Four Months

He's now one-third of a year old!

Weight and Height:  15 lbs 6 oz (47th percentile), 25 1/4 inches (44th percentile) - And don't forget head circumference:  17 1/4 (95th percentile)! When we were in Sergeant Bluff Labor Day weekend, he was by a 6 month baby. They had the same size heads. Dom must have a really strong neck since he can hold his melon up so well.

Sleeping patterns:  Little dude sleeps through the night mostly, but he absolutely hates napping during the day. He'd rather see what's going on than sleep. Although sometimes he'll pass out when he's not supposed to be sleeping...

Eating habits:  He has 6-7 meals per day with 4-7 ounces per feeding. He stares at us when we eat, and will open and close his mouth. His 4-month appointment was today (ugh, more shots), so we got the okay to start him on solids. Hello stinkier poos! We were also pretty sure that he has started to teeth - he gnaws on everything - but the doc said that it's just standard for infants this stage of development and it could be up to nine more months before he gets teeth.

New discoveries he's made:  He realizes that he has feet and he's more coordinated when he goes to reach for something. It's fun to watch him explore his hands and feet and the toys on his bouncer. He loves to stare and smile at himself in mirrors.

Accomplishments:  He is able to push himself up pretty high when he's on his belly, and he's able to sit up with very little support. He's also much more steady on his feet when we stand him up.

Places he went:  He made his second trip to Sergeant Bluff this past month for the annual Craun Labor Day Smokeout. Aside from that, he's just made a few trips around town to the doctor's office and Grandma and Grandpa Carlson's house.

Special friends he's made:  Sophie the Giraffe is one of his favorites. He also likes his cousin Brinley - they both were staring at each other last weekend (the weekend he turned 4 months), and he kept giving her his cute little flirty smiles.

With his BFF, Sophie.

Noises and babbles:  This little dude is super talkative whenever he gets his diaper changed. It's so cute! He babbles, giggles, laughs, and blows raspberries. Here's a look at what our morning is like:

Firsts:
First sleepovers
August 25th and the weekend of September 8th, Dominic spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa Carlson's house. He did a pretty good job, but was kind of fussy with Grandpa during the Iowa/ISU game. He was just upset that the Hawks lost, and that Grandpa cheered for the wrong team.

First Craun Smokeout
Dominic survived his second party in Sergeant Bluff. He was absolutely perfect, and many people asked, "Is he always this good?" Mostly, yes. Yes, he is. And we are incredibly blessed!

The cool kids wear black and gold.

First swim
Brian took Dom for his first swim in Eddie's pool when we were back for Labor Day weekend. Let's just say that he wasn't pleased about going into the cold water. He seemed to not mind it as much once Bri stopped dipping him in and out.

Other adventures this month:
Meeting extended family
John and Celine came to visit on their way up to Minnesota a few weeks ago. I was a slacker and forgot my camera at home that day. I can't wait for him to meet all our other extended family!

Wonderful daycare illnesses
What haven't we had? Ear infections, colds, slight fevers, runny noses, pink eye, hives...And of course, he's shared everything with me. Thankfully he heals much faster than me!

Pictures with Bess
Bess came over to take his four month pictures, and Dom actually cooperated! As usual, Bess did a great job, and we have so many great pictures to choose from. Here are a few of our faves: 

Go Hawks!

A Quarter of a Year: Three Months Old

The changes in just one month are astounding! I love to see him grow and accomplish new things, but at the same time I get very sad that my baby is growing so fast. I have turned into the biggest sap! I'm a little late on positing this because of work, but here goes...


Weight and Height:  We went to the doctor today so we have an accurate weight. He now weighs 13 pounds, 12 ounces. And my sloppy measurement of height puts him at 24 inches. While he doesn't weigh much and he's fairly short, his feet are humongous! His 3-month sleepers are too big everywhere but his feet.

Big Foot does exist.

Sleeping patterns:  He's a pro at sleeping through the night. Every now and then he'll wake up at 5:00, but for the most part he's sleeping from 8-8:30 to 6:00 every night. Daycare has made him an excellent sleeper!

Eating habits:  Apparently "typical" 3-month olds eat 4 ounces per feeding. Not Dominic! He eats 5 to 6 ounces. Oinker.

New discoveries he's made:  He's paying more attention to his feet, watching tv, actually liking baths, and playing with new toys (his O-Ball football and his squeaky parrot from Vi). He's drooling a lot now, and has taken an interest in our food. Whenever we eat in front of him he stares at our food and will sometimes open and close his mouth. And when he sees us after waking up or after daycare he gives us the biggest smiles. He likes to stare at himself in the mirror. I think he's also discovered that he is super cute, because he is a massive flirt!

Watching some pre-season football with Daddy.

Rar! This little alligator is hungry!

It is impossible not to smile at this picture.

Accomplishments:  He's an expert at holding his head up, and he's using his strong abs to pull himself into a seated position when he's cradled in our arms. He's grasping (one of the reasons I chopped 9 inches off my hair), bringing things to his mouth, giggling, and rolling over (well 2 times now so he hasn't mastered this quite yet). He can actually tolerate tummy time for about 5 minutes. He is able to lift his head all the way up and hold it up until he's pissed that he's still on his tummy. He's also able to lift his chest off the floor. He loves sitting and standing with our help.

I caught his first roll on video a few days before he started daycare. Don't make fun of my excitement! And yes, I did cry after because I was so happy I got to see him do it. I was feeling pretty down about him being in daycare and having to miss big firsts while we're apart. And then he gave me this:

 
Places he went:  This past month has been pretty uneventful. He's mostly just gone to daycare and Grandma and Grandpa Carlson's. He did get to go to Whole Foods grand opening, which was a pretty exciting event for me, Bess, and Lauren. He'll have all sorts of yummies to eat when he gets bigger!

Special friends he's made:  His daycare providers absolutely love him. They tell us how they love to cuddle with him, and the love seeing all his smiles. While it's great to hear how wonderful he is (although we already knew that!) and that they love caring for him, it makes me extremely jealous that they get to spend so much time with him.

Noises and babbles:  Since he started daycare, he has been talking a lot more. It's fun to hear him go on and on, almost like he's telling us about how his day was. His giggles are one of the best sounds ever! We love to get him laughing, and we really don't have to do much to hear his cute laugh - just some funny faces, big smiles, and tickling.

Firsts:  His first giggle was on July 24th (I know the exact date because I just so happened to be taking this picture). It is the cutest sound ever.

His first day of daycare was on August 6th. He loved it; me not so much. I held it together until I got to the car, and then I sobbed. Like those big ugly, can't breathe cries. We started him a week before I started work so that I wouldn't be a mess my first day. I basically spent my last week off work out of the house. It just felt way too empty without him.

His first cold came at the end of his first week at daycare. He started to get better, but it just wasn't going away so we went to the doctor today. Turns out that he has a double ear infection and the cold, so he is now on antibiotics. He doesn't seem too affected by it, and still felt well enough to share his smiles with the doctor. She called him a big flirt. We're so in trouble when he gets older!

 
Other adventures this month:  He tried out his jumper for the first time and loved it! I can't wait to see him bounce around when he's a little bigger.

Two Months

Our smiley little guy is two months old today!

Weight and Height:  11 pounds, 12 ounces (37th percentile) and 22 inches (10th percentile). If there wasn't any measurement error in his height, he's only grown an inch in the last month. His head however, has grown almost 2 inches since his 2 week appointment, putting his head circumference at the 90th percentile! Wonder where he got that from...ahem, Brian...

Sleeping patterns:  He's sleeping through the night regularly! He takes a few 1-2 hour naps throughout the day too.

Eating habits:  He's quite the piggy, eating 4 to 5 ounces every feeding. It must all be going to his head.

New discoveries he's made:  He's starting to realize he has hands. He'll stare at them and try to suck on them. He's also quite in love with Captain Calamari, a toy that Lyndi got him. He's quite content to stare into Captain's eye and bat at and grab his legs. His other favorite toy is his piano gym. He'll lay there for 15-20 minutes just kicking away at the piano and watching the lights in the mirror. Thankfully he's also taken an interest in the mobile we made him, so he'll hang out in his crib and look at that when he wakes up or before he falls asleep.

Hanging with his buddy.

Kicking it in his piano gym.

Accomplishments:  He holds his head up pretty much on his own, unless he's really tired, so he can sit in his Bumbo chair now. He smiles all the time, especially when we talk to and smile at him.

Places he went:  On his first Fourth of July we went to Sarah and Brandon Weaver's wedding reception in New Virginia. It was pretty hot out for him so he only got to stay for an hour. He's gone out to eat with us a few times, and has made a few trips to the farmer's market downtown. 

He looked so cute for the wedding reception!

He lost his styling outfit first thing because of the heat.

Giving the bride some loving.

Special friends he made:  Captain Calamari.

Noises and babbles:  He started cooing, so we have lots of fun talking to him now.

Firsts:  His first real smiles were around 5 weeks old. There is nothing I love more than to see a big smile light up his face! Before his last feeding of the night, I try to engage with him as little as possible so that he knows it's bedtime, but he just grins up at me from the changing table and it's so so hard to ignore that! He's definitely going to be a charmer. He first found his hands around 7 weeks and has really started to suck on them when he's hungry. He also had his first holiday, and celebrated by sleeping through Erin and I beating Brian and Eric in Taboo and Logo.

Other adventures this month: 
Jennifer is 27!
Jennifer and her family came down the weekend of Jen's birthday. Laney helped me feed Dom once, and she loved holding him. Brin was pretty curious and about slammed into him when she tried to give him a kissy. 

Exhausted from the day of fun.

Two Month Doctor Visit
He had his immunizations today. The look on his face when he got stuck with the first needle was so awful. Thankfully we had a bottle to give him right after so he was a happy camper. Me, not so much. I held it together until the nurse left the room and then cried for a little bit. I don't think I'll ever forget his face, with him just looking up at me like "Mom, why'd you let her do that to me?!" Poor baby!

Sleeping after his shots. He smiled just as I took the picture. Love him!

How time flies!

It's so hard to believe, but Dominic is ALREADY a month old! This month has been one of the hardest, most rewarding months of my life.

Dominic and I are doing really well (most of the time). I think I've figured out what his cries mean, and he's definitely crying less than he did those first days home. We've got his reflux under control, so he's only spitting up some here and there instead of massive vomiting like he did on our first day alone together. Let me tell you, that day was awful!

I decided to use the stems from his baby book to share how we're doing each month (with a few things added in here and there). So here goes:  Dominic's First Month!

Weight and Height:  About 10.5 pounds and 21ish inches (he's so squirmy it was hard to measure him!)

Sleeping patterns:  He naps really well during the day for short periods of time (1-2 hours), but at night he has slept anywhere from 3 to 7 hours. The last week of his first month he slept for 6 hours and threw in a few nights where he actually slept through the whole night! The first week of month 2 hasn't been so hot so far, but I'm really looking forward to the time when he starts sleeping through the night more consistently.

Sleepy smiles

Eating habits:  OMG is this kid a piggy! He typically eats 4 ounces at each feeding. Everything I've read says that newborns usually eat 2-3 ounces per feeding. I think feeding has been the single most frustrating thing ever. Dominic and I shed a lot of tears and got very little sleep in the beginning. I started out breastfeeding and the first week went really well. Then he must have hit a growth spurt because all the sudden he was fussy after nursing for an hour, acting like he wanted more food. So we supplemented with formula, and he really was wanting more food. Then on Brian's first day back to work, Dominic decided to get a massive case of reflux and vomited all over the place 3 different times during the day. Per doctor's recommendations, we went back to just breast milk. I started pumping so we could feed him by bottle, which allowed us to track how much Dom was eating. The next weekend, Brian took the night feedings so I could sleep for longer than 2 hours at a time and I freaking lost most of my milk! Instead of supplementing again with formula and risking the vomiting (yuck) while I worked to get my milk supply back up to meet Dom's needs, we decided to switch to 100% formula. This was a really hard decision for me, one I agonized about for a long time. I felt super guilty for switching for so many reasons - I wasn't giving Dominic the best possible nutrition, I was choosing sleep over working to get my milk back and keep it, I was putting myself first over my helpless little baby, I was choosing to spend lots of money on formula over working to get free milk...I still feel guilty sometimes but I'm feeling a lot better about switching him because I know that he is fed, I'm not tethered to a pump every 3 hours, and I'm able to get (a little) more sleep. Even though I had a tough time breastfeeding, I don't think I would have done anything differently. I gave it my best shot, and Dominic was able to benefit from getting all the key nutrients and antibodies those first 3 weeks.

New discoveries he's made:  He's starting to focus and track us and colorful objects more. He really liked the balloon in his picture. He loves to stare at me when I'm feeding him, as well as ceiling fans, shadows made by lights, and his hands.

Accomplishments:  He's so strong! Dominic is able to hold his head up for pretty extended periods of time (for a newborn anyway). He's manage to punch me in the face a few times if I don't get the bottle to him fast enough. One of my favorite accomplishments - sleeping through the night! I can't wait until that's consistent.

Strong boy

Places he went:  So far Dominic has been to the doctor's office three times, Target (of course!), Best Buy, On the Border for lunch with the Drews, La Mie for Lyndi's birthday brunch, and a road trip to Sergeant Bluff for the Diaper Kegger (more on that later). He's done well on all his outings!

Special friends he made:  Well, just us, Megan, Lauren, Bess, and family. The girls have been over a lot to help me out and to spend time with Dom. Mom came over a lot in the beginning to bring me lunch and to see Dominic during her lunch hour. Coco and Marbles aren't too interested in him right now. Coco hangs out with us while he feeds, but Marbles just started coming around him in the last week or so. She seems pretty irritated with us for bringing Dominic home!

Noises and babbles:  He has some strong lungs, so you can't miss his cries. When he's really hungry and he knows the bottle is close he'll start panting like a dog as he roots around for the bottle. It's hilarious! Other than that, he has the LOUDEST farts and burps. They are grown-up size and always make me laugh!

Firsts: He slept through the night for the first time at the four-week mark. He smiles a lot during sleep and just after feeding but no real smiles yet. His first road trip was to the Bluff - he loves car rides and zonks out pretty quickly. His first bath was interesting - he screamed the entire time, and then as soon as Brian started washing his hair with the lavender shampoo, he stopped. I guess the shampoo reminded him of me and the lavender linen spray I use.

Chilling out after his first bath

On his first road trip

Other adventures this month:
Pictures with Bess
I'm fairly certain the Dominic does not like to have his picture taken. Nonetheless, Bess got some amazing pictures!

Diaper Kegger in Sergeant Bluff
Brian's parents threw us a Diaper Kegger - bring diapers and wipes in exchange for food and beer. We have quite the stock of diapers and wipes now! It was fun to see everyone and to show off Dominic. He got some cute clothes and books, and I got an awesome jogging stroller. I can't wait to use it! Thanks gals!

Partying

I'm looking forward to all the coming months and all the fun things we'll get to do!

He's here! Welcome Dominic Oliver Craun!

Most of you know this already, but Dominic finally arrived on May 16th at 6:29 pm. He weighed 7 lbs 6 oz, and is 21 inches long. Brian and I are so happy and Dom is just the cutest little guy ever! We can't get over how, after only one day, we were so in love with him. Yes, there have been some moments where both of us were super frustrated during these first days home, but mostly we're just so happy!

Choosing his name was so hard! I had never thought of boys' names before, and with my job, I had to rule out a lot of boys' names. I wanted a name that wouldn't make me think of anyone I had worked with. So at first we settled on Oliver, but then my dad and Mitch didn't like it. All Mitch could think of was the tractor brand. After the negative reaction, of course we had to change it. So we decided on Dominic. We each know only one person with the name, and my parents each know of one person with the name so there was very little to associate with it. And it fits him so well! Oliver remained part of Dominic's name because Bri wants to call him DOC.
We went to the hospital late last Tuesday night for me to get some medicine that is supposed to make my cervix thin and dilate. I received that at 11:00 after being tortured with an IV port (I HATE needles). I was supposed to get another dose at 3:00, but the nurse woke me to let me know that I was having regular contractions every 3 to 5 minutes so they couldn't give me the second dose. They obviously weren't strong enough to put me into labor because they didn't wake me from my Ambien-induced coma.

At 3:40 my water broke - seriously one of the grossest things ever. And there was no guessing as to whether it really happened this time! Things get hazy here, but some time between then and 7:00, they started me on pitocin to get labor going. Around 8:00 the doc came in, and noted no progress. They started with a really small dose of the pitocin, but since I wasn't dilating they cranked it up. Then the contractions really started! I think labor officially started around 9ish. Halfway through the morning I started having major back pain. Dominic was face up instead of face down, and his skull was pushing into my back. After trying a few different positions and lots of pain later, they started me on an IV pain med (amazing). Because of his position and some scar tissue from some abnormal cells I had to get removed a few years ago (they wanted to break it apart and it would have been very painful), I got my epidural shortly after they started the pain meds. Many hours and a very large dosage of pitocin later, I had only dilated to a 6. Labor was SLOW - only a half a centimeter every two hours, when normal first time moms dilate a centimeter per hour. The nurse warned me that my doctor would likely say I needed a c-section, and I started crying. After all the lack of progress in the weeks prior, I had already told myself that I would likely need a c-section, but I was still scared nonetheless. Surgery scares me!

At 6:00 my doctor came in again, and after examining me, decided that I did need a c-section. They were unable to break apart the scar tissue that was basically like a super thick rubber band around my cervix. Dominic still hadn't turned the right way, and apparently my pelvis and cervix aren't shaped the way they're supposed to be so delivery could have been dangerous (sometimes things change during labor, which is why my doc let me labor all day). I kept going between calm, rational thoughts about how the c-section would be safer for both D and I and anxious, completely irrational thoughts about the c-section in general. I was shaking so bad my teeth were chattering. I'm so glad my mom and Brian were there to provide some comfort.

Once the decision was made, I was prepped and in the OR within 15 minutes. And within another 15 minutes, Dominic was delivered! It was such a surreal experience. Here I am, lying on a table completely cut open, and I have an anesthesiologist making small talk with me about how he's from Minnesota too. When we first heard D's cry, both Brian and I started crying. Then someone said, "He has so much hair" and we both asked what color it was (like that's the major thing to be worried about at that time!). Bri was so excited to meet him that he started to go over to the other side of the sheet before he got the okay and everyone was like "Not yet!!!" Bri got to see D first, and he came back to me and said that he's so beautiful. When they finally brought D over, I just remember being so in awe that I finally got to meet him, and that he was so perfect.

Things after that were a little hazy. Bri had contacted Megan when they were prepping me, so Megan, Lauren, and Bess were waiting with my mom outside the OR. They all went down to the nursery with D while I was closed up. At some point in time the nurses brought D in to nurse, and we both got a hang of it right away. Later that night I vaguely remember JD stopping by. Throughout the rest of the stay we had lots of visitors, and it was exciting to have everyone finally meet Dominic.

Brian and I got the hang of taking care of Dominic pretty quickly. Recovery from the c-section is going slowly, but surely, and every day is getting better. I love cuddling with Dom, and I feel so blessed that I have such a wonderful husband to take care of us, amazing friends and family to help out, and a perfect little boy who amazes me in every way. I think I've cried at least twice a day out of sheer happiness (and hormones).

Thank you all for the love, gifts, and support!

My first car ride

Little smiles during nap time.

After my first bath.

On the way to my first doctor appointment

My first tummy time, and I actually liked it.