Thursday, October 15, 2009

6 week madness and pics

Apparently the 6 week mark is one of great change and fussiness. Oz turned 6 weeks on Tuesday, and with it has come some intense parenting challenges and fussiness. But we also have had some great moments, like real grins and happy arms and legs. And he's growing so fast! He's already growing out of some 3 month size sleepers since he's so long!

My view these days (sling - only thing that calms him and lets him sleep)





Superman sleeps! (blankie by Amy)




Astronaut Oz (socks by Kristi)


These grins make up for any sleeplessness and fussy baby times

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Baby Oz!

baby James Oz Campbell arrived, Sept 1st, coming in at 7lbs 2oz and 20.5in. We're thrilled to have such a wonderful baby and watching him change and grow is so wonderful


Parenthood has been a wonderful challenge so far, but it feels like I'm slowly getting the hang of it. Right now Oz is taking his morning nap (yay!), and a routine for the days is slowly forming. Odd to now have a schedule and eat dinner at 5-6pm, instead of the 8-9pm we did only a few short months ago. But with all the fun and craziness, i wanted to post a quick update with a list of a few things we have found indispensable as new parents:

1) Happiest Baby on the Block DVD - even after reading the book, some things didn't really click. Watching this made us realize that swaddling wasn't something all babies like at first, but does help them overall. Thanks to this, Oz is less overtired during the day and he gets better sleep at night, meaning we do as well

2) Circo brand Swaddling blankets - At 42" x 42", these blankets are nice for long babies. Also being a tad heavier than the standard receiving blanket, they're nice for colder nights.

3) Cradle - Very nice to have Oz next to us at night, so we don't worry about him. Also, the ability to just lean a bit over out of bed and touch or rock him for soothing makes sleep much easier to come by for all 3 of us

4) DIY Diaper Sprayer - From this tutorial online, it not only is great for diaper washing days, but the pressure is perfect for those pesky spit-up stains that can be a pain to wash out. Speaking of cloth diapers, I'm finding they really aren't much work at all, and diaper changes take about the same as with disposables. Says a lot, since we went with the prefold/fitted cover options, the cheaper but more time-consuming route of cloth diapering. Throwing in a load of laundry now and then also is no big deal, as babies tend to create more laundry anyway, with all the outfit changing and spit-up and other fluids, always right after you've gotten dressed or changed your own bedding, much less their clothes and bedding.

5) The Best Help of All - My wonderful hubby and the new dad

ETA: Also forgot (new mom, duh!) how much I love these two things as well:
6) Waterproof pads - awesome for placing in cradle, on changing table, in pack-n-play, etc. Just buy a few of these instead of a whole bunch of specialty sized ones, since baby is only so big at first and can't roll around anyway

7) Microwave steam sterilizer - Use it a ton, mostly to sterilize my breast pump (Avent Isis) parts. Great for the everyday use, but the steam bags will be nice for traveling, I imagine