It's unreal how fast Owen went from a sleepy eyed, squished up newborn, to a squirmy, grabby baby. This first post of mine will be a quick summary of his first 5 months.
- Birth - Owen surprised us and decided to make his debut into the world 3 weeks early on December 13th at 11:10a.m. He was very ready to be here, he weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces and measured 21" long. My labor and delivery was the most difficult but the most rewarding thing I have ever endured. When I saw him, all I could think was, "that's my baby.." I have never felt like more of a hero than I did when I finally had him in my arms.
- First 3 Months - I am going to group these months together because honestly, they are such a blur or visitors, clumsy breastfeeding, and diaper changes. My favorite memory of this time is having him curled up and sleeping on my chest. I hardly put him down, I just loved to hold him (and still do). His umbilical cord stump fell off only 5 days after we brought him home from the hospital. Gary is the one that found it, it was during a night time diaper change and he thought it was a poop. (Just a quick night time diaper change story.. it was 2a.m. and I was up and changing his diaper. When I took the dirty diaper off, he made a little fart. Then he let out this huge wave of poo that hit me right below my neck and sprayed all the way down to my thigh. I had NO idea what to do as I was covered in poo, and it was dark. I had to wake up Gary to help me get the mess cleaned up. Wasn't funny then, but I think it's hilarious now!) When he was 3 weeks old we gave him his first tub bath. I was really worried that he was going to cry the whole time, but he didn't make a peep. He has always really liked his baths. When he was 2 months old he went for his first round of immunizations and I was completely horrified. I cried when he cried. I know it's silly, I know it's just shots, but I hated to see him in pain.
- Fourth Month - This month was a huge change for me. I remember picking him up and looking at him and thinking, "Wow, I finally know who he is." Before it was just a big guessing game, but during the 4th month I started to realize what he needed when he was crying. I figured out which comfort techniques worked best for him. And finally, this is the month he smiled at us. That smile to show us that we were making him happy. It became a contest to see who could get him to smile again. Actually, he smiled at Gary first and Gary was also the only one he would smile at for awhile. By the end of the month though, he was freely giving smiles to worthy people.
- Fifth Month - This was a big month for him! He giggled for the first time for me! I have to admit I was jealous of Gary for getting the first smile, but when I got that first giggle, that made up for it! He learned how to roll over and he started teething. On May 28th, he cut his first tooth (the bottom, front left one) and got into his first car accident (no one was hurt). On June 6th, he cut his second bottom tooth. I can't explain how precious that two-toothed baby smile is.. He also really enjoyed being outside. He loves to touch the grass, swing on the swing, and lay on our hammock. He got really good at grabbing things, and he loves to jump in his jumparoo. He also developed quite an interest in animals, especially our dog Tuck. All Tuck has to do is look at him and Owen breaks out in a huge smile and the occasional giggle.
