hot, and all of the trees :). We stayed at the very nice Comfort Inn, which was perfect.

After we got to the room, Evan and I tried to nap a little, but mostly just hung out so that Ed could go for a trail run (part of his Father's Day gift was this trip and the lovely trail access). 

Once he got home, we headed to a nice gravel pathway and walked that to the NAU campus, Evan's second college visit, and the first one where he really got to walk around. 

It was so nice to be walking outside as a family and be worried more about keeping Evan warm than keeping him cool. 

This trip definitely showed us, though, that when we make a California visit, we will have to bring our good stroller. This one really struggled on any non paved surface :). 

As we were walking, I commented to Ed that this is what I had always pictured for us once we  had kids. Walking together in nature. 

Evan fell asleep on the ride. He was obviously pretty content. 

On the way home, we picked up a fantastic pizza, featuring ingredients like arugula, brie, dates, and bacon. It was fantastic. 

We were pretty excited about getting to dress him in one of his pajama outfits, instead of just onsies.

I was worried about Evan crying and disturbing the other hotel guests, but he did a fantastic job. I also woke up to feed him at his first hunger sounds, so we were able to avoid full out crying altogether. He slept just like at home, going down around 9pm, and waking at 1am and 4am. Ed left at 6am for his big run, and Evan moved to my chest where he slept another hour. 

Meanwhile, Ed was running up this:

For probably a year now (or maybe 2), Ed has been talking about running up Humphrey's peak. 

He had such a fantastic time, despite the biting wind and high elevation. 

His run started at 9,000 feet and climbed to over 11,000 by the end. 

He found that he had to walk a lot more than he planned, due to the altitude. 

He saw plenty of evidence of its volcanic history.  

But, the views made it more than worth it.

He made it up to the saddle, where he was treated with spectacular vistas. 

While he wanted to keep going, wind gusts up to 60 mph made him think twice. He told me that he thought about what I would have said, and decided to turn around since he wasn't sure about the trail conditions going forward and was already feeling a bit woozy from the altitude. 

So, after soaking in the view a bit longer (including a little bit of snow still left over), he headed down.

It was such a gorgeous day and exactly what Ed had been missing. 

What a happy dad. 

Meanwhile, Evan and I had a lovely morning. After he woke up, we walked back to the NAU campus, with Evan in his wrap, to help him fall asleep. Then, we came back and I had breakfast. He stayed asleep long enough that I got a shower in, and then we hung out and got Ed a plate e of food, in case he got back too late. He happened to get back right after, and we spent some nice time together in the breakfast room.

Afterwards, the boys got in a little more rest.

While I started packing.

Then we got him dressed for the day (looking like such a big boy!).

We finished our visit by walking the downtown, buying Evan a book and getting some gelato.

All in all, the perfect first getaway for our little family of three.