1st birthday countdown - devin's 5th month...

devin's 5th month brought his first "fun" holiday... halloween!!! i love halloween and if you read my blog regularly, you know i love a good excuse to dress devin up in ridiculous outfits, so this one was really great for me! he was a hotdog ;)

an adorable hot dog that will probably say "moooooom! why did you do that to me?!" one day.

another great thing that happened in this time period was his first smile! im sure the first smile is wonderful for all moms and dads, but after watching him suffer through the NICU i believe it was even more rewarding to me when i saw it! he hasn't stopped smiling since!

he really started watching toys and enjoying things more. he has a rain forest mobile that he just loved, loves actually, hes still intrigued by it today. in those days though, sometimes it was the only thing he would smile at despite everything we tried to do to get a smirk. it was such a fun time realizing that this baby has a personality that was starting to shine.

we got him a bumbo seat towards the end of this month that he wasn't quite ready for yet. i convinced myself he was so strong and loved sitting in it even though his head would get very heavy after a few minutes ;) if only i knew how quickly the squishy , adorable, newborn days pass, i would have savored it a bit more. oh well, im still doing stuff like that every day!

like i mentioned last night, we finally found a solution to his restless nights. he was just so uncomfortable sleeping flat and we ended up letting him sleep in his bouncey seat overnight. i didn't sleep very well because i didn't like the thought of that so i was very relieved when the napnanny arrived and devin actually slept through the night in it! im obsessed and have recommend it to everyone i know with a baby. devin still sleeps in it every night and he's almost a year old!

this is also the time when i first started this blog! here is my first blog post ever! im so glad im a blogger now. i think its great to look back on old posts now and i imagine it will be even better as time goes by. i hope devin likes it one day too.

a day in the life...

i want to say first that i absolutley love the fact that im a stay at home mom! i wouldnt want it any other way. i know that im providing my baby with the best care possible and it feels so good to know that im the person who comforts, feeds and loves him! being in "preemie quarantine" isnt much fun though:( my mom told me once that i will look back on this time and remember it fondly. im bonding with my son and getting to spend every waking moment of every day with him and while that is very lovely and i know so many women dont get this oppurtunity, it wouldnt hurt to be able to make a quick trip to target once in a while without having to wait an average of three days to plan how it will be possible!

what does one DO all day without being able to go anywhere? i'll give you a sample of mine and devin's everyday life. no matter how repetitive and sometimes lonely it can feel, i wouldnt trade our time together for anything in the world! its usually pretty fun actually :)

7:00 am- my cell phone alarm goes off and its time to try to wake the beast... fabian is much like a 7th grader and im pretty sure he thinks im his mom calling up the stairs that its time to get up and get ready for school. he "can NOT" hear the alarm and its really hard to make him "hear" me. sometimes devin wakes up in this process and sometimes he stays asleep (somehow). fabian eventually gets up and gets ready for work and i will then bring devin out to the living room and give him breakfast, then fabian says goodbye and leaves us for the day:( if devin is awake, after he eats i put him right back to bed and he falls back to dreamland for a few more hours. if devin stays sleeping, SO DO I!

10:00am- devin wakes up for the day with a huge goofy smile and i hit "the devin snooze". i just turn towards him and he happily plays and looks around while i grab an extra 5-10 minutes of relaxation. then its up and out to eat breakfast. i give devin a bottle and put him in his bouncy seat and hand him a toy while i eat my breakfast and go online for a few minutes to check my beloved preemie parenting site:)

11:00am-1:00pm- hardcore playtime! we play on the floor, in the jumperoo, in the stroller, we read books, we walk around the house and look at stuff (fun), i sing ALOT! we torture the cat (devin plucks the cat actually). basically, i make the rounds of fun by doing everything i can think of to stimulate babycakes and keep him happy and entertained. then he eats again and gets sleepy, which recently has actually been more along the lines of he gets fussy, then when i have done everything i can think of to soothe him, i put him in his bed and...

1:00pm-3:00pm -NAPTIME! this is when i can sometimes get some stuff done. i pick up some clutter, wash some bottles, get back online, talk to my beloved friend jeff who doesnt have much of a life right now either :), maybe change into something other than p.js (maybe is the key word here). then i hear devin cooing and its time to go get him, which is actually one of my favorite things to do because hes always so happy and playful when he wakes up from his naps and its so nice to see his huuuugggeee smile when i walk in the room.bottle time again and then we read some books and play a bit more.

4:00pm-5:30pm- walk time!!! if the weather allows it, we go for a really long walk around the neighborhood. devin loves being in his stroller and seeing the sights of the outside world! im usually back on the phone with jeff at this point talking about random nothingness.by the way, jeff is one of my bffs, hes gay and really doesnt "get" the whole baby thing at this point in his life. we usually talk about things like ex- crazy co-workers and the bad girls club- oh and how we need to lose weight. if the weather doesnt allow us to walk we are stuck inside and its the beginning of what i refer to as "the bad time". most days, devin will nap again in the stroller, or sleep for a while at home during the "bad time".

5:30pm-7:00pm- "the bad time" is the time of the day when i cant think of anything else to do with devin and we are both basically waiting and watching the driveway for daddy! its hard.theres only so much a mama can do to keep a 5month/8month old wee one happy! another feeding is thrown into the mix here too. actually, "the bad time" is right now! devin is halfway happy and halfway angry and im trying to keep sane by making this blog entry in between funny faces, songs and tickles! its 6:44pm and "the good time" is drawing near!

7:00pm-8pm- daddy's home! yay!!!! we eat dinner, i very rarely cook, we usually get take out or eat some premade stuff we have here. i cook 2 times a week, 3 times if its a good week. cooking is difficult for us because im a vegetarian and fabian is a fastfoodatarian. he doesnt like most things that i want to make even the things i think of with him in mind so we compromise on takeout that supplies both of our choices. hopefully things dont stay like this for long, we definitely got in an eating out rut while devin was in the nicu and we have'nt gotten out of that rut yet! after we eat, fabian plys and snuggles with devin and we give him a bath. we hang out as a family and watch one of our "storwies" (that was supposed to sound like an old woman with a bad new york accent).

9pm-10:30pm- devin eats again at 9pm (daddy's turn to feed!) and then some more playtime, some snuggles and he usually starts getting sleepy at 10, in bed by no later than 11pm.

12:00am- i go get baby and give him a dreamfeed. he barely wakes up, eats great, is soooo snuggly and delicious and goes right back into bed after that. then its bedtime for me and the fabian! we stay up late naturally so its no big deal to feed devin right before i go to bed. he never wakes up for a feeding at night and sleeps right through to the morning.

well, thats what our days look like for now. the times are'nt exact, but pretty accurate. i cant wait to bring devin to the library and gymboree and all the good stuff in the spring. i feel pretty incapable of providing an entertaining learning environment for so many hours during the day! i think i do an ok job of it but it will be so nice when we can go to the aquarium or something like that and he can start getting some real life experiences under his baby belt (or diaper!).

7 months!

devin turned 7 months old today and i just cant believe it! hes 4 months adjusted tomorrow. it feels weird, because it doesnt really feel like hes 7 months and it makes me a little sad that hes that "old" already. i mean, i know hes still the same baby that he would have been if he were born in september like he was supposed to be, but i cant help but want him to just be a 4 month old. its hard to explain but thats how it is! either way, fabian and i are so proud of him and love him more than anything! happy 7 months devin!!!

devin's bouncer!

he does'nt do much in it yet.  we had to put somes books under his feet because they dont reach the ground! he bounced a tiny bit but thats about it. he really likes the music it plays and the dangling cow. he stayed in it for  about 15-20 minutes and seemed to really like it. he looks so cute in it!

i  stitched fabian's name onto a stocking because hes the only one that does'nt have one. i have a pretty embroidered one from when i was a baby/kid and my mom got devin a nice one for christmas that she hasnt given him yet. my grandma also bought mine for me. i might add something cute to it but im not sure what.

and i just did a very bad thing! i ran into our room while devin was sleeping and took a picure (with the flash- so wrong!) he fliched a little and i ran out like a creepy stalker!