Pap and Grandma Joy

My Mom doesn't like babies. She prefers kids, my Dad is the baby lover. Imagine our surprise when Elliott absolutely fell in love with my Mom. She LIKES it when he turns into a screaming tomato baby and she has a knack for calming Elliott down when the train pulls into "Fussytown" each evening. I always wondered about her claim that babies don't like her; heck, I love her!

While not quite as fervent as Carolyn, my Dad has been ready to be a grandpa for a long time. His father was my Papa. My siblings had pegged our Dad as Papa, but turns out my Dad would prefer that Elliott and his future grandchildren call him Pap. His grandpa was his Pap, so it feels better to him. As amazing as my Dad is at calming Elliott down, we will call him whatever he would like!

I've really looked forward to my parents visiting the past few Friday nights. Dave bartends on Fridays, so it's really nice to have company. Sure, I'm a Mom now, but sometimes, you just need your parents. I finally remembered to pick up the camera and take some photos when they were here on Friday.

Life is good. I won't lie, it's tough being new parents. Sleeping in two-hour blocks (sometimes more, sometimes less...) isn't easy. The hardest part for me is feeling confined to the house. I know that Elliott will eventually go longer between feedings and I'll get better at breastfeeding in public, but three weeks spent mostly in the house is pretty out of character for me. We got out to attend a friend's halloween party last night for a couple of hours so Elliott could show off his dragon costume and Dave and I could talk to adults other than each other. We've been trying to venture out every day for a walk in our neighborhood. And thank goodness we got cable, because Paula Dean is a regular visitor to our house as well.

I can't believe it's almost the end of October! I brought all of Elliott's halloween stuff downstairs so I'll remember that he has to wear it SOON! My office is having a halloween potluck, so we have at least one more reason to dress him up. Is it sad that I'm hoping he spits up at least once so we can change him mid-potluck?

I feel like Elliott gets bigger every day. He lays across my abdomen the better part of 10 times a day, so I get to study his little arms as they chub out and try and remember how far across my body he went the first time I fed him in the recovery room at Sparrow Hospital. His newborn sizes still fit, but more and more of the 0-3 month sizes are fitting too. We're almost out of newborn diapers and gave away a stack of Pampers newborn sizes to my friend Laura who is due in January. Laura and Matt are having a girl.

Elliott spends more time awake each day, and is starting to coo back at us when we talk to him. He likes his swing a lot, especially when I turn on the water sounds. This morning, he spent almost an hour laying in his pack 'n play, wide awake, staring at the little bears that hang off the canopy. I finally picked him up because I wanted to cuddle him, who knows how long he would have laid there! I also love to sit him in his Boppy on the couch. He's comfy and is the perfect angle to talk to (and take pictures of).

He is still a pooping champ, but Dave has gotten savvier and hasn't gotten sprayed lately. I got peed on yesterday, but blocked it with my hand and diverted the spray all over the pack 'n play. Hey, you gotta look out for yourself! Dave did bring Elliott to me in bed this morning after a rather explosive diaper change to say, "You know, I never quite appreciated the term 'craptacular' before, but what Elliott just did was craptacular."

He still loves to get a bath every day, hates to have his diaper changed (but also hates to have a dirty diaper... fickle baby) and gets amazingly excited each time he finds his baby hands. I haven't had time to read lately, but I need to find out when babies realize that their hands are their own and that they have control of them. That is sure to be a landmark day in Elliott's life.

More than anything, I'm in love. More in love with David than I have ever been, and completely smitten with my son. It's awesome to watch him grow and change every day.

What are you thinking about, little boy?

Cuteski.

I'm usually in bed by this time, but Dave was not feeling swell and decided to go to bed. I'm awake and so is Elliott, so posting on the blog seemed like a good idea. Sorry for the lapse in posts, thanks for hanging in there!

We are doing very well. Baby Elliott is laying next to me on the couch, hiccuping happily after his late night dinner/snack/meal. Any concerns that we had about him losing weight short after birth were pretty much shot down at our pediatrician appointment on Friday. Elliott gained 13 ounces in 7 days. Babies SHOULD gain about an ounce a day, but our baby and his healthy appetite almost doubled that. He is otherwise healthy and we'll go back to see Dr. Hoop when Elliott is a month old. More about Dr. Hoop at a later date, although let me just say that I love our pediatrician. He is fabulous.

I had my first follow up appointment today. My incision is healing well and I am otherwise doing great. The farther I get away from the C-section, the better idea it was to skip that whole "labor" thing and move straight to delivery.

So much to say, but so little quiet time at this part of the evening. Elliott is a dream baby all day and then has a short fussy time from maybe 9pm-1am when staring at the kitchen lights and being walked around are about all that will soothe him. On a side note, me dictating this post is apparently another way to soothe Elliott, as he is now laying quietly beside me awake and listening intently. I tend to talk a lot, so having a little person who loves the sound of my voice seems oh so lovely.

Other highlights, as he is stirring more and spending more time chewing on his hands, which means my time here is short:

--Spending Friday through Tuesday under the adoring eyes of Grandma Carolyn. Elliott is still seeing stars from the flash on her camera. She was a big help and of course a great person to talk about how perfect/adorable/smart/amazing our baby is.

--Meeting Cat, Mark, Grace and Ally on Saturday. Grace is now in first grade and boys are chasing her on the playground. I remember when she was Elliott's age.

--Seeing Grandma Joy and Grandpa Joe on Friday night. Why aren't there more pictures of Elliott with Grandma Joy? Note to self, start taking more pictures!

--Crying for Uncle Nate again and meeting Aunt Larry (LaRissa) on Friday.

--Getting flowers from Auntie Melanie and Uncle Rob.

--Taking a few trips out of the house, including the MSU dairy store, Mom's work, Babies R Us and Target. Elliott seems to like his carseat and tends to sleep in the car and coo happily when he is awake. This bodes well for our plans to visit Aunt Melanie in Connecticut before my leave is over.

--Meeting lots of Daddy's family on Sunday at Breanne's birthday party. We surprised Great Grandma Wiacek (Busia) and got to wear Elliott's custom onesie that Melanie painted with the Polish flag that says "Cuteski." Grandma loved it, and Elliott looked like a little man in his Old Navy jeans and hooded sweatshirt. Aunt Patti was especially impressed at how cute Elliott is and agrees with me that he is a pretty baby.

--Having a few instances of 3-hour naps at night.

--Projectile pooping from his changing table to the door of his nursery (about 4.5 feet) this morning. Sorry, no pictures of that. Our son has amazing intestinal skills. He farts and poops like it is his job. Well, it sort of is...

Uncle Nate and I both have our braces on now. We are both looking forward to NOT having braces by the time Elliott's first birthday rolls around.

The very nice nurse at my appointment today said "Well Mom, looks like you lost out in the gene pool." when she saw Elliott and his Daddy. Elliott also crosses his feet at the ankles (a classic Dave pose) and sneezes in 2's like Dave as well. He is wide-eyed like I was as a baby, though, and he is definitely strong willed like yours truly.

But then, there are times like the one below... After a nice meal of "Mommy Milk" I have this beautiful little face looking up at me. *sigh* Who needs sleep, right?

Elliott with two T's.

Elliott's Official "One Week" Picture.

We took our first adventure on Monday to take Aunt Meredith to the Battle Creek train station. Elliott slept the whole way there and also slept through a freight train going by (with Aunt Meredith covering his ears). So much for "sssssh, baby's sleeping!" Then the real adventure began because he got hungry and there was no quiet corner of the BC Amtrak parking lot for me to feed him, so we drove around downtown BC for a little while trying to find someplace where I could feed him. We ended up in someone's employee parking lot during shift change. Hopefully I didn't flash too many workers. Oops.

Elliott loves his swing, and eating his hands. It is usually cute, but when I am trying to feed him and he is crying and trying to put his hands in his mouth I have to tell him not to play defense!

There are a couple of hours every day that he is all wide awake and cute like this. :)


Mac, Ryanne and Zoe came to visit on Sunday with their parents and our good friends Petey and Corbie. They brought pizza. Mmmm. Elliott was kind enough to both fart and poop while Zoe was holding him. This was majorly funny for a 6-year-old.

The sun came out yesterday, so we ventured out and took a walk. Our stroller rocks, Dave hogged it and wouldn't let me push, but let me pose for a picture.

Elliott loves getting a bath now! Thank goodness, because it's one of my all-time favorite baby things to do.

We're doing pretty well without an extra set of hands, although we are both pretty excited to have Carolyn and Dave visit and for another set of weekend visitors. We ventured out to the baby store to buy another couple of hairbrushes (all of the crazy baby stuff we have, and only one hairbrush...) and exchange some Pampers for some Huggies. I prefer the Huggies and frankly, they're cheaper!

Elliott projectile pooped on David yesterday. It was freakin' HILARIOUS! He went through three outfits in one day, just like everyone said would happen. He's a gassy little dude, and I find myself being that mother who is cheering her baby on while he grunts and struggles to fart. Hey, when you have a newborn baby and he cries until he farts, you are EXCITED about farting in a way you never have been before.

And finally, I call this Elliott's "milk coma" face. When I know that freight trains can go by and he will sleep through because his tummy is full of "mommy milk."

One Week.

Here we are! Elliott Milton is one week old today (the computer froze last night before I could hit "post"... sorry!) and I think I am finally feeling like myself again. There are lots and lots of words to write about the incredible emotional roller coaster the last week has been, but I know ya'll are much more interested in pictures.




I will say just a few things... I put on my pre-pregnancy jeans this morning and they FIT. And my Mom is the most amazing woman I have ever met in my entire life. She left today and while I know that we will be fine, I cried anyway. I seriously don't know how I would have made it through the last week without her. I knew my husband was going to be a great dad, but he is awesome. I feel like I have a superpower now that Elliott and I are breastfeeding successfully. Ladies and gentlemen, I make MILK. Whoa. I miss my sister Melanie terribly and a road trip to Connecticut is looking more and more like a great idea. My sister Meredith was here all weekend and I hope I haven't scared her away from motherhood permanently. Mary Frog Toes visited twice and it was SO good to see her. David's friends Petey and Corbie came by yesterday and brought DINNER--a mark of people who have done this crazy "new baby in the house" thing before. I love fall and I love cuddling my baby boy in a blanket and taking him for a walk in my neighborhood with crunchy leaves underfoot. Instincts are way more important than all of the reading I have done.... And all of those cliches about motherhood and loving something more than you ever thought possible. All true. I love Dave, I love my family, I am passionate about many things, but my son Elliott Milton is absolutely the most important thing I have done in my entire life.



Ok, now pictures. :)

We had this amazing resident who took pictures throughout the C-section. Although I was having contractions when we checked into the hospital, Elliott was definitely not coming out naturally. He was so high up in my abdomen that they had to use a vacuum to move him down so they could nab him out. He came out peeing a ton. The C-section was scary, but a week later I am really glad that things worked out this way. Other than an achy incision site, I am feeling like myself. Although Monday-Wednesday are pretty much a blur for me.

He still looks at us with just one eye when he is sleepy or just waking up. It's super cute.

We had this amazing nurse named Molly at the hospital that helped us console our inconsolable baby by swaddling and side-swaying. Tactics from the book "Happiest Baby on the Block." Since my milk came in, we have ditched the pacifier and have a whole new baby. I call him Elliott 2.0.

Elliott HAS to have his hands in his face. SO cute.

Mary Frog Toes was the first one to realize the three of us hadn't had our picture taken together! Thanks FT!

I'll post more pictures later... Promise!

B-Day Arrives!

Elliott Milton Scott
9 lbs., 2 ozs.
20.7 inches
Born 2:34 P.M.
2007-October-08

- posted by Uncle Nate

Today.

Our C-section is scheduled for 7 hours and 52 minutes from now. This means I am officially forbidden from drinking or eating anything. That's why I'm up at 6am writing in the blog instead of spending as much time as possible sleeping. I got up and had a bowl of cereal and some apple cider. Yeah, sure, I got up to eat... that, and I'm nervous as hell.

Runa Kitty is keeping me amused by chasing a moth around the dining room. She's not usually an active cat, but she is leaping and bounding like a kitten, making me smile, and feel a little bad for her. She's my favorite thing about coming home right now, and she has no idea how close she is to losing that status.

Everything sounds all poetic in my brain, but my fingers can't make it sound pretty as I type. I'm having a baby today. I'm all of those things I think I should be... nervous, scared, excited, emotional, anxious, happy, relieved... but there isn't a word for "whirlwind of emotions that change by the nanosecond."

I started my weekend off by getting a 5pm pedicure with my favorite co-worker Beth. So my toes are orange, my thought being that the next time I think about my toenails will likely be Halloween, and then I'll be all set. Beth bought me Cold Stone and we talked about just letting work go and leaving behind anything undone and any question marks about how things will look/feel/be when I return. Three months is a long time, and any work thoughts are now officially allowed to be far from my mind.

David and I woke up on Saturday and picked up the house, did some last minute cleaning and then got out of the house for the afternoon. It was freakin' HOT. Who would have thought that I'd still be wearing my preggo shorts and tank tops in October?! A good thing, I guess, because they are comfortable and I never did find a pair of preggo jeans that I liked. Anyway, we had breakfast at the Eagles, returned the big box of newborn diapers we'd purchased a while ago to the baby store and bought size 1's (up to 15 pounds...), and drove to the outlet mall about 25 minutes away to go to the Carter and Osh Kosh and Children's Place outlets. Carter's was a bust (the baby store prices are better, actually...) and the Children's Place was so crowded we put down the few things we'd picked up and left. Osh Kosh was good to us; you just can't beat classic Osh Kosh overalls for $7, that's ridiculously cheap.

Serendipity was bumping into our friends Jessica and Brian and their 6-month-old Sawyer in the Osh Kosh store! I didn't do a mass email when we found out about the C-section, so she was like, "I was just wondering if you were still pregnant!" Sawyer is a smiley, happy, red-headed, blue-eyed wonderbaby. Seriously, he is SO adorable, and makes me so excited to have a son. Jessica's advice? "Um, sleep ALL DAY tomorrow. Seriously. Even if you're not tired and want to get up, just sleep more."

Perhaps I should have taken her advice, but I had left quite a mess at my desk on Friday. I knew I'd feel better just coming in over the weekend and leaving things "done" without rushing. I ended up staying for far too long, and crying at the sheer reality of not working for three months as I was leaving, and repositioning my stapler and tape dispenser three times before I walked out, driving David insane. I had to leave one thing "undone" for my colleague, which makes me feel bad, but I just need to LET IT GO. I'm pretty sure it's not going to matter in a few hours.

Wow, this is getting long. Anyway, we're checking into Sparrow at noon. Our delivery is scheduled for 2pm, but we're fully aware that if someone needs an emergency procedure, we'll get bumped back. Hopefully that won't happen, I'm ready to meet my son. Dr. Tucker was very reassuring. Baby Cute will stay with us the entire time and David will get to hold him while I get sewn up and then I'll get to try my hand (or boob?...) at breastfeeding in the recovery room. We'll stay 2 or 3 days depending on how we're healing and other than having an incision instead of a sore girly region, I'm going to be fine. As "cheated" as I feel about not going into labor, the thought is growing on me. No one who has given birth has commiserated with me--they tell me NOT to feel bad. And there's a part of me that's glad we're just doing it rather than waiting for it to happen, laboring for 20 hours and then doing this anyway.

Here's the advice I've received that I'm keeping in mind:
--I'm probably going to throw up.
--It's going to hurt, just take the pain medication.
--Get up and walk as soon as possible. It's going to hurt, but do it anyway.
--Accept help. And pain medicine.
--Don't push it.
--Stay in the hospital and let the nurses take care of you for as long as possible.
--All of this is totally worth it, I get to be a Mommy today.

I'm designating Uncle Nate to be the official picture and news poster and he is planning to visit tonight, so there should be news today, just not uploaded by yours truly.

Thanks, everyone, for all of your thoughts and well wishes. We're going to play this by ear, but I know we'll be ready for visitors eventually, and we can't wait to introduce you to our son.

A Mommy on Monday.

Baby Cute's Birthday will be Monday, October 8, 2007.

He has been doing a VERY good job of growing and now weighs 9 lbs, 13 ozs. That's 10 pounds to you and me. He's not dropping into my pelvis because he's too big. He's at a high risk of shoulder dystocia and the risks for me and my girly parts are scary and painful to even think about, much less experience.

So we're just going to drive to the hospital on Monday at noon, check in, have a baby around 2pm and go home a couple of days later.

I'll be a Mommy on Monday.

Someone stole our baby.... pumpkin!

After many busy weekends, we woke up on Saturday morning and stared at each other. No rooms to paint, showers to attend, errands to run, floors to finish or places to travel. This is where David and I are different.


"Really?" David asked. "We can just hang out around the house?"


"Weeeeeel," I said. "I would like to go to the pumpkin patch to get some cider and donuts and apples." (I know my husband well enough to know that if there are baked goods, he is more likely to go along.)


So we went to the Country Mill in Char-latte'. It was fun. We drank cider and people-watched and picked out a Daddy, Mommy and Baby Pumpkin. Baby Pumpkin was especially cute.

SOMEONE is ready to be a Daddy....

We got home on Saturday afternoon to find our neighborhood brigade of children raking EVERYONE'S leaves. They asked if they could rake ours. Um, yes. Turns out they were collecting a street-full of leaves for a gigantic leaf pile. I was happy to have my front yard raked AND contribute to the fun going on outside. In fact, I even became "that neighbor-lady" again and gave them all apple cider. And they didn't drink and run. Nope. They sat down, 7 of them, on my front porch stairs and drank their cider and talked. They told me where their bedroom windows were, about class trips to Cider Mills and about who came to watch them when their respective Mommies went to the hospital to give birth to their siblings. Bailey (my favorite) looked me right in the eye and told me that the cider was so good, it tasted just like when you bite into an apple. It was sunny and breezy outside. The apple cider was extra delicious. It makes me smile just thinking about my Baby Cute growing up in our neighborhood.


I also met another neighbor! Anne lives around the corner from us and has a daughter Bailey's age. She also has a son in high school AND a 13-year-old daughter who would just LOVE to babysit. She's even taken the American Red Cross babysitting class (which I took myself around age 13). She's going to drop by so we can meet her daughter sometime. Hooray! Now, I know we have family members eager for quality Baby Cute time, but it will be nice to have someone who is just around the corner for the occasional date night with my husband that all of the parenting magazines and books tell you to make sure to plan for the health and well-being of your marriage. It was a fun, serendipity conversation and Anne's kids all attend local Catholic schools, too. Two of them were born in October. We have such nice neighbors!


Dave left in the early evening to bartend a party. I took a tour of the neighbor girls' new "house" they had laid out with leaves. I updated my Facebook profile. I did some Baby Cute laundry and got his cradle ready to go. I ate chips and dip (mmmm) and drank, like, 4 containers of water (mmmm). And then I talked to my Mack. My friend, Mack, is far away in Albany, New York, and I miss her madly. We caught up after a few months of being slacker phone friends until I started yawning and then I headed to bed.


Now, for the title of this post. Dave got home on Saturday night/Sunday morning and our pumpkins were happily lined up on our porch stairs. When he headed out to get the newspaper on Sunday morning... Baby Pumpkin was GONE! *sigh* I'm glad he's just GONE rather than smashed on my driveway or something, but David's belief that "an animal took it" just isn't cutting it with me. We're going to have to get another Baby Pumpkin; even though I was pretty attached to our original.


Yesterday was my last shift at the Baby Store. I start my official maternity leave today. It was bittersweet, because I love working there. BUT, I worked the service desk yesterday, which meant I was on my feet for 4 hours straight and doing much more physical activity than usual. I made Dave take my picture. It's not flattering, but hey. Pregnancy is limited in its glamour and fabulousness.

Speaking of that, I feel fine. Still pregnant. My secretary announced "You're having a baby this month!" when I came in this morning. Yep, I am! Took a nice, slow walk to lunch with my friend Beth for a chicken Caesar salad (mmmmm) and lemonade.


We have our growth ultrasound and 39-week check on Wednesday. The average first pregnancy is 41.5 weeks, so I'm not holding my breath until Baby Cute makes his appearance. Am I anxious? Yes. Am I ready... Hmmm, will I ever be? Does it matter?


My body just doesn't feel "ready" yet. I don't know if that will change, but for right now, no news is good news. I am really enjoying this quality time with my hubby.... It feels good to just BE. Hang tight, everyone. If we have news, you can be sure you'll find it here!