OOOPS!!

Spoke too soon on this sleeping thing.

Status Quo

Things are going well in the Palomba family. As you know I am back to work now and so I've been back "in the swing of things" for two weeks. It was very difficult to leave the house on the first day, and is still a little sad each morning when I leave. But there were only tears on Day 1. :) I have found that I am so busy at work that the day flies by and before I know it I am back with my little boy. And I just LOVE my evenings now. Bathtime is my favorite - Max loves taking baths and he usually just sits there, splashes around, and smiles at me the whole time. :)

Maxon has been sleeping 8-9 hours at night, usually straight through, but there are some nights when he'll wake up at 3 or 4 am and not want to go back to sleep. Those nights are tough - well, the next day is tough I should say. (Although I am so blessed - Nick helps out a lot when those nights come around).

So anyway, things are good and just status quo right now. My goal for this next week is to figure out how to work in a workout into my evening schedule. I've got to get back to being active here, and it has been very difficulty to fit something in between feedings, preparing for the next day, bathtime, putting Max to bed, dishes, laundry, etc. And I only have one child now, what will I ever do when we have more???!!! I'll give that some time I think... :)

Talking Up a Storm!

Here are some videos of Max "talking" to his mommy & daddy!



Click on these links to see the videos on you tube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFGbREWprsc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEFITgp51wg

3 months

Maxon is 3 months old today and is doing great. At his last doctors appointment he had gained 1 lb 4 oz in only 3 weeks. He has started to smile a lot, he turns to look for a familiar voice (especially mommy's), he is starting to grab at objects or a blanket laid over him, and he coos and squeals all the time while playing. As you can see by the pictures, we have had a busy month: Max was baptized on March 21st and his grandma, grandpa, and Uncle Ken came from Michigan to visit that same week. He had a great time with them. While they were here we took our first trip to the beach with him, went out to eat a bunch, and he got lots of quality time with gram and gramp. And I discovered that Uncle Ken is a natural with babies - who knew? I was surprised how Ken was so comfortable holding Maxon and moving him around to different positions. You would've thought Ken had experience with babies when Max is actually the smallest baby he has ever held. Anyway, back to what has been going on this past month. Max and I went on a trip to the zoo with some families from our church, Max has been having a lot of fun playing with his cousins (they are all so great with him), and Max also went swimming in the pool with his daddy.

With the sleeping at night, we have been making very slow progress. He consistently gives us about 5-5.5 hours of sleep in one stretch, will wake up to be fed, and then goes back to sleep for another 2-3 hours. It isn't terrible, and I am at least thankful for the 5.5 hour stretch. Our biggest problem has been that he will not fall asleep in his crib. He will only fall asleep when held and then we have to lay him in his crib after he is asleep - which can be exhausting for us especially when it takes anywhere from minutes to 2 hours for him to fall asleep. And most of the time during the day, he will wake up 20 minutes after being laid in his crib and only takes catnaps. However, funny story: I talked to some friends last night who have a son 1 month older than Max. They were telling me how well their son sleeps through the night and that they let him cry a little. We have not really let Maxon cry more than 5 minutes before we go in to pick him up, per the pediatrician's recommendation. Well, I have been pretty exhausted lately, and after hearing what my friends had to say, we decided to try to let him cry a little for the first time today. I told Nick that I was giving him a 15 minute cut-off: that I would let him cry 15 minutes and if he didn't stop I would go in and get him. Well, Max cried for 14 minutes and is now sound asleep. He has been sleeping now for 40 minutes, one of the longest daytime naps he has taken in his crib. And, even more hilarious, Nick was cooking and set off the smoke alarm twice during this nap and Maxon did not wake up! Wow! Maybe we'll try this again. :)

So, all in all, things are going well. I have one more week off with him and then I return to work full time on April 12. I have been preparing myself mentally for this and think it will all be okay. I will love seeing him in the evening hours and on weekends, and will try not to feel too guilty about leaving him during the day. But I know that we all need to do what we need to do and that is that. Also, it is very helpful to know that I will be leaving him with someone who loves him - his Aunt Jen has offered to help us out and watch him for several weeks until she has her baby (her sixth). (She is definitely qualified). :) We also have some friends who are going to help us out from when Aunt Jen has her baby until I am out for the summer. Then I have the summer off with Max. We are very blessed to have all this help.

Alright that is all for now, I will post more pictures soon!