Week 7: Bouncing baby Owen

 In week 7, Owen got to meet his other grandfather, Pops!  And honorary grandma Helen!  They arrived on Monday and stayed through the week.

While they were here, they got to see Owen do some new things.  He is not just staring at one thing anymore, but looking all around the room with interest and curiosity.  He turns his head and follows moving people with his eyes--especially me!  He also started doing this really cute thing where if I am holding him facing out to see the world, and I start speaking, he turns to look up at me like "Wow!  Mom is up there, amazing!"

Pops and Helen also got to witness first-hand the new favorite activity: bouncing.  Owen loves to bounce in his bouncing chair.  A lot of times he likes it much better than being held.  He waves his arms and legs around, looks around the room, looks out the window, looks at the people, and occasionally he nods off for a nap, all while bouncing.  We have our friend Jackie to thank for giving us the fancy chair we have--I don't think a flimsier model could stand up to the ongoing perpetual bounce machine that is Owen.  He doesn't bounce himself yet, but it's easy to put one foot on the chair and keep it moving for him.  If the bouncing stops, the fussing begins.

I like to sing him a little song when he's fussing and squirming, to the tune of David Bowie's "Let's Dance":
Let's bounce!
Put on your bounce pants and bounce the bounce
Let's bounce to the bounce in the bouncing chair!
etc.

He also occasionally likes to be in the Moby carrier which is elastic so it has a fair amount of bounce, especially if Mom dances to Michael Jackson songs.  This works well when he's overtired and can't get to sleep on his own. 

Speaking of fussing, there has been plenty of fussing but very little inconsolable and unexplainable crying.  He still cries, especially when he gets overtired in the afternoon, but the colicky period seems to have come to a close already.  We are thankful for every day that goes by without that nonsense.  We're trying hard to get him to bed before he turns into a gremlin at 8:00 pm, and sometimes he goes to bed as early as 6.  This means he has some really early mornings (this morning he was ready to roll for the day at about 4 am), but we prefer the schedule disruption to another two or three hours of crying at night.  Plus it makes it easier to fix dinner and eat if he's already asleep.    

Owen has been in a little bit of a feeding frenzy lately, eating a more frequently and waking up more at night.  On Friday afternoon Owen weighed TWELVE POUNDS!  Holy moly gauacamole!  I know they are supposed to grow up fast but this is ridiculous!  His cheeks are wider than the rest of his head, and his formerly muscular thighs are now sporting a double roll at mid-quadriceps.  Everyone who sees him comments on his cheeks.  They are very pinchable. 

Last but certainly not least, Owen is smiling a lot more.  He is happiest right after he wakes up for the day, but he can be a real charmer at any time of the day.  He particularly likes to give a big adorable grin to a person who is looking right at him and talking to him.  It's pretty awesome.  It just makes you want to squeeze him. Yesterday we attended the wedding of a close friend from UCLA, and shortly after we arrived a group of my colleagues from school were crowded around to meet him.  He smiled and you could have heard them all squeal from the next block.

 

Keep it up, Owen!

Owen smiles a little bit

Week 6: becoming baby Owen

To celebrate his 6 week birthday, Owen was a perfect angel all day.  He spent the whole morning smiling and cooing and happily waving his arms about and looking around.  Then he took a short nap, and spent some more time hanging out while we had friends visiting, most of the afternoon and evening.  He fell directly asleep the moment they left at 7pm.  As I was doing the dishes shortly after, I told Noah that I felt like we cheated, it wasn't even hard today. 

Two minutes later, Owen woke up screaming bloody murder.  He was also clammy and his temperature was a little low.  This crying session was so sudden and intense that for the first time we called the doctor in a panic.  I was happy to learn that our doctor's office actually has a doctor on call, who you can speak with right away.  She told us not to worry, that his temperature was within the normal range and he is just colicky.  Then he went to sleep, and slept for 5 1/2 hours!  Wow!! 


In his 6th week, lots of little things changed a little bit, and it adds up to Owen leaving newborn-hood behind and becoming a baby. 

Owen was 10 lbs, 7oz and 23 inches long at his checkup this week.  He has rolls of fat on his chin and dimples on his elbows and fingers.  He was born with downy white newborn "fur" all over his body, and it is almost completely gone.  I'm pretty sad about this because it made him SO SOFT.  He is still soft, but now it's his soft skin, not the soft fur.  His newborn hair has also fallen out a little bit.  Noah swears that he saw Owen's hair in the sunlight and that it is red.  I haven't seen the inner ginger yet but I don't doubt that it's coming.  His eyes have gone from that newborn gray-blue color to dark, dark blue. 

His personality is also starting to emerge more and more, and he's starting to show opinions and emotions rather than just reactions.  We have had a lot more smiles!  Big gummy grins and sly little half-smiles.  He's especially happy in the morning after a good nights' sleep.  10am is his golden hour.

Now when he's alert, he's interacting with the world more.  He is wheeling his arms and legs and he gets excited about things he's looking at.  He continues to love being in the car, and he loves to go shopping.  He sits in his car seat in the shopping cart or the stroller and merrily looks around at the ceiling, the lights, and the shelves.

He is showing some signs of rejecting the bottle, which has me very concerned since I decided that I will go back to working my 12 hours per week, as long as Noah can be at home with Owen.  And also because he still wakes up at least twice, and sometimes three times, between 10pm and 7am.  We're persevering to make the bottle OK with him.


As for the colic, this week has been much, much better.  We made a lot of changes after Week 5, so it's hard to know what made the difference--or if maybe we're just having a little break and the colicky behavior will return.  The doctor told us that the problem is that he only knows how to get MORE upset--he does not know how to get LESS upset, so you have to do it for him.  Like cows, who can go up stairs, but not down them.  It is helpful to think about it this way.  The trick is to interrupt the crying for long enough to give him time to calm down.

We started using the Happiest Baby on the Block techniques, and they really do work.  Especially shushing.  When he gets worked up, we wrap him up tight in the swaddle blanket and then SHHHHH!! loudly! right in his ear.  Or sometimes we turn the HEPA filter on high and sit right next to it.  I have a real knack for swaddling, but Noah is the master of shushing.  This shushing stops him in his tracks.  It doesn't exactly calm him down, but it gives him pause for long enough that his heart rate can come down and he has a good chance of staying settled.

Grandpa Paul and Helen will be here this week, and Amani will be here next weekend, and I know they are all excited to meet him!

Owen looks around

Belated 1-month checkup at the doctor's office

Owen went to the doctor today for his 1-month checkup.  Thanks to our lazy attitude toward scheduling and a snafu with our last appointment, this visit was almost two weeks overdue.  But, all is well.

He weighs 10lbs 7oz, and is 23 inches long.  He's right at the 50th percentile for both weight and height for 6 weeks of age.  He was at the 20th percentile for weight at birth so it is confirmed--he is growing fast. But not too fast.  She said his growth and eating behavior sound normal. 

The doctor also said his health is perfect, and there is no health reason for all the crying.  He exhibits classic colic symptoms.  She recommended a few things to try--anti-gas drops, chamomile tea, etc--but suggested that the real secret is to wait it out.  That said, we have had 3 days in a row that were totally fine.  Maybe we are over the hump already.  Or maybe we are just getting a break.  In either case we're glad he's been happier.

Owen has tummy time part 2 (4 1/2 weeks)

Owen has tummy time! (4 1/2 weeks)

I've been trying to get this one posted for a few days--parenting involves many new technological challenges! 

Owen swings and dreams

Owen stares at fireplace (5 weeks)

Week 5: smiles and tears

Sleepy smile

Owen smiled for real for the first time this week!  (Sleeping smiles have been happening for a while--above photo is a near-miss capture of one of those).  His first smile even came with a little laugh, like an aaaahhh sound.  This morning he smiled again at Granma and Gramps on Skype.  He must have heard how much they missed him.  
Another new development this week is that Owen is starting to use his vocal cords, so there are a lot of new sounds--a few mmmm's and ahhh's, and a lot of new noises when he cries, most pitiful.  He is holding his head up better and moving his arms with more purpose.  When he's awake and happy, he is really attending to faces and turning his head to follow sounds and sights.

On Friday we went to UCLA for some errands, and had a really nice lunch sitting out in the shade on one of the lawns.  Owen seemed to enjoy the fresh air and breezy outdoor time, so we're going to try being outside some more.  Yesterday I took him for a short hike at a park in Culver City that I had never been to before.  I felt great getting a little exercise and sunshine, and the view from the trail was wonderful.  Owen seemed to like being in the Ergo carrier and had a nice snooze.  I only made it up a little bit to what promised to be a 360 degree view of the city.  I'll make it my goal to eventually see the top!   

We started swaddling Owen tightly at night, and it has helped him sleep longer.  We are now swaddling him for naps, too. Otherwise he startles himself awake just as he is falling into a deep sleep, and ends up overtired.

Baby hand imprint stamped on face from sleeping in Ergo

We have had several occasions when he went 4 hours between his tasty buckets of chum at night.  This means that Noah's giving him a nighttime bottle has fallen apart a little, because I can't wait 8 hours between feedings.  We will continue to give him a bottle of breast milk at least once a day so he stays used to the bottle.  He is taking it with no problem, and even drank a bottle I gave him once this week.

He weighs about 10 lbs and is noticeably chubbier.  He has a double roll under his armpits.  Footie pajamas that looked huge when we brought him home now fit perfectly.

And last but certainly not least, the crying continued this week.  Endless, loud, inconsolable crying.  It seems that Owen is colicky.  For the uninitiated, "colicky" is a word that means your baby cries for no reason, for hours on end, every day.  Our baby book indicates that the most serious problem with colic is its effect on the parents' mental health.  Noah and I have been at our wits' ends more than once.  Even big sister cat Cleo has been at her wits end this week.

It seems that he gets tired in the afternoon, and then he gets a little cranky, and then something upsets him like he has to burp or milk comes out too fast when he's eating or he poops.  Then it sort of spirals out of control and it is very, very hard to calm him down.  Going in the Ergo and walking (sometimes on the treadmill) sometimes works, and going in the car works great although it is not always practical and/or safe to go for a drive at 2 am when we're half asleep. 

We are learning to trade off when it gets to be too much and trying our best to be patient.  We are thankful that Noah is home with us. (I am, anyway.  Noah might wish otherwise at times.)  We watched the Happiest Baby on the Block video last night which is all about how to calm a baby who won't stop crying.  We learned a few tricks and, more than anything, had our confidence restored that there is nothing seriously wrong with him, or with us.  Lots of people tell us that there is a critical turning point where things improve around 6 weeks.  The books tell us that colic usually goes away quite suddenly by 4 months.  I'm not sure we can wait another 2 1/2 months, so here's hoping for the 6 week milestone to come through for us.  

Hanging in there...

Owen is fussy

Owen looks at the world... some more (8 days old)

Owen looks at the world (8 days old)

Owen reads a book (8 days old)

Day in the life of Owen

What's it like being Owen? Where do the hours go?  Here's a sample day.  A good day.You'll have to use your imagination to insert ~10-12 diaper changes and a couple of spit-ups/wardrobe changes.  And of course, I don't mean to imply that we really have what you'd call a routine.  It is pretty hit or miss. 

7:00 am: make lots of noises in sleep, grunt grunt, mmmmm, mmmaaaaa, ggrraaaaaa....   
9:00: wake up, time to eat!  Mornings are a leisurely mix of mini naps and mini breakfasts, with a sprinkling of diaper changes and getting daytime clothes on. (Mom & Dad: try to eat breakfast, check email, shower, pump milk for later, etc. in between) 
11:30: Time to eat again!! 
12:00 pm: awake time.  Maybe do some yelling and/or looking around at the world.  Look at Mom & Dad.  
12:30: early nap.  Get help from Mom or Dad to get to sleep, or get really fussy if help not provided adequately.  Walk in Ergo works well if it's not too hot. 
2:30: Lunch time!   
3:00: play time, look around.  Read black and white book. Cry.  Work on pacifier.   
3:30: late nap.  Get more help to get to sleep again.  Maybe get in car to run errands.
5:30: wake up, hungry! Begin fussy time.  Arch back, make Mom crazy during feeding.  Act like farts are made of terrible burning acid, and like burping is the Worst. Thing. Ever. 
6:30: fussy time.  Cry, groan, squeal.  Arch back and wail, etc.  (On bath days: take a bath.  Baths are so confusing that its impossible to fuss through them.  We may start making every day a bath day.) 
7:30: dinner
8:00: bed time begins.  Get in PJ's, fall asleep on Dad.  Get wrapped in swaddle blanket.  
8:15: wake up, complain of hunger.  Eat even though not really hungry.  Dad bounces and sings the alphabet song until he falls asleep.   
8:30-?: repeat cycle until really asleep.  
11:00: hungry!  and usually, not very sleepy after eating.  Look at nursery decals, work on pacifier.  Maybe cry some.  Listen to Mom's audiobook. 
1:00 am: finally asleep again. 
2:30: hungry!  after eating, go to the nursery for the rest of the night so Mom can sleep without listening to grunting and huffing noises. 
6:00: hungry!  Bottle from Dad.  Get resettled, or Dad stays up with him until its time to wake up mom for the day! 

Four weeks: when every hour is like all day at Disneyland

Yesterday Owen was four weeks old!  Time has passed so quickly since we were on our way to Cedars-Sinai that gloomy Saturday morning a month ago.  Owen has changed so much in this time.  He is growing and growing and growing.  Today he weighs 9lbs, 9oz.  We are starting to wonder if he can be growing too fast.  We'll ask the pediatrician next week. Meanwhile, he has outgrown almost all his newborn clothes and is into the next size of diapers too. 



Do sharks cry?  I don't think they do, so maybe our shark week jokes are starting to fall apart.  This week Owen cried.  A lot.  Life is really hard when you're four weeks old.  I think about how I feel after being at Disneyland all day.  He must feel like that after only an hour or two of being in our living room.  There are a lot of new sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings.  He has to digest food and battle constantly with gravity.  There is cold and hot and wet and scratchy and hunger to deal with.  Not to mention people putting clothes on him and taking them off, people bathing him, people getting in his face and wanting to play all the time.  Its all really, really hard to deal with.

So what is a young man do?  He cries.  Sometimes for hours and hours.  We try all of our various tricks to make him more comfortable, but once he's fed and dry and rocked and pacified, there isn't much else in our arsenal.  Yesterday was our hardest day yet.  After about the 4th hour of crying, I put him in the car and got on the freeway.  I had no destination, I just wanted some peace.  The car really works well to knock him out, so we drove down to Manhattan Beach, went to Trader Joe's for no good reason, and came home again.  It worked for exactly as long as the car was in motion. Why isn't there a baby seat that imitates the noise and motion of the car??


But it wasn't all crying this week. This week was the first time Owen did anything with intent.  Early in the week, he started actively seeking and lunging for the boob with his mouth--not just randomly rooting around or waving his mouth back and forth, but identifying his target and reaching for it.  This morning, I held his pacifier up close to his mouth, and he lunged for that.  Up until now it was anyone's guess whether he wanted the pacifier at any particular moment. Even he didn't seem to know.  

Owen has let out some farts that would make a grown man proud.  (See fanciful marshmallow interpretation at left).  This seems to be the cause of the crying sometimes... but not all the time.  He is picking up his head with much more control and can lift it and turn it to the other side when he's up on our shoulder.  He is happy hanging out by himself looking around the room for short periods now.  He is sleeping a little bit longer at night, about 3 hours and sometimes 3 1/2 hours.  Noah started giving him a bottle for early morning feeding between 4 and 6 am, and although he resisted at first, he is now happy to nom from the bottle.  I am very happy to get a 5 hour stretch of sleep every night.  Noah is happy to have some special early morning daddy time.  So everyone is happy with this arrangement.

Hello Owen Fans

In order to keep our family and friends up to date on Owen and his adventures, we're starting this blog.  We'll try to post at least once a week with pictures, video, and our comments about what he is up to!