Peyton's Trip to New Orleans

We recently took a trip home to New Orleans to introduce Peyton to our families and have him baptized. Peyton and I flew home together on Tuesday morning and Patrick flew home to meet us Thursday. It was a whirlwind trip, but he got to meet most of his great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and everything in between! The priest that married Patrick and me almost 7 years ago was also in town, so he was able to baptize Peyton. We had seen him last year during our trip to Italy, where he now works at the Vatican, and he wanted to know when we were having kids. Patrick and I had just started talking about trying to start our family, and he of course thought it was a great idea. He said he would baptize the baby when it came along, but we didn't think in a million years that it would actually work out. We live in NC and he lives in Rome, and the godparents live in Phoenix and Wichita. We figured there was no way we would pull it off, but the one thing we had going for us was that all of us are originally from New Orleans and all of us itch for a trip home for some good food, good company, and good times at any chance we get. In the end, it all worked out and we were all able to be there. It was so nice to see all of our family and friends and introduce the little guy to his very large extended family. What a very lucky little boy. Hopefully I got a chance to say hello to everyone that came to his baptism, but I was a bit overwhelmed so I definitely didn't get to spend as much time with everyone as I had hoped. We sure do have big, loving families!
Here are some pictures from his baptism:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jharrell528/PeytonSBaptism

I think Peyton likes flying - he slept like a baby on the way there and back. Patrick and I looked like we were actually moving across the country with all of our stuff in tow. Adding a little person to the trip sure did add a lot of stuff. I was in charge of holding the baby and Patrick was in charge of the stuff. I just kept counting the number of pieces we had to make sure we had it all: 3 pieces of luggage, a car seat, car seat base, a stroller, a diaper bag, and a computer bag. On the day we headed back to Durham, we got to the rental car place and unloaded the car, dragged everything to the shuttle, rode to the airport, dragged everything to the counter, checked what we could, dragged the rest through security, boarded the plane, flew home, collected our bags at the other end, dragged everything to the shuttle bus stop, boarded the shuttle bus, unloaded the shuttle bus, then loaded everything in our car. There must be an easier way to travel!

Here are some pictures from the last month or so, including some with his cousins and grandparents during our trip home:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jharrell528/PeytonJune2008

A Good Night's Rest

Aaaahhhhhhhhhh.......it finally happened. A full night's rest. I put Peyton to bed around 10pm last night and fully expected that I would be up 3 or 4 times during the night, and Patrick would get up just as many times. We'd have to put the pacifier back in Peyton's mouth or swaddle him again in the blanket that he'd somehow gotten one arm or leg out of. But just as all parents do the first time their child actually sleeps soundly through the night, I woke up at 6am and jumped out of bed to check on him because he hadn't woken up at all during the night. Sure enough, there he was sound asleep in his bed. Peyton had given up the middle of the night bottle about a week ago (after we slowly decreased the number of ounces he was getting and just stopped giving him anything at all). But he was still a little restless at night and would whine if he lost his pacifierr or came out of his blanket. And then last night he just didn't wake up at all. It was wonderful! I hope this was not an isolated incident and we will have many more nights like this.

Tummy Time and a Belly Laugh

Here are a couple of videos that we took today. Peyton is really at a fun stage now. We're noticing how much he's developing so quickly. He's been smiling at us for quite awhile and cooing quite a bit, but today we got the best belly laugh out of him. And while he is on his stomach, he's picking his head up and holding it up for a good bit of time. We're looking forward to our trip home this week to introduce him to our families - we can't wait for everyone to meet him!

2 Month Checkup

Peyton went to the doctor yesterday for his 2 month checkup. He weighs a whopping 15lbs,4oz. Whoa! No wonder my back hurts. Obviously, he's a healthy, growing boy. He got a few shots, and he was quite cranky afterwards, understandably so I guess. But the pediatrician was pleased with his growth and progress, so we'll go back when he's 4 months.

Sleeping-wise, he's doing pretty well at night. I swaddle him and put him to bed around 9 0r 9:30pm. Even if he's not completely asleep, he'll usually settle himself and fall asleep eventually with little intervention from me. He's been sleeping until 3 or 4am, when he's not necessarily awake, but he's doing and awful lot of grunting and groaning. Eventually he wakes himself up and Patrick gives him a bottle and puts him back down and he'll sleep until 6 or 7am, when he again starts with lots of grunting and groaning. For awhile, he was doing pretty good at night but wasn't taking good naps during the day. However, he's done a little better in the last couple of days and has taken some really good naps. At the risk of jinxing the situation, I'll leave it at that.

There is a big debate about who Peyton looks like. Does he have the good looks of his dad or mom? I've scanned in our baby photos so that we can do a fair comparison. Patrick is 3 months in his picture, Peyton is 2 months, and I'm not sure how old I am, but I look like a baby, so it counts. I still don't know who he looks like.....

Peyton's first videos

There are new pictures on picassa web, dated 051308:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jharrell528

And below are a few videos of our little man. Enjoy!

Boot Camp

A friend of mine recently said that having a newborn baby is like being in boot camp and the baby is the commanding officer. Ain't that the truth.

I was talking to another friend and told her that I don't know where the day goes, but I don't get anything done, other than tending to Peyton. She asked me what I did all day and I told her I had no idea. So I decided to keep track of what I did in a day. This is by no means a routine. Everyday is different with new and unexpected twists and turns. But I do spend a good part of my day feeding Peyton. That may explain why he know weighs 11lbs and 11oz, hitting the 90th percentile in the weight charts -meaning that he weighs more than 90% of other one month olds. Yep, he's a big boy, alright.

So here it is. A day in the life of Peyton Christopher Harrell:

10:30-12:30pm Sleep swaddled in car seat on the floor while dad sleeps on the sofa next to him. Up until this particular night, Peyton will only sleep while being held. Worried that this is leading to some bad habits, mom and dad decide to try swaddling him tight and putting him in his car seat where he seems to sleep quite peacefully during car rides.

12:30 – 1am Bottle Fed by dad – 5oz. Quite impressive!

1:45am-4:15am – The previous sleep cycle went well, so mom keeps Peyton swaddled in car seat on the floor while she sleeps on the sofa next to him

4:15-5am – Peyton wakes mom up to let her know that he's hungry. He gets breast-fed.

5am-7:45am – Dad's turn. Grunting/sleeping while dad is on duty.

7:45am-9am – Dad's got to go to work, so its mom's turn. Peyton decides he's hungry again. He gets breast fed

9-9:15am – Swing time while mom shovels down her breakfast

9:15 – Starts crying. He’s done with the swing.

9:30 – because mom is holding him, he falls asleep. Mom puts him in car seat because he slept really well there last night.

9:40 – mom brings the car seat upstairs and puts it in the bathroom with her while she takes a bath

9:50am – Unfortunately, the car seat is not close enough to the bathtub to rock it when Peyton has a juicy burb, wakes himself up, and starts screaming.
Mom has to hurry up and finish getting the shampoo out of her hair so that she can comfort Peyton. She’ll have to wait until tomorrow to shave her legs

10:05am – Peyton falls back asleep and mom puts him in his cradle.

10:15am – Peyton is no fool. He knows no one is holding him and he wakes up. But he seems to be in a good mood so mom puts him in his crib with his mobile and animals and he watches the action for a few minutes while mom gets dressed and gets a load of laundry started.

10:40am – Ok, Peyton has been patient enough and has had enough of his mobile. He lets mom know that he’s done. Mom feeds him.

11:00am – after feeding only on one side and changing a poopy diaper, Peyton decides he’s done eating and falls asleep. Mom swaddles him and puts him in his pack ‘n play with a bear that makes womb noises. Will he stay asleep???

12noon – The bear stops making womb noises and Peyton has to poop, so he wakes up very unhappy.

12:30pm – after a series of crying, settling, sleeping, crying settling, sleeping, mom decides he must be hungry. Again.

1:15pm – Peyton is done eating. Mom is hungry, so he goes in his swing for a few minutes while she makes lunch.

2pm – After swing time, car seat time, and tummy time, Peyton is getting quite fussy. Mom bounces him to sleep and the two take a nap on the couch together.

3:30pm – Time to eat again!

4:15pm - Now that he’s done eating, Peyton decides its time for some more Z’s.

5:00pm – 5:30pm – But he can only sleep so long in his pack n’ play without being held, so he wakes up mad that no one is holding him. Again, we do some crying, settling, crying, settling, etc until mom decides he must be hungry. Again.

5:30pm – Eating Once again. Dad comes home. Finds mom sitting in her usual chair feeding Peyton again.. Mom is now referred to as “the cow”

6:15pm – Go for a walk in the neighborhood. Peyton looks all around and is fascinated by the green grass, pretty flowers, and blue sky, but eventually falls asleep.

7:00pm – After the walk, Peyton gets put down while he is sleeping, but again it is short-lived. As mom tries to finish her dinner, dad dances Peyton around the living room. It does seem to settle him down a little bit. Can we squeeze in a bath before the next feeding?

7:30pm – Nope. Need to eat before bath.

8:15pm – Bath time! Peyton loves taking a bath. He’s so calm. And, he’s got to get that fountain of pee going in the water every time!

9:30pm – Yep, he’s hungry again. Mom feeds him, then heads off to bed. Dad’s in charge now. Bottle’s in the fridge.

And the cycle continues….

More Pictures

A few more pictures of our new little one:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jharrell528