Regression Sucks

For those of you who look at the time of this post, you will understand it's title. Thanks to the cutting if his molars, JJ has been awake since 1:45 AM. He screamed for 25 minutes and wasn't going back to sleep. I went in and tried to nurse him, but he was too worked up at that point. Tried to rock him, but it was to no avail. So, against my better judgement and knowing full well I was potentially screwing myself for all future nights, we got up. He played for an hour and a half. I watched Nick at Nite. Then he fell asleep nursing. I put him in his crib, he screamed for another 25 minutes. I gave him some Tylenol. He nursed and fell asleep, but when I put him down, he woke up and screamed again.

So here we sit, reading books in his room at 4:20 AM. Not a great way to start a weekend, but I suppose we'll manage. After all, dude can't stay awake forever, right????

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

A Mind of His Own

As previously mentioned, JJ has very strong opinions about what he want. He has taken to freaking out when he doesn't get his way. Yesterdhay he found a way to Houdini his was out of the strap in the shopping cart. I asked him to "please sit down." Then again, in a more assertive tone "Jeremy Jonah, sit down right this minute or you'll get hurt." Wouldn't you know it. The little bugger looked me right in the eye and said "ummm, NO." Swell. The tim of no seems to have arrived. Then, in the checkout line, he tried to push the buttons on the credit card machine. When I wouldn't let him, he push my hand and said "mad. mad. MAD." Terrific. I suppose its good that he's starting to express himself instead of just screaming... which still happens frequently.

Even more terrific than any of that, as Auntie Jenny pointed out last night, is that JJ is a MAJOR tester. He know when he shouldn't do something, but he looks as you with a coy little smile as if to say "no way you are going to stop me or yell at me with this adorable face." Guess what, buster. We are. Even if it results in this face.

Re-Inspired to Blog

Ok, so I've decided that JJ is growing up way to fast to not try to keep some form of record of his awesomeness. I'm pretty sure I can't be as on top of things as most of my blogging friends, but my goal is to post at least once a week.

Needless to say, a lot has happened since I last blogged... Seeing how my last post was about JJ rolling over from his stomach to his back. Now he runs all over the place like a maniac and has very strong opinions about what he wants. Here are a few of the highlights between rolling from front to back and running:

1. Around 4 months, he figured out how to roll from back to front. This allowed him to roll all over the place.
2. We went to New Jersey in December to play with all the Kleinsteins and meet JJ's cousin Norah, who was only 3 weeks old at the time.
3. About a month after that he stopped rolling, and started scooting. It started one Sunday when I got home from Religious School. Jenny was over watching a Seahawks game with Paul. I was holding JJ and I put him on the floor. He really loves his Auntie Jenny, so much that he willed himself across the living room to her.
4. He moved to the army crawl at about 6 months and was pretty satisfied with that mode of transportation until around 9 months. He also started pulling up on everything.
5. In March we went on vacation to Mexico with Paul's mom. JJ had a blast swimming in the pool and playing in the sun
6. At 9 months he started crawling "normally" and at the same time, he began "cruising" around.
7. At 11 months he became an official walker. Fun fact: JJ walked at the same age as Aaron... to the day! Those Rosenthal walking genes must run deep :)
8. JJ got his first pair of shoes from Nordstroms.
9. Shortly after walking, he started sleeping through the night! It was amazing!
10. JJ turned 1 on July 21st. We had a small celebration with just our family. JJ had a huge cupcake, which ended up all over. He got some awesome presents including a jungle gym from Mom-mom Jackie, Aunt Laura, Uncle Andrew and cousin Norah, a table a chairs from grammy and a play kitchen from Auntie Jenny and Aaron.
11. He finally made the growth charts at his 12 month visit to see Dr. P. He was in the 3rd percentile for height! Still not on the charts for weight. Shortly after his birthday, he started wearing 9 month size clothes.
12. We heading back to New Jersey after his birthday to spend 2 weeks at the Jersey Shore with the East Coast Kleinsteins and had a fantastic time!
13. He's now 13 months and is a one man wrecking crew. He climbs on everything and knows exactly what he wants. He's a determined little bugger and is a firm believer in "where there's a will, there's a way". He "uses" a spoon to feed himself, loves his sippy cup and will now take a bottle of regular milk.

Below is a little compilation of the activities above. It's not complete, but will give you a little taste of everything.

Long Time, No Blog

I admit, tt's been far to long since my last blog. However, while my life has been completely crazy and wonderful, there hasn't been that much blogworthy stuff happening. JJ is 15 weeks old now, and has been growing like a maniac. He isn't the wotld's best sleeper. He had been sleeping for 3 to 4 hours at night, but he has regressed and now is only sleeping for 2 hours at a time. its tons of fun.

He is finally out of newborn diapers, and just recently grew out of his newborn jammies. Most if his newborn clothes still fit him, and even have a little room to grow, some of the pants are getting a bit snug in the waist. On his 3 month birthday, JJ discovered he could roll over. It was pretty fantastic, and I managed to catch it on video (though the camera was the wrong direction).



I'll try and come up with some more stuff to add to this later, but for now, just know we are still here, and trying to enjoy life :)

Back to Work...

After 6 weeks home on maternity leave, I'm heading back to work tomorrow a bit earlier than anticipated. In an effort to both ease back into work, and also to compensate for all the work I did while on leave, JJ and I will be heading into the office one day a week for the next 3 weeks. From there, I'll be working 4 days a week through November. I'll be in the office with JJ 1 day a week, working 1 day from home. He'll go hang out with Grammy 1 day, and with Daddy when I work on Sundays.


I've got the all the gear ready to go... space saver swing, diapers, wipes warmer, and Baby Bjorn (though I think JJ is still too small for it). Rabbi Kinberg is loaning us her co-sleeper bassinet (which apparently has a 4th side) and her baby monitor. As you can see, my office will quickly be doubling at the Temple B'nai Torah nursery. Check out all the gear:

Swing n' Seat Space Saver

Co-Sleeper Bassinet

Baby Bjorn

Wipes Warmer

I'm actually looking forward to ging back to work for the day. I'm certain I'll be exhausted by the end of the day, but hopefully, I'll still be glad to be getting back to "normal."

4 Weeks

So after 4 weeks of motherhood, I am in heaven. I could never have imagined that I would be so functional on so little sleep. I really haven't slept well in the last 3 years, which definitely helped prepare me for the all night marathon of having a newborn. Thankfully (or maybe not?) Paul sleeps like a rock. We usually start the night with JJ in his crib and me attempting to sleep in bed. He sleeps for 2-3 hours and I get up to feed him. We usually move out to the living room for some Nick at Night and quality snuggling time together. JJ will either sleep in his Pack n' Play or with me on the couch.

I am not one to toot my own horn, but I will say that I am a very compassionate and loving person. Even with that, I will say, I never knew I was capable of so much love. I have killed 4 spiders because they were in JJ's room and I was afraid they would get near him. Anyone who knows me at all, knows that I don't go near spiders. I am usually dancing on the bed waiting for Paul to remove it. Although JJ is still in preemie clothes, I do laundry every day. They are often the tiniest loads known to man, but they still get done every day. Again, I hate laundry, but somehow I stopped minding doing it.

So, with 4 weeks under his belt, little JJ is now up to 6 pounds, 6 ounces. He has officially surpassed my birth weight by an entire ounce! He is an awesome little guy and brings us so much happiness. I'll be heading back to work with JJ one day a week pretty soon, and haven't decided if I'm looking forward to it or not. Thankfully, it's only one day a week. Then I go back 4 days a week, with one day from home through November. I am looking forward to my new schedule and my new job upon my return.

Below are some pictures of the little man's first month.

 

And Then There Were Three...

On July 21st at 5:10 in the evening, our little miracle, Jeremy Jonah Kleinstein made his arrival. After 48 hours of contractions two trips to triage, 1 epidural, 12 hours of active labor and one hour of pushing – all 5 pounds 7.5 ounces of the little man can into our lives. He is absolutely perfect in every way and Paul and I are loving parenthood.

JJ is the most incredible baby. He is super calm, sleeps great, and has finally figured out the whole nursing thing. We had some initial challenges, and he wasn’t gaining weight, but in the last 3 days he gained 4 ounces! We’re confident he’ll be back up to birth weight at his two week check up tomorrow.

It’s hard to believe that for 38 weeks and 6 days this perfect little being was inside of me, and now he’s here brightening our lives. Every time look at him, I am overcome with joy. There are truly no words to describe the amount of love I have for him. Everyone tells you that the love you have for your children is inexplicable. I never doubted that to be true, I just never could have anticipated how powerful it would be.

It’s been a fabulous 2 weeks for us. Yes, we’re tired. Yes, there are things that we are learning. Yes, I’m sure we are doing lots of things wrong. But the truth is, neither one of us cares. Our son is happy, healthy and amazing.

We spent a fabulous week with Paul’s mom. She flew out from New Jersey on the 26th and stayed for a week. She and JJ spent lots of time together bonding and enjoying each other’s company. Of course he is special regardless, but JJ is the first grandson on Paul’s side and the “last hope” to carry on the Kleinstein family name. Combined with the fact that he is named after my dad and Paul's dad, the boy truly is a blessing to our family.

Yesterday we spent time over at my mom’s house with Grammy, Auntie Jenny and big cousin Aaron. Aaron is adorable with JJ. He is so sweet and loving , and extremely interested in everything involved in his care. From the diapers, to the breastfeeding, Aaron needs to be sure his baby cousin is in good hands. Its adorable to see him in a protective role, and for the most part, he is handling the transition well. For 3 ½ years Aaron has been the one and only, and the center of all our universes. I love him as if he were my own, and would do anything for him. It’s fantastic to see him with JJ and everyone is ensuring Aaron knows that he is still the best and just as loved as ever before.

I’m sure there is a whole ton of details I left off, but I think I covered the important stuff. Hopefully I’ll be able to find a few minutes to update the few people who actually read this. The little guy seems to change every day, and we want to be sure to have some sort of record. There are lots more pictures floating around in cyberspace, but below are a few of my favorites. I think if you click on it, the collage gets bigger...