Father's Day

For Father’s Day, Jake asked if he could write a guest post:

Before Dax was born, I told Kristin that she was the lead parent, and I would support anyway I could. The maternal instinct is to nurture, and Kristin exemplified it. My instinct was to float around aimlessly looking for something to do. I tried to get up in the middle of the night as much as Kristin, but quickly learned that I was the third wheel (a very tired wheel). I went back to work after two weeks at home and could appreciate how great the two hours of evening playtime before bed were.

When Kristin went back to work, she snuggled Dax and told him not to have any milestones while she was at work. Despite all my efforts, he didn’t say “dada” or rollover during my six weeks of Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays working from home. I can say that Dax had a lot of fun in our home office playing and singing. I tried my best to keep up on work, especially during naps! 

Watching Daddy work

Over time, Dax and I built a real connection and I now understand why maternity/paternity leave is so valuable. On the other hand, I also learned that I prefer working at work, and could never be Mr. Mom. Dax is starting to look like a little boy who recognizes us and not just a little bundle of goo. I am back at work full time again, but now have a more comfortable impression of fatherhood. I can imagine life if we hadn’t had Dax, but it seems like a waste of time now. 

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!

After

So, this is the second themed post in a row. Maybe it's because I have been back at work so there's a little more time between posts and I have more things to include or maybe my mind is preparing me to be back in kindergarten theme-land in the fall. Either way, here goes...

Last week I posted about Dax being four months old. After visiting the doctor, we can officially say all is well with our little man. He is (was last Friday) 14 pounds, 2 1/2 ounces (slightly under 50th percentile) and 25 inches long (50th percentile). Shots were still no fun, but much better than last time.

Getting big, but still so sweet!

After 6 weeks as a working mom, I am now a stay-at-home mom until the end of August. Yippee! Yesterday was my last day with the first graders and that's always a bittersweet part of the school year. EVERYONE is ready for summer by the last day of school, but it is still sad to be leaving the students. Then today was a work day for teachers to finalize everything and prepare our classrooms for summer. I must be getting more efficient in motherhood because, for the first time ever, I am actually done and will not be going back in to finish next week!!! It was also a special day because Dax joined me at school for the afternoon! As I have mentioned, Westwood had A LOT of babies this school year and most of them were there today. We took the opportunity to get an after picture...

October 2011

January 2012

June 2012: Kelsey and Evie (4 weeks), Sara and David (3 months), Kristen and Bellamy (3 1/2 months), Me and Dax (4 months), Kathy and Cara (6 months), and Keri and Averi (7 months)

Plus one with the newest WW Mama-to-be, Jennifer!

And, one more "after" for good measure... When we had Dax's newborn photos taken (Thanks again, Eric!!), we tried one with a basketball, thinking it might be a cute prop with the tiny little guy. Dax did not like it. While it's very different, he recently got a basketball from Grandma and Grandpa and likes it much better. It gives us a little hope that our baby boy will follow in Daddy's athletic footsteps as he grows up!

Four

Four is the number of the day today:

It was the first day of two four-day weeks before SUMMER...

Jake and I bought our house four years ago! We celebrated with Jimmy Johns (the same meal we shared that first night in our house after completing the closing), and...

Dax is four months old! I swear he looks like a little boy all of a sudden rather than my sweet baby. He is growing like a weed, but we won't have official stats until his appointment later this week. Unofficially, he has changed a lot and every new thing is so fun! While lots of people think newborns are boring I loved that stage and was admittedly sad to see him grow so fast. Now, though, his personality is shining through more each day and I think it's fair to say that this new stage is just as special. As always, this past month brought some big changes for the little man.

We have a talker! Well, a babbler anyway. Dax found his voice and spends lots of time each day trying it out. He gurgles, coos, shouts, and chatters whether or not anyone is listening. It is so cute! I wish I had a video to share, but as much as he enjoys experimenting with his vocal chords, he does not like performing. Got one! It turned out sideways, but is still cute:

Technically he's mid-babble here, but it's also just a sweet picture!

We can finally get through baths without tears. Turning on a space heater in the bathroom a few minutes before  has been key! 

Dax has started to show interest in his toys. He has always enjoyed his activity mat, but now instead of batting randomly at his guys (what we call the toy animals on the playmat), he will grab and talk to them. He will also grab onto rattles and other toys. Strangely, though, his favorite things to play with are his bibs and burp rags.

The weather has gotten consistently warmer so we have spent more time outside and Dax could not be happier. He contently stares at everything - the leaves blowing in the breeze, passing cars, neighbors working in their yards, the grass, and anything else that catches his eye. 

Even with a cute girl by his side he is enthralled with the trees

Our young babe is already a daredevil! Almost every day we spend a little time doing "Mommyfair" (named after the local amusement park, Valleyfair). I will lay on the floor and play with Dax up on my legs or flying in the air. He LOVES it and laughs a lot. It is so sweet to see his joy. As a bonus, I get a workout!

Dax prefers to stand; either on his own or in our arms. I am convinced that he will skip rolling and crawling, and move straight to standing and walking. His legs are so strong! He can hold himself up with just a tiny bit of support from us holding onto his hands. Even when we are snuggling, he would much rather be walking around than sitting down. We might be in trouble when he does start to scoot around because he is already an active boy!

Here he is at 4 months (plus the typical comparison from one week through each month):

Sweet

I have been back at work for four weeks now, with only two to go before summer. I originally posted about the challenge of leaving Dax and, while that has gotten easier, 7:15ish AM is still my very least favorite part of every day. Once I get to school, though, it has been MUCH easier than I anticipated. I am so thankful to have incredible friends to work with, thoughtful students and families in my class, and a job that I love. (Please remind me of all this when I am dreading my return back to school in August!)

One day this week one of my students gave me two notes:

"Dear Daxx You are so cute and you to Mrs. Shculz hugs"

"Say hi to Badby Dax for me"

They were such a great reminder of two things. First that I am extremely blessed to be both a mom and a teacher to fabulous kiddos and second, that we need to continue working on conventions during writer's workshop :)

Houdini

Dax takes after his mommy in one significant way - sleep! I have always been active in my sleep and so appreciate Jake's ability to sleep through all my movement. Dax is definitely a little wiggle worm while he sleeps, too, and we giggle almost every time we go to check on him. Sometimes he turns 90 degrees, ending up sideways in his crib with the tips of his toes between the bars. Others he flips a full 180. There are also times when he scoots all the way down so he's touching the bottom or wiggles right up against the side. Maybe this doesn't seem like such an incredible feat, but he does all this while swaddled tightly without the ability to use his arms!

His new trick is escaping the swaddle. He falls asleep velcroed into a snug swaddle sack and wakes up with his arms out, squirming around, just as happy as can be! It has become our mission to get his hands all the way at his sides and fold the blanket tightly enough to keep him in, but we can rarely make that happen. Crazy little boy! What did we get ourselves into?? :)

While these two pictures don't show the full extent of his abilities, something about this position tonight pulled at my heartstrings and caused me to grab the camera!

And though sometimes he wakes himself up with all of his activity, he most often rises happy and who could resist this sweet little face (even in the middle of the night!)?

100 days

Dax is 100 days old! Our sweet, perfect little monster has brightened our lives these past 100 days and we look forward to hundreds more.

To celebrate, we went out with the Schulz's to BD's Mongolian Grill. Yum!

Hanging with Maya

Ok, so it was actually Mama and Uncle Sam's birthday celebration, but we had to honor our little birthday boy, too!

And he's technically 101 days in these photos, but I had to share... After baths we typically comb his hair down with the knowledge that as soon as his stubborn coif dries, it is stuck that way until his next bath. Today we took a different approach:

"Check me out!"

Birthday Mama

Happy birthday to me! While I appreciate a little pampering, I am not the kind of person who goes all out for my birthday. This year was pretty special, though, because I got to celebrate with the sweetest little guy in the world. My day technically started around 3 AM when Dax woke up hungry. My preference is not waking up in the middle of the night, but there is something special about snuggling with the little man when it is so dark and quiet. And this time I couldn't help but smile thinking about Jake's comments last night before putting Dax to bed, "You'll be the first to see Mommy tomorrow so be sure to tell her Happy birthday!" :)

Then, as I was getting ready for work, Jake came to tell me something interesting that he had just learned. May 4th is Star Wars day - "May the fourth be with you!" While I don't care about Star Wars at all, I thought that was pretty awesome!

The one negative was leaving my two favorite guys to head to work, but the first graders make it so much easier to be away and today they were especially excited. All week they have been HILARIOUS; constantly commenting about my special day. Yesterday one little boy asked, "Mrs. Schulz, how do you think you will feel tomorrow?" He predicted that I would be happy. He was right. I got so many hugs and happy birthdays from the thoughtful firsties. One girl made me a card that said, "Happy Birthday Mrs. Schulz! Have a very merry birthday. Love, your BFF" So sweet!

But, of course, the best part was getting home to see Dax again. He and Jake made a card while I was at work and it was perfect! Jake let Dax grab a marker and color on the paper. Seriously, the best gift in the world to have a card from my sweet little man.

We went out to dinner and then I spent awhile snuggling with my sleepy boy. It was pure heaven. We have brunch and shopping plans tomorrow and I am looking forward to both, but I know the highlights of this year will be the low-key time spent with the ones I love. Maybe I am just getting old, but now I completely understand my parents' only birthday requests each year for time spent together.