Baby Roy Turns 2 Months

Two whole months! It sure doesn't seem like a long time, especially since when I look at Roy, I swear he's at least several years old. Apart from the not moving much and not talking much, he feels like he understands enough to be quite old! I am sure all parents think that about their kids. They just seem so smart! Here are some fun things about Roy this month:

-He has a giant head. Okay, we knew it already (50th percentile for head circumference at birth! And combine that with only 3rd percentile for weight...it looks pretty cute and funny). But we recently got together with some friends who had a baby, and Roy really looked like he had a big head then!

-He is starting to make noises and smile. And it is the cutest darn thing! We spend so many hours each day trying to get him to coo at us, or smile. Shenli is the big winner in that category - he blows in Roy's face and Roy closes his eyes and gets a big smile on his face.

-I think he will roll over any day. He lays on his back and rocks side to side so violently. And he has been able to roll from tummy to back a few times, but not consistently.

-Nap time is turning into fool-the-parents time. He will be silent for a long time, and then start crying in his bed. As soon as we crack open the door to check on him, he will look directly at us and stop crying. He sure knows how to get us to pay attention to him!

-He is so content, we can take him anywhere! In the last week, we have taken him to church, some friends' house, and a baby shower. At all three places, he was totally content as long as we held him (which we, or someone else, did constantly!). Even if he is tired or hungry, if he is being held then he will just sit and watch the world go by.

-Next week, he gets his 2-month shots. I am excited to see how much he has grown, and for him to start really interacting with us!

He is learning to smile now!

His hair is an adventure every day

He loves Grandpa, but not so much the spider hat.

At night he enjoys taking off his clothes while inside his swaddler!

He looks so big now!

Roy's Baby Blessing and Our Miracles

We blessed Roy at church when he was six weeks old on Sunday, September 28th. There were three baby blessings that day! Two of my sisters and their families were able to come and be there with us. It was such a wonderful blessing! Roy was blessed in the white blanket that my Grandma Bonnie made that belonged to me. When Shenli held up Roy after the blessing for the congregation to see, there was an audible whisper that ran through the crowd. Roy's hair always causes quite a stir! We had moved into this ward just a few weeks before I had Roy and so we haven't been to church much at all. So now it is fun to get to know ward members with our new baby!

There have also been some wonderful miracles in our life lately that I wanted to record. The first was on Roy's blessing day. My dad's favorite hymn was #194, There Is a Green Hill Far Away. Since it is a Sacrament hymn, we sing it quite frequently of course, but throughout my life I have noticed that I tend to sing it in Sacrament meeting on important days in my life! Back at BYU in the ward I met Shenli, I gave a talk one Sunday early in the semester, and I was so nervous - but we sang that song and it calmed me. Shenli remembers noticing me during my talk, and so the hymn was there with us as we began our friendship and eventual marriage! The same thing happened on Roy's blessing day - Hymn #194 was our Sacrament hymn. I was nervous that day too, since we hadn't taken Roy anywhere for 3 hours before, and I was worried he would cry the whole time. But he was so wonderful at church, and I am grateful for my dad's favorite hymn being there with us.

The other miracle I wanted to mention was that the Lord always knows what we need and what we can handle. About a week ago now, I had a particularly stressful day. I have been working from home now and that sure takes up a lot of time and energy! I was in a grumpy mood from work, household chores, and Roy demanding so much (I know I know..he's not even 2 months! But sometimes it just gets to me...). At the end of the day as I was being sad, Shenli asked what I needed. I said "honestly, I just want to sleep 8 solid hours for once in my life again!" There was nothing Shenli could do about that of course, but it was the first thing that came to my mind. So I went to bed at 9pm that night, just after we put down Roy. And then...Roy slept until 3:45am! It was the first time he had "slept through the night", and I got almost 7 solid hours of sleep before I had to wake up. Since then, Roy has followed that same pattern - and although I don't go to bed at 9pm every night, I can get a solid chunk of sleep before Roy gets up to eat! The Lord truly knows what we need, and when we need it. Although it was just a little thing for me to get more sleep (and I'm sure that 8 solid hours is still a long ways off for me :D), the Lord blessed me in my hour of need. And I am so grateful!

Roy will be two months this week! I am sure I will write a little more about him, with some of the fun pictures he's taken lately! And I still have a few recipes up my sleeve, don't worry. I just need to make them again so I can get good pictures!

Baby Roy Turns One Month Old

Well, we're parents! It's kind of surreal to say that. Sometimes it feels like Roy still hasn't even come yet, and other days it feels like he has always been here with us. Having a baby changes so much! I don't even have much to say, so this will probably just be a photo-dump for now. Maybe someday I'll write about his birth story, or recovering, or things we've learned with a newborn, or anything else...but I'm not sure I am ready or have really learned enough to write about that yet.

And maaaaybe someday far into the future, I'll resume writing about new recipes we try, desserts I make, and crafts, but in the 4 weeks thus far, I have made exactly 1 dinner, 1 breakfast, and 1 dessert, so I am not sure how soon I will get back into the cooking/crafting world. :)

Here are some stats about Roy as a 1-month old.
-He weighs over 7lbs. I'm not sure how much, but at this 2-week appointment (which actually occurred when he was 2.5 weeks old), he weighed 6lbs 14oz. Third percentile for weight! :) But he is growing and healthy, so third percentile sounds fine to me.
-He is still in newborn diapers and newborn clothes. But just this morning I had to put away the first outfit that no longer fits him. It was just a newborn sleeper, but I think it was smaller than the other ones we have. He has started wearing some of the smaller 0-3 month clothes as well!
-He wakes up to eat about every 3 hours at night. Sometimes 4 hours. So he usually gets up twice before being up for the day around 7-8am.
-We are finally starting to really push to get him on a schedule. Now that he's a month old, I'm excited to start a routine of eating and naps.
-He has the most adorable hair that anyone has ever seen. :)
-He has an awesome case of baby acne. Apparently there is nothing much we can do, and it doesn't bother him of course, but it sure makes taking baby pictures hard. I think he's cute, but the pictures sure don't do him justice.
-At first he couldn't stand taking a pacifier. He doesn't like the hospital ones, which are supposed to be the ones most babies like! But we found out he does like one specific kind of pacifier, and now that he has discovered that pacifiers are fun, he won't go to sleep without one.
-For his one month birthday present, we cut Roy's fingernails (we are such cool parents...), so now he doesn't have to wear hand mittens all the time!

Baby Car Seat Cover

I only showed one picture of the nursing cover I made, but I wanted to show a few more of this car seat cover. I had always just planned to buy one of the ones online with the minky that you can get for free and then just pay shipping. But there were only a few color options that I thought were boy-ish enough, and $13 for shipping was still a lot to me! So I already had this fabric below - the light mint circle one on the inside of the cover - so I just bought the outside fabric and the yellow for the straps, and made one myself! It was SO easy, I will probably do it for a girl in the future, and maybe even for gifts and things.

I used this tutorial from The Ribbon Retreat. I loved how simple it was. I didn't even have to measure fabric, I just had to put the top and bottom pieces on top of each and even them out. It can be as big as the fabric will allow it! And using a plate to make the rounded corners was genius. Even though mine doesn't have fancy ric-rac or bows (someday I will do that when I have a girl!), I think it is just perfect. 

I know the fabric colors probably look a little bizarre. The mint I already had, so I wanted a boy-ish pattern to go on the top. There was one other fabric I saw at the store that probably matched the mint better, but I really liked this turquoise leafy pattern. Car seat covers tend to be more crazy and less matchy-matchy anyway, right? :) The yellow is found in the top turquoise fabric, so it kind of matches there, and I really just think it is fun despite not being the best match ever.