12 weeks old

Here we are at 12 weeks....the end of my maternity leave and the beginning of a whole new period of adjustment for all of us.  During my good moments I've accepted that I need to go back to work and that Mateus is going to be fine without me.  During the rougher moments (like now as I type this) I get really choked up with the thought of leaving my little guy.
He's been making some wonderful gains over the past couple of weeks.  After a visit with the feeding team at Children's Hospital, we seem to be making good progress with him taking a bottle again.  It only took trial and error of 6 different bottles and some good lullaby tunes to help him find his stride.
Mateus has discovered his hands and can often be found trying to fit his fist in his mouth.  His grasp is improving and anything that he may be able to get his hands on also seem to find their way to his mouth.  He's making more attempts to sit up when leaning against my legs.  However he has better trunk than neck control at this point so his positioning is a slumped over, no neck look with his chubby cheeks falling forward in plain sight :-)
He's been sleeping in his crib at night for a week now.  Going to bed proves to be a difficult task (at times the process has taken 2 hours before he is asleep) but he's been sleeping and waking up 1-2 x's a night so at this point I'll take it.  We've attempted naps in the cribs as I thought that would be a good way to transition to night time sleeping.  Turns out he is not a fan of the crib during the day and as soon as I realized that it was a fight not worth fighting, he snuggles into his swing and I get a few hours to myself again.  Works out for both of us.
I was very torn with how to approach the whole sleep/crib transition.  I felt that I should educate myself with different possibilities and picked up a book and checked out a few mommy blogs.  Through my reading (and an emotional phone call with my Mom), I learned two things- being too informed can actually be more stressful than helpful and although I've told myself all along to watch and listen to Mateus's cues, I got a little caught up in what I thought I was supposed to do.  Reading about other's experiences almost solidified what we've known all along- Mateus really is a pretty easy going good baby and our biggest struggles don't even compare to some other experiences I have read about.
So I've now decided to return the book to the library and take a break from Mommy blogs and just let mother's intuition along with Mateus's cues to navigate the next couple of weeks and see where that takes us as I venture into working mother mode.

The Many Faces of Mateus

Looking at the different (and many!) pictures I've taken over the past few months, I find myself smiling at the many different faces that Mateus will make given the time, day, activity, (or whether or not he is trying to pass some gas:-) 
Here are a few faces from this past week....

10 weeks old

Mateus continues to smile more, talk to us more, and is working on neck and trunk control.  We introduced the Bumbo seat to him this week.  The picture above was captured right before his head fell sideways and forward. :-)
He had his 2 month check up this past week and received his first round of shots.  He was a real trooper as he briefly cried each time he felt the needle prick his leg but as soon as I picked him up he whimpered and was done.  Even the nurse was surprised by his lack of drama. 
Mateus now weighs 11 lbs 4 oz and is 21 3/4 inches long.  Puts him around the 50th percentile for each. 
We also took him to daycare just to introduce him and to meet the director.  The facility seems very family friendly and it looks as though Mateus will have 3 male friends his age sharing the neighboring cribs.  I still have 2 weeks to prep for his first full day there.  I'm hoping that I am not the first mother to leave sobbing as I know that I can't separate from him without shedding a tear (or 10!)
Amber visited us this weekend so Mateus had his first experience exploring the Strip District and the neighborhood where Mommy and Daddy first met.  He was a trooper throughout the whole day and I learned that it is possible to breast feed and change a diaper in the back of the car without anyone being the wiser.
Our task ahead is to introduce Mateus to his crib and get him (and Mom) comfortable with him sleeping in another room.  I figure we'll start with naps and go from there.

2 months old

Each time I sit down to write a new post, I'm amazed (and a little saddened) by how fast the time is flying by.  Maybe it's because I now have the countdown to days-24 (and not weeks) until my return to work or maybe it's because Mateus really is looking more like a "little man" everyday but this Mama has become even more emotional than her pre-pregnant self.  Each day I marvel at the little feet kicking excitedly as he watches his monkey and frog "show" in his bouncer, the almost smiles that greet me in the morning, and the beautiful sounds he makes more often on a daily basis.  Okay I admit - I couldn't even type that last sentence without getting teary eyed.
Now that Mateus has reached the 2 month mark, we've decided to loosely try establishing a schedule- specifically at bed time.  Needless to say the current score is Mateus- 2, Mommy- 0 as he continues to decide when bedtime is- which so far has been an hour and a half after we start the night time routine.  Although a little frustrated, I plan to persevere.  Since starting this process, I have learned to be more in tune to his yawns and cries and have realized that he already has himself on a (loose) daytime schedule.  I was just too busy staring and snuggling with him to realize it before.

Home For the Holidays

There's nothing like going home for the holidays.  And this year was extra special as Mateus was able to meet so many family members and spend an extended time at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  He spent some quality time with his cousin Nathan (they especially loved playing on the floor mat together) and napped on lots of shoulders.  All the festivities must have been tiring as most pictures of Mateus on Christmas Eve and Christmas day are of him sleeping.  Such a rough life for a 7 week old!
The drive across the state was a long one but for the most part Mateus was a trooper.  He did let us know when he had had enough of the car as he had some choice words (sounds) for us about 45 minutes from our house on the drive back.
2012 has been such a special year for us-it started out a little scary teaching me that as much as we want to think so, parents are not invincible.  So very grateful for a positive outcome and a healthy father! And then from experiencing pregnancy (with my sister right there with me) to travels in New England,  to family and friends coming together for 2 wonderful baby showers, to the experience and arrival of Mateus, I can't think of a better way to ring in 2013 than with our little man by our side.  Looking forward to a year of many firsts and many memories to share.
Happy New Year!

6 weeks old

Mateus is getting ready for his cross state drive and is excited to meet more of his family.  He had his first babysitter this week (thanks Aunt Sara!)  I went to my Christmas work party this past Thursday.  It was great to see everyone and to socialize with adults.  After 4 hours though I couldn't wait to get home to our little guy.  I can't believe we are at the halfway point of my maternity leave.  Trying to make the most of each day together.  Above are a few photos from the past few days.

A week of firsts

This was a week of firsts for Mateus.  After he hit the 1 month mark, I decided that it was time for both of us to get out of the house.  He had his 1 month check-up at the doctor where he weighed in at 9lbs 6 oz.  He gets an A+ in the feeding department :-)  Joe and I then took him out to lunch where he slept the whole time.
He also had his first trip to the mall and his first encounter with another baby.  The photo above is Lily, the daughter of friends of ours.  She is 3 months old and by looks of things has a thing for younger boys :-)  On Saturday, he went to his first Christmas party and seemed to enjoy being in a crowd.  He partied until almost 10 pm!
Mateus is learning to sleep for longer stretches at night and has gained some nice strength in his neck thanks to tummy time.  He continues to fight with reflux but is finally learning to keep his medicine down.  He has started to get added bonding time with Daddy as he was also introduced to the bottle and they now get to share a meal together.