Zachary Updates - Months 1 - 3

So, I'm trying very hard not to feel mommy-guilt at my lack of Zachary posts here on All Things Ng. Looking back at my early days of parenthood with Abby, I realize how important the blog was for me as an outlet for all my new mommy stresses and joys, and how much I loved letting all you glorious readers know about my little munchkin. Now I'm not trying to say that life as a mommy of two hasn't had its own unique challenges and joys (quitting my job - sleepless nights - child in the hospital -- stressed out much?!), but I've just been handling them differently, I guess. Having a child in the hospital encourages you to pick up the phone and talk with people, like, say, your cousin who is a doctor and can put your mind at ease about the care your son is receiving. (Laura, you're the best.) Being home all day allows me more frequent telephone conversations, with say the most awesome sister ever. Having a husband who works while I am blessed to stay home has opened up new lines of communication with Carey, who, as only an amazing father could, wants to know every single thing we did during the day so he can share in our successes and failures and help us work to be better. So, while I still have some guilt about leaving the blog unattended for such long stretches at a time, I hope that everyone will understand that there is a new normal going on here at the Ng home. For the new year, I definitely plan to keep All Things Ng updated. After all, have your seen my kidlets? Totally and completely adorable. And who am I to hog all that adorableness to myself. Why that, dear readers, would just be selfish... ;-)

In my continuing effort to catch up on blog posts, I'd like to share some photos of Zach as he's hit his monthly milestones. Thanks to the blog of one of Carey's friends, I learned about these adorable stickers called Sticky Bellies. These cute little stickers allow you to capture the monthly milestones of your little ones with bold, colorful graphics for each month. I was excited to find out that Sticky Bellies had a brand new line of stickers coming out, especially for boys. (I had often heard it bemoaned by moms of boys that adorable girlie stuff abounds in stores, but it can be difficult to find boy stuff that doesn't have sports balls or puppy dogs on it. Add monkeys to that list, and I think they're right. Given, there are plenty of cute items for little boys, but I was excited to see that Sticky Bellies had a "for boys" line.)

So, without further ado, my I present my handsome little man, in all his monthly milestone glory?

Zachary Thomas - 1 Month Old

As you might be able to tell from this photo, we were in the hospital on the day that Zach turned one month old. Thank God, we were discharged later in the day, but it was heartbreaking to see my little man wrapped up like a skinny little baby burrito in a hospital crib... While I will be posting about Zach's early health problems, including his milk protein allergy, in more detail very soon, I will say here that he was 8 pounds, 14 ounces the day we were discharged. It was also right around this time that Zach began giving us smiles, which proved to us that he was also glad to be coming home. :-)

 

Zachary Thomas - 2 Months Old

So much changed between Zach's one- and two-month photos that it's still hard for us to believe that it was the same child. While still a bit on the skinny side, Zach was doing a great job eating and sleeping, and his weight loss problem was in the past. He was definitely more alert during the day, which I think was due in large part to his extremely interesting, always active big sister. After all, when you can watch "The Abby Show" all day, why would you want to close your eyes? Zach was responding to his name, offering up loads and loads of smiles, and sleeping well, waking around once a night (between 3 and 4 am) to eat. So, not only was Zach getting cuter every day, but Carey and I were beginning to feel human again. At two months old, Zach weighed 11 pounds, 8 ounces (50th percentile) and measured 23.25 inches tall (also 50th percentile). And let me tell you, as a parent who had helplessly watched her baby lose weight until he was almost back at his birth weight, 50th percentile was a joyous, precious number to us.

 

Zachary Thomas - 3 Months Old

This picture says it all - my little man is a happy, adorable, good-natured baby. He is constantly smiling - if he's crying, he is either hungry or tired. Not long after turning two months old, little Zachary began sleeping through the night, 10 or 11 hours at a clip. Hooray!! And, while he was going to bed quite late, the end of daylight savings time actually worked in our favor, and now the little guy goes down between 9 and 9:30 pm. At his three month check-up, the little guy weighed 13 pounds, 9 ounces (50th percentile) and measured 24.5 inches tall (75th percentile). But, perhaps the best news of all - his stools showed no signs of the blood that signaled his milk protein allergy, meaning the formula that he is on has allowed his digestive tract to heal. Praise the Lord!

 

So, here we sit, completely blessed by this healthy, happy, handsome boy that God has given us. If I thought that being Abby's mom was an awesome, awe-inspiring experience, then I feel overwhelmingly blessed that I have been chosen to be mother to TWO of His precious little ones.