Vaughnisms *2 months old*

Vaughn has certain things he does and things he likes and dislikes even at such a young age. From time to time, we'll revisit these "Vaughnisms" to see how he changes or stays the same.

Being Handled

Vaughn likes to held in different ways by different people. He's often squirmy when we are sitting down with him. He wants to be in our arms while we are standing up...for most of the time. Over time, he has been a little more accustomed to me holding him on the couch if I'm bouncing him in my arms.

These are the different ways he likes to be held...
- Upright: On Dave, he likes to be up high; on me, he likes to rest his head on my chest (Dave's chest isn't as squishy).

- Cradle Position: He hates when Dave does this, but often falls asleep when I hold him this way because this is how I breastfeed him.

- On the hip: I'm able to hold him this way for a little now that he has better control of his head.

- Patted: We can thank Dave for this one. Vaughn LOVES to be patted on the back or butt. It doesn't have to be hard (even though Dave likes to put a little force into it), but he likes the constant tapping.

- Movement: Often times, if Vaughn is squirmy or fussy, he wants to be bounced, walked, rocked, patted, etc. He loves movement.

- Strapped In: He loves to be in the baby carrier strapped to our chests. He also enjoys the sling if I happen to be feeding him. Vaughn is definitely a touchy feely baby as he loves to hug and hear/fell our heartbeats. 

Playtime

Vaughn is learning about play more and more every day as he discovers his hands and develops motor skills.

Currently, these are all the multiple ways he plays:

-Standing: He loves to stand up on mine or Dave's lap, on the couch, on his changing table,and in front of the mirror in the bathroom. He's been supporting his weight on his legs since Halloween when he was only a few weeks old.

- Faces and talking: Dave and I will smile and talk to Vaughn to have him do the same back to us. His new thing as of this week is to smile while breastfeeding if I talk to him. He is quite a social being already. Also, regarding talking, Vaughn loves to have a "cooing battle". He will say, "ooh," so we'll repeat him and then he returns the "ooh" in a louder tone. This can go on for quite a while especially with Dave. 

- Staring at toys: Recently, Vaughn started to stare at the toys on his toy bar above his infant seat and swing. On the swing toy bar are a bright blue tucan and a lime green turtle. He will stare at these two for twenty or more minutes. For Christmas, he got LuLu (the singing monkey), who he LOVES to stare at. When Vaughn starts to get fussy from sitting too long, I put LuLu in front of his face and the fussing stops immediately.

- Hands: Whether they're in his mouth or clasped together, Vaughn really enjoys playing with his hands. Yesterday, during dinner, he actually truly discovered them. It was the cutest thing ever!

- Changing Table: After he gets a clean diaper on, Vaughn will smile up a storm while lying on the changing table. He loves hanging out there. He has a ball and an octopus that keep him company.

Crying
Vaughn cries a lot. Well, maybe not a ton compared to a colicky baby, but he does cry to communicate his feelings. Isn't that what a baby is supposed to do? He has many different cries to try to tell us what's wrong. We've work really hard to figure out what each cry means. Though there are times that we just can't find out what's wrong. I've read that he might just want to be left alone so when we try doing that he really cries. Hopefully it'll get easier when he can talk!

Almost every cry begins with some snorting. We find it to be hilarious, but it drive the dog nuts. Most of the time, there are no tears, but when there are, they are huge and drip ever so slowly down his cheek. He then looks up at us with his wet, big blue (they're blue for now) eyes.

- Whimpers/grunts/"uhhh, oooh": "I'm awake. I need a diaper change and want to eat when I can open my eyes." When he wakes up from a long night's sleep, instead of crying, he sort of just makes noises.

- Siren sounding cry: "Where am I!?" When he wakes up from a daytime nap. It starts really quiet and gets super loud just like a fire truck siren.

- Whiney, normal pitch tone: "...but I don't want to miss anything." Vaughn often fights falling asleep to the point where he just cries and whines.

- Very loud with huge pauses: "OUCH! Comfort me, now!" This is the worst cry of them all. It's usually when he is very uncomfortable or hurt (like when I cut his thumb off).

- Crying while putting his fingers in his mouth: "Feed me now!" When his diaper is clean, and he is well rested, all that is missing is some food.

- Normal pitch cry: "Please, just hold me and bounce me and walk with me and love me."

- Crying while digging his nose into our chest: "I want to be held by someone else please." He does this to both Dave and me when he's done with one of us.

Eating

As Vaughn gets older he'll change along with his eating habits and the way he eats. Currently, he is breastfed, which he loves. Since he is having a hard time gaining weight, the doctor has us supplementing with some formula. Right now, he's eating from me for about 20-30 minutes then I pump and he gets a bottle of about two ounces. I try to make sure his bottles are all breast milk but can't quite keep up the supply so that's when he gets formula. He gets about two to four ounces total a day. It's not my choice but since he's so small, I need to make sure my baby is gaining! Here are some fun Vaughnisms regarding his eating...

- When he first starts eating, his eyes are wide awake. He never looked at me until this week. I love looking down at his big eyes suckling away.

- Shortly after Vaughn starts eating, his eyes go closed. He often falls asleep when eating so I have to jiggle or give him a little nudge so he starts to suckle again. It's a little quirk I like :)

- Vaughn loves eating from the bottle. As soon as it gets in his mouth, the stuff inside is gone. It doesn't take him long at all to finish a bottle. If we don't have a pacifier (which he won't keep in his mouth for long) to give him or stand up with him, he starts his snorting cry. No matter how much we give him in the bottle, he's not too happy when it's gone.

Sleeping
Before Vaughn was born we decided we would have him sleep in his crib in his room. We thought this would work best for our family and help Vaughn become a good sleeper (which has totally worked). At first, though, it was rough. There were times that no matter how many times we put him in the crib, he just wouldn't fall asleep. We were very against having him sleep in the bed with us but do have to admit that there were a few nights we had a "family bed."

During the day, he often takes nap in his pack n' play bassinet, on us or in his crib. He takes about three naps during the day for about an hour or two at a time. At night, he always goes in the crib. Lately, he goes to bed anywhere between 10pm and 12am and wakes up anywhere between 6am and 8am. We are very fortunate to have such a great sleeper. Now, we just need him to "self-soothe" so he can fall asleep on his own!

Nicknames
I guess these aren't names Vaughn has created, but they're names we have created for him. Here are the few nicknames he has acquired in the few months he's been alive:

- Vaughny Poo (of course :))
- Little Man
- Bubb
- Squirt
- Slobber Monkey
- and my new favorite from Dave: Squirty

Scheduled!!!

***2 MONTHS***
It has been almost three and a half weeks that Vaughn has not woken me or Dave up in the middle of the night. He is such a good little sleeper...at night. During the day is another story. He takes little naps here and there but doesn't really like to be put down. But at night, once we get him in his crib after he is already asleep, he sleeps for a long time.

For the past three weeks, he has totally settled in to a comfy little schedule. At night, we start getting him ready for bed around 8:00pm. He takes a nap on one of us until 9 or 9:30pm. Then, he nurses for 20 minutes or so. We then check his diaper, change it, then feed him a bottle of two ounces. By this time, he's usually ready for bed. We try to get him to bed by 10pm, but most of the time, he doesn't lay down until 11pm or later. After he's down for the night, he wakes up the next morning around 7am! When he wakes up, he doesn't cry, but instead, just grunts and whimpers. It's rather cute and a more pleasant way to get up. I stumble over to his room, change him, then feed him for 20 - 30 minutes until he's ready to go back to sleep. Vaughn, then, sleeps for another one to two hours, which is a perfect time for me to get a shower and eat breakfast.

His day schedule is a little more sporadic, but he basically eats every two hours, sleeps here and there, and likes to play a lot. I try to get him to take a longer nap in the early afternoon and around (our) dinnertime.

It's so nice to have a scheduled baby. I was so worried that he wouldn't settle into a schedule, but no longer have to worry. It works really well for our family.

Baby's First Christmas

***2½ MONTHS***

Vaughn was a very blessed boy this year as Dave and I are super blessed to be his parents.

My family (Pappy, Nunny, Uncle Grayson and Aunt CC) and Dave's family (Dave's family (Grammy and Grandpa Mark) flew out to have a Christmas with our family.

My family and I took Vaughn on his first hike to the White Tank Mountains waterfall trail. He did such a great job. Aunt CC pushed him in his stroller until he got a little fussy when I strapped him to my chest. Then he rode all the way back to the car in the stroller. This was also his first long outing. After the hike, we even went out to eat. This was another first for Vaughn. We were nervous because of germs and because of his fussiness to take him to a restaurant. Not anymore! He hung out in his car seat for most of the time until Pappy walked him around right before we left. He didn't get sick!

While our families were here, we had two different Christmases. We spent Friday night with my family at our house complete with a ham dinner. When we exchanged our gifts, Vaughn sat quietly (aka: asleep) in his chair next to the tree. On Sunday night, we had another Christmas with Dave's family at Dusty's house. This time Vaughn was content (again, sleeping) on Uncle Grayson's shoulder the entire time. We caught all of his zzz's on video.

Vaughn got lots of clothes including a very cute golf outfit from his pappy. He also got some learning toys and some infant toys like a singing piano and a tummy time inch worm.

On Christmas Eve, we all went to Uncle Dusty and Aunt Jamie's house. We had dinner with Dusty, Jamie and Jamie's family who all flew in earlier that day from Indiana. We had a great roast dinner while Vaughn slept. It was neat to be there when Jamie surprised her family with the news of her pregnancy. That's right! Vaughn will have a cousin in Scottsdale in Summer 2010. He's super excited.

When we got home, we opened our Christmas pajamas. I got super comfy red plaid robe and pants. Vaughn got a "My First Christmas" reindeer fleece sleeper and Dave got boxers since that's what he sleeps in. We all went to bed around 11pm excited for Santa to come.

During our first family Christmas morning, Vaughn was awake the entire time anxious to see what Santa brought him. Even Rocco was a good boy by lying in front of the tree while we opened presents. Santa thought Vaughn was such a good boy (in the two months he was alive) that he got him a really cool monkey toy and a polar bear onsie. Vaughn LOVES his monkey. He sits in his infant chair just staring at the blinking nose.

Since Vaughn can't speak yet, mommy has the toys tell her what they prefer to be called. So this Christmas, he has Inchy the worm, LuLu the monkey, and Froggie the giraffe. It's so neat to see Vaughn content as can be with his toys. He's even starting to grab them so he can put them in his mouth.

We had an amazing time together as a family. On Christmas day, we stayed in our jammies all day, played Wii Fit and enjoyed each other's company. This Christmas was the best yet - having a new baby boy to spend it with trumped any holiday we've ever had.

Lightweight

***2 MONTHS***

Vaughn had his two-month well baby pediatrician appointment on December 10. He was on the bottom end of the 5th percentile, weighing 8lbs., 15oz. However, in the height category, he was in the 75th percentile at 23.25 inches. He may be destined to be tall and skinny. His head circumference was in the 50th percentile...right on track!

The doctor was concerned about his light weight so she wanted me to supplement with formula, then she wanted to see Vaughn again in two weeks to measure his weight gain.

We went back to the doctor today to find out that Vaughn had gained 11 ounces! He should be gaining an ounce a day. He almost did as he gained 11 ounces in 13 days. Now he is on the higher end of the 5th percentile. Since the first doctor's appointment, we started giving him about a total of 2 ounces of formula during the day. After every nursing session though, we give him an ounce of either pumped milk or formula. I prefer breast milk only, but am unable to produce enough to do so. As long as he's gaining weight, feeling well, and is continuing to be healthy is what Dave and I are concerned about.

Vaughn doesn't need to go back to the doctor again until February!

It was bound to happen

***2 MONTHS***

Vaughn's nails grow so fast. I find myself cutting them every other day; sometimes, they get cut every day. If I don't cut them, he wakes up in the morning with little scratches on his face. Before he was born, I thought Dave would be the one to cut his nails. Instead, I have been given the nail cutting duty.

The best time to cut his nails is when he's eating. He's often drowsy when nursing, which is a perfect time to get his little hand wrapped around my finger so I can cut his nails without him moving around too much. Today, I had all of his fingers done. All I had left was his right thumb, the hardest finger to clip. I pressed down on the nail clippers to hear a wail followed by what seemed like 10 minutes of silence (10 minutes = 2-3 seconds) followed by more wailing. It was awful. I cut off his thumb. Well, not really, but that's what I felt like for how hard he was crying. A little tiny bit of blood came out. In a panic, I jumped up to go get a cold compress then had Vaughn latch back on for comfort. In between suckles were little sniffles that just broke my heart.

I cried, called Dave to tell him what I did, then Vaughn calmed down, and everything was okay. Now I'm hesitant to trim his nails but continue to do it every one to two days. This is just something that will prepare me for his future boo boos. I do know, though, that I am the one who can comfort him. It was an amazing feeling afterward to have him hold on to me so tightly.

All Smiles

***2 MONTHS***

Vaughn smiles almost every day now. He's most happy in the morning shortly after waking up from his morning nap. He makes our hearts melt. He looks right into our eyes and smiles so big. When our families were here, they got to share the joy by seeing Vaughn smile many times. One day when we got back from breakfast, Vaughn couldn't stop smiling. He made Grammy's day! In addition to his cute smile, we flipped his hat around so he looked like a little Christmas elf.

We just love our little elf!

*Baby Steps* Milestones and Benchmarks.. 0-1 MONTH OLD

Vaughn is changing so quickly. It's amazing to look back and see how far he has come. It's only been two months and yet, we have such a little man living with us! These are some of the fun things Vaughn has accomplished in his first weeks of life:

- 10/31/09: Vaughn celebrated his first Halloween. Dave handed out candy while Vaughn and I played in the living room. This was the first day he stood up on my lap. He loves standing up!

- 11/4/09 at 7:00pm: Vaughn rolled over! During tummy time, he lifted his legs off the ground and rolled to his right onto his back. It was the cutest thing ever to see his startled face when he flipped over. Dave missed it as he was outside with Rocco but got to see him roll over a few days later. On November 2nd, he did roll over on the bed, but I was on it so I think the my pressure caused him to come tumbling toward me. Rolling over at three weeks, what are we in for??

- 11/5/09: Vaughn took his first walk...in a stroller with me pushing it. He was wide-eyed the entire time. He did really well on walks for a few days but then decided he HATES being strapped in. >>One day, I was many blocks away from our house when Vaughn decided to start screaming. I kept walking trying to soothe him to find his scream turn into a blood-curling scream (is that what it's called? Irregardless, it was bad!) So, not knowing what to do, I carried him in my right arm, had Rocco's leash on my left wrist, and pushed the stroller with my left hand. Thank goodness, we weren't too far away.

- 11/11/09: Vaughn rolled over for the fourth time. This time it was in front of pappy (my dad). He got to see how much of a big boy his first grandson is!

- 11/26/09: Vaughn went on his first outing with mommy to the Post Office. It was awful. He cried the entire time while going there. He wailed so loud while we were in the parking lot that I almost started to head back home. After about ten minutes, he stopped crying so I pulled out the stroller and plopped the car seat on it. I whipped out my keys, locked the car, and walked quickly toward the entrance. When we got in the Post Office, he was very content. However, we had to wait in line, which took forever so he then started to cry. It was so quiet that his crying sounded much louder than it was. I felt like everyone was staring at me, but now that I look back they probably weren't, I was just self conscience. But we survived and I now feel a little better taking him out in public.

- 11/28/09: Vaughn smiled for the first time! He started to talk a little and today, while saying "ooh" with daddy, he totally smiled which made us smile...real big!

- 12/1/09 (the week of): This is when he really started to smile and coo. He also started to really hold his own head up.

- 12/5/09 (night of): He slept for six hours straight for the first time!

- 12/6/09 (night of): He slept for seven and a half hours!

...he has continued to sleep through the night through the end of 2 months

- 12/6/09: We took Vaughn to Fry's where we got his first Christmas tree. It was a little cold outside (in the 50's) so we bundled him up. Even though he slept the whole time, we still took him out to the lot so we all could pick the perfect tree!

- 12/7/09: Vaughn attended his first Christmas party. We both went to the Habitat Women Build lunch at Jan's house. All of the ladies were so excited to meet Vaughn. He did a great job. He got a little fussy but allowed Nell (an amazing volunteer) give him a bottle. It rained so hard on the way there and back that it made him actually sleep in the car.

Vaughn's first week of life

***1 WEEK***
Our first night...
Dave and I opted to stay at the hospital less than 24 hours in postpartum. All we wanted to do was come home to our own bed and sleep! We were released around 10:30pm on Tuesday, October 13. Grammy (Dave's mom) and Aunt Nay Nay were there to help us pack up. By the time we got home, Dave and I had maybe three hours of sleep within the past three days; we were incredibly exhausted and came home to a very confused and anxious dog. This was not a very good combination. Thank goodness Grammy was here to help or we wouldn't have survived our first night.

Since we got home so late, Rocco wasn't given enough time to get to know Vaughn before going to sleep for the night. Also, we didn't think about how cold Vaughn's room would be. In fact, it's the coldest room in the house so we had to close the vents. Let's just say, on the first night, baby was not a happy camper in his freezing room, mommy and daddy were beyond exhausted, mommy was uber emotional and puppy wanted to play. We made it through though and were able to get much needed rest the next day.

Dehydration...
Within twenty minutes of being born, Vaughn was able to nurse where an amazing bond was established. Little did I know that this bond of ours would be every hour and a half around the clock. Because Vaughn latched on the correct way immediately, we didn't anticipate any problems.

Most of Vaughn's first week of life was spent at the pediatrician's office because of these problems we didn't realize could exist. Vaughn became very dehydrated as my milk didn't come in until Friday and the colostrum wasn't enough. It was a vicious cycle. We did everything possible to wake Vaughn up, but it didn't work because he was dehydrated, but yet, he had to wake up in order to become hydrated. On Thursday night, it got to the point where I had to turn all the bathroom lights on (super bright), strip him down to his diaper, and lay him on the cold counter top before he would open even one eye. It was super scary. We made a turning point on Friday afternoon around 3:00pm when he pooped and peed a ton. Grammy and I did a little dance. He started waking up for feedings so we ended up cancelling what would have been our fourth appointment with Dr. Lombard on Saturday morning.

Adjustment...

The first night we got sleep was Friday night. With the doctor's approval, Vaughn was allowed to sleep four to six straight hours. We got four hours of sleep, fed Vaughn for a short time, put him right back to bed, and slept for another three and a half to four hours. Dave and I did a little sleep dance in the morning as we were so thrilled to feel a little rested.

Vaughn got his first (sponge) bath in his room on the changing table. Grammy did an amazing job at making sure all of Vaughn's little crevices were all clean. Surprisingly, the only time he didn't cry was when he was getting his hair washed. He loved getting his hair washed in the hospital, too. He just loves for his hair to be wet and head rubbed. His little skin was all flaky from being in the amniotic fluid for so long but soon started to become baby smooth!

It took time to get adjusted to dropping everything to cater to the very demanding (yet so adorable) baby Vaughn. By the end of his first week, Dave and I had it down. Vaughn's schedule was still very erratic, but we were catching on to what cry meant what, what to do when, and how to soothe our tiny little baby.

vaughny poo, we love you

Dave and I officially became parents on Monday, October 12 at 8:38pm in Glendale, AZ. From the moment we saw our baby boy's slimy cone head full of hair, we were in love. We named that little boy, Vaughn Steven Thompson. Somehow, before he was born, he acquired the nick name, Vaughny Poo. I'm sure we'll have to change that when he's older to avoid embarrassment, but for now, he sure is our little Vaughny Poo whom we love so much. Every single second of the 18 hour labor process was worth it. Dave and I couldn't be happier with such a healthy, happy baby boy. This blog is to catch all the wonderful moments, benchmarks, advancements, and good and bad memories our of our little boy's life. This blog will also reflect our experiences as first time parents. Oh, the fun has just begun!