Category — baby

We took Leo to Sears Portrait Studio for his first professional photo shoot last week when he was about 5 1/2 weeks old.

I had been tracking his sleep schedule for several days and intentionally scheduled the photoshoot for 3pm knowing that he had been wide awake and happy the past few days at that time. But, of course, not on picture day… instead he was sound asleep when we arrived.

Brandon and I poked and prodded and tickled and jostled, but to no avail. Leo did not want to wake up. When we were able to get him to open his eyes (after we stripped him down to just his diaper), he was crying and fussy the majority of the time until he fell back to sleep.

After about a half-hour, the photographer announced, “I think we’ve got it.” And of course, within 2 minutes of that announcement Leo decided to wake up and become the bright-eyed happy boy that he usually is.

At first I was a little disappointed, but after I saw the proofs I felt better. The photographer was still able to capture a few with Leo awake and there were several good options to choose from. It’s probably best that Leo hadn’t been too cute, because I probably would have ended up spending a fortune!

Leo and I traveled down to Seminole, Oklahoma with my parents to visit my sister Amy for a long weekend from April 18-20. We didn’t tell Amy that Leo & I were coming, so it was a huge surprise as I pulled Leo’s car seat out of the car and she saw us for the first time. She screamed, “Leo’s here!”

Leo was such a great traveler! We were in the car for about 5 1/2 hours each way, and he barely cried a peep – thanks mainly to grandma who sat in the backseat beside Leo so she could soak up some baby-time.

On the ride home, grandma got a little more than she bargained for as she changed Leo’s diaper on her lap … he pooped all over her! Luckily we were in the parking lot of a Brahm’s and she had an extra change of clothes handy, so she was able to go inside and get cleaned up pretty quickly.

The worst part of the trip had to be the preparation and all of the packing. Who would have know that such a little guy would require so much stuff for a 3-day stay! In the end, I did a good job estimating what he’d need and packing stuff for him. But, not so good for myself as I forgot to pack any warm clothes and, of course, it was cold and rainy pretty much the whole time we were there!

We had a great trip, but I’m still not sure we’ll be planning any other out-of-state ventures anytime soon.

Leo is officially 4 weeks old today, and he is growing like a weed (albeit a cute, lovable one)!

He has officially outgrown all of outfits that were size 3-months, so we had to make a shopping trip yesterday to pick up some 6-months sleepers. I hope they will last a little longer.

Leo’s really starting to develop a great little personality. He’s very laid back, and doesn’t spend much time crying.

Over the last week Leo’s eyes have started focusing in on objects and he studies them for awhile (including mommy & daddy). He loves ceiling fans and can stare at them for long periods of time, even if they aren’t moving! He’ll make the funniest range of faces when he’s looking at his “ceiling fan buddies”. I like to pretend that he’s holding conversations with them – sometimes he’ll smile and almost break into a giggle, and other times he’ll scrunch up his face and give a tough guy look.

Leo’s also started “talking” to us. He’s gotten pretty consistent at making sounds other than crying. Usually they are vowel sounds, but he’ll also throw out the occasional grunt, babble or squeal of delight (usually at the ceiling fan).

We’ve really started to put emphasis on making sure Leo gets a little tummy time each day so he can strengthen his neck and upper body muscles. Unfortunately, Leo isn’t really a fan of tummy time. He usually gets pretty frustrated after about 5 minutes because he’s not able to move around the way he wants to. He’s pretty good about being able to pick his head up to a 45 degree angle, and can hold it for awhile. But he struggles at turning his head over to look the other way. We’ve only had success with him doing it twice so far. But his little legs are very active the whole time he’s on his belly – they are ready to crawl!

A few days ago Brandon finally got a chance to feed little Leo as we introduced his first bottle. Both dad and Leo did a great job, just like they’d been doing it for years. Leo drank two ounces of milk and Brandon completed the job without any help from me (despite the fact that I was hovering over them, you know, just in case…).

At the next feeding time, Leo converted right back to his regular breastfeeding routine, just as if the bottle never happened. I shouldn’t have been surprised – my big boy is an eater, no matter where it comes from!

Now we’re now trying to give Leo a bottle twice a day and starting to establish a routine that will work after I return to jhP from maternity leave.

Here’s a video Brandon shot while feeding.

Tonight Brandon and I collaborated to give Leo his first “official” bath. I say official, because technically we have already given him one – there was an explosive poop situation a few days ago when grandma Gillespie was still saying with us. But we’re considering this to be his first bath because we actually had time to setup the baby bathtub in the sink and think the whole thing through.

Leo seemed to really enjoy the bath experience! He didn’t cry until we took him out and he started getting chilly while we were drying him off. I think that bath time will become one of his favorite things to do soon – I can hardly wait until he’s old enough to start playing with some of the bath toys that we’ve got.

Kudos to Brandon for taking lots of great photos! It will be an experience that we’ll be able to remember and appreciate for a long time. : )