The other night I cried myself to sleep because I love him so much. And then the next night I cried myself to sleep because I felt like I couldn't do it anymore. But even being the overly-adoring, over-the-top gushing, madly in love mommy that I am, I get exhausted and loony. From what I hear after talking to other moms, that just makes me human.
On a bright, happy note, I've been getting more sleep than usual because we are in Dallas right now. Thanks for the extra help from Grandmom and Granddad! We've been in Dallas for almost 3 weeks and plan to go back to LA on Sat.
This has been a wonderful trip. It hasn't all been easy, but it's mostly been awesome. The first week I was here, we had a bit of a tough trip to Birmingham, AL where we introduced Max to his great grandmother Mama Ellen. That was such a special time, but I almost reached my breaking point. I was sleep deprived at the beginning of the trip, and after 10+ hours in the car, Max had a meltdown that night that kept any of us from sleeping. He's had gas pains a few times prior to this, but this was on a whole new level. He was screaming at the top of his lungs, and my mom described his cries as barking like a dog. We were only a step away from taking him to the ER until he finally just fell asleep.
It was just an unfortunately bad night that made it difficult to see straight the entire next day. It was a complete bummer for me because we had arranged professional photographs of Max with the whole family, but I looked like certifiable crap. I even started crying at the picture session. The only place I wanted to be was in a dark room with a bed. But somehow, I made it through that day. Mama Ellen loved seeing us and we loved seeing her and everyone else.
Last weekend, My dad and I took Max to meet some more relatives in Abilene. That trip was much easier and quite relaxing. Max didn't realize he had so many cousins until he finally met them. We had a nice lunch at my cousin Greg's house and that was another special time with family.
I think the kicker is when Max met his Uncle Ross and Uncle David. The first time Ross held Max, his diaper blew out onto Ross's clothes. The green, slimy poop that seeped out onto Ross's khakis made him completely gun shy about holding Max. You should have seen the look of disgust on his face. I would've sworn by that look that he would never want anything to do with his nephew ever again.
For some reason, my brother David wasn't scared after what happened to Ross. He generously offered to help me with a middle of the night feeding and diaper change. Keep in mind, one of his hands was recently mangled by a pit bull and he had never changed a diaper before--especially one-handed. Apparently he was having a difficult time getting the diaper on and Ross had to help him. In the hour that it took to change the diaper, they both got peed on. Not once, but TWICE! And don't think they got through that one by themselves. My dad had to come in and help them in the end. So yes, it took three men to change that one diaper. I bet Max laughed and laughed at his urine-infested uncles.
When my high school friend Amy was over a couple weeks ago, Max had a breakthrough day. It was the first day he became able to hold his head up for long periods of time. That was really cool to see her holding him with his head consistently staying still. She also took this picture of him laughing. It's the first picture that truly captures his big smile.
He had another huge breakthrough since we've been here. He rolls now! He always rolls to his right side. He is finally able to roll all the way to his tummy and sometimes he can even pull that right arm out from under his body. Once in a while that arm gets stuck under there and he has no idea what to do. But he seems to be figuring it out much better these days since he is able to lift his head and chest up during tummy time.
Another thing he does is make lots of noises. I talk to him constantly and he makes noises back to me. He loves the eye contact and attention. And he also loves watching the television. It's not that we let him watch tv, but if he sees it on in the room, his eyes are glued to the screen. Ah oh!
My dad keeps holding toys in front of Max to see which hand he reaches with. So far his left hand usually gets to his toy first. He also likes to hold his hands in a clasped, praying position. His left hand is usually on the outside of the right hand. And since he reaches with his left hand to roll over to the right, we are slightly betting that he will be a lefty. Actually my dad thinks he is more likely to be left-handed, but who really knows.
We also see a red tint in Max's hair these days. We always saw a little red in his hair when the sunlight hit it, but the red becomes more noticeable as his hair continues to grow. I never would have thought that Marc and I would have a red-head, but he definitely has some recessive genes in his composition with those blue eyes. I'm sure his hair will get darker as he gets older since Marc and I were both blondies when we were born.
I found out on Max's last pediatrician visit that he is in the 90th percentile for weight gain. Today he weighs 14 1/2 lbs. The pediatrician was impressed that he is a purely breastfed baby because my milk is so full of nutrients. Formula fed babies typically put on weight faster than breastfed babies because breast milk is more easily digested. So she made me feel good that my milk so chock full of nutrients. It's really encouraging to know that my efforts are paying off! Max has some little thunder thighs, but she said he'll work those off when he starts walking.
Normally I would proofread a blog before posting, but absolutely not anymore. It's more important that I get to sleep than concern myself with a grammatical error. Goodnight....at least for a few hours. Oh, that reminds me. Max slept for 7 hours one night. So I thought he was sleeping all night now! But then he's only been sleeping four. I think he's just in a little growth spurt and hoping he will consistently be sleeping longer soon! Ok, now good night for real!
