{one month}

One month...oh where, oh where does the time go?  They weren't kidding when they said time flies faster the second time around.  I cannot believe Quincey is one month old already!  I know each month I will be saying the same thing, but really how can it be???

Here is his one month photo and a photo of him with his big sister.

 

 
I have to say, this may be the last photo you ever see of the two of them together...ever! lol  Lets just say it's no walk in the park trying to get a decent photo of an infant and an uncooperative 3 year old.  Oh well...at least I have a photo of them together, right? :-) 

We still haven't gotten into a day-to-day groove yet.  Quincey is still all over the place with eating and sleeping.  I'm not going to lie, I'm exhausted.  I have a major case of sleep deprivation, which has definitely taken a toll on my emotions and most of all my patience.  It's amazing how much lack of sleep can drastically affect the way you respond to a given situation versus when you are fully rested and in your right state of mind.  I don't feel like myself and I can't stand it.  Kaydence is the one taking the brunt of it, which is the last thing I wanted to happen after adding a new member to the family.  So, to put it all out there, we are struggling a bit.  Kaydence has been such an amazing big sister, so helpful and understanding when I can't help her with something because I'm nursing or changing her brother.  She has shown no signs of jealousy or resentment towards her brother or us and for that I'm so grateful.  However, as every parent of a three year old knows, this is such a fragile time of discovery for them.  Discovery of their voice that is.  Ah yes, we have officially entered the world of "back-talking."  Fun times.  So with my lack of sleep, and my patience hanging in the balance, I haven't exactly responded to those situations in the way I know that's best.  It's like I know what I *should* say or do, but my emotions get the better of me and it's like watching a train wreck.  So with that said, I'm hitting the reset button this weekend and starting fresh next week.  I really want my Kaydence back and I know she really wants her mama back, so it will be going back to basics for us next week.  We have nothing on our calendar and I'm keeping it that way.  The last two weeks we have been running here and running there to various playdates/classes and I feel the pressure to get out of the house at a certain time every day is taking its toll on us.  So no plans next week.  We're just going to try and figure this all out together.

As many of you know, Teirney and I are strong supporters of the principles we've learned through a parenting course we enrolled in called Positive Parenting Solutions.  We have taken the course and have learned some invaluable tools that we have already found effective in this journey we call parenting.  Amy McCready, the founder and president, has also authored the book called "If I Have to Tell You One More Time..."  The book is just as excellent as the parenting course and has become our "go to" resource for how to handle tough situations.  I cannot even begin to tell you how this program has changed our lives for the better.  I know I sound like I'm trying to sell this program/book, but it's only because we've seen how effective the principles are when applied correctly. 

I came across the program last year when Kaydence was going through her hitting phase and we were at a loss for how to address it.  We enrolled in the program, and after applying the principles (and corresponding directly with Amy McCready on how to handle the situation), the problem was corrected in a matter of weeks.  In addition, we have established a way to go about our daily routines that has fostered a very compliant child for the most part.  However, as with everything related to toddlers/children, they don't just learn it and do it and everything is peachy-keen for the rest of your lives (don't we wish -- lol).  It's a continual training process, which requires consistency and reinforcement on the parents' part.  So we have had some relapses because we (as parents) have slacked off a bit at times, so then we go back to the basics and do some re-training and we always get back on track.  So that is where we are at right now. 

With being so busy before Quincey was born, and then even more so after, we have definitely slacked on our part in dealing with certain situations correctly, so now it's time to regroup, start over, and hope we find ourselves in that happy place again.  If any of you are struggling with a strong-willed child, or just need a resource for those day-to-day run ins we all experience with our children, I highly recommend this book (and the program if you're able to afford it).  I wish  I could hand this book out like candy to every parent I meet just because it has been such an amazing life saver for us.  I am so grateful that God has placed Amy McCready in this world to share these tools with parents like us...I don't know what we would do without her!  Ok, off my soup box now. lol  But seriously, go check it out!

Moving on...

Quincey is growing like a weed!  At his first appointment with the pediatrician after he was born, he weighed 6lbs, 4oz (10%), was 20 1/2 inches (75%), and his head circumference was 33cm (10%).  When we took him for a weight check a few days later, he was 6lbs, 8oz.  She then told us we didn't need to come back for another two weeks.  So we went back when he was 3 weeks old and he weighed 8lbs, .5oz.  Our pediatrician was thrilled and so were we.  She told us we didn't need to come back until he was 2 months.  However, I did need to bring him in to get something else checked out last week (4 weeks) and he weighed 8lbs, 12oz.  Yay!  Our little 6lb, 10oz baby is growing bigger by the day!  His newborn sleepers are already getting tight on him.  I can't believe it because Kaydence seemed to stay in those for a much longer time.  I think he must be longer than Kaydence was at this point.  They won't measure his length again until his 2 month appointment, so we will find out then.

Quincey is such a good baby boy...so sweet and snuggly.  I finally got a snuggle bug!  He doesn't really cry unless he has a belly ache/gas bubble.  Other than that, he is as content as content can be.  He sleeps so much right now and is sleeping well at night too.  He just wakes up frequently to eat and as every new mom knows, you can't just do a quick feed and then put them straight back to bed.  The entire process takes at least an hour (if not more depending on whether or not they have a gas bubble, etc.).  You feed them, you burp them, you change them, rock them and put them back to bed.  So even though he sleeps well between feedings, the actual amount of time that I get to sleep is limited when he wakes up every 2 hours to eat.  Around his second week, he was giving me 4 hours between feedings at night, but then he went to 3 hours, and then to 2 hours.  Now we are back to 3 hours.  I did have a couple nights where he gave me 5 hours and that was like heaven, but it seemed to be short lived.

We moved Quincey to his crib at 2 1/2 weeks and we gave him a bottle for the first time when he was one day short of three weeks.  He took it like a champ and has been taking one bottle a day since.  Teirney always gives it to him at night at either the 8:00/8:30 feeding or the 11:00/11:30 feeding.  Like I said, we still haven't figured out a good routine for bedtime with him yet (sometimes he eats at 7:00 p.m. and sometimes 9:00 p.m. and he doesn't have a set bedtime yet or anything).  I feel like it was so easy with Kaydence -- maybe because we didn't have to juggle another child's bedtime with hers?  I don't know.  It just seems like she fell into a really good rhythm and routine right away, but maybe that's all in my head.  I wish I would have written down what her actual daily schedule was...it would be helpful to look back on right now.  It's amazing how much you forget.  Oh well.  

I apologize that this post ended up being a novel, but I just wanted to document some of this stuff for my own records.  If you've made it this far, you must be a dear friend...bless your heart! <3<3<3  I hope I can write again soon and post more photos.  I'm still working on the photos from the actual birth, so I hope to get those done soon so I can post them before he is a year old. :-)