Matthew's Rebuttal in the "No Munching" Debate

Matthew LOVES to suck his fingers. However, we want to avoid future astronomical orthodontic bills so we are trying to switch him over to a pacifier before finger/thumb sucking becomes a more permanent habit. Matthew's Deda has used the phrase, "No Munching" and now we say that to him when Matthew sucks on his fingers. This is what Matthew has to say about this. I have titled this video, "The Ten Main Reasons I Like to Munch" unfortunately there are no subtitles.

Christmas or Shark Week on the Discovery Channel?

Matthew got to experience Christmas twice this year.. once on Christmas Eve with his maternal Grandparents/Unkie Jude and Kerry and then on Christmas Day with his Deda and father's side of the family. He got so many presents.. he made out like a bandit. I was observing the opening of presents and it reminded me of the "feeding frenzies" of the sharks on the Discovery Channel. It was quite fun being a part of the mass unwrappings and rippings. Having a child makes you remember the fun and excitement of Christmas. We had a lot of fun visiting with all of the family and overdosing on great food and desserts. I should go back to Bicycle World and Fitness for indoor cycling classes to work off the chocolate.

He Ain't No Bad Santa!

Matthew had his first visit with Santa on December 24th. We went to the most appropriate place--Bicycle Word and Fitness. The parents of Matthew's friend Collin own the store and we had a great visit with Santa and Mrs. Santa. Matthew was in a very good mood and didn't even soil his diaper while sitting on Santa's lap. This Santa was very fit, I think it was from all of his bicycle riding. What a very positive message about nutrition and exercise, unlike my Cookie Monster cycling jersey.

Beach Footage Back by Popular Demand

Okay, here is footage of the toe dipping at the beach. I took it off of a previous post, but here it is again..

Christmas Photo Outtakes

We sent out our Christmas cards last week. I hope we didn't miss anyone. Some friends asked how we got the dogs to sit still and keep Matthew from crying. Paxil and Domino are very "food-motivated" so I dangled some chicken jerky over Tony's head while he took the photo. We had to count on Matthew to motivate himself since I was not willing to dangle his milk factories over Tony's head. With that being said, we took LOTS of photos. Too many to post here, some had Domino coming up too close to the camera trying to get the chicken jerky. Some had Paxil distracted by a squirrel. We found two good photos out of about twenty. Here they are:

10 Things I Learned to Appreciate after Becoming a Mom

Since becoming a mother there are many things that I have learned to appreciate. Either because they make my life easier/enjoyable or because I so rarely get these treats that I relish every moment of them.
1) Non-alcoholic beer- I learned to love O'Doules when I was pregnant. Nothing beats a beer with pizza or many of the other pregnancy cravings that I had. Of course I could not drink alcohol during pregnancy and now that I am nursing, alcohol is very limited. So now it is O'Doules for me... As Homer Simpson would say, "No Beer makes Maria go crazy".
2) A "Hollywood" shower-When I get to take a shower without hearing a baby screaming for me to hurry up and I actually get to lather, rinse, and repeat--this is a very rare treat.
3) A husband who cooks for me-If the cooking was left to me I would have sandwiches or cereal every night. It is just too difficult to juggle work, baby, and then making a meal at Matthew's "fuss hour". I always appreciate when Tony or my father in law cooks dinner for us. If I get to eat the meal while it is hot, instead of after feeding Matthew, even better.
4) Working out at the gym-This is an hour and a half of time completely dedicated to myself. Before the baby, I complained about having to work out to get in shape, but now I enjoy these rare moments to myself.
5) Caffeine-What a cruel joke nature plays on new mothers. We are exhausted from multiple nightly feedings, nursing releases a hormone that makes us sleepy, and we have to cut down on our caffeine to boot. The lactation specialist told me I can have the equivalent of 2 diet cokes or coffee a day. I have decided to make these shots of caffeine count and I have them around 2 in the afternoon when I am most exhausted. It also prepares me for Matthew's fuss hour (5-6PM).

6) Starting and finishing a task in one sitting-I oftentimes blame my forgetfulness on lack of sleep or lack of caffeine, but in most cases I am forgetful because I start a task and get interupted before getting to finish it. Whether it be organizing the baby clothes and diapers, sending out Christmas cards, or writing blogs, it never fails.... before I am through it is time to attend to the little one. Uh oh.. the prince awakens.. he is saying that is time to eat. Maybe I will get to the last four things tomorrow, unless I forget.

Daddy's first full week with Matthew

I have not had a chance to spend more that a weekend with Matthew since he was about a week old and I went back to work. Besides, even if I did spend more time than that at the beginning; he would not have been as “interactive and reactive” back then as he is now. I decided to take my 2nd full week away from work when Matthew was a bit older, which happened to fall into first week in December, not knowing what I was getting myself into. Just kidding!

Without knowing that Matthew would start 'talking' around 12 weeks old, I picked the right time to take my 2nd week of vacation to spend at home. I would consider this perfect timing on my part because I can talk to him and he would 'talk' back to me in his own language. I would say, “Hi Matthew!” or “Are you daddy's good boy?” and he would shriek in delight. Just take a look at this short video as an example of him reacting to my voice and 'talking' back to me.



The week off started with Matthew's first major road trip. The Vivona family rented a beach house at Bolivar Peninsula for a post-Thanksgiving / early birthday party for Maria. Matthew enjoyed the strolls on the beach while the doggies were busy chasing every sea gull in sight. I even dipped Matthew's feet in the water, as Maria posted in an earlier blog entry. Boy, I did not expect the reaction I received from the "little guy". Even though it was unseasonably warm, the water was cooler than I would have guessed -- low 60's. Maria and I went for swim later in that day and I have to say that it was quite chilly. We came back home early on a chilly, drizzly Monday morning. A cold front came through the night before, ending the 70 degree weather. At least the shorts-on-the-beach December weather was great while it lasted.

Even though daddy had the week off, mommy didn’t so it was daddy's turn to experience what mommy goes through day in and day out. The rest of the week can be summarized in the following activities I performed with him daily: (disclaimer: this is what I did with Matthew on my week off from work and does in no way infer that Maria does this while she is working!)

- wake up and hand Matthew to Maria for a feeding

- going out for about a long morning stroll with the doggies, hoping that Matthew falls asleep in the stroller while mommy works

- when sleeping Matthew wakes up, it is feeding time again

- after the mid-morning feeding, it is play time: hand-eye coordination exercises with daddy's hands, tummy time and rolling over practice, followed by some "office work" (see a preview blog entry)

- once again, handing him to Maria for a feeding then a nap

- after his mid-day nap, we would go for our second stroll of the day, hoping that this would lead into another nap

- after the post-stroll nap, if Matthew is hungry, he would go to Maria for another feeding

- after the feeding, spending time in the vibrating chair playing with cube, zebra and rattles on the toy bar, or simply lying down on the boppie feeding pillow, and admiring how hard mommy works.



Most days, we ended up going for two long strolls. Both Matthew and doggies loved that. Last Thursday, we must have walked 5 miles since we were out of the house for a total of 2 1/2 hours.

Dinnertime poses a bit of a challenge; not necessarily the cooking but Matthew’s mood determines if the parents eat together or take turns inhaling their dinner while the other one occupies Matthew. But I am sure that every parent knows and experiences this... :-)

Matthew is also enjoying quick trips (and sometimes not so quick) around town, grocery store, Babies ‘R Us, Petco, etc. I also indoctrinated him into being a “techie” by making an hour-long trip to the cable company service center to swap out the cable box so he can watch National Geographic channel in high definition. Okay, I have to admit that I am projecting here; the cable box upgrade was for the parents. They just have to watch the Food Network, Discovery Theater and “The Dog Whisperer” in HD. :-)

I should have known that he’s a “techie” by this photo:



In summary, I knew that motherhood was hard but I had no idea how hard. I have a new respect for all mothers once I’ve experienced first hand how much it takes to raise a child while daddy off at work, solving software problems inside the developer tools for the Space Shuttle flight software.

Matthew in his "Office" and his "Chain Mail"

This is Matthew's "Office". We call it his office because he seems to concentrate on all of the different stimuli like he is working hard. He looks like his Mommy when she is working on a difficult proposal.


This is a poncho that Matthew's grandmother made for him. Tony and I think it looks like chain mail. He really likes it now that the weather is getting colder.

Matthew's Commentary about his 1st Beach Trip

I don't quite understand what he is saying. Perhaps he is speaking Croatian.

Matthew's Party and Beach Weekend Excitement

Matthew had an eventful weekend. On Saturday morning he went to his cousin Bodie's birthday party. He got a chance to see his cousins, aunts, uncles and his Deda and watch them jump around on the huge blow-up space walks. He also watched his daddy scarf down lotsa pizza. After the party we went straight to the beach on Boliver Peninsula (an hour away plus a ferry ride from Clear Lake). We spent the weekend in a rented beach house. This was Matthew's first time to travel over night. He did exceptionally well in his portable crib and charmed his grandparents, Uncle Jude, and Kerry with his smiles and chatterings. He also seemed to like the strolls along the beach. The weather was unseasonably warm for December (in the 80's). Matthew's daddy even dunked his toes in the gulf for his first pre-swim experience. He cried a little. It is still yet to be determined whether he will be a swimmer like his Daddy.

Talking.. well kinda

I have noticed a lot of changes in Matthew this week. First, Matthew has been a lot more vocal. He has been making lots of sounds just to hear himself--some cooing and what sounds like yelling with delight. The equivalent of yelling WOO HOO!! He has been keeping himself entertained. I hear him awake in the crib, but not crying for attention. He is having a conversation with himself in his own secret language. Also, he is noticing a lot more around him. He enjoys watching the dogs wrestle each other now. He showed no interest in them up until now. He also seems to look around a lot more during our daily strolls through the neighborhood.

Rattlers

About a month ago a friend asked me if Matthew was playing with "rattlers" yet. I said that he is a little too young to play with poisonous snakes. I knew however that she meant rattles. To answer her question, Matthew is playing with his wrist and foot "rattlers".

Jingle All the Way

Today Tony and I went Christmas shopping with Matthew in tow. I know madhouse post Thanksgiving shopping isn't the best place for a baby, but it really wasn't too bad on Saturday. While walking through the aisle of Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Matthew started to fuss so I started to sing along with the piped in Christmas music... Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way.. Matthew immediately stopped crying. So every time he started to cry I sang the first verse (that's all I know) of Jingle Bells as frantically as possible. The faster and louder I sung the quicker he stopped crying and started smiling. On the way home Tony decided that he preferred the sound of crying to me singing/yelling Jingle Bells one more time.

Dressing Up for Thanksgiving

Finally on Thanksgiving Day it was cool enough to pull out Matthew's colder weather clothes. I have been looking forward to putting his doggie overalls on him. The last several weeks have been unseasonably warm, in the 80's.

Not Quite Ready for this Chair

I planned on writing a blog about how advanced Matthew's neck control is for a 2 month old. I took a photo of him in his Bebe chair to demonstrate how he is master of his neck domain. Unfortunately the photo does not quite make my point.

I guess I will have to wait before I brag that my son can hold his head up at a fifth grade level.
Note: No babies were hurt in the taking of this photo.



Update: Thanksgiving afternoon (after our tryptophantastic turkey meal). Matthew uses his chair to pose while watching football with his Uncle Jude.

Pop Goes the Bubble Gum

Lately, Matthew has been fascinated when watching me chew. This, of course, is a win-win situation because I get to eat and he gets to watch me eat. I wish he was as fascinated by watching me use my computer. That would make it so much easier to write these blogs. He also likes to watch me chew gum. At my request, Tony bought me some Bubble Yum. I haven't had this since I was a kid. I thought Matthew would enjoy watching me blow some bubbles. After I blew my first bubble and it popped, he cried. I don't know whether he cried because of the "pop", because of the sudden disappearance of something so fascinating or because he thought that his Mommy turned into a lizard.

No Use Crying over Spit-up Milk

Based on all of the soiled diapers, I thought that Matthew knew what to do with his used milk. But lately, Matthew has been spitting it up quite often. I actually thought that babies spit up starting from birth but Matthew started releasing his milk around week 10. So, I can't complain much. Now I will use the cloth diapers that my mother has placed strategically around the house to catch the milk that Matthew finds unworthy of his diaper.

These are a Few of His Favorite Things

Matthew is 11 weeks old and he is alert a lot more often during the day than in previous weeks. He likes to take everything in and learn more about the world around him. Currently, some of his favorite things are hand-me-downs from his cousins Cooper and Bodie. From (week 2-present day) he has been swinging in his aquarium cradle sing. He can be content there for about 20 minutes which gives me time to eat lunch or clean up a little bit. We have learned the hard way that the swing does not end crying. If Matthew enters the swing crying he will remain crying. He will just be a swinging, crying baby.

Now Matthew's vibrating bouncer is his new favorite thing (and his Mommy's). He just loves to look at the toy bar with the black and white cube, some rings and a zebra (see below). Matthew's grandmother made me turn the toy bar around so that he was not facing the zebra's butt though. I love the bouncer because sometimes (only sometimes unfortunately) the vibrations will soothe Matthew when he is being fussy. Anything that will help do this is much appreciated.

Singing Corny Songs and Matthew Loves It

This past Friday, Tony bought a package of 6 CD's with children's songs and all of the lyrics in a song book. I never liked singing and I have a horrible voice, but Matthew seems to love hearing me sing along to songs like, Little Bunny Foo Foo, Bringing Home a Baby Bumble Bee, and 10 Monkeys Jumping on a Bed. I remember telling my friend Barb a few years back that I will not sing silly songs to my child. I will start him off with Rock songs that I like and get him used to it at an early age. However, I changed my mind quickly when Matthew showed me how much he likes to hear me sing. I have been singing to him so much that I have a sore throat now.

Exercising on Veteran's Day with Grandma

Today my mother came to visit me and Matthew. She babysat while I worked out at the gym in the morning. I lifted weights and attended a water aerobics class. I enjoyed the break and it felt good to work out again. Later that day we took Matthew, Paxil, and Domino for a walk. My mom pushed the stroller while I walked Paxil and Domino on their tandem leash. My mom allowed me to take the dogs for a prolonged walk to a hiking trail while she cut the walk shorter for Matthew. I got another enjoyable work out and so did the dogs. They are Labrador mixes with a lot of energy and they got a chance to run off leash in the woods alongside me. While the dogs and I were gone Matthew fussed a little bit with his grandma but eventually he fell asleep on her shoulder. Below is a photo of Matthew with his grandma.

Before today the only work outs that I got to do were the following:

The Baby Press and

The Baby Crunch

In addition to these exercises the baby car seat bicep curl and tricep extension and daily walks around the block.

One Book, Two Book, Red Book, Blue Book

I have been reading to Matthew fairly regularly since he was 3 days old. However, it is only recently that I have noticed lots of smiles when I read to him and he seems attentive to my voice the whole time. We received some cardboard baby books from Matthew's cousin Trinity and I read those to him every day. Matthew's favorites are The Dr. Seuss ABC Book, There's a Wocket in My Pocket and Hop on Pop. I say these are his favorites but in actuality they are mine. I like reading Dr. Seuss the most because it reminds me of my childhood. I loved the absurd characters and the silliness. We received Cat in the Hat from my friend Monica as a gift and that too I enjoy reading so much that Matthew notices a difference in the way I read it. I am a lot more animated. Recently, I went to Borders and bought, Green Eggs and Ham, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and my all time favorite Fox in Socks. Fox in Socks is a book of tongue twisters that I will enjoy watching Tony read to his son for the first time. I will have to videotape it. Tony is unfamiliar with a lot of the Dr. Seuss books because he moved to the States from Croatia when he was seven and he had outgrown Dr. Seuss books by then.

I am not the only one who enjoys reading Dr. Seuss books to Matthew. My father does too:

Fussiness and Raspberries

Lately Matthew has been running a lot of errands with me. I have only two more weeks left of my maternity leave so I am trying to get a lot of things done to prepare for working at home with Matthew. Today when we got home he was fussing and crying. By the time I changed his diaper he was at full-blown scream. I then gave him a raspberry on his belly (I made sure I had his new diaper on first to avoid getting blasted). He then broke out into a smile and all past fussiness was forgotten...at least for a few minutes.

Dogs and Positive Reinforcement

Good news today: the two Border Collie mix puppies that showed up on our doorstep on October 12th have a new home. They have been adopted by a friend/customer of my mom's bank.

This makes me think of our two dogs Paxil and Domino. They have been doing very well around the baby. They recognize that they have to be very gentle and calm in Matthew's presence. I want them to have a positive association with the baby so I reward them with a dog treat if they are calm and submissive when I am holding the baby. When they see me holding Matthew they immediately sit in hopes of getting a treat. Now they have taken it a step further. They know that I go hold Matthew when he cries. So as soon as Paxil and Domino hear Matthew cry they go to the chair where I feed him and wait for me.

Matthew's 2 month doctor appointment

Today I took Matthew to see his pediatrician. It was his 2 month well baby exam. The nurse weighed him at 13 lbs 10 oz and then measured him at 24.5 inches long. When the doctor came into the examining room she said to him, "It looks like you haven't missed any meals". Matthew then cried on cue as if he was insulted. The doctor then apologized. The doctor checked some of his motor skills by putting him on his stomach. Matthew lifted his head to look around and then he rolled over. The doctor was very impressed and told me that rolling over onto his back is a 4 month skill. I told her that our dog Paxil taught him how to roll over. The doctor also said that he has deliberate hand movements even better than expected at his age. Matthew then got his immunizations shots in three needles. He fussed for a while.

After the doctor appointment I took Matthew to Tony's office so that he could meet Tony's co-workers. Matthew is obviously very adept at office politics because he smiled a lot in the arms of Tony's boss. Everyone commented about how big he is for his age.

Uncle Jude Babysitting

Tony and I are fortunate that Matthew's Uncle Jude is very willing to babysit. He has been coming to visit every Friday after work (he works only half days on Fridays) and he babysits while I run errands. He has really been a godsend. This past Sunday he babysat for Matthew for five hours while Tony and I met some friends for lunch and went to see Avenue Q in the Theater District (a hilarious adult parody of Sesame Street). We had a great time. Meanwhile, Jude got to experience Matthew's many cycles of sleep, cry, eat, change diapers, play (or stare at this age). Unfortunately for Jude, Matthew often forgot the "sleep" and "play" of that cycle meaning that there was a lot of crying. Jude handled it very well though and took him for a stroll around the block, walked him around bouncing him, and sung to him.. Jude said none of them worked..oh well. Matthew was having a fussy week for me too. Jude does have a way with Matthew though as you can see.

Visit from cousins Cooper and Bodie

On Saturday, Matthew's Aunt Andrea, his Deda (Grandpa Varesic..Deda is the Croatian word for grandfather), and cousins Cooper (the ring bearer at our wedding) and Bodie came to visit him. He was very alert and obviously enjoyed seeing them. Last time he saw his cousins was the day after he was born, so obviously he was a lot more attentive to them. Proud Daddy Tony was more than eager to describe all of Matthew's latest developments.

We also got a visit from Matthew's cousin Lauren (the flower girl at our wedding) and his Uncle Paul and Aunt Janice earlier in October. Below is a photo from the second day at the hospital.

Matthew enjoys weekly visits from his Deda too.

Halloween night and lunchtime

This week on the day of Halloween, Matthew and I had lunch with some friends/coworkers. This is the first time my friends have seen me since Matthew was born. My friends described me as being "totally mommified" and they then teased me about diaper genies and play dates. During all of this teasing my friend Hazel really won over Matthew. He was all smiles for her.

Later that evening before trick or treaters came to our door, we took the opportunity to take some photos of Matthew in his pumpkin onesie.

Then Matthew had a photo op with the evil twins his mother used as a prop for her costume the weekend before Halloween.

Cradle Crap

Poor Matthew, he has cradle cap so we have been shampooing him with some medicated shampoo. He doesn't like his baths as it is, so he certainly doesn't like having to wait for two minutes with the medicine on his head. Fortunately, he got rid of his baby acne, a whole 18 years before his senior prom.

Update: November 8th, the pediatrician said the best way to get rid of the cradle cap was to put baby oil on his head and scrub it with a brush. Sure enough that worked a lot better than the shampoo.

Seven Weeks at Home with Matthew (First Post)

I never thought I would have my hands free to start a blog site, but fortunately Matthew's sleeping patterns are getting more predictable. Caring for my beautiful newborn son seems a lot less overwhelming now than in the first two weeks. So here I am starting this site on his seventh week as my "new boss". It is the week of Halloween and already Matthew surprised his visitors and friends with his Horton, Dumbo, or elephant costume. So is it true that elephants never forget? Is Matthew going to be describing this experience someday to a therapist?.. I sure hope not. Don't worry he is still exclusively breastfed and has not been fed any peanuts (unless you count the peanutbutter sandwich that I ate before breastfeeding him).