Month One Memories

There are a few moments from the past month I might try to forget (hormonal crying, sleep deprivation, etc.) but for the most part I feel like there are precious minutes that I fear will slip away from my memory if I don't write about them. For starters, Roman is exceptionally strong. (Doctor's opinion, not biased mom's.) And he is a fighter, kicking and squirming and throwing his head (which he can control already) around, prompting Joy to buy him a bunch of swaddlers and proclaim dealing with Roman is like wrestling monkeys. So for now it is sticking. I don't know if I have called him Roman enough times to count on one hand, it's just Monkey. My crazy little Monkey <3 Oh and about how strong the Monkey is, he is also rolling from side to side. I know NOTHING about babies, but this seems to impress those who do! Roman has already outgrown several newborn outfits, but only lengthwise. So most of the time he has on enormous outfits that fit just right down to his big feet. The boy's socks are all too short, but loose. He also enjoys clawing his own face with his massive hands, which do not look like baby hands at all. It is just like he has four year old hands or something. Looks wise, he definitely favors Warren, but as he picks up weight in his cheeks he looks more like me. I don't know how I feel about that fact, kinda feels like I am insulting myself! He has Warren's mouth and I often see Warren in the faces that he makes. That is my favorite Roman activity. Watching the faces he makes, usually right after he eats. I need to videotape it-not because anyone else would care to see it, but just for me! When he was about a week old we just woke up one morning and his eyes looked different. They had magically developed that under eye puffy thing that people with deep set eyes have. That is also Warren, I don't have deep set eyes. I guess I never wrote much about the first two weeks. First of all, the hospital. Ick. If we have any more children I am pretty sure I want to have a home birth. It really wasn't that bad, and as a first time mom it was nice having the nurses checking on you and getting everything for you. The on staff pediatrician at Clark was awful. She acted as if we were irresponsible idiots for declining some of the newborn care procedures that are completely unnecessary. As if I did not thoroughly research every decision before I made it. She is also the one who made us stay the second night. Ugh. Once we were home, I could not have made it without Joy. She was here for a week feeding us, running errands, cleaning, and doing everything for us so we could take care of Roman. There was a lot of crying that first week. Mostly because of breastfeeding, which was an epic fail. I tried different positions, products, met with a lactation consultant, everything. There just seemed to be too many cards stacked against me. The pain was unbearable and made me not even want to hold Roman for fear he would want to nurse. Then on top of that, the poor boy wasn't getting enough milk. Which I learned makes newborns lethargic, not crying. So he was too tired to eat, making him be more tired. Finally, he was so out of it we couldn't get him to wake up at all, even after undressing him, clapping, singing, and tickling his feet. That's when we popped open the formula. I am still pumping, but chalking it up to an epic fail was my turnaround point of tears stopping and me being a happy mama. After Joy left, my first week by myself started off well. By day two I had things pretty down pat. I complained to Ashley of being bored in the afternoon! Then that night I got a fever. After it reached 102.5, I went to the doctor the next morning (causing Warren to miss yet another day of work) and I had mastitis. By the next day everything was fine though and it's been going pretty smoothly ever since. Minus a few disastrous bodily function episodes! But I think that just comes with the territory.
This week was an adventurous week. My goal for the week was to get him to sleep, especially for naps when I am here by myself, without being held. That was successful. Kristen 1, Roman 0. He is also now spending an hour or so on his playmat listening to Children's Folk Music on Pandora. We also made our first trip out together. The day he was three weeks old we went to Target. Woo-hoo! The cute thing was that when we were there a lady was looking at Roman and asked me how old he was. "Three weeks today," I replied. She asked if it was our first trip out and I told her that indeed it was. She said, "Let me tell you something. 27 years ago, on the day my baby was three weeks old we made our first trip out and it was to Target." Today I think Warren and I might try to take him to the grocery for the first time. Sounds terrible. Roman celebrated his first St. Patrick's Day on Thursday. We went to Christie and Ian's (Roman's first trip to someone's house!) and had a delicious dinner. Also, being that it is March Maddness we have had many UK outfit photo ops.
As far as being at home, I don't really like it right now. I guess it will get better when he is older, but right now I get REALLY bored. The weather is getting nicer, and he is getting older, so hopefully we can start getting out more. I am really bad at talking to him when we are here all day too. I try, because I know it is good for him, but it is a struggle for me to try to talk to someone who neither understands, nor can respond. The flip side of this, is that me and that boy are bonded. When his belly hurts, I am the only person he will calm down for. I know weird little tricks to take care of him. It makes me sad for Warren, because I know he hates leaving everyday, but at the same time I would be lying if I said I didn't like Roman needing his mama.
Warren's mom is coming back today for work/a visit. While she is here I want to try to get some family photos of us. Amazingly, a lot has changed in the two weeks since she left. No more tears, Roman is fattening up and more lively, we are capable of feeding ourselves, all sorts of accomplishments. Yeah, be impressed :)