Week 9

I went back to work this week. I am so glad it is a short week. Memorial Day was Monday so I didn't have to go in until Tuesday and I was off on Friday. It was so hard to leave him on Tuesday morning. I cried the whole way to work. Its not that I am worried about him, he is in wonderful hands, he is with people that love him and that's what matters most. It is my own insecurities that I am dealing with. I know its crazy but I am so afraid that he is not going to know who his mom is. Truth is, we are very, very lucky, Maddox gets to go to work with Daddy everyday where his Grammy is waiting for him. Sometimes he spends the day there and sometimes he goes home with her. Grammy set up her whole office for him, even painting the walls and getting new carpet. The fact that he gets to be with family and not a nanny or day care is what is keeping me sane. It is the best situation possible next to me staying home with him. I cried every single day this week, but everyone keeps assuring me that it will get easier so that's what I am waiting for. Jay sends me a picture of him everyday around lunch. He always looks happy and it gives me something to look forward to. He even sends me little videos if Maddox is doing something really cute. I am not sure if Maddox sensed the change or not but he was nice enough to start sleeping until around 5am starting the first day I went back to work. Up till then he was waking up between 2 and 3am every night and then again around 6:30. He goes down around 10 pm so we are extremely happy with this new sleeping schedule. After he takes his bottle we usually let him lay in bed with us for about an hour before getting up for the day. Its nice to have a little bonding time before I have to leave him for so long.



Maddox had his 2 month doctor appointment this week. He weighed in at 12 pounds and 14 ounces!!! He is getting so big....it must be his thunder thighs. They measured him at 22.50 inches but we think that he is longer than that. We are doing delayed vaccines so he only had to get one shot this time and one oral vaccine. Most babies get 5 vaccines at their 2 month visit and 5 vaccines at their 4 month visit. Maddox got 2 vaccines at this visit and will get 3 vaccines at 3 months. This spreads them out a little more so he is not getting injected with so much at once. Of course this means a lot of extra visits to the doctor but after everything I have read this is much better for Maddox so we don't mind the trips one bit.



I realized I forgot to blog a couple weeks ago that we found Maddox's birth mark. I looked and looked when he was first born and never found one, I guess it took a little while to show up, anyway Jay was getting Maddox ready for his bath and his naked back was toward me and there it was, right in the middle of his back. It looks like a little finger smudge or something, it is so cute!



Some of my favorite pics this week.

Week 8

This is my last week before going back to work and I am not happy about it. It just feels so wrong to leave my little man right now. He is really starting to interact with people and as you will see below he is starting to smile and giggle also. Just when he is starting to recognize me I will be leaving him. This has left me very sad and bitter but unfortunately we have no choice but to be a 2 income family. I truly do love to work and I enjoy my job most of the time, but I would love to be able to spend more time with Maddox throughout the week. My work will not allow me to work at home 1 day a week like I requested after the month of June. But again, because my income makes up for more than half and I carry the insurance on Maddox, making a change right now is not really feasible for our little family.



On a happier note, Jay and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary this week. The Reds are doing so well we thought where better to celebrate than at a game. Plus, we had not been yet this year which is very different for us. It was also the first time we had both left Maddox for an extended period of time. He was in good hands of course, spending his time with Grammy and Aunt Tisha and Uncle Will. We had a great time and the game was great, 6 home runs equals lots of fireworks. Very funny thing happened...we got each other the exact same anniversary card. I bet that will never happen again. Its hard to believe that we have been married for 5 years and together for over 10! They have gone so fast but they have been wonderful. I am very lucky to have such a great husband.

Jay took a shower with Maddox this week. It was soooo cute. You could tell Maddox didn't know what to think about it at first, but he seemed to like it just fine. I took pictures of course but I know some day Maddox would hate that I posted him naked with all his glory all over the web so we will just keep those in the family album.



Maddox's 6 week pictures came in this week, I just love all the different faces he makes. It also amazes me how much he has changed in just 6 short weeks. It goes so fast.

So Maddox smiles all the time now. It is wonderful, he is such a flirt. Sometimes all you have to do is look at him and he starts cheese-n it up. Its really funny when he smiles while sticking his tongue out. Seeing him smile at me is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and is by far the greatest feeling I have ever felt. I really didn't know it was possible to love this much. His smile and his happiness is my reason for living.

I have been trying to capture all his different smiles...he has so many.

A few more pics I liked from this week.

Week 7

This week I had my 6 week follow up with Dr. Lewis. It was so nice to see all the nurses and Dr. Lewis. I had gotten so used to seeing them all the time, especially towards the end of my pregnancy when I had to go every 4 days, that I actually missed them. Everything checked out great but the best part was being able to give Dr. Lewis a picture of Maddox for the wall. I can't tell you how many times over the past 4 years I have walked by that wall and stared at all the beautiful babies and wondered if my baby's picture would ever be up there. Because we were driving right by we also stopped by my work for another visit. Everyone was so shocked at how much Maddox had changed and grown over the past 4 weeks. He was a big hit as usual.

Another very cool thing that happened this week was the Reds took first place in our division. Remember when I was pregnant during the Bengal season and I was convinced that little Maddox was a lucky charm for the Bengals, well apparently he is helping the Reds out this year too.

A few things to remember:

Maddox has taken on the nick name around our house of Mr. Mann

He kicks his legs very fast and waves his arms when he is very mad and very happy.

He hates to have his arms covered up. No matter how tight we wrap him up he always finds a way to get his arms out. Now when Daddy tucks him in at night he pulls his arms out and tucks the blanket up under his arm pits. Lots of the time he falls asleep with one or both arms up over his head. Almost every ultrasound I had, Maddox had his arms up by his face or over his head.

His favorite place to sleep is on Daddy. I can't believe the crazy positions he finds himself in and is completely comfortable and knocked out. Below are just a few funny pics of him sleeping on Daddy. I have many more but I just picked my favorites.

My favorite pics of the week.