Milk Blues

Mommy is out of commission for this transmission. So as the backup reporter, I would like to inform you that Nicholas is officially 3 months old today. He has made great progress in the milk business. He no longer needs the aid of a shield to extract the milk. On the other hand mommy is having some technical difficulties. She is working hard to reduce overheating of the system and get the milk ducts unclogged. In the meanwhile daddy is also helping by taking on the night shift and feeding Nicusor from the milk silo. Extra help from Babuska (mommy's mom) and Buni (daddy's mom) is also welcomed in the weekends. We have gained new appreciation for home cooked food after Nicusor was born.

Below, please find some o the latest pictures.

Reporting from the trenches,

Daddy yo.

Serious about milk!

Me and my first outfit.

The home entertainment system.

Don't mess with me!

Nicholas is 3 Months Old

Nicholas will be turning three months in a few days.  Two days ago (Monday) he weighed in at 11 lbs 3 oz (5 kg 75 g)!  That's more than double his birth weight of 5 lbs!  Thanks for checking in with us.  Here are some pictures from the last few days:

Smiling just for Mommy!

Smirk

Showing off my new outfit

Working on finding my hands and feet with a few playful props

Computers 101 with Daddy

Daddy multitasking

Around the house

Nicholas has noticed Kona a few days ago for the first time. He ia also at a stage where he is going through a lot of bibs. In the picture he is chilling in his sailor bib.

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Motherhood

I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a Mommy.  I guess there are certain aspects to motherhood that are instinctive, but I think most of it consists of skills acquired by experience.  Anyway, I feel like I'm getting the hang of it and enjoying every minute of it :-)

As much as I enjoy learning by experience, I also enjoy tapping into the acquired wisdom on parenthood by reading some parenting literature.  These two books have greatly contributed to my confidence as a first-time mom:  On Becoming Babywise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleeep by Gary Ezzo and What Babies Say Before They Can Talk: The Nine Signals Infants Use to Express Their Feelings by Paul Holinger.  

Babywise helped us establish a healthy and manageable eating routine with Nicholas.  The book introduces a concept of "Parent Directed Feeding", and gives some practical strategies on how to help your baby distinguish night from day, and ultimately sleep through the night.  These strategies are not revolutionary, and probably don't work for every baby out there, but they worked for us.  We started following a "Babywise" routine as soon as we took Nicholas home from the NICU.  

Because at first Nicholas wasn't strong enough to get full feedings by breastfeeding alone, I had to pump after every feeding and give him the bottle so he would get the calories he needed, and so that I would establish my milk supply. At this point Nicholas is strong enough to get everything he needs by breastfeeding, and is doing great. I no longer have to pump, and he no longer needs the bottle.  Nowadays he is eating 7-8 times (which is right on track for a baby of his age) a day, and is going for ~6 hours between feedings at night (which is really good for a baby of his age).  His last feeding of the day is between 8:30 and 9:30pm.  He usually wakes up between 2 and 3am for another meal and then he's out until 6am (Hopefully he'll be dropping that nighttime feeding within the next few months and sleeping through the night).  During the day he eats approximately every three hours (+/- hour).  He is gaining weight well, and he wakes up happy and rested in the morning, and so do I :-)  

Of course there are exception to the routine.  When Nicholas got his vaccinations at 2 months he decided that he needed to eat every two hours and wanted to be held all the time.  We could not put him down in his crib for the night because he would just keep crying.  He ended up sleeping in our bed that night, and was back to normal the next day.  Should I have let him cry it out?  No way!!!

What Babies Say Before They Can Talk is a great book about psychological development of babies.  The main premise is that infants use crying to communicate, and that responding promptly and effectively to the cry builds a foundation for an effective communication between the parent and the child.  The book goes into detail on why babies cry and how to minimize crying and fussiness in babies.  According to this book, it's not a good idea to just have your baby "cry it out" AND you cannot spoil a baby by promptly responding to his or her cry.  Anyway, good stuff.  Here are some pictures from the last few days.

Yay! I'm holding my head.

Tummy time

Wow!  The world is such an interesting place.

Winter Wonderland

We had lots of snow this week.  Here are a few pictures from our adventures in the Winter Wonderland.

Kona -- winterized

Nicholas out for a stroll inside Daddy's jacket (you can see a hat sticking out).

Ready to roll with Mommy

Walking in the Winter Wonderland

Self Portrait

Self Portrait: Reflection in a Mirror

Out and About

Mommy is starting to get out more and taking Nicholas around town.  In this past week Mommy and Nicholas had their first trip to a coffee shop, first visit to Mommy's lab, and first walk to/around/from Fresh Pond (~ 5 miles)!  Nicholas also had his first trip to church with Mommy and Daddy and got blessed by the priest.  Most of the time, however, we still spend hanging out at home:

sleeping like a baby

daddy showing off his swaddling skills

chilling with Kona

Language

Daddy and Mommy are both non-native English speakers and decided that it would be a good idea to teach Nicholas their native languages. So now Mommy speaks to Nicholas in Russian, Daddy in Romanian, but mommy and daddy speak English to each other.  Sometimes Mommy and Daddy try to communicate either in Russian or Romanian to each other.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  For instance, the other day Mommy was telling Nicholas in Russian that Daddy's alarm ("budil'nik") is ringing and asked Daddy to turn it off.  Daddy thought that Mommy was asking him to pour Nicholas some milk into a bottle ("butilka"), so he actually went to the fridge to get the milk.  We'll keep trying...

Smiling at Daddy!

Posing

My head is so heavy!

It's not easy to be a 2-month old!

Nicholas is 2 Months Old!

Nicholas turned 2 months on Dec 29th.  He is doing great!  At his routine 2-month pediatrician's appointment he weighed in at 9 lbs 14 oz (4 kg 480 g) and measured 22 inches (56 cm). His accomplishments so far include :

• Lifting and holding his head up when lying on stomach 
• Smiling (First conscious smile on Dec 23)

Thanks for checking in with us!

Hello, World!

Playtime!

Check out my first toy from my future godparents!

Happy New Year!

Yesterday was a beautifull day in Boston. We enjoyed a walk at Fresh Pond in the sun.

Best wishes and warm thoughts into 2011.

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