Happy 2 Months

Collin turned 2 months on Monday, but I was waiting until his 2 month appointment to write this blog entry because I was so curious regarding his weight and height.  

I feel like he has grown so much since 1 month.

Weight 13 pounds 0 ounces  75%
Height  23 7/8 inches  75%
Head Cir-  15 3/4 inches  75%

Your eyes are still blue which I am loving!

You hair is starting to come in at the top of your head but I can't really tell if it is going to be strawberry blond like the back of your head or lighter. 

But the best thing ever is you are starting to have some personality and smile all the time.

Two weeks ago you really started making those baby noises that I have come to love.

Sleep: Going down at 8 pm and waking up at 3-4 am, and then sleeping till 8 am.

Still our little champion!
Last night you slept from 8 pm to 5 am!  Yes you rock!

Food:All breast milk- up tp 36 ounces a day- yes you are a moose! 

Favorite activity: Either tummy time or playing in your bouncer with you music toy bar.  

1-2 months was a busy time for you with lots of first and fun.

1st Airplane Ride

1st Wedding

1st time meeting his Great Grandparents and Great Aunt's/Uncle's on my side

1st Real Smile

1st time at Mommy's work

1st Babysitting by Granny and Grampy so we could go out on Date Day

1st Roll Over  on a pillow 

1st Winery Trip 

Paradise Spring winery in Clifton

Multiple outing with mom and her friends

You no longer cry at all during bath time, which I hope means that you might tolerate the pool when it opens.  

You have started to suck on your hand and grasp items occassionally on your toy bar.  

Things that have not changed-

You still love your activity mat and being read to- we are going to need to get more board books as your dad and I could recite some of them.

You still love tummy time on Mommy!

 Up coming events for three month

Library Time

Baptism Weekend
Meeting your Uncle for the first time

1st Mother's Day

Visit to UVA

1st Pool Trip

1st sleep over with Granny and Grampy
(AKA first night without mom and dad)

Completing "My After Bug Arrives List"

Prior to the arrival of bug, I sat down and made a list of things that I wanted to complete while on Maternity Leave as I knew I would have a little more time to take care of these things before going back to work.

So here was my list and yes I did put specifics in because in case something happened to me or Joe needed numbers to reference, I wanted it to be very easy for him.   Which actually became very helpful because the first two weeks he was a big help when I was readmitted to the hospital.

Things to do once Baby OH is here:

• Send out mass email-  Draft Saved on Laura’s Gmail
• Contact healthcare to add to plan
• Contact Pediatrician’s office for 1st visit
• Children’s Medical Associates of Northern VA  10657 Braddock Road  Fairfax VA 22032  703-691-4700,  Fax  703-691-4791
• Contact work and update benefits due to change of life event
• Contact Baby Photographer
• Order Birth Announcements
• Shutterfly- Saved as Birth Announcement under my Account
• Labels already made and in label folder
• Contact Church to confirm Baptism Date 202-903-2806  hflanagan@trinity.org
• Order Baptism Announcements
• Shutterfly- Saved as Baptism under my Account- have $20 credit 
• Labels already made and in label folder
• Start Bank Account
• Contact Financial Planner
• Start College Fund
• Virginia 529 inVEST plan
• Start Child Care Flex Spending Account
• Pay all healthcare bills and submit paperwork to HSA
• Contact both daycares to let them know he has arrived

So now that we are two months out from Collin's birth besides all the healthcare bills (mine are completely taken care of however, Collin's are still being processed and worked out so I am guessing this will be taken care of by the time I go back to work in June), everything on this list has been taken care of and I am so Happy!!!  Because for the most part, I did not realize how involved some of these would be.  For all of the healthcare, bank accounts, college fund you had to wait for a social security number which took about 4 weeks for us.  Also in this day in age, I am amazed how Collin having a different last name than me confuses people- SERIOUSLY!!!!  

I am so glad how proactive I was in the last couple weeks of my pregnancy as I had already designed his birth announcement and his baptism invitation and saved them to my accounts along with already printing out all the address on labels which made this whole process so easy when it came to mail them.  

I was also glad that I made this list for both, Joe and I.  The list we had was a little more detailed with numbers for our insurance and work stuff so we could have easy reference.  Basically this list sat at my desk and made my life so much easier for the first couple weeks.  

This week I checked off the last item which was Starting Bug's College Savings Plan!  It is a big relief to have this list completed as it seemed I was never going to complete some of the items.  

Product Review- Tiny Love Music Nature Stroll Toy Bar

When I was around 24 weeks pregnant I went out to lunch with a friend who had a 8 month old at the time.  At lunch she whipped out this toy and attached it to her child's car seat.  Her daughter continued to play with it while we had a nice lunch.  So of course, I started asking questions about it and ultimately added it to my baby registry.  While I did not register for that many toys, I liked that they could be attached to a car seat, a stroller, a bouncer- really anything.  

Tiny Love Musical Nature Stroll Toy Bar

Basically it is a toy bar that has different items on it, a pulling mechanism, a flashing/singing lion, a parrot ball that rolls and makes noises and a butterfly that is made of a crunch material that makes noises as well.  

So I took it out about 4 weeks ago and started using it in the morning while I am eating my breakfast and Collin has alert time and also during dinner time.  So far I have just used it on the two bouncers we were gifted.  Collin totally loves it- right now he bats at the toys and is starting to pull the lever to the windmill.  This from what I understand is right on cue for 2 months.  

How does it fit onto the strollers? 

Place the little blue clamps onto a spot on each side of your carseat/carriage. Turn the orange twist knobs, they tighten down the clamps. The whole thing has four bend points across the arch (after each toy) so that it can be moved and adjusted into a number of shapes.

I would totally recommend this as we have used it every day since opening it.  

Wine Club... Sangria style

I have 4 friends in my neighborhood who all have babies under 2,

so after attending a couple mommy groups with Collin, I decided to start a wine club.

Basically, it was a reason for me to get together with my friends who are moms without babies and drink wine.  Because who really needs a reason to drink wine? 

 (Especially after not drinking it for 9 months!)

So I hosted the first wine club this week.

In honor of Cinco de Mayo I decided to go with Sangria (yes I know this is Spanish and Cinco de Mayo is technically Mexican but oh well- it worked).

I served chips with salsa and guacamole with Brownies for our sweet tooth because one thing I have learned is you can not go wrong with Chocolate!

So here is the recipe I used for Sangria

-Cheap Jug Red Wine-  I used Livingston Burgundy.

Mix equal portions of wine and seven up or Sprite then add some cheap brandy (about 1/2 a cup).

Then add 3 oz of Grenadine

Teaspoon of cinnamon

Dump in fruit slices and maraschino cherries

Basically in the afternoon- I placed everything up the Seven Up and the Cinnamon in the pitcher and put it in the fridge.  I find this lets the fruit add some flavor.

Right before people arrived I added the 7-Up and Cinnamon in.

All and all I think it was a sucess as the pitcher of drinks was almost gone by the end of the night,

and the company was great to catch up on everything from our lastest frustration with work, being a mom, drama in our lives, etc.

Can't wait for the next wine night.