Owen's Monkey Business

(as you can see from the sleeves on this sleeper, O. is quickly outgrowing Newborn size clothes and even wore some 3 months size today. Mostly he's in 0-3 months size.) Today Owen and I got out of bed at 8:16, one minute after he turned seven weeks old! Here's what's new at 7 weeks: *Owen has been feeding every 2 hours for the past 4 weeks during the day, and switching to every 3-4 at night. So far today he is going every 3 hours during the day so hopefully the feedings are spreading out. I guess there is a growth spurt at 3 and 6 weeks, so that probably accounts for some of it. *He is enjoying looking at things more and seems to see things farther away. He smiles and his facial expression changes when you turn each page of a book, so I think he's seeing some things on the pages. A favorite book is A Fuzzy Bee, which has bright colorful bugs, slugs, and worms and is a soft book with a crinkly sounding cover. He also likes "Time for Bed". *As some of you alr...

Yesterday Owen and I trekked down to LA for the first time! We met Alice and Oqwe in Hollywood at The Pump Station and Nurtury, a specialty store and place for breastfeeding support. They have a Tuesday support group for nursing moms and we thought it would be a great place to spend the afternoon and have the boys together for the first time! There were about 20 moms and we were there for about 4 hours, trying out the "sling clinic" after the support group so I could learn how to use my moby wrap. Check it out!

My co-worker Stacie brought her two daughters and her niece last Thursday. Her younger daughter Ava was in my Kindergarten class this past year, and was sooo excited about the baby! She loves babies in general, and spent a lot of time this year watching baby grow and giving the belly kisses. You can see how excited she was to meet Owen, and she even said "I like baby Owen." Her mom said she wanted to stay here with him. The girls also had fun finding and playing with Luna (as much as she would let them!)

working hard to lift my head! check out those curls! "sooo big!" Owen has been enjoying his play gym; he especially likes the monkey (el monito) and the parrot (papagayo)! He also likes the orange and purple butterflies straight above his head. This week he: *had his first solo baths with momma *went to Santa Monica for an evening out *giggled while falling asleep *smiles when daddy comes home *coos/"talks"

Last night we went to Santa Monica to meet with an old friend, Andrea and her friend Colleen who were in town for one night. I babysat Andrea's kids in South Miami between 1995-2002. They are now 14 and 17! whoa! It was so fun watching Andrea love up Owen all evening- we enjoyed dinner at Shutters on the beach and Owen did a great job. It was his longest time away from home in the evening. He got a keepsake rubber ducky and teddy bear from the hotel turndown service too! What a treat!

I swear Owen giggled in his sleep yesterday! It was so cute. I looked it up and they say they don't giggle til around two months, but they said six weeks for a real smile and we definitely got one (not gas related) at 4 weeks so maybe he's running two weeks ahead! ha! Actually, that makes sense because he was a week overdue, right? Anyway, it sounded adorable! He also had a funny/sad moment yesterday. I was changing him when he made a high-pitched scream (pain). I looked down and notice his left hand looks stuck to his head. Well, he had grabbed a fistful of his own hair and was pulling it but doesn't have that connection to let it go so he's got his own hair and won't let go! poor little guy! He had his first playdate on Saturday with Camilla Rose, our friends' Carmen and Jesse's three-week old. She was really focusing on him and staring intently at him but he didn't really focus as much on her. It was so cute. He is really holding his head up and can s...

On Saturday we took Owen to meet his first friend, Camilla Rose! She was so visually attuned and watched him; he wasn't as interested in her...too busy crying! It was fun for the moms and dads!

Our neighbor built a custom top for this antique Singer sewing machine that belonged to my great-grandmother! My handmade bird mobile. (Don't worry, the crib is not being used yet and all those ties will be removed first!) reading tree Mother Goose by "Gramp" Tico Joe This is called a blessing ring and is made of all the baby cards and ribbons! It hangs on his doorknob.

Owen got his first bottle (of momma's milk!) on Wednesday night! Both daddy and baby loved it! Owen visited daddy at work on Tuesday! He made a great impression. no caption needed!

Jeanie came to meet O. and help out the new parents! As you can see, there was much lovin', readin', nappin', and walkin' going on! Thanks, Tia!

Here are our first several rounds of visitors who came between Wednesday, June 17 and Thursday, July 2. Owen loved meeting everyone! Apryle Julie Ashley Carmen-who gave birth Sat. June 27 to the beautiful Camilla Rose! Jesse-father to Camilla Rose! Lillian - she came with adorable son Daniel who is not in the pic since he was either playing computers with my mom "the baby's grandma" or looking for the cat! Peggy Sian Christine, Allan, and Daniel Jen, Bella and Olivia

Week three has been a week of growth and change for Owen! He must be hitting the "3 week growth spurt" as he has gone from eating every three hours and sleeping in between to every 2 hours and not sleeping more than 30 min. in between! Also, Tuesday marked our first day at home without help for us...we are doing great! I must admit that as soon as Derek got home Thursday I had one of the best showers of my life! yay! Here are a few third week happenings: *umbilical cord stump falls off! *first well-baby visit with Dr. Diab *first three days home with momma *Luna the cat starts to act more normal again and approaches O. to sniff fingers and toes! *O. measures at 9 lb. 4.7 oz. and 22 1/4 inches *visit from Jen and her girls! *first immersion bath Happy fourth of July!

Itsy Bitsy Yoga Newborn "Chair" pose: Owen and I spent our first two days at home together acclimating to each other and roughing out how exactly this works. Now that we've hit day three, we are ready to add in some baby fun! On the agenda for today and all just for fun: *itsy bitsy yoga (done and so fun!) *songs and games from "games babies play" ( done row row row your boat while bicycling legs) *baby massage ( done feet arms legs ) *visit from Jen and her girls (yay! the girls were so cute with O.you could tell they are experienced around babies like their new cousin!) *photo session with mom for some 3 week pix (done-though mom seems to have a bit of a shaky hand) *eating done *sleeping done *pooping done *peeing done (I think the bottom four actually belong at the top!) Mom hopes to: eat a whole plate of food without stopping in the middle (but not really concerned if this doesn't happen as appetite not that great these days!) done- thanks Jen! take a s...