Helping Out

Tia has been so good about having a younger sibling. Whenever I have to breastfeed and I can't really play with her, she just goes to her computer and plays quietly. She also helps with handing me diapers. If Zach's crying and she makes it to him before I do, she sings to him or tries to rub his leg. She's so sweet.

Zach's 2 week Appointment

Zach is now 8 lbs and 9.9 ozs. and his jaundice is better.

We're very happy to see that Tia is getting less and less clingy and more friendly to other people. She was so chatty with the doctor this morning. I'm just so thrilled. She likes saying "Hola" now. A word she first learned in her Dora books then heard when we started letting her watch Dora on TV.

My Day by Myself

Tam decided to stay home and work at home today. I basically just pretended he wasn't home and tried to take care of the two kids by myself. It went pretty well. Zach slept most of the day. Around 3PM is when I started to break down. Lack of sleep and a lot of pain stopped me. So, I had to ask Tam for some help. I had to go back on pain medications again this afternoon.

Tam's going to work tomorrow so I better get to bed before I tire myself out again :-)

Gotcha!

As always, Tia was standing right beside me as I was changing Zach. She likes pulling the wipes out of the warmer and handing me diapers. The funniest thing happened. Zach sprayed sideways to Tia's direction. He got both Tia and mommy. Tia didn't know what happened until I called out to Tam and told him that Zach peed on us. Then she started crying clearly grossed out by what just happened.

I quickly had to give both kids a bath and clean the floor. Boy that was tiring! Here's a picture of the two of them getting changed.

Getting the hang of it

Zach had his first doctor's appointment today. He gained 4.5 ozs the past two days that he's been home.

Tia's becoming more and more reactive to his presence. She definitely shows that she loves him. She always wants to kiss him and stare at him but when I carry him, Tia seems to get jealous. Thank goodness Tam is at home. Tia is able to run to him for comfort and never completely feel left out. Whenever she seems to want attention, I put Zach down and this seems to make her VERY happy. Poor girl. She must be going through a lot right now. I hope she never feels that we love her less.

Zach still sleeps a lot. I don't let him fall asleep on the breast and he's self-soothing right now. I hope this continues. It's so easy. We just put him down and less than five minutes later, he'd be asleep.

First Full Day at Home

We went out today so Zach can get more sun to help with his jaundice. After 5 minutes, we stayed in the shade and he fell asleep in my arms while I watched Tia play in our backyard. I gotta say, that's the most relaxing time of my year so far.

Zach fell asleep for four hours after that. He's such an easy baby so far. Tam and I were just thinking about what it would have been like if Tia was like Zach. It's almost like not even having a newborn at home. He sleeps all night. He wakes up to eat or change diaper but goes right back to sleep. Maybe we just know what we're doing now :-)

We kept Zach awake about 1 hour this afternoon to play. We haven't really played with him because he likes sleeping. Sometimes, when he's awake, he even just lays in his crib and looks around. He loves toys. When we put one in front of him, he immediately reacts and watches it. Tia loves bringing out her toys for him to play with.

Zach's First Easter

Tam and Tia went home last night to get better sleep which left me alone with Zachary for the first night.

He was very easy. He let me sleep for 6 hours the night before but I wasn't expecting that to happen again. This time he slept from 9-12, then 2-430. He came back after his hepatitis B shot. He fell right back to sleep after being fed and burped. Between 12-2, he didn't seem to be happy so I learned a few things about him.

He was well fed ... at least as much colostrum as I can give him and there was pretty much nothing more I can do about that. If he continued to show signs of hunger, I was going to ask for formula. I let him cry in his bassinet while patting his back. He stopped for awhile but kept fidgetting. I picked him up and held him. He was quiet the whole time, so after 15 minutes, I decided to put him down. he started crying again after a minute. So I checked his diaper, sure enough, he needed changing. He woke up after about 30 minutes so I decided to keep him warmer. He fell sound asleep. He's very easy as long as he's warm, clean and fed. :-)

I had so many bad dreams last night that I kept waking up.

When Zach was at nursery taking tests, I could've sworn someone came into the room but when I opened my eyes to see who it was, there was nobody there. I wonder if my mom was visitting ...

Zachary was circumcised today. The pediatrician kept asking me to go to the Sun Room and read their literature on breastfeeding. I finally had to tell him I can't talk to him. I wanted to be with Zach while he got circumcised. They only let me watch through the window. I can hear his crying but it wasn't as bad as I thought.

Later that day, the nurse came in to teach us how to care for the wound. I almost fainted when I saw it. My poor Zachary! I hope it's not as bad as it looks. He's taking it like a man :-)

I suspected Zachary had a slight jaundice because his eyes are a bit yellow. He was tested for it but I haven't heard the results yet.

Tia and Tam came back around 10:00 AM. Tia was so happy with her Dora balloon that they bought at Sav-on. I heard her running down the hallway and when she got to our room, she had a huge smile from cheek to cheek. She was so proud of her Dora.

Tia's been such a good girl the past couple of days. I was so proud of her. I LOVE MY FAMILY!

Emily, Joey and Mason stopped by bringing presents and cookies. It was fun playing with Mason. He's growing up so cute! He's so chubby, I just want to squeeze him. He looks like both mommy and daddy.

We celebrated tonight with celebratory dinner prepared by the hospital. I had Stuffed Chicken and Tam had the New York Steak. Food here is so good I almost want to stay just so I can avoid having to prepare my own meals at home :-)

Tam and Tia went home again last night. I missed them so much the night before, I almost asked them to stay. BUT I want to make sure Tia sleeps well and with the nurses coming in and out, that just aint gonna happen here. I don't know why I give Tam a hard time when he's around but I miss him so much when he's not there. What can I say? We're falling into the "old married couple" category pretty early :-)

Finished the taxes tonight.