Hello, world! Apparently I've been very busy since going back to work because I haven't written a single post since! It's been bittersweet going back to work - I love being a labor and delivery nurse and having adult conversations, but I miss my boys so much when I'm gone. Bruce makes Chris work really hard at night too =)

Since my last post I've transitioned back to work and we moved. We are in the same complex as before, but now on a first floor unit, have an extra bathroom and our own washer and dryer. What did we ever do before our own washer and dryer?!

We've only been in our new place for a week and I'm loving it so far. I had just started the busy part of my work schedule with the move so everything is still a mess. Today begins my almost 2.5 week vacation from work! I saved some of my maternity leave so I'm taking a portion of it now. Our goal is to sleep (!!!), organize our new apartment, learn how to make home cooked meals again, and help transition Bruce to sleeping in a crib. He and I have been co-sleeping since he was about 2 weeks old, but that makes the nights I work hard for Chris.

I will try to keep blogging (yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I've said it before), but if you want quicker updates on us, follow me on Instagram: hugscaroline.

I've become quite the hippy/crunchy/granola mama. Bruce wears his baltic amber necklace, we cloth diaper, I breastfeed and wear him (Ergo carrier and with our new woven wrap) and we're delaying solids until he's 6 months old and will go straight to soft foods (aka - baby led weaning/baby led solids) and skip purees and baby cereal. I believe everyone does the best they can, and as we learn more, we adjust our parenting to give the best to our baby.

It's 6:41 a.m. and I've been awake for 2 hours (my body doesn't know what to do with more than 5 hours of continuous sleep), and Chris is up...has yet to go to sleep. I'll throw some beef stew into the crock pot and hopefully unpack one box before Bruce wakes up. I'm so excited for my 2+ weeks off!

My first shift in 4 months starts in 17 hours. Seven hours ago I had (another) meltdown about leaving my baby. Bruce hasn't been taking the bottle well at all lately and it's been making me panic. We had breastfeeding down so well that we hardly gave him a bottle in the last 2 months. Well, apparently re-learning the bottle wasn't as easy as we thought it would be. He's been fighting the bottle for the last week. Each day as I counted down the days until my first shift at work, and with each failed bottle attempt, my anxiety would go up and up.

Well, to my surprise, Bruce just woke up after sleeping for 7 hours (yay!), drank a 2 ounce bottle, and went right back to sleep. No fuss, it was like this has been his routine for weeks. This has given me so much peace of mind. I hope he can keep this up!

We've been practicing what will be my night time routine with Bruce when I go to work. We do night time routine, I nurse him, and he's asleep by 10-10:20 p.m. That gives me time to get ready for work because I leave at 10:40. Hopefully Bruce will sleep at least 4-6 hours for his first chunk of sleep. Tonight, Bruce woke up at 5:20 to eat and is sleeping again. He was only up for a total of maybe 15 minutes!

I'm getting things ready for work tonight, planning out what we're doing today (grocery store, meal prep for the next few days and cleaning the house) and hoping he'll sleep through until 8 a.m. If this is his pattern, that means he'll sleep the whole time I'm away, except for one feeding with Chris. If this works out, it would be amazing! The only thing better is if Bruce slept from 10 p.m. until 8 a.m. when I get home, but I'm not going to push my luck!

Now that my anxiety is waaaay down, let's just look at some happy baby pictures, shall we?

My happy boy loves being on the changing table. 

No skinny minny here!

Our first family trip to the beach. It was cold and windy and he slept the whole time.

My boys at the park.

Just melts my heart!

Strolling in the park after getting slurpees.

Look at his size difference in his car seat! A few days old, and 11 weeks old.

Bruce's first week at My Gym.

A day in San Francisco at the de Young Museum and Japanese Tea Garden.

Smiling and squealing with Grandpa on Father's Day.

An afternoon with Great Grandparents and Great Aunt Mary Lu.

Whoa. Close up in Capitola.

My absolute favorite - a sleeping baby on my chest. If I could make this last forever, I would.

Off to shower before the baby wakes up, and then we'll be ready to start our day. Hopefully I'll sleep from 6-9 p.m., be up to put Bruce to sleep, then go to work. Hoping to shed a minimal amount of tears while I'm away from him. Wish me luck.

One week and counting...

I go back to work in a week and I've been savoring every moment with Chris and Bruce! We've mostly been hanging out at the house and just enjoying all the new things Bruce does. He smiles and squeals all the time and is always chewing on his hands. Once he got his thumb in his mouth and starting sucking on it! He still hates his car seat, but we managed to make a trip to the beach and to San Francisco. As long as the car is moving (no red lights, please!) he does well in the car.

Blogger isn't showing updated pictures when I try to upload them, so I'll try to update with pictures soon! Just want to let everyone know we're happy, healthy, and doing very well.

How do I have time to fiiiinally squeeze in a blog post? Bruce slept for 7 hours and 45 minutes, I fed him, gave him some cuddles in the rocking chair and he's been sleeping again for another hour. Wow, little man, good job! I hope he keeps this up, it will definitely make me feel better about going back to work!

Time is flying by!

Chris and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary on May 26th, and Bruce turned 2 months old on the 30th. This little boy is growing so much and is a plump 13 pounds 10 ounces now. He was deemed perfect (something we all already knew!) at his 2 month pediatric appointment. He took his set of shots like a champ that day too.

I spent a good amount of time this week just going through pictures from Bruce's first two months and sorted through 2,000 (!!!) pictures.

Newborn toes.

First bath at home.

Milk drool.

My smiley boy.

Laying down for diaper changes is his favorite place these days. Strange kid, he likes the changing table, but not his car seat. He also loooves bath time! His sleep is getting better! We usually get a 4-5.5 hour first chunk of sleep, then another 2-3 hour sleep after a quick middle of the night feeding.

My bother, Jay, graduated from SJSU last weekend. Bruce went with us to the huge ceremony and party after.

He's gonna kill me when he gets older. I love this.

This may be my new favorite of Chris and Bruce. They do lots of talking and smiling now, and Bruce is so excited, he never stops moving his feet.

We went to Boogie on the Bayou in Downtown Campbell on Sunday. Crafts, lemonade, yummy food and baby wearing.

After, went to Chris' softball game. Bruce touched home plate at the end of the game. Unimpressed.

Today he tried the Bumbo for the first time. I only had him in it a few minutes...he needs more head control before longer use. He just kept looking left, then right, then left again. Whoa...slow it down wobbly kid!

Because it was 85+ degrees today, Bruce and I went to spend some time by the pool. This kid loves being outside to look around.

Bruce's night time sleep used to seamlessly flow right into his morning nap, but this morning, he was awake awake awake at 7:30.

There is so much smiling and cooing going on these days, I love it!

The silliness that goes on in our house.