Nothing exciting to report

Well here we are...another week has gone by and it's already Monday again.  Carter is getting so big!  He is probably close to 9 pounds now and I can't believe this week he will be a month old!  The time is going by way too fast! Last week was Ryan's first full week back to work and slowing we are falling into a routine. Being home with him by myself all day is a lot different than I thought. I thought it would be much harder, but he is a really great baby.  He only fusses if he needs something and he never cries just because.  He is also starting to figure out his days and nights.  He wakes up about twice in the middle of the night to eat and be changed, but lately goes right back to sleep with no problems.  In fact, last night Ryan and I were able to get two good three hour stretches of sleep, which was AWESOME! :) 

We are getting a little more comfortable taking Carter out and about with us.  Over the weekend we went on our first grocery shopping trip with him.  He did a really good, just slept most of the time, in fact we were about to make it to Target also.  Yesterday we decided to get out and do a bit more shopping, this time we went to the Castle Rock Outlets.  I wanted to check out some of the kids clothes stores.  We were able to find A LOT of really cute stuff and it was all on sale.  So we picked up some 3 month outfits for him. He is about 1 week away from not fitting into any newborn stuff anymore.  (Baby clothes are weird, some brands he fits into 3 month already and others he fits in newborn.)  We also picked up the cutest pair of sunglasses for him and a matching sun hat.   Hopefully the weather starts cooperating more so that we can use them!  Some hot summer days would be great right now! We are really anxious for our pool to open up so we can take him swimming.  That will be the next shopping trip...baby swim gear.  :)

Happy 2 week birthday Carter!!

So I am a few days late, but it's been about 2 weeks and still doesn't seem real. 

Carter had his 2 week doctor check up and he looks great! He weighs 8 pounds now which means he has gotten back to his birth weight and then gained 4 ounces.  He had to get a little prick in his foot and screamed his head off...that wasn't fun.  Poor little guy!  He goes back in about 6 weeks for his 2 month check up, which will include some vaccinations.  Other than that things around the house have been good.  Allee and Aston are adjusting more and more to our little man.  They both do great with him.  Allee is a lot more curious than Aston, she has to investigate every noise that comes out of Carter.  Aston occasionally checks in on him and gives him a good lick.  Ryan went back to work on Thursday.  Of course that was the day Carter decided to test me out.  He was a little frumpy in the morning, but then sleep most of the afternoon (lucky him getting some sleep, I have forgotten what good sleep feels like).  We hope to get a lot more photos to share with everyone soon! 

We survived the first week home!

Somehow, amazingly enough, we survived the first week home.  I can't believe that time has gone by so fast. We have adjusted pretty well and actually seem to be falling into a schedule.  We are learning all Carter's cries, noises and needs.  Ryan and I work really well as a parent team and are getting very quick at making sure Carter has everything he needs.  Today we reached another mile stone, Carter's belly button cord fell off.  It was a pretty gross little thing and I am actually relieved and glad it's gone.  

Today we are taking Carter on his first mall trip.  It will be nice to get out of the house and walk around a bit.  I will make sure not to become one of the crazy people at the mall with a stroller.  :) I am sure Carter will sleep the whole time and not even care about where he is, but it will be good for us.  

Scary Diapers

Leading up to Carter being born one of the things I was most worried about was having to change nasty little diapers.  I've tried to avoid dirty diapers my whole life.  So a few hours after he was born he got his first checkup from a pediatrician when I was informed that he had taken care of business for his first time and it was daddy's responsibility to clean it up.  I think it took me about 20 wipes to clean the whole mess, but I got the job done.  I've learned that changing diapers isn't that bad at all, but the actual act of him going potty is what I should be worried about.  

In the hospital I was doing the majority of diaper duty, and it was fine.  Actually it was sort of funny that in the few changes Pam did she managed to be peed on, twice.  Ha!  I knew I'd get mine at some point, but until then it was just funny.  Carter likes to veg out in my lap, with his back running between my legs and his butt firmly pushing into to stomach.  He also likes to work himself up and push out the most explosive poop I've ever encountered.  Put the two things together and I have a happy baby sitting in my lap, he takes a deep breath, and BOOM, explosion right into my stomach (he was wearing a diaper) that scared me so much I nearly jumped off the couch.  I think it was that same night that I was feeding and changing him at around 3 a.m. that I got peed on.  It wasn't just being peed on, I got it straight in the face.  Nothing like being half asleep, hoping to just take care of him and get back to bed, and then getting piss all in your face...and on the comforter...and on my pillow...and all over everything he was wearing.  Nice!  

But none of this even compares to the fountain of poop we, especially Pam, experienced earlier today.  We took Carter downtown to Pam's work to show him off to her co-workers.  For about 3 hours, from when he last relieved himself and ate until we got back home, he was cool and calm.  Then we heard the pooping.  We've learned to give him about 15 minutes to finish off the task or we'll just end up having to change him a few times in a matter of minutes.  So we wait and then Pam moves in for the change.  As soon as the diaper comes off I hear a scream from Pam...run into the room to find he had just pooped all over the changing table, and partially on Pam.  We have a good laugh, shrug it off, and Pam continues the job.  I got back to the kitchen and another scream from Pam...run back in the room and she was holding her hands in a blocker pattern to shield herself from the pee stream he was aiming at her.  Another good laugh and I got back to what I was doing.  As soon as I get back to the kitchen, another scream...I run back in the room just in time to witness a fountain of poop streaming across the room.  Poop is everywhere!  On Pam's hands, because she threw up a blocker to try to minimize the damage, on her pants, on the changing pad, on the table, on the floor.  I have to say this was VERY funny to me, and even to Pam, but at the same time the most disgusting thing we've seen in out lives...I'm seriously, before having a baby I doubt many people can say they've been pooped on...projectile pooped that is.  But now we're both scared of changing him because you never really know what to expect.  

So, as long as it's in the diaper and he's finished his business, I don't mind at all, but if there's any chance there's more to come I feel like I need a rain suit and protective face shield before I go in to take care of business.  I think we'll be flipping a coin for the next few days to see who has to be brave and enter the danger zone.  I guess it isn't actually scary diapers, it's scary bathroom behavior.  But it's all worth it for this precious little face.

Party in my crib at 3 a.m.

I think the title says it all.  Sarah bought us a bib when we were in Maui for the wedding that says "Party at my crib, 3AM Maui, Hawaii" because she had a feeling we'd be getting pregnant while down there.  Well, it didn't happen in Hawaii but sure did shortly after we got back.  I'd like to thank Sarah for this bib because Carter does his best to get a party going every day at 3 a.m..  Through the day he's really happy, hungry, or sleepy.  At night he's also pretty content.  But when we wake him up at 3 a.m. to eat it's on!  He'll wake up and eat and then refuses to go back to sleep.  He flails his arms and legs and tests out the vocal chords.  I think it's his way of singing and dancing.  Get a couple of drinks in this kid and he's a regular party animal.  We'd enjoy this during the day, but half asleep in the middle of the night it's not so cool.  So again Sarah, thanks for jinxing us with the 3 a.m. party bib :).  We'll be sure to get you something for your little one on the way that has a similar unpleasant quote that is funny to everyone except the parents.  Obviously I'm just kidding, it's just funny how the bib even got the exact time right.  We think we have found a solution though, at least a temporary one...a binky.  We didn't want to us a binky to start a bad habit that may be hard to shake, but it works wonders to calm him down during the fussy times.  It's got him through two rough patches in the middle of the night and through a horrible bath (he hates being naked so naked with a wet towel is the most horrible experience he's been through).  After a few minutes of sucking he calms down and spits it out.  So a binky is now our friend, yay!

Settling in

                         
So it's been a couple days at home now and I have to say things seem to be going great.  Carter is amazing.  Not really fussy at all, except for when he's being changed.  Waking up multiple times in the middle isn't so bad...he doesn't wake us up, we have to work to wake him up!  We're getting a decent amount of sleep so far, which was much needed.  He's a really quite baby, only really makes noise when he's half naked in the middle of a diaper change.  He's becoming more and more alert and both of us enjoy just watching him as he explores everything around him with his big blue eyes.  

He had his first doctor appointment this morning and he's doing great.  Everything is as it's supposed to be and our little man is thriving.  Are doctor was really nice, Danielle has experience with him in the past, but we just happened to be set up with him through my standard physician.  I look forward to see how he's doing at his next appt. in about 10 days.  We also took Carter for his first shopping trip after the appointment.  We went to Babies'R'Us for a few things we realized we hadn't prepared ourselves for.  Back at home we took advantage of the nice day and went for a walk around the neighborhood...broke in the stroller.  The dogs were a bit scared of the stroller at first, but they got over it.  Carter just slept the whole time, his favorite thing to do, and Pam got worn pretty quickly.  Tomorrow's warm weather should be nice because I think everyone will enjoy being out in the sun.  

                                          

So there hasn't been anything really eventful to report, just learning, adjusting, and taking advantage of the full on time we have to devote to Carter.  I have a good amount of time before I have to go back to work, but I'm already thinking about how much I'll miss just sitting around the house with him.  Pam will be here for a long time after I have to go back to work, which is great.  I just wish I could do the same.  We are both completely amazed at how happy this little man makes us and are so excited over every little thing he does.  I can't help but think of all the exciting things we'll go through with him as he grows up, but right now I'm completely content with a beautiful little baby sitting in my lap, looking around or sleeping, and knowing that I'm responsible for him.  He means everything to us already and we couldn't be happier.  

Carter Ryan Martin has arrived!!

What we thought would be our last doctor appointment on the 1st turned out to be quite a bit more.  We'd thought that maybe Pam's water had broken but our doctor wasn't quite convinced.  She sent us to the hospital for monitoring to verify.  Well, within a couple minutes at the hospital it was confirmed broken and we were told that Pam wouldn't be leaving pregnant.  About 10 hours later Carter entered this world.  At 4:31AM our 7lb 12oz 20.5" little man made his grand entrance.  Pam did great!  She wanted to go all natural, but with her water being broken there was an urgency to get him out so she was induced which inevitably led to a epidural (before she made the call to have the epidural, after 3 hours of heavy contractions, she kept saying how she felt like she was dying).  Oh well.  There was about 45 minutes of pushing and Carter probably would have been here around 4:10 or so if we didn't have to wait for the doctor to show up...20 minutes of no pushing allowed.  Pam said the no pushing was much worse than the pushing.  

  
                                   

Once settled into our room with him there was a sense of relief for everyone.  Pam was glad it was all over, Carter was happy to be out, and I was shocked I was finally a dad and glad to be out of the delivery room.  He was really quite and easy going for the first 24 hours, I guess they all sort of are.  But at the 24 hour mark, 4AM the next morning when we were finally trying to get some sleep, he started to test out this vocal cords and boy is he loud.

It's only been a little more than 2 days, but I think we're sort of starting to understand what we got ourselves into.  I'm sure there's a ton more we'll learn/figure out, but we're getting the basics.  I can't believe I'm sitting at home on the couch and there's a little tiny baby sitting in a bouncy chair and occasionally making little noises just a few feet away, and he's mine.  Crazy, but awesome.  

                                 

Obviously there are a ton of little side stories about me having to change his first diaper, the first diaper I've every changed and WOW was it a messy one, family visits, his little boy procedure (traumatic for any man to watch), breast feeding, lack of sleep, the car ride home and everything else, but really the only thing that needs to be said is we couldn't be happier and look forward to the great joy he will bring to our lives.  World, meet Carter, Carter, welcome.

(Side note: I just read this to Pam and she started crying...ahhhh)