Introduction to Solids

Chicken and Sweet Potato

Happy St. Patricks Day

Please Roll Over

I haven't been able to catch it on film... yet. Here is one of my many attemps. I have to admit I am impressed with the video capabilities of my camera. The picture is amazing!

Trying to catch Reed rolling over on film.

4 Month Pictures

4 Month Stats

Our little man is growing up way too fast! I cannot believe how much he has changed over the last month.

Reed had his four month check up on Monday weighing in at a whopping 17 lbs! I guess the upside of him being such a big baby is my arms are jacked ;) The downside is he looks like a giant in the “mini” crib we purchased from Pottery Barn to fit into our mini condo. He is also going through clothes at such a rapid pace that many of the outfits I am packing up he has only worn once or twice. All 0-3 month clothes have gone into storage. He can still wear most of his 3-6 month clothes, but for the most part he is into his 6-9 mo outfits. By the time we weaned him off the swaddle he was too big for all of the sleep sacks we had received from friends and family.

Have I mentioned, that his height and weight are still following his growth trend chart, but his head jumped from the 86^th percentile at 2 mo to 98^th percentile this month? He gets that from his daddy too!

Another outcome of our pediatrician visit on Monday was the realization that the routine I have become familiar with is about to be flipped upside down! Up to this point Reed has been 100% breastfed. He generally wakes up at 7:30AM and goes to sleep at 8:00PM eating about 4oz every two hours in between. He does not like to miss a feeding or even be asked to wait to eat. He is one hungry boy – always! In fact, he recently has reminded me of our puppies, always begging for food. I’ll nurse him first thing in the morning and then head out for work. Thirty minutes later he lets Matt know he is hungry and Matt gives him a 4 oz bottle which he guzzles down in 5 minutes. Matt then drops him with Nanny Ann and Reed puts on his show again until she gives him another 4 oz bottle which he polishes off immediately. Maybe he learned this method (each time a new person comes in cry and trick them into feeding you) from the dogs? Moral of the story, our doctor told us we need to go ahead and start him on solids since he is eating so much and starting to wake up in the night again for feedings. Food has been purchased, so we are ready to give it a shot this weekend!

Breastfeeding has also become a challenge as I have started traveling one night a week again for work. Think planes, trains and automobiles. I have pumped in all of those locations… not fun! Not to mention the time that goes into booking hotels with refrigerators, finding the time in the day, and trying to travel with a minimum of 12-4oz bottles of milk through the airport. This past week I had a day trip to New York for a big meeting. Here was my schedule:

8AM – Drop Reed off with the Nanny (had to push him in a stroller and drag a carry on with nothing but my pump and cooler in it) Called a cab to pick me up there

9:15AM – Flight from Boston to JFK

1-3PM – Meeting with Ernst & Young in Time Square (had to take my carry on into the meeting with me because I had to catch a cab from the meeting straight to the airport)

4:35PM – Flight out of Newark

6PM – Pick Reed up from the Nanny

Now, where in that schedule am I supposed to find time to pump?! Hence, we started introducing formula this week L It makes me sad that I can’t make it to the six month mark, but it just isn’t working with my work schedule. I am going to try to keep nursing at night, but we will see how long my supply will last. Formula and solids all in one week – I just hope his tummy can handle it.

On a happier note, his growth and development has been so much fun to watch:

·         He is turning over! Only from belly to back right now, but he is so close to making it all the way around. By the way, talk about mother’s guilt, he rolled over the first time for Matt while I was in Toronto L

·         He loves his bumbo – this took a couple tries. We gave it a go when he was only a couple months old and he hated it. We kept trying about once a week and at about three and a half months he turned the corner. All of a sudden he can stay there for 15-30 minutes and just hang out with his toys or watching me.

·         He is having a blast with activity centers. Reed loves standing up, so I thought he would like one, but I didn’t know if it was too early. I asked Nanny Ann to put him in Elizabeth’s one day and she sent me the pic below. Needless to say, we went ahead and purchased one for him and he LOVES it.

·         He is a talker. No idea what he is saying, but he babbles all day long. It is so cute. He definitely gets it from his mommy J

·         He has such a great giggle and makes himself laugh. Some mornings I wake up to the sound of him talking and giggling. I turn on Reed TV (aka his monitor), and he is just cracking himself up in his crib waiting for me to come get him. (Here is a pic of one of those mornings while in TX, before we broke him of the swaddle)

·         His new trick is blowing spit bubbles. He thinks it is so funny. Here is a picture of him at the doctor’s office blowing bubbles.

·         He has developed real tears and it breaks my heart. He really doesn’t cry often, but when he does it makes it so much worse now that he has big tear drops streaming down his face.

·         He is a drooling machine! Reed has never really spit up, so I haven’t had a need for the dozens of bibs I received. Thank goodness I hung onto them, because now that everything is going in his mouth the drool is everywhere!

·         He has a shyness to him that must come from Matt’s side of the family. If he is being held and doing his own thing and realizes that you are looking at him, he smiles  really big, giggles and then buries his head into your shoulder for a couple seconds before looking back.

I could go on and on and on – clearly. I love our little nugget and am so sad, scared and yet excited for this next stage in his life as he becomes less and less dependent on his mommy.

Four month stats:

Weight: 16 lb 14 oz (96^th percentile)

Height: 26” (86^th percentile)

Head Circumference: 44.5 cm (98^th percentile)

Clothes: 6-9 months

Diapers: Pampers Swaddlers Size 2

*I’ll post his official 4 mo photos from Sunday later tonight or tomorrow.

Cousins

If you know Matt and I well, you know that we want a big family. Matt is one of six kids and I am one of four. Together we have six nieces and five nephews. It was so great to bring Reed down to Texas and introduce him to the majority of his cousins. It was also a nice look into what it might be like to have more than one little rug rat running around the house. Here are just a couple of highlights I found funny:

·         While giving Reed a bath one night, Claire (almost 6) and Emma (just turned 9) came into the bathroom with Grandma. It was Claire’s first lesson in anatomy. She pointed to her private parts while looking at Reed and asked “what is that?” At that exact moment, Reed decided to turn on the fountain and pee. Matt’s mom said that is where boys pee from (clearly). Claire blushed, turned towards the door and said, “We should go, this is his private time.” Emma laughed and responded “Geez Claire he is just a baby.”

·         I was changing Reed’s diaper at my sister’s house and Ayden (4) trying to help ran and grabbed one of his Haley’s (16 months) diapers. He came running back, “Here Aunt Debbie, I brought a diaper for Baby Reed.”

·         After Reed’s baptism we were taking family pictures. Crystal got my attention just as she caught Haley red handed. Haley had seen Reed’s bottle in my diaper bag, she looked both ways to see if anyone was looking before taking the bottle and trying to get into it. Thank goodness she wasn’t successful. That would have been a little disturbing J

·         Haley also found a fascination with Reed’s paci. She would walk over to him, take it out of his mouth and then try to put it back in. It was like he was her little doll and he didn’t mind one bit!

·         When it was time to give Reed a bath at Crystal’s house, all hands were on deck. Both Ayden and Skyler (6) jumped in the tub to help. They would take the wash cloth and spread it out over his belly and then pick it up and start all over.

·         I had to give Reed nebulizer treatments for his RSV. When I pulled out the machine, Skyler stated “I know what that is, it is to get milk out. My mom has one too.”

·         The boys helped me give Reed the treatment which came in handy the next day when Skyler went to the dentist. The dentist had to give him laughing gas and Crystal said Skyler was so excited to get the same treatment that baby Reed was getting (because both were given with a mask).

·         Collin (3) was so excited to meet baby Reed and help out. He would check on him while we were in the car and couldn’t see him, he let Reed sleep in his old crib, he let Reed share his couch to watch morning cartoons, it was so cute to watch the two of them interact. We went shopping and Collin wanted to push the stroller. He would push it a couple feet and then come around the stroller to check on the baby. He would pop his head around and play peek-a-boo just to get Reed to smile.

·         Collin also had us take Reed into meet his daycare class. He was so eager to show off his cousin to his teachers and classmates.

There are so many more precious moments that I will cherish. It makes me sad that we don’t live closer and that he still has four cousins to meet. I only hope that it makes the time we spend with our families that much more important. Reed is only three months old, but this trip also made me even more excited to expand our family (in due time of course).

I'll get more pictures of the family up in the next couple days. Try getting this many kids under 7 to smile at the same time...

Two to Three Months

My little man is three months old today! Where has the time gone?

Since I have not done a great job of keeping up the blog since I went back to work, here are his two and three month stats.

Two month stats:

Weight: 14 lb. 3 oz.  (96^th percentile)

Height: 24” (86^th percentile)

Head Circumference: 16” (86^th percentile)

Clothes: 0-3 months

Diapers: Pampers Swaddlers Size 1

Three month stats (measured at home):

Weight: 15 lb. 4 oz.

Height: 25”

Head Circumference: n/a

Clothes: 3-6 months

Diapers: Pampers Swaddlers Size 2

On one hand, I cannot believe Reed is already three month old. On the other, I do not remember life without him. He is changing every day and keeps me on my toes.

·         He is a talker! He imitates every movement my mouth makes and tries to do the same. Every once in a while it truly sounds like he is saying hi, hello and even I love you. It is so fun to watch him try to communicate. He can coo for hours.

·         First virus down. We went home for his baptism this past weekend and the poor little guy just wasn’t himself. After two nights of no sleep, no smiles and terrible congestion we took him to the doctor. The doctor told us he had RSV and prescribed him albuterol nebulizer treatments. My heart broke to see him in so much pain and was glad that the treatments seemed to make it easier for him to breath. Plus, he looked so cute with the little duck mask on.

·         His smiles and giggles melt my heart. It doesn’t take much these days to get a smile out of him. If you smile at him he usually reciprocates. Even though it is more and more common, it still melts my heart every time. I can’t wait to see him every day just to see that big gummy grin.

·         He still can’t find his thumb. He tries so hard! His hands are always in his face and his mouth is wide open. He balls up both fists and then the search begins. You can hear his smacking away as he gets one close and then his glee turns into a frustrated grunt/cry when he realizes he just can’t figure it out. It cracks me up.

·         He already has the ladies drooling. Little Elizabeth (his daycare buddy) stops everything when Reed comes into the room. She rolls over to grab at him and hold his hand. If her mom is nursing her and she hears Reed she stops what she is doing to look for him. We are in trouble.

·         He loves “tubby time” as Erica has named it. Every night at 7ish we start his bedtime routine with a bath. It is his favorite time of the day. Even if he is tired and crabby at the end of a long day, we put him in the water and he starts swimming away. His eyes dart all over while his arms and legs flail and he giggles the entire time. He can spend up to 30 minutes in the tub just swimming away.

·         Reeds growth spurts have pushed him right out of the 0-3 month clothes and into the 3-6 month although since I see him every day I don’t always see the growth. I only know that my arms have more muscles than ever before.

·         We are still 100% breast feeding, but I don’t know how much longer we will be able to hold out. Now that he is three months old I am going to start traveling again for work and while I do have pumped milk stored up, I don’t know that it is enough. I really don’t want to introduce formula but I may not have a choice.

·         Manhattan Toys are his favorite. It is a brand that makes the best baby toys. It is the small things that give me so much joy. He has gone from not knowing what a toy is to grabbing and pulling them to his mouth. I pick him up and he still hangs on tight to his toys. It is so cute!

·         He now enjoys facing out. Just within the past two weeks he has made the transition. He now wants to see what is going on around him while still being close to his mommy. It makes life a lot easier now that I can sit at the table with him on my lap perfectly content.

·         He is a perfect traveler. He has now been on two long distance round trip flights. I don’t know if it is the movement of the plane or what, but he sleeps the whole time. The only challenge is when flying by myself trying to get all my belongings on the plane with only one hand!

Here are some pictures of his two and three month photo shoots J

Censored Bathtime

My sister Vicky flew up to Chicago last week to watch Reed during my first few days back at work. The first night I came upstairs just in time to help with bath time and putting him to sleep.

Who knew you don't need all the gadgets for a successful bathtime? Vicky had the tub filled with an inch or two of water and Reed was swimming away. He LOVED it!

Reed and Baby E

Reed started with the nanny this past Friday. It has been really hard on me, but he loves it! Nanny Ann sent this picture to me today.

How cute are they!! Reed loves spending the day playing with baby Elizabeth and I pick him up so happy. I even get to sneak over during the day to kiss and squeeze him.

Merry Christmas

Watch "Baby Reed Christmas" on YouTube

From our munchkin to yours! This was my attempt at catching Reed giggle. I was unsuccessful.

Reed: One Month

Everyone tells you to cherish every moment because the time flies by. It is an understatement. I cannot believe Reed celebrated his one month mile stone on December 11^th. I am posting this a week late because he didn’t have his doctor’s visit until this morning.

One month stats:

Weight: 12 lb. 1 oz.  (90^th percentile)

Height: 23” (75th percentile)

Head Circumference: 16” (75th percentile)

Clothes: 0-3 months

Diapers: Pampers Swaddlers Size 1

Reed has been such a blessing in our lives and amazes us in new ways everyday. It is hard to imagine life without this little guy. Yes, it was easier to do just about everything, but being responsible for someone else gives life so much more meaning. Here are a few milestones from the past month:

·    Reed is a champ when it comes to eating. He started breastfeeding in the hospital and hasn’t had too many hiccups since. We did have than one or two rough nights where I knew he was hungry but was so worked up that he wouldn’t eat. Thank goodness my mother-in-law was here to help me get through those nights. At three weeks we decided to introduce one bottle a day. Reed took the bottle immediately and loves his quality time with daddy. He eats A LOT (as you can tell by his weight gain!) He is gaining a pound a week!  During the day he feeds every two hours. It wasn’t until we started pumping/introduced the bottle that we realized how much he was getting during each of those feedings. He can down a 5 oz bottle in about 5 minutes and is ready for me (aka more milk) just 30 minutes later.

·    His sleeping patterns haven’t changed much. He sleeps on and off throughout the day. He takes a bottle from dad around 8PM and then we put him down between that feeding and 10PM. Most of the time he needs a topper from me to put him out for the night. Then he sleeps until 2 or 3 AM when he will wake up for another feeding and diaper change and goes back down. He is back up around 6 or 7 AM. I am ready for him to skip that middle of the night feeding. He has slept in his crib at night with no problem during the day, but we are far from napping there during the day.

·     I had to pack up Reeds newborn clothes this past week – tear. He is growing so fast!·    Every day he can entertain himself for longer periods of time on his play mat. He has been extremely alert from day one, but wanted to be held during that time. It has been nice to see him wake up from naps and not immediately cry to be held.

·    He doesn’t mind tummy time for the first 5 to 10 minutes or so. He has been able to lift his head for the past couple weeks and turn his head from side to side. He is getting so strong! Just yesterday I stood him up and he locked out his legs for a solid minute. It really is the little things that get me so excited.

·    He started smiling right before his one month birthday and even giggles every once in a while. It doesn’t happen very often, but I love when he makes eye contact and smiles at something I have done. Melts my heart every time!

·    He loves play dates and, as I’ve mentioned from a previous post, thanks to CMA he gets plenty of them.  I even took him to a see The Descendants at a local theatre that hosts a bi-weekly “Box Office Babies” event. We went with a couple other local moms. The theatre was packed with moms and babies with car seats and diaper bags littering the aisles. It was hysterical.

I don’t think I am cut out to be a stay at home mom, but I am really sad just thinking about leaving Reed to go back to work. I am thankful that we will get to ease back into it. More about that later – until then I am cherishing every minute I get with him!! Here are some pictures from his one month birthday December 11, 2011:

Charlestown Mothers Association

I love our neighborhood in Boston!

We choose Charlestown because it reminded us of Windsor, where we lived in England. It is a historical community along the freedom trail with sites like the Bunker Hill Monument, the Constitution and the Warren Tavern. It is also a short (less than a mile) walk or ferry ride to downtown Boston.

Now that we have Reed we have just one more reason to love it here, the Mothers Association. This morning, I attended a new mom's breakfast at a host mothers house a couple blocks away. More than a dozen mom's attended with their newborns. It was a great way to meet other moms with babies the same age as Reed.  A CMA board member was there and said that 10 to 15 babies are born in Charlestown each month!

I met some great ladies and was invited to a play group tomorrow afternoon. The mom hosting tomorrow even lives on our street and her son is 11 weeks old. I am excited to widen our circle of friends and hopefully meet some new friends for Reed.

CMA is how I met the family for our nanny share as well. Here is a picture of Reed and Elizabeth. E is two months older.

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Bath Time

Reed had his first bath this past weekend and did great – at least for the first half. As soon as Matt put him in the tub Reed started peeing straight up. It all happened so fast. Matt shrieked and jumped back. I was so concerned and asked what was wrong because I couldn’t see. Matt told me he was peeing, so I stepped forward to cover the stream with my hand so it didn’t go all over the bathroom. I couldn’t stop laughing at Matt’s reaction. To his credit, it was the first time Reed had peed on him, and it has already become a regular occurrence for me. Even with the WeeWee Tepee’s.

As you can see from the pictures below, Reed really liked the first few minutes of warm water, but that only lasted a few minutes. Lesson learned, we have only about 5 minutes to get him in and out before he has a meltdown. Overall, it was a success and all worth it to see him wrapped up in the froggy towel.

1 Week Visit

I can't believe Reed is already nearly two weeks old. Time passed so slowly the last few weeks of my pregnancy and now it is flying by.

Reed was born weighing 7 lbs 7 oz. Last Monday at our doctors visit, he was down to 7 lbs 1 oz. He has been nursing like a champ and it shows. Today he was up to 8 lbs 4 oz!

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Birth Story

For the last 9 months, Matt and I have anticipated the day we would get to meet our little bundle of joy. On November 11, 2011 Reed Stewart Tuel decided it was time to meet his parents. It was an experience I wasn’t quite prepared for and the moment they put him on my chest, I knew my life would be changed forever. Let’s start from the beginning.

As we all know, I honestly thought Reed would come early. Possibly even as early has Halloween. As we started getting closer to the due date, I tried everything to speed up the process:

·         An eggplant parmesan recipe that women swear induces labor – fail

·         Pineapple and Mango smoothies – fail

·         Long walks – Fail

·         Chiropractor Visit – Fail

·         Raspberry Leaf Tea – Fail

·         Massage Therapy – Fail

·         “Marital Relations” – Fail

·         Acupressure…

Reed stood his ground and refused to cave into my wishes for an early delivery. He was on his own timeline. On November 9, 2011 my mother-in-law flew in for a 10 day visit to meet baby Reed, but she would just have to join the waiting game with Matt and me as the due date came and went. Thursday November 10^th, Carol and I started the day at the grocery store to pick up all the ingredients we would need to make meals to freeze for after her visit was over. Then we were off to Bella Sante salon in Back Bay for a relaxing massage. My therapist was amazing! Although she informed me that she was trained to stay away from pressure points that would induce labor. I asked her if those really work, and she swore by them. Midway through, she said if I really wanted to go into labor she would show me the pressure points that Matt could try on me that night. Of course, I wanted to know all the details. She proceeded to grab my knee until it hurt. She then shook it side to side while holding the points and told me that Matt should do that to each knee a couple times. I swear, while she was doing that I felt little Reed flip over! (He was face up and my doctor said all he needed to do was flip over and that would cause him to drop and me to go into labor)

A few hours later, Carol and I were in the kitchen cooking away when my back started bothering me. I assumed it was because when Reed flipped he must be putting a new pressure on my back. I took a couple breaks, but cooked through it. At dinner my back pain continued to get worse and I had a hard time eating, but still didn’t think much of it. After dinner it was time for Matt to test out the pressure points I was sure were going to work. He squeezed behind my ankles and I immediately felt like I needed to rush to the bathroom. I couldn’t go to the bathroom, but did notice I was bleeding and the back pain got stronger as I sat there. A couple rounds of that and I realized at about 8:30PM I was in fact having contractions. We didn’t even wait to time them for an hour but called the hospital and they said to come on in.

We got the Brigham Women’s hospital at 9:30 PM and were sent to triage. I was at 6 cm dilated and immediately admitted to labor and delivery. About thirty minutes later, the epidural was in and I was ready to go! By midnight I was already at 9 cm and thinking we were almost ready. Unfortunately, progress stopped there.  At 4 AM my doctor decided to give me a little Pitocin to speed up my contractions and push me to 10 cm. It worked and at 4:30 we started pushing. Matt was a trooper encouraging me every step of the way. It was a rough two hours, but finally at 6:22 my precious little angel was placed on my chest with his gigantic hands reaching for me, his mommy. The emotions that took over at that moment were crippling. I love this little nugget of perfection more than I could ever imagine. Just the sight of him brings tears to my eyes. I still can’t believe we created him and he is all ours. What an amazing experience and it is only the beginning!

I am so excited for what the future holds for our family. This is just the beginning and I am loving every minute of it!

Reed Stewart Tuel – 11/11/11– 7lbs 7oz – 20” long

Belly Growth

It is crazy to take a look back at the growth of little baby Reed!

Week 13 - My first "bump" sighting. Looking back, it doesn't really look like much of a bump.

At 29 weeks I threw on the same outfit and tried to recreate the picture at home.

 Yesterday, at 39 weeks, I recreated it one last time. Wow have I - I mean has he - gotten big!

Belly Business - 39 weeks

Well, I'm still pregnant. Baby Reed seems to be on his own timeline.

This past Friday I woke up and could barely walk. It felt like I had spent the past 24 hours riding a bike. I called the doctors office and they assumed it was due to the baby dropping. I was so excited that we might be making progress.

No such luck. My 39 week appointment went the same as 37 and 38 - he hasn't dropped, I'm not dialated, no progress! So we keep waiting...

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Every 4 Years

Summer 2002 - Matt and I met through one of my college roomates Alycia

June 20, 2003 - Matt and I officially started dating

(Just thought I would throw this picture in because it is funny. Chili Cookoff 2003)

October 2003 - We added our first "baby" Chance to the mix

March 2007 - We added our second "baby" Luke to the family

(I couldn't find a baby picture of him)

May 27, 2007 - Matt and I married in the Dominican Republic

November 2011 - We are adding our third "baby" Reed to the family

(Me and my three baby boys cuddled up)

Looks like we have a pattern of expanding the family every four years...

Belly Business - 38 Weeks

Baby Reed could be here any day now! I cannot believe that his due date is just 14 days away. Matt and I are both ready for him to make his grand appearance and hold him in our arms.

Doctors Visit Update: While we are ready for Reed, he doesn’t seem quite ready for us. My doctor said he has dropped a little bit since last week, but not much. She could easily feel his head so he is in the right position. I am not dilated at all. She said that if she was a betting woman she would bet that he is going to wait until his due date or later. I gained a pound and a half since last week putting the total weight gain at 27 lbs.

Baby Showers: I haven’t had the time to post on here about my showers, but have put most of the pictures on Facebook (plus most of those reading this blog attended them). I had two amazing showers in Texas and feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many friends and family even if they are nearly 1,800 miles away. This past weekend, my girlfriends in Boston threw me my last shower. They all pitched in to make it an incredible afternoon. They even had Reed Hot Sauce and custom cigars for the gift bags!

Belly Shots: I have been taking week by week pictures for the blog of my growing belly, but I really wanted to get one or two good bare belly shots for Reed’s baby book. So last night, I hung a black wrap dress up as a back drop and had Matt take a couple pictures. What do you think?

Daddy & Reed:

Nanny Update: We hired a Nanny today! If you remember, a couple months back I blogged about our childcare options here in the city. We are doing a nanny share with another family that lives right down the road. Essentially, we hired a nanny that will watch both of our babies together and the cost is split between both families. Anne (the other mother) had her little girl, Elizabeth, nearly 7 weeks ago and is going back to work at the same time as me. Anne and I started looking for a nanny at the beginning of the month through Sittercity.com. First we visually screened the applicants, then phone interviewed about half a dozen and finally met live with our favorite three.

We decided to go with Ann (the nanny) because she has an Associates in Early Childhood Education and a Bachelors in Human Development. She knew more than Anne or I put together on developmental stages and what activities are best for what ages. She is more than just a babysitter, but eager to help Reed and Elizabeth grow and develop over the next couple years. On Monday we sent over the employment contract and she accepted this morning! It is a huge weight off my shoulders and I am so excited that we found such a great fit for both of our families.

All that being said, Reed we are ready for you whenever you are ready for us!

(Today before heading out in the rain)