Moving Day: Take Two

I'm not sure but I think Ari weighs about 12 pounds now. His newborn diapers cover bums up to ten pounds and he grew out of those at least two weeks ago. According to What To Expect The First Year (which shall henceforth be referred to as WTETFY for brevity) he should weigh 14 pounds 8 ounces, which is double his birth weight of 7 pounds 4 ounces, by the time he is four months old. I think he's on track to meet or possibly exceed that goal! He is seven weeks old and we still haven't made it to that breastfeeding support group yet. I just can't seem to get up early enough on Tuesdays. Some mornings we're up at 8am, others not till 11am or so... there's something about Tuesday that makes it one of the latter. It's ok though because I was looking forward to it more as a social event to get to know other moms and less as a class on nursing. He is pretty much a professional nurser now, surpassing long ago the "first-try" latch and is now working on mastering the "no-look" latch. Those are, of course, made up words for made up milestones.

His latest trick: the truly social smile! I love it when he smiles at me in the morning when he first sees me... there is truly nothing better in the world! Until he starts giggling, of course...

My sister-in-law Ashley was gracious enough to host a Mary Kay party at her house with Amanda, Kim, Rachel, and Brenna, and it was a huge success! I learned a lot, I had a lot of fun hanging out with "the girls," Erik had some Daddy time alone with Ari, and I got to dress up and feel like I was going to work again! There is something about being valued as an Independent Beauty Consultant that adds to my self-esteem in a way that's different from being Mommy, although I must say nothing could compete with mommyhood!

We are still moving, although not to Nord Avenue as I had previously shared. Ashley came over and we spent all day Tuesday packing and took a load over that night to get a head start on Wednesday Moving Day and much to my shock and horror someone had thrown a grapefruit-sized rock through the window of what was to be the baby's room. I called the landlord and needless to say, we are no longer going to be living there. Whether it was a drunk college student acting stupid or a burglar that realized the apartment was empty only after the rock came through the window, it doesn't really matter. Either way, it served as a warning that it wasn't a very nice neighborhood. So tomorrow is Wednesday Moving Day: Take Two and this time I am keeping our new locale a secret. We don't need any more rocks, thank you very much!

The onesie says it all.

Cloth diapering is going very well, I am excited to report. The FuzziBunz are my favorite for nap time and bedtime as they have the least tendency to spring a leak when I use the doubler. We are getting the hang of putting them on so as to minimize leakage and maximize comfort for Ari. He doesn't seem to have a preference, unless you count the absence of a diaper altogether, which isn't really an option that I'm willing to accommodate, except for during bath time. The new place doesn't have a washer or dryer inside but we have enough diapers now that we can go two, sometimes three days before needing to launder them. I can handle that. It's worth the money we'll save, in the long run. Plus everyone thinks they're just so darned cute (which they are... way cuter than disposables, even the ones with prints on them) and they're quite the conversation starter (at least with other moms, and women in general.) So after two weeks of exclusively using cloth diapers, our conclusion: We love them!

This last month I learned to blog only about things that have actually happened, not what might happen, because that can be a letdown. Speaking of letdown, I think it's about time for Ari to eat...

Out-Growing our Digs

Ari is officially one month old! My goodness how time flies when you're having fun, and we are having a blast! His baby blessing is tomorrow at one o'clock, during Sacrament meeting. We will be having a little get-together as well tomorrow at our home following church to celebrate. All who wish to attend either/or or both are of course more than welcome to do so!

He is growing so fast, he'll be out of the newborn diapers and into the cloth diapers by the end of the week, I think. I don't know exactly how much he weighs now, but I am planning on weighing him at our breastfeeding support group this Tuesday, so stay tuned! He eats and sleeps a lot, of course, but while he is awake and alert it's play time and he likes to listen to music with us, he likes sitting in the bouncy chair that Nana got for him (as long as I am bouncing him and he has something to look at and the vibrate function is on, otherwise he gets bored!) , and he loves "standing" on my lap while I balance him. He really holds his own weight, he has such strong legs! I know, it seems really early for that, but he holds his head up really well and he fusses if I just put him on my lap... and stops as soon as I lift him up to stand. He likes tummy time, too... for about two minutes, then he's done with tummy time. But I make him do it, at least once a day. He holds his head up, kicks his legs and scoots himself a little, and even tries to push himself up with his arms. Someone tell this kid he's only one month old! He's like a chihuahua that thinks he's a doberman!


Ari's umbilical stump finally fell off, so he has a belly button now, a tiny combo of innie and outie, so we finally got to give him a "real" bath.

Yesterday I asked Erik to pick up a black cartridge #16 for a Lexmark z611 printer on his way home from work. If sometimes the lines of communication between husbands and wives get a little scrambled, this was a Monster Omelet. I know he meant well, and he did say that if they had had the cartridge I asked for, he would have simply purchased it and went on his way. But I know he wanted to impress me and make me proud, not to mention he is a bit of a one-upper, anyway. I probably don't have to tell you where this is going... needless to say, they didn't have a #16 for a Lexmark z611 so he came home with a brand new Cannon PIXMA MP240 All-in-one photo printer/scanner/copy machine. I should have known better than to send him to Best Buy alone! Of course I wasn't mad at all, just a little surprised. It could have been bad... he could have come home with a brand new big screen plasma TV, I guess. Really, though, he did good: our printer was crummy even when it was brand new, and was on its last legs. I don't have to go to Walgreens to print pictures for scrapbooking anymore, and if I need to make a copy, I don't have to go to Kinko's! It's actually quite a nice little gadget, and he got a great deal on it. The built-in obsolescence of technology these days sometimes makes for purchases we didn't count on... I believe the z611 was an impulse as well, after finding out the cartridge for my old printer cost about the same price as a whole brand new printer that comes with a black cartridge and a color cartridge, so go figure!

We signed the lease for our new place yesterday, too (the printing of said lease is what prompted the need for a black cartridge in the first place). Erik has been looking for a great deal on a bigger place for a while now, scouring Craigslist every time he gets a spare moment, and he found it. When we moved into our current place, he was worried it was too small, so I promised that if we at least gave it a try once the baby came, if it indeed turned out to be too small for all three of us, we would move. Well, as you probably already guessed, it's too small, so we're moving. Ari himself doesn't take up much space, but his stuff sure does! The new place has three bedrooms, a washer and dryer, and central heating and air conditioning... it's nice! However, it's on Nord in the middle of college-town and right on the railroad tracks, but it was a trade-off we were willing to make. Ari gets his own room, Erik gets his music room, and I got a washer/dryer and brand new carpets and hardwood floors! We should be totally moved in by the end of the month, so come visit us, if you can... our new address is 522 Nord Ave. #21 Chico CA 95926.

I had a check up at the mommy-doctor on Thursday, and luckily I got to see Cheryl, the midwife that delivered Ari. She says I look great and am in excellent health, and I don't need to come back until April for my yearly exam! Pretty good for giving birth only four weeks ago, but I don't take the credit. I knew all along my body was specifically designed by Heavenly Father for this purpose. The female form was divinely inspired for sure, to be able to bounce back so quickly after an experience so physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting. Which is not to say I'm exactly ready to do it all over again... yet!