One Month

Tate went for his 1 month appt the other day and is 23 and 1/8 inches long and weighed in at 11 lbs, 8 oz. He is a big guy, just like his brother - 90-95th percentile for height and weight! He has started to do some little smiles. This morning he was just staring at Declan and smiling up at him - he is definitely entertained by his big brother.

He does have some mild infant acne and the pediatrician mentioned she was filming a segment for CNN on the topic. So I brought Tate back today and they filmed the two of us briefly. It's for the Health Minute segments on Headline News - I'll let you know if we make the cut for the program!

Massage Time

Yesterday Tate and I went to an infant massage class. It was a small group, just 3 babies and all were under 8 weeks. It was a lot of fun and I had the brilliant idea that it would be a great way to have some family time and include Declan on something with the baby. So while Declan was in the tub I set out a couple blankets and pillows and I massaged Tate and showed Don how to do the same massage with Declan.

Let's just say things did not go according to plan. Declan enjoyed it in his own special way and I think it had the opposite effect we were hoping for. He was so excited about doing something new he could not sit still for more than 10-15 seconds. He'd lay down, then run and grab another pillow, then lay down and then want to massage Tate. By the end of it he was laying on about 7 pillows, then proclaimed that it was "too high".

We got a good laugh out of it, we'll see if it goes a little smoother next time!

And just for fun - we're one day shy of a month old today!

Ice Storm 2011

Johnsons

Don's parents braved the crazy Atlanta ice storm aftermath and came to visit this past weekend. We had about 5 inches of snow last Sunday night which then turned to freezing rain. We then had several days where the temp didn't even reach 32 degrees. In a city with 11 trucks, we found out that this equals 5 DAYS home from school and work, with empty grocery store shelves, horrific roads, etc.

Don's parents' flight was canceled but they got on one that connected in Charlotte. After a long day of travel, Don managed to pick them up at the nearby MARTA station! They were troupers and we managed to celebrate Martha's birthday and have some fun. We spent out days making good meals/drinks, watching movies, trying to play in the ice, taking care of baby and entertaining the 3-year-0ld! It was great to see them and to have extra hands to help with dinner, laundry and soothing a fussy baby.

3 Weeks

We're still doing good, although Tate has developed a fussy/colicky period each day. Some evenings are worse than others, but he has a 1-3 hour period each nigth where he just needs to be constantly held, walked around, etc. We've tried just about every trick in the book, but I think it's just going to be part of life for a few weeks. On the positive side, he continues to be a great sleeper at night.

First couple weeks

It's been a good couple of weeks home with Tate. So far he is a very good baby, we've only had two nights where he's kept us up for a couple hours, otherwise he tends to wake up to eat and then goes right back to sleep. Don and I are much more relaxed this time around and it's made for a much better experience. We had a great Christmas with my parents (it snowed!) and my mom stayed for a total of 3 weeks and did a ton of cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc. She also watched Declan while we were in the hospital which was a big comfort. So nice to have help and an extra pair of hands!

Declan has been adjusting okay - he's had good days and bad days. He seems neutral towards the baby but has been acting out in other ways, getting into power struggles with us (i.e. wanting to wear his pajamas all day, then wanting to get dressed in regular clothes at night). I'm anxious for my friendly and happy little guy to return back to normal and realize it will probably take some time, but it's tough to be patient on limited sleep! But other than that, it feels so great to have two little boys and my favorite times are snuggling with both of them on my lap.





Coming home from the hospital on Christmas Eve

Introducing Tate Donald Johnson

Our newest addition arrived on 12/22/10 at 11:33am, weighing in at 9 lbs, 5 oz and 21 inches long. I went in on the morning of 12/21 to be induced and after about 8 hours on Pitocin at full blast I was still only 1 cm. The nurse turned off the Pitocin around 5pm. I was feeling very frustrated and was extremely anxious that this would be an even tougher delivery than I had with Declan. The doctor said to get some dinner and we'd start again in the morning. Funny thing was, I started having regular contractions that were stronger after they stopped the Pitocin. When the doctor stopped by to check me around 8pm, I was 3 cm! We went to sleep feeling much better.

We started Pitocin again at 6am the next morning and things moved very quickly with a fairly small dose. I got my epidural around 8ish, the doctor came and broke my water and a couple hours later we had Tate after about 15 minutes of pushing. It was an awesome experience. Tate was a big boy, and because things went quickly he had some bruising on his face but he was very healthy. We had a great hospital stay - Declan and my parents came to visit and although Piedmont is a bit more dated than Northside we had a fabulous experience with all the staff and the food!

After the delivery with Dr Roberts and Nurse Kate

Getting cleaned up

Pushing the music button for our new arrival