Smiley Baby...

Dylan woke up on Saturday morning and decided to be a happy, smiley little baby. Not that he wasn't adorable before, but he was really cranky in the afternoon and early evening, and made my life difficult from about 3 pm until he went to bed at about 9 pm. Now he is cute. Still high maintenance (we have to hold him and play with him all evening or he cries), but now he is cute when we play with him. He has started giggling and smiling a lot more now, and as he becomes more aware of his surroundings, I don't have to entertain him as much. He likes just looking around and taking it all in. It's a welcome break for me!

I got him weighed at the baby clinic yesterday. He's now tipping the scales at a whopping 15 lbs. 3 oz. He still isn't fat, though he's got chubby little cheeks. He's really long and lean, with just a nice amount of baby fat. I really do have the cutest baby in the world. I really hope he holds on to his cuteness and he is a good looking little boy, teenager, and man. Life tends to be a little bit easier if you are attractive.

Martin and I are both doing well. Life is pretty monotonous at the moment, but it'll be busier and more exciting over Christmas. We've got the Lincoln Christmas market coming up, and Martin has a week off work between Christmas and New Years. The house is getting better--I'm taking an interest in making it look like a home now that it's not a builder's yard in the front room, and it's starting to look really cozy.

In other news, I have seized the financial reins back from Martin. He has been in charge of our finances since we moved here, and he hasn't done a very good job. Now that I am at home and have (a little bit) more free time than him, I am taking over again. My goal is to have our credit card paid off as soon as possible and to know EXACTLY what's going in and out of the bank each month. Once the card is paid off, we'll take a trip over to visit the family. It's only been a week since I took over, but we're already doing a little bit better. We've certainly spent less money this week than we normally do. The better I am at managing our money, the sooner we can come over for a visit. That's a pretty good incentive for me to budget well. I want to come and visit the family SO BAD!!!

Anyway, Dylan is crying and needs some attention. I'll try to get some more pictures and maybe a video clip posted soon. The little guy is getting so big and so adorable!

Random picture of someone's garden in Barton. I saw it and had to laugh. Take a closer look--there are 13 garden gnomes, plus a few fairies and a turtle. I just thought to myself, someone mentioned about 12 years ago that they liked gnomes, and that's all they've gotten for Christmas since then!

Dylan-chillin' in his Reebok classics and little hoodie. Grandad Gilbert says he looks like a chav. I think he looks adorable.

Dylan's baby blues--that's right, I have a blue eyed baby. It's a miracle, and his eyes are SO beautiful!

Thanksgiving...

A quick and early happy Thanksgiving to all the friends and family in the U.S.A. I am hosting a Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, but it really is going to be dinner--5:30pm since it's (obviously) not a holiday over here. I've got one pie done and another in the works, plus all of my vegetables are chopped and ready to cook tomorrow. The turkey is thawed in the fridge as well, and I am ready to cook everything tomorrow. Of course, there will only be 5 people for dinner so that takes away some of the stress of entertaining. Plus, nobody over here is really bothered. They're pretty much just showing up for the meal. Cathy told us she was coming, then made other plans! But now she's coming again, which is good.

Dylan is upstairs crying his eyes out. Since he got sicki (a little cold--nothing serious) he hasn't been settling very well at night. Once he is asleep he stays asleep for 9 or 10 hours, but getting him there is quite a chore. We bathe him, feed him, cuddle him, burp him, change him--pretty much do everything we can think of--and then let him cry for 45 minutes to an hour. I will just say at this point that I find it much easier to just let him cry than I ever thought I would. I just feel sorry for the neighbors. We don't have the thickest walls in the world!

In other Dylan news, he is now weighing in at a whopping 14 lbs. 13 oz. His weight gain seems to have leveled off a little bit. He only gained 3 oz. last week instead of nearly a pound. And that slowed weight gain is even WITH the addition of baby rice to his diet. That's right--Dylan is having solids (sort of). I started giving him the cereal on Saturday after much deliberation. I loved the fact that he was exclusively breast fed, but I was sitting and feeding him for about 3 hours straight every afternoon, and it was just too draining for me. I'm making the cereal up with breast milk though, and that makes me feel a little bit better about the whole thing. Anyway, he loves the cereal and is happy and healthy. And now I only have to feed him for about an hour in the afternoon. That's a big improvement.

Martin is getting a lot done on the house--the entrance hallway is nearly ready for plastering, and once that's done we will block off the old door and open up the new one. Exciting stuff! We also finally hung a towel rack, toilet roll holder, and mirror in the bathroom and got a great rug for Dylan's nursery (hooray for Ikea--the greatest store ever)!

Anyway, must dash. I need to make my pumpkin pie still. I just needed to update everyone. Next time it'll be pictures. Dylan gets cuter every day!

My first night out...

Last night I went to WI (Womens' Institute) and Martin stayed home with Dylan. He bathed him, fed him, and put him to bed without me, and he did a GREAT job. When I got home Dylan was in bed asleep and Martin was playing on the internet and watching Gladiator on TV. The only way it could have been any better is if he had tidied the house up a little bit!

We had the weekly weigh in today, and Dylan is now up to 14 lbs. 10 oz. He's so long though that he doesn't look fat at all. He does have a cute double chin and round little cheeks, but he's a long, lean looking baby.

Dylan also has his first passport. It's a british one, as we were just able to send away for that one and didn't have to make an appointment at the embassy like we'll need to for his American passport. His picture looks so silly, but adorable.

The two of us have been getting steadily better all this week, and now feel almost normal. Dylan had his first ever medicine (Calpol--it's like children's Tylenol I think). It was strawberry flavored, and he LOVED the taste of it. I'm still debating whether or not to start giving him baby rice cereal. I'm so torn! Any advice on that?

Incidentally, I love getting advice from people who already have kids. Having never done this before, I'm a little bit unsure most of the time. Keep the comments coming!!!

Here's one of our little 4 day old Dylan--don't think I posted it before, but I really like it and wanted to share!

Dylan giggles...a test video clip taken on our digital camera. Feedback would really be appreciated on this one!

Dylan's First Trip to the Swimming Pool...

First there was the hassle of waking him up earlier than usual and feeding him VERY quickly. Dad was taking the morning off work to go with us, so we had to be less flexible than usual with his morning sleep. Then there was the adventure of getting him into his Little Swimmers nappy and swim trunks. Then, there was the automatic shower at the Scunthorpe Leisure Centre pool. THEN, we got into the water.

He was a little bit unsure at first--he had never had that much room to move in the water before--well, not for a LONG time anyway. But ten minutes into the whole experience, he was starting to smile. We took him into very shallow water and let him push against the bottom of the pool--he was actually trying to stand up. And he looked so cute in his little swim trunks! Sadly, cameras were not allowed at the pool due to the intense fear of pedophiles, but take my word for it, he was adorable!

Poor little guy is sick now, and so am I. Taking care of a baby when you are sick and want nothing more than to curl up in a ball and sleep for three days is HARD WORK! But we are managing. Last night he screamed for 5 hours straight. He just wanted to be held and would cry if I set him down even for a second. Most of the time he cried if I was holding him, too. Tonight he is still awake and he should have been asleep over an hour ago. Typically, I am on my own since Martin is still at work. But I am just letting him cry, because I'm stressed out and will not be able to calm him down anyway. Can't wait for daddy to come home!

But both of us are on the mend, and once again it's a case of two steps forward and one step back. Just when I start to love being a mother, something happens that makes it incredibly difficult. We'll get over it--just as soon as we can shake this cold!

An amazing night...

Last night Dylan went to sleep at 9:30 and he slept until, get this, 7:20 am! He slept all night long! Of course, since I am breastfeeding him, I did NOT sleep all night long. But I didn't wake up until 5:30 am, and I just expressed some milk and made sure Dylan was still breathing.

The little man got moved into his nursery on Wednesday night. Martin decided to give it a try and promised me he'd be the one to collect him for his middle of the night feed (since that was my main objection to moving him into his own room--I didn't want to have to go all the way in there to get him for his feeds). He seems to settle so much better in there, and it is actually easier for me and Martin too. Though that first night was strange. It was so weird to be alone with Martin in our bedroom as Dylan has been with us for two months straight now.

We went to the Ulceby village auction this weekend, and a good time was had by all. We got a box of childrens' books, a new stand lamp, and a box full of various bags, and it was all a bit of a bargain.

Dylan and I also went and visited with my friend Sam. She is 37 weeks pregnant and has really bad SPD. She has been housebound for the last 4 weeks, and I think we were both really grateful for adult company (her husband is at work all day on Fridays and Saturdays as well).

So that's the update, and everyone enjoy the pictures!!!

Our concerned little man in his "big boy" clothes (all dressed up for church). Martin has decided that he likes it when Dylan looks more like a baby and less like a little boy, but I think he looks cute both ways!

This photo was taken yesterday. We LOVE this little sleep suit. Dylan looks absolutely fabulous in red. And in green. And in white. And in blue. And in...well, you get the picture!

I don't remember who gave us this hat, but Dylan looks too adorable for words in it. He should be the next baby Gap poster child!