He ROLLED OVER!

At 8:14am today. This is him celebrating right after the event took place. Marcy came upstairs to celebrate with him. :)

3 Months 3 days

This has been a very full month...it's been good but also a little hectic. We had a bit of an upheaval in our living situation and have been staying at the Ellis-Dewey residence for the last couple weeks - which has been great except that Ellis and Dewey have been on the east coast for half of that time and I have to say that I enjoy this place SO MUCH more when they are here. And so does Koze!

So we moving in with Marisa, Peter and Simon in March and are very much looking forward to being their roommates. Simon is such a cool little guy and I'm glad that Koze will be hanging out with him over the next several months.

I have taken a lot of pictures over the last month but because of moving all over the place I don't have the ability at the moment to post any of those but will get them up soon enough. But here is my little 3 month update:

Koze is becoming so much more aware of his surroundings...He spends a lot of his awake time staring at things like curtains, lights, anything hanging on a wall and FACES. My favorite times with him are when he first wakes up in the morning. He stirs around for a little bit, stretches a couple times and then opens those adorable eyes. Then we talk for a few minutes - I ask him how he slept and how he's feeling and let him know what we're planning for the day and he coos little responses to a lot of what I say. He really is a great little conversationalist for being such a little guy.

And there has been music - he really does like classical music and mozart. He also likes soft and pretty guitar music. One song I play a lot for him is M Ward's Chinese Translation. When he hears something he likes he gets really quiet, opens his eyes a little wider and turns his head toward the source of the music, which is usually my laptop. I think my favorite song to listen to with him is Never Had Nobody Like You also by M Ward. We listen to it at least twice a day and we DANCE. So much fun.

Last week Koze went to see Dr Neuman for his well child check up. He weighed 11lbs 13oz and is in the 95th percentile. And a good 2 weeks before his 3 month birthday he started growing out of the 0-3month size clothes and is fitting quite comfortably in the 3-6 month size - which kind of blows my mind because while he is 3 months old he was also TWO MONTHS early. I stopped explaining to people that ask how old he is that he was early after a couple times of being told that he looks about the right size for a 3 month old. I guess that drinking coffee while I was pregnant didn't shrink my baby's head after all - a lady on my bus told me it would when I was about 5months pregnant.

During that visit with Neuman we also decided on a plan for vaccinating Koze. This is one reason why I LOVE LOVE LOVE this Dr. She is completely supportive of me as a parent wanting to do what I think is best for Koze. She listened to my concerns and was totally fine with taking quite a few of the vaccines out of the mix entirely and waiting until he is much older to give him others. There are 3 that we are going to do in the first year because there are fewer incidents of bad reactions and because Neuman has had patients that have gotten sick, right here in Portland, that were not vaccinated. So I feel good about it - although he did have his first shot on Friday and it was a pretty rough night. I ended up giving him Tylenol, which I'm not a fan of for him or myself, but it was to the point where it was necessary. And after he had it he calmed down within just a few minutes.

March should be another busy month - getting settled into the swenson's and I will be starting school so there is lots to do in preparation for that.

Well he's awake....time to get back to being a mom.

ZOO!

Koze and I went to the zoo today with Marisa and Simon. Here are some photos and videos of the animals we saw. The orangutan was our favorite!!!



Look at those eyes...so sweet.


Crazy pig (?) with a mohawk


He looks sweet but he's a rascal

2 Month Birthday!

Yesterday was Koze's 2 month birthday and we threw a little party to celebrate.

Grocery shopping for dinner and birthday cupcakes...and Kale...which the did NOT have.


Excited to eat spaghetti and see his friends!



Koze, Ben and Lindsey


I think I had close to 20 candles on that cupcake...heh heh.


The only person I didn't get a good picture of was Chantelle since she was in the kitchen most of the time preparing the best spaghetti in the whole WORLD!

Due date weight check and visit with Laura

Koze was given 2 due dates in January - the 14th and the 25th. I took him in on his 2 month birthday, the 18th, to check his weight and get an idea of how big he would have been if he had been born at term. According to his MD in the NICU, whatever he ended up weighing on his due date is LESS than he would have weighed full term.

As you can see he weighs 9lbs 14oz! Huge...he would most likely have been 10lbs+

yikes!

Two Months

So another milestone - two months. Koze and I are settling quite well into each others lives. He is healthy and growing so fast - for which I am beyond grateful. And I am happy. Exhausted and so happy. I love that I am able to just wrap him in his sling and take him along with me wherever I go. He's been a little fussy the past five days, more so at night for some reason but I think part of it is that he is just learning to use his voice. Last night he was half heartedly crying and then out of no where let out a loud holler and I think scared himself - he got instantly quiet and his eyes got really big. It was so so funny! He's getting better everyday about focusing on things and maintains eye contact for extended periods of time. Oh and he also will look for me when he hears my voice lately.

We are going to Alma on Monday to weigh him to get an idea of how much he would have weighed as a full term babe. I can't say that I'm happy he came early but with as big as he is becoming I am feeling a little relieved that I did not have to give birth to a full size Koze. However if there were anything wrong with him I would not feel this way.

Here are a few photos of Koze in 2010 so far...

Love and growth spurts

Koze is six weeks and two days old today. And as of Wednesday he is 7lbs 11oz and 20 inches long/tall. The hard part about this parenting business is the decreased amount of sleep I get and the increase in my need for coffee. I love the stuff but have never felt that I needed that cup of coffee everyday until now. But even when I feel exhausted beyond belief I am always happy to see him when he wakes up. I love our little talks we have between the naps that we take.

Yesterday and today he has been eating (and pooping) like CRAZY! I'm having a hard time fathoming that he's actually that hungry...must be a growth spur. Or maybe he's not feeling quite like himself and is just nursing for the comfort of it. Who knows!!

He's finally asleep. He woke up from his last nap at 7pm and it is now 12:42am. Quite a bit longer than he usually stays awake...hopefully he'll sleep really well!!!

So want to quickly note what we did for Christmas and New Years Eve.

Christmas we spent in Seattle with his Grammy and Stampa, stauntie Mira and Stuncles Truman and Van. GG and Grandma Mahugh were also there. It was a wonderful Christmas. We both received books to read and Koze got some awesome blankies, onsies and DIAPERS!!!! Lots of them. I think the diapers were my favorite gift. Money is tight and sometimes I freak out wondering what I would do if I ran out of diapers.

NYE we spent at the Swensons with TVA. Lots of yummy food and coffee and champagne at midnight. Oh and Rock band. Lots of rock band. I feel like I say it a lot but I really love the friends that I have. I feel blessed to know such great people!

Just put the last of the dirty laundry in the washer...I think we are going to try and make it to Imago tomorrow. Will be Koze's first time in church. We'll see how things go tonight...