Connor's First Tub Bath and Little Grunts

15 Days Old

I survived my first 2 days flying solo with Connor. I woke up on Friday completely exhausted. I think night after night of interrupted sleep finally caught up to me. However, Connor was great and we were able to sleep in a little bit together in our big bed. Friday evening, the Jacksons came to visit. It was great to catch up with them and anticipate their new addition that will be arriving this spring!Mitsy and Toonces have really warmed up to the baby and I think they've forgiven us for making them secondary to Connor. Mitsy is very attentive when Little C cries and will even come downstairs (if she is up) to check on him if he cries for very long. Then she immediately looks at me like she is saying "Hello...he is obvioulsy upset...fix it!" She also likes to lay in the storage part of his bouncer/infant seat whether Connor is in the top or not. Toonces steers clear of the crying baby, but likes to snuggle when he naps. Of course we don't let her get too too close and it she is usually curled up with one of us too, but it is still very sweet to see them together.Connor really isn't going bald in the back.....but it sure looks like it in this picture.

Michael Kaczka came to the hosue Saturday evening and got to witness Connor's first tub bath. I'd originally planned to give him the bath earlier in the day, but I ran out of time and certainly didn't want Michael to have to hold a filthy baby. So, we were happy to share this milestone in Connor's life with him. He really did amazingly well. No screaming or anything excessive. We took a short little video, but out of respect for our little man's privacy, I won't subject him to that sort of publicity. :) The funniest part of the bath was not caught on camera. At the very end when I was about to get him out, the bath turned into a little fountain....heheh. As Michael said, it won't be the last time he pees in the bath/shower. It was just so dang cute!Not so sure about this whole bath thing.

Our long-legged little guy did a GREAT job!

After Connor was all clean, of course I was happy to pass him off to Michael. He slept for quite a while and then got a little fussy....and the grunting began. A few days ago he starting grunting after he eats. It is so difficult to tell what he wants. Is he still hungry, does he need to burp, does he have a dirty diaper? Recently, after a series of grunts and throwing his head around, the inconsolable crying begins. If the 3 things above are all addressed, it is extremely frustrating not to be able to calm him down. This afternoon he started up again and Brian and I were at a loss for what to do. After about 45 mintues of off-and-on screams, we heard an explosion in his diaper. After that, he was GREAT. However, Brian happened to be holding him at the time and the "explosion" went out the top of the diaper, onto his outfit, the swaddling blanket and then Brian's shirt. What can I say, the little guy is powerful! I am truly amazed at the amount of laundry a baby can produce! When I know I'm not leaving the house, I've just been wearing Brian's undershirts and I likely smell like spit-up most of the time. Speaking of spit-up....we've both witnessed it coming out of his nose. I'd heard about that, but didn't really believe it until I saw it happen...poor little guy!

Brian and I are obviously totally in love with our little guy. This whole parenting thing is certainly a learning process for us all, but eventually I think we'll get a good grasp on everything. We treasure his happy, alert times and are thankful when he is sleeping peacefully. There is nothing quite as sweet as a sleeping baby that waves an arm or stretches. When Connor is not so peaceful it breaks our hearts and wears us out, but we know it is just part of the process.

Overall, the state of the Nealon house is great.