5 Weeks old!

Cedric is growing so fast. There have been some changes lately.  He has been getting fussier in the evenings, which the doctor says will peak in the next week or two, but when he is calm he is such a sweet baby. He is pretty gassy and loves it when we bounce him on a yoga ball. It really helps calm him down in the evenings. 

He is holding his head up really well and prefers being in an upright or standing position. Today he was especially sturdy. I think he was trying to impress his dad. We got out the bumbo seat for the first time and he seemed a little confused but okay. He loves to look around, especially to watch the light come through the windows. Really, any bright light is fascinating to him. He enjoys kicking his feet and throwing his body around. We have to watch out for him trying to launch himself off our shoulders or knees. He occasionally will suck on his fingers and is very close to smiling. I think he will be smiling at us any day now.

Today we went to our first "sit down" meal out. We meant to go while Cedric was sleeping but we had a few errands to run and I ended up having to wake him up to eat. He was wide awake but fairly quite and we found ways to keep him happy. Though it wasn't how we planned I think it gave us more confidence to go out more. 

Cedric is losing some of the cute newborn qualities that I loved. He no longer flings his arms about like he is falling and trying to grab onto something when we change his outfit and diaper. I always meant to get a video of it but I never did. He is more sturdy and less limp, much larger and less wrinkly. Though I am missing my little bitty baby I am very excited for the future. Each day I can't wait to see what new things he will do!

One Mo - Where has the time gone?

On Monday little Cedric turned one month old. Wow, I can hardly believe it has been a month. Here is the first in what I have been told will be a long line of baby "mo" photos. Here is Cedric on his one month day sporting his first "mo". 

Here are the One Month stats:

Length - 23 in - 95th %

Weight - 12 lb 1 oz - 95th %

Head - 39 cm - 60th %

Summary - He is a monster of a baby and growing very quickly! 

Here is a photo of Cedric on Monday. He is becoming much more aware of his surroundings and starting to enjoy his little jungle play yard. Still no smiles though.

Bob has now had his turn at feeding the baby. I have started saving milk in the freezer so we can start venturing out more and for longer periods of time. Below is Cedric is enjoying his first bottle. He took it really well, especially considering his dislike for pacifiers (*Update* As I was typing this Bob gave Cedric a pacifier and he sucked on it for 10 min. Good for Bob because he was running out of ways to calm the little buddy down). It took some concentration on Bob's part to make sure Cedric didn't eat too fast. He really took advantage of the artificial nipple. Cedric has started spitting up so we are trying to keep him from overeating and well burped.

Last Thursday I went to my first new mom class at Isis Parenting. It is an eight week class where we learn tips for caring for our babies and share our experiences. There are 10 of us in the class and we are encouraged to meet outside of class each week. I went for a walk with a few of the girls on Monday and am meeting with some on Thursday before class for a coffee. I'm hoping some of the girls will be friend material!  

We are having more fun with our little man every day. He enjoys watching us and calms to our voices. He really isn't a big crier though he does get fussy in the evenings. Baby loves to be held!

Week 3

I can't believe Cedric is 3 weeks old already, though in a way it feels like he has always been here. Today I packed away his newborn clothes as he is fully in 3 month and over outfits. We have also moved to size 2 diapers already. At his weight check last Wednesday (Aug 5th) he was already 10 lbs 5 oz! The doctor was happy with the gain and congratulated me. I am breastfeeding the little man and let him decide when he is hungry. Most days he seems to want to eat all evening long! Turns out this shouldn't have been a surprise, Bob was a fast growing child. Last night he told me that in the 6th grade he was already 6 feet tall! So with my birth size and Bob's fast growing genes, we may have a giant baby on our hands! 

Cedric is starting to become more predictable. He sleeps around the same times every day and night. The longest block of sleep usually starts around 9:30 and lasts 3.5-5 hours, so I am going to bed pretty early nowadays. I need to start napping more during the day though. It is just too tempting to get stuff done around the house. We also get out of the house at least once a day, usually for a walk with the dog and some days a short trip to the grocery store.  There is another nap or two where I'm not napping - oh well. 

I'm trying to avoid photos of Cedric in his birthday suit but he was just too cute in his bath tub the other day. Yesterday we gave him his first bath without the newborn sling and he sat happily in a little bit of warm water. It made the bathing experience much more enjoyable for him. He fought the first few baths but we figured out he really hates getting cold.

                        

Isn't he just the cutest little boy? I love the monster outfits from Carter's - the one above says "Mommy's Little Monster" - adorable! We decided that monsters, dinosaurs and green animals are Cedric's favorite themes. Basically, the sillier the better!

In other news, we have nice cable now and were able to watch the KU game on Saturday! Sad that the team choked at the end, but it has been so long since we've seen a game it was still fun to watch. I was so excited I put on regular clothes and they fit! 

I love Baby Jay and will be dressing Cedric up in awesome KU gear for a long time. There are some great photos of baby Christina in KU shirts, we Masons start the brainwashing young! 

Thanks for checking the blog! I'm going to try and post weekly as it is a good reminder for me to download my photos to the computer. Keep an eye on facebook for more photos!

Two Weeks

It has been two weeks of life for Cedric and I'm already wondering where my little newborn has gone. He seems to be growing in size and awareness daily, we upgraded to size 1 diapers last Monday and even put him in one of his 3 month onesies today. He definitely looks like a cute chubby baby, his arms and torso have started filling out. 

Cedric is doing really well and I'm so happy to have my little boy. He loves to grunt, especially when swaddled. It is his preferred method of communication, even over crying. Oh he will let out a wail if really unhappy but usually grunting gets the point across.  He is gaining more control over his head every day and feels very strong when trying to fight a clothing change. Bob and I crack up when we set him down and his falling reflex makes him flail his arms. He has started to grab onto things, like my shirt or his blanket, though I don't think he means to.  He still loves his hand to be near his face but does a pretty good job of keeping his fingers out of his mouth. He hasn't taken to a pacifier yet but he may need to learn soon to help us soothe his nerves. So far his favorite place relax is in our arms. He gets worked up over gas and likes to bounce around to help alleviate the issue. Cedric is starting to figure out the difference between night and day, though last night we had a bit of a set back. He was up so much last night but I think he just wanted to be held. 

I have been trying to get Cedric used to moving around, we have been going on at least one outing a day for the past week. I did walk Cedric and Siena on my own for the first time on Thursday and it went pretty well. Luckily I have a baby that can sleep in a stroller! Also I am lucky that the weather has improved, it has bee in the mid 70's all week. 

Speaking of Siena, she has been doing really well with the baby. She knows she isn't allowed to get too close and she is much less alarmed by the crying and noise. After my parents left she seemed a bit confused that the baby stayed but we've been trying to get her back in her old routine to help keep her calm. She does seem a little low energy around the house and I don't know if it is because Bob has been exercising her more or if she is a little depressed. I know she can't be completely happy about all of this but I do think she's been handing it better than we expected. If only she could see the future, I know that as soon as Cedric starts dropping solid food all over the place that they will become the best of friends. 

Here are a few more photos of our sweet baby. We are very happy to have the three day weekend to have some quality family time!

Week One

I can't believe it has already been a week since I gave birth to little Cedric, it seems like time is flying by! 

Here we are leaving the hospital on Monday. Since I had him so late on Friday we were given an extra day at the hospital, which was nice. Here are two new parents, scared and elated - tired and excited. 

When we arrived home I went in first to say hello to Siena (and try to calm her down), then Bob brought up Cedric. We kept him in his car seat for the introduction, though Siena was mostly just happy to see Bob. Over the following days Siena has calmed down and is coping with the new noises and smells. The first 24 hours she was very concerned about every noise, every movement. 

I feel very fortunate to live in the age of the digital photograph. I am loving taking as many pictures and video as I want. I won't post the videos until there is something to watch. Right now they are mostly shots of him hiccuping or just moving around. We love the alert moments he has! Here are some photos from the week of Cedric being the most adorable baby ever :)

Tummy Time, Can you believe this baby is only 5 days old?

Milk Coma

Oh yes, sometimes he is cranky, especially when we change his clothes, diaper, or lay him down when he is wide awake.  

My dad arrived on Friday, joining my mom who arrived last Sunday. Lucky for him the Royals are in town to play a four game series against the Red Sox :)

Today we ran our first errand, a quick stop at the grocery store.

Here is the new family, we are so happy!

Meet Cedric!

Hello all!

We have had a fantastic weekend at the hospital, welcoming our little boy Cedric Elwin Podany to the world!

Cedric arrived on Friday, August 17th at 10:41 PM after 7 hours of labor, 5 of which were at the hospital. When he decided it was time to come, he sure wasn't messing around! Here are the stats:

Weight: 8 lbs 11 oz

Length: 21.5 cm

Head: 34 cm

Eyes: Baby dark blue

Hair: light brown

Lungs: Well developed. Once delivered he spent the first 10 minutes of life screaming. I wasn't bothered at all, it was the best sound in the world!

After they did his tests and wrapped him up he was much happier. Here we are enjoying our first calm moments together. He seemed so alert and was so big! This is my combo super in love/ super shocked face. I was definitely in some kind of shock for the first hour, everything happened so fast!

Here is the proud dad. We already think he looks more like Bob than me, he seems to have Bob's dimples and general features. His lips have the same shape as mine, so I know I'll be represented in more than just his stats (apparently I was an 8 lb 12 oz, 20.75 in baby). 

Here is little Cedric being calm and alert while wearing his monster hat. He is definitely going to be dressed in some awesome outfits in the future!

My mom flew in on Sunday to help us get settled in to life with a baby. She is very happy to finally be a Grammie!

We are so happy to have out little man, though I'm already worried about him growing up. Please stay my sweet little baby as long as possible Cedric!

Anniversary Events

The last week in July Bob and I had a great weekend celebrating our 6 year wedding anniversary by going out on the town. 

First was the Liverpool v. Roma football match at Fenway Park. We were alerted to this event by our good friend James who is an immense Liverpool fan. We purchased tickets ages ago and were very glad we did as prices went up quite high and the game was sold out. Apparently the owners of the Red Sox also own Liverpool. 

This was just an off season match up, so the game was fairly relaxed. Liverpool had the most fan support, though that didn't help them win the game. It definitely wasn't the traditional European football atmosphere we've heard so much about but it was fun to watch. I much preferred the live setting. Bob still isn't too keen on soccer but he did ask me to buy the tickets back in April, so there is some curiosity there. 

On Saturday we went to the Boston Opera House. We have purchased season tickets to Broadway in Boston this year (it was the only way to get a ticket to The Book of Mormon) and were offered free tickets to the matinee performance of Billy Elliot. 

Here I am 36 or so weeks pregnant. You know you are getting big when people start asking to help you up and down the stairs. I am fairly clumsy but I've still been doing a lot of walking with the dog so I feel pretty fit. The Opera House is beautiful, much different than the art deco Music Hall in KC. The musical was okay, nothing to write home about. 

As a special treat we stopped by my new favorite shop Saus. 

Saus is a Belgian street food shop selling pomme frites and waffles near Government Center/Faneuil Hall. They have a few other items but I'm really there for the waffles. The fries are good too, they have 10-15 different sauces you can pick for dipping as well as the oh so yummy poutine option. But the waffles . . . they seriously are as good as you'll find in Brussels - crispy outside and the fluffy inside. I know I'm pregnant and my tastes have changed a bit but I've loved a good Belgian waffle ever since I had my first with my good friend Lindsay in 2005 and I doubt my love of Saus will dwindle anytime soon!