Inside baby/Outside baby!

We look a little tired with outside baby (Day 16).

Father's Day

Happy 1st Father's Day! Too bad Dave had to make his own pancakes and bacon. And dinner. Leo decided that he wanted to nurse so I couldn't make brunch and dinner for Dave. I'm sure I'll have time to make it up to him.

Family

We're lucky that family members have been coming out to help us during these first weeks with Leo.

Grandpa & Grandma Wang

Uncle Sam. Nice to have an 'in-house' pediatrician

And a pharmacist in the family! Auntie Erica & Leo.

Leo LOVES Auntie Kristina. She can soothe him so quickly.

Dave went to Barrow for 10 days and Kristina was out here to help me. I don't know what I would have done without her. The night Dave left, Leo decided he didn't want to sleep on his back anymore. Every 30-60 min his reflux or gas would wake him up. This went on for 5 nights before I was at my wits end with no sleep and ready to head to Barrow to physically bring Dave home. Kristina took him off my hands when I just couldn't take it anymore. Since then, I've been sleeping with him strapped to my chest in the baby bjorn while I am semi-reclined on the couch. This helps him keep the milk down and we can both get some sleep. Not a long-term solution but for now it works until we can get his reflux under control.

Lucky Emma. So many people to take care of her!

 Thanks Everyone!

Mother's Day

This Mother's Day was a special one. My first one and my Mom was also here. She stayed for 4 weeks, arriving 5 days after Leo's due date and had to wait 1 week before her grandson showed up. 

Prenatal walk at UAF, waiting for baby to show up

Mom (or A-ma in Chinese) helped us out so much. I don't know what we would've done without her. I'm convinced we would have been eating dog food and the house would've resembled a pig sty after a week. And when it came time for her to leave, I was beside myself. Not sure how we were going to get by without her help. We now understand the saying 'It takes a village to raise a child'.

Mom and Dad in 1974 (right). I think 8 months pregnant with me.

She is Emma's new best friend, taking her on multiple walks a day while her other parents woefully neglected her to take care of a newborn.

Emma loves you

Cooking rice noodles with veggies and chicken. One of our favorites.

3 generations

Mom and Leo

 Dave made us crab benedict for breakfast! Super yummy.

Mother's day breakfast

I know I don't always say thank you or show how much I appreciate you and Dad. But I do. And having a baby now, I understand what it is like to be a parent. To have an unconditional love for your child. I love you so much Mom and can't wait for you to come back up in July. Emma and Leo can't wait either!

1 month

Leo is one month old! I can't believe we're at this milestone already. It's been an amazing journey so far but it has been really difficult. We are all adjusting, with Leo adjusting to life on the outside. The lack of sleep has been frustrating and trying to figure what he wants when he cries but every time we run through the obvious: hungry? diaper change? burpy? gassy? tired? It's always one of the above.

Even in the past 30 days he's developed so much. He now follows our voices with his eyes and moves his head in the direction of our voices now. His first laugh was in his sleep at a 2AM feeding, it filled my heart with joy. I can't wait until he starts laughing when he's awake. He also started cooing the past week.

Leo is starting to sleep a little better at night now. Several 2-4 hour blocks. If we can piece together 5-6 hours, we can be functional. If not, we're wrecks. He's most happy and awake in the morning. We've also found that the first time he's introduced to something, he hates it: baby bjorn carrier. ergo baby carrier, swings...We kept trying and luckily, now we can take him for walks using the baby carriers. And he's happy in the swing for some time which is great, it gives me time to catch up on laundry, dishes, go to the bathroom, take a shower, get something to eat. But unlike a lot of other babies we know, he hasn't fallen asleep in the swing yet.

I've been getting good at typing, texting, eating with one hand. He doesn't like being put down in his cradle while sleeping during the day any more. I've been able to use a sling to get some things done while carrying him. Otherwise, the most he seems to sleep during the day in his cradle is 30 min before he wakes up.

We're hoping to give him his first bath tonight. Leo likes to comfort nurse sometimes to fall asleep but gets really angry when milk comes out. So with guidance from the lactation consultant we've been working with, we've tried to introduce a pacifier the past couple days with no luck until today. I can't decide if it's good or bad. He just sucked on it for 30 min and fell asleep. I'm nervous that he's going to get addicted to it, but the nurse said as long as we use it as a tool - for when he needs to comfort nurse and wean him off ~ 6 months, we should be OK. Hopefully he'll just decide it doesn't like it or need it anymore one day.

We also did tummy time for the first time today. And he's been eating well and gaining weight. 11 lbs 2 oz already! He seems to be taking in the world all the time, but not sure what his little eyes are seeing at the moment! And he's got an array of facial expressions. We are so in love with this little man!! We're looking forward to seeing what the next month brings!

Mmmm. Milk. That was good.

Are you my Mama?

Milk coma

Such an angel when he's sleeping

Dave vs. Leo's paws

I took these around 3 weeks I think.