2 Months

Happy 2 months to my little man! I cannot believe how fast time flies by with Dax. He is growing so much and every day brings new developments. Parenthood is equal parts pure joy in every exciting moment, complete heartbreak when the sweet boy cries, and sheer exhaustion. Nothing could be better.

Dax had his two month well check yesterday and he passed every test with flying colors! He now weighs 11 pounds, 6 ounces (50th percentile) and is 22 1/2 inches long (25th percentile). He can track well with his eyes and even follows objects across the mid-line, which is not typical of 2 month olds as the two hemispheres of their brains don't work together yet (we knew he was a little smarty pants!).

He has been smiling socially,

Loves to play on his playmat,

Found his tongue,

And enjoys his nightly bottle with Daddy.

He has also been meeting lots of new friends and we look forward to him growing up with all these special babies! These are two of his friends: David (2 weeks) and Bellamy (5 weeks).

Look how much the little guy has grown:

2 months

Child of God

Dax was baptized last weekend! It was a really special day. His great-grandfather Duane performed the baptism alongside Pastor Tom. Dax quietly slept throughout the service and just kept on sleeping as he was blessed and welcomed into God's family. Immediately following the blessing, Great-Grandpa leaned down, kissed Dax's forehead and said, "Bless you, Dax." Then, Dax smiled in his sleep. It was one of the most precious moments of his life thus far and we are so thankful to have so many people who love our little boy and who will help him to know Jesus as he grows up.

Getting baptized!

Dax's Godparents, Annie and Ryan

5 Schulz generations

4 Olson generations

Mommy's Little Heartbreaker

"Chicks adore me" - appropriate

My sweet little boy already has the ladies swooning... 

But hopefully Mommy will always be the little man's favorite!

New Life

I always knew that having a baby would be a big change, but I don't think I realized how much EVERYTHING would change. Yesterday was the perfect example of how different life is with the little man.

First thing in the morning I called the pediatrician because he had a little rash. I made a mid-morning appointment so both of us could be ready and out of the house to be there on time. Well, I was ready and Dax was ready when it was time to go, but he was also hungry. Poor little guy cried all the way to the doctor. I asked them if we could get into a room right away so I could feed him and they were great - we hardly had to wait at all! They wanted to weigh him first and the doctor came right away so Dax had to wait a little while, but it was the fastest appointment we have had. I felt bad for Dax, but maybe that's the way to go in the future to get in and out quickly! As it turned out the rash was no big deal, but I was glad to have had it seen and to have a new "official" weight - 10 pounds, 3 ounces. I also learned my lesson about planning ahead with a baby!

In the last post I mentioned my mom and baby class. Fairview Southdale offers a class for new moms. There are 8 moms and babies in the class and we talk about highs and lows, share ideas, discuss challenges, tell stories, and spend time with the little ones. It is really nice to know that others are having similar parenting experiences. Well, two of the other moms and I decided to meet at the Mall of America to practice getting out of the house and doing something normal. So, Dax and I ventured out a second time (a rarity for one day lately!) to see them. We met in the women's lounge at Nordstrom. Yep, I said women's lounge. Not to be confused with women's restroom. The women's lounge is a beautiful place for moms. There are several areas to sit and nurse as well as a changing table and a normal restroom. It was great! Then we headed out to tackle the rest of the mall. We had to navigate the stores with our strollers, find elevators in order to change floors, and were on a time limit due to the little munchkins. Toward the end of our trip, 2 out of 3 babies were crying so we headed back to the women's lounge to round out the event. Overall, it was fun, but such a different shopping experience than pre-Dax.

Finally, we decided to stop at Grandma and Grandpa's since we were so close. My parents have an elliptical machine and I have been trying to convince myself to go use it every day. I finally made it. Dax got to snuggle with Grandma and I hopped on. It was embarrassingly tiring. I barely made it 15 minutes and my legs were like jelly when I was finished. I guess I'll have to get motivated to stop by more often or my soccer team is going to banish me when we start up in a few weeks!

So, we made it through an eventful day. I learned that Dax's schedule rules my life, that a "quick" shopping trip will never exist anymore due to all of the extra prep to get his stuff together and the extra effort the stroller creates, and that this momma will take some time to get back in shape!

Lucky

Some babies have a hard time transitioning between breastfeeding and pacifiers and bottles. Dax had a pretty easy time nursing from the beginning, but we were still a little nervous to introduce different kinds of nipples to the little man. We got lucky.

Our peanut loves to suck so pacifiers have made life wonderful as they typically calm and soothe him. Plus, he is so stinkin' cute sucking away:

I had also been wanting to start letting Jake give him a bottle occasionally both for their bonding time and to ensure that the transition when I have to go back to work will be as smooth as possible. I was motivated by some of the moms in a mom and baby group I have been attending so last night we gave it a try. Dax did not even blink at the change and sucked it down like a champ. We are grateful to have such a sweet, smart little boy!

Nicknames

Over the weekend we saw some good friends of ours and they explained how they were trying to think of a nickname for Dax. Some of the options they were considering were Double D, D Money or Heavy D. Hmmm...

I already have a bunch of nicknames for our sweet baby - snuggle bug, muchkin, pumpkin or pumpkin pie, sweetie or sweetie pie, love bug, peanut, fussbucket, little man, little monster and wiggle worm or squirmy worm. (Can you imagine the timing of some of these... squirmy worm fits him perfectly during diaper changes, little monster is what I lovingly call him when he's screaming at 2 in the morning)

It is fun to imagine what his friends might call him in the future. While I hope for his sake that none of my nicknames stick too far into his life, I also hope that our friends and his future friends keep thinking :)

Confused because someone just called him Heavy D :)

Leap Day

Happy Leap Day! Today is also special because Dax is one month old. It is kind of bittersweet for me. All of his milestones are exciting so I am thrilled to be "celebrating" that he is a month old, but he is also growing way too fast. People are constantly saying that time flies and to cherish every moment. I have been trying to consciously enjoy every second with the little guy, but the past few days I have been a little sad because it seems that he is growing right before our eyes. What happened to my sweet little newborn?!

Dax 1 week old

Dax 1 month old

Okay, so he's still kinda small, but we are beginning to notice a lot of indications that he is growing and changing:

* He no longer fits into newborn clothes
* We signed up for a cloth diaper service, but waited to start using them until his belly button finished healing. One week in, we are already ordering the next size diaper because the newborn ones are too small!
* Dax will make eye contact now and seems to focus more when he is looking around
* At last weigh-in, he was 9 pounds, 15 1/2 ounces - almost a pound and a half growth since we saw the pediatrician 11 days before - at this rate, he'll be growing out of ALL of his clothes soon!
* He has slept a bit longer the past few nights and seems to be switching his schedule to understand day and night better (knock on wood)
* When Dax is awake he often likes to stretch his legs and "stand" up on our laps. He is also getting close to holding his head up during tummy time and stretches it back to look around all the time when he is laying on our chests. He is definitely getting stronger.
* A couple nights ago, Daddy was putting him to bed and Dax was fussy. Jake was telling him that it was time for bed and asked if he was going to be a good little boy and go to sleep. Dax shook his head, "no". Just a fluke? We don't think so... he's definitely a little smarty pants, and maybe a little sassy :)