We Have a Thumbsucker (and other news from the Reed Household)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas - we're up in Auburn visiting Steve's family and enjoying our vacation.  With time to relax away from work/house projects, and several extra loving arms to hold Elliott, I am busily trying to get caught up on the blog.  This is one that has been a few weeks in the making - don't worry, there will be an update on Elliott's first Christmas and his surprise gift to the grandmas in the near future, as soon as I can collect the best pictures from the 8 cameras we had going at the same time.

 

I think I say this in every post, but it seems like Elliott has been growing and changing dramatically over the last few weeks.  For example, he is now able to get fingers into his mouth at will. Elliott has never been very interested in the pacifier, so I am happy that he has a new technique for self soothing.  And this change literally happened overnight.  We woke up one morning to our very own thumbsucker:

Elliott's 1st Thanksgiving

It's that time of year again - the holidays are here!  Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that I have taken for granted in year's past - eat good food, spend time with family, do a bit of shopping - but I hadn't put a lot of thought into the true meaning of the day.  It usually meant a long road trip squeezed into not enough days off from work.  Funny how having a kid keeps you living in the moment so much that you realize how much you have to be thankful for.  This year I am overwhelmed with how special life is, and grateful that we have so many wonderful friends and family to share it with.  Not to mention the world's most adorable son (so I'm biased, I am his mom:) who keeps us smiling and laughing non-stop.

We are still nervous about disrupting Elliott's sleep schedule on road trips, so we hit the road Tuesday evening after Steve got off work, and rolled in to my parents just before midnight.  Although we would have loved to sleep in on Wednesday morning, we have become early risers, so instead we relaxed over a cup of coffee while Elliott read the newspaper with Great Gram.

Elliott's First Overnight Trip

 My goodness, where does the time go?  I can't believe it is already mid-November and I haven't posted anything this month for Elliott's adoring fans.  He is getting bigger, happier, and more talkative by the day, and is now so much fun to be around.  Don't get me wrong - I have loved every minute spent with my son, but in the beginning he didn't do much besides eat and sleep.  Now he has a personality that is upbeat and easygoing, with glimpses of a great sense of humor.

Here are some highlights from the month of November:

We made our first overnight road trip down to San Diego to visit Great Gram and the rest of my Dad's side of the family.  We were a bit nervous as to how Elliott would handle long stretches of time in the car since our 1st road trip to San Louis Obispo threw off his sleeping schedule for weeks.  We broke up the trip on the way down by stopping for dinner with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Reed.  Sadly we didn't get any pictures of this part of our trip, but imagine us sitting around their dining room table, eating In-n-Out, and Grandma Claire holding Elliott while he smiles at her adoringly.

When we finally made it to Great Gram's a bit after midnight she was up waiting for us, and after her and Elliott got caught up on everything that happened since she visited us in October before we hit the sack.  I'm happy to say that Elliott stuck to his sleeping/napping schedule through the whole weekend (waking once in the night, and several naps throughout the day).  During the times that he was awake he had a blast hanging out with Great Gram.

Elliott meets the Great Grand Parents, and other family & friends

It is hard to believe it has already been 7 weeks since Elliott was born!  Time seems to be flying by, and Elliott is growing quickly.  While I am sad that he won't be small and snuggly forever, I am enjoying watching him become more alert, more interactive, and begin to explore the world around him.  His personality is already starting to shine through, and we are finding him to be a sweet, happy, and slightly silly little guy.  For example, the other night after his 2 am feeding I was half asleep and swaddling him up to put him back to bed.  Elliott, however, was wide awake, and would wait to catch my eye, and then flash the hugest smiles I have seen yet while giggling uncontrollably.

Happy 1 Month Birthday Elliott!

October 11, 2011

Time really does fly when you are having fun - it's hard to believe our little man is one month old already!  With all of our company gone, and Steve back at work, it was up to Reese and I to make the day special for him.  We celebrated by taking a long walk to the coffee shop together...

Baby Elliott meets Grandma and Grandpa Reed

I've received quite a bit of support and enthusiasm from friends and family following our blog, and a few subtle (and not so subtle) comments that I need to update it more often.  I am happy you are all enjoying watching Elliott grow up as much as we are.  Last week was so full that I didn't get an opportunity to post, so I'll be back posting over the next few days to get you all up to speed.  Here's the first installment:

Monday, September 25, 2011

Steve's parents made the 7+ hour trek down from Auburn over the weekend to meet baby Elliott.  It was great having them around.  Grandma Sandy was a huge help in giving us a break from the constant demands of parenthood, and Grandpa Wayne helped Steve finish plastering the holes around our new French doors.  They also helped us to initiate Elliott into one of their favorite past-times: hitting the garage sales.  No great finds that day, but I'm sure Elliott will learn the ropes soon enough.  We also took Elliott for his first walk down shoreline park with Reese.  I'm looking forward to the day that he can take Reese for walks on his own:)

It was love at first sight for Grandma Sandy who spent as much time with him as she could.  Her only other grandchild is almost 18, so she has waited a long time to have another baby in the family,

Baby Elliott gets 3 Surgeries in 4 days

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Our little guy has been through a lot in his first week of life.  First he was delivered via C-section under the harsh bright lights of a very cold operating room, where he was yanked from his warm cozy home of 9 months.  Then he was circumcised on his second day of life.  They assured us that the local anesthetic they applied would keep him from pain, but I'm sure it was still traumatic.  We thought after that he would be able to recover and get started with the business of living his life without further prodding and poking.  And then, on day 4, we visited the pediatrician.

Welcome Home Baby Elliott!

\Wednesday, September 14, 2011

We had thought our time at the hospital would be nice to rest and relax, since going home we would be responsible for caring for our son all on our own (scary!).  We found the hospital to be neither relaxing nor restful - there were constant intrusions throughout the night from various nurses, doctors, and hospital staff, and baby Elliott fussed and cried through the entire night.  So even though we could have stayed at the hospital until Thursday, we decided to break out as soon as possible on Wednesday morning.

Once completing the necessary paperwork and getting the doctor approvals, we were left to dress our son for the first time and get him into the carseat.  Being competent adults Steve and I thought this would be no problem, but he was so wiggly and fussy it took 10 minutes of struggling to get Elliott into the cute sleep sac we planned to bring him home in (image a large long sleeved shirt with a drawstring at the bottom which covered his legs).  Unfortunately when we went to put him in the carseat we realized that the seatbelt needed to go between his legs, so the cute sleep sac wouldn't work at all.  By the time we struggled to change his outfit again (poor Elliott was screaming at this point), it was time to nurse.  So after 2 hours of trying to leave we were finally carted downstairs, Steve ran to get the car, we loaded up the family, and drove the 3 blocks home.

Welcome to the world Elliott Ford Reed!

The Details
Born: 10:40pm Sept 11th, 2011
Weight: 7 pounds 15 ounces
Length: 21 inches

The Story
As  you probably know, we have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of our son due September 12 - and not very patiently on my part.  As the big day approached and my doctor told me that the baby would most likely arrive on the late side, my impatience got the best of me and I started looking for ways to get the ball rolling.  Steve and our friend Heather humored me as we devoted Friday night to "Get the Baby out", where I tried every piece of labor inducing advice I could get my hands on - a long walk up a hill in our neighborhood rumored to have started several other labors, followed by "Labor Pizza" (pineapple and jalapeno, foods also said to do the same), and ending with a good bounce on the exercise ball.

One of those old wives tales must have worked because the long wait finally ended on Saturday evening when those strange back pains I had been feeling all day became a pattern making me realize they were actually contractions (who would have guessed I would experience labor entirely in my back). At 2:30 Sunday morning, after about 4.5 hours of labor, the contractions were strong enough and close enough together that Steve and I said good bye to Reese and hopped into the car to make the 3 block drive to the hospital and get the party started.  After being examined we were told I was only 1.5 cm dilated.  Normally they would send me home until things progressed farther, but there was some concern because Elliott's heartbeat would drop during contractions, so they decided to admit me to monitor him more closely.