12 weeks!

*I am more and more convinced that this little guy is well beyond his years haha. He already seems to know how to get my attention but purposely dropping his pacifier haha. I'm serious. He will drop it and squak, I will put it back in and look away (to test it) and he will squak and when I look he's staring at me, just waiting. Haha. If I wait and stare after giving it back, he seems to hang on to it much longer, if he drops it at all.
*he seems to have a better sense of his arms! He looks at them more, clasps them together, can use them to get his sometimes perfectly landed pacifier back in his mouth, and he swats at things dangled in front of him.
*he also swats at books and stares and kicks and talks while I "read" to him (only pictures in his favorite).
*during tummy time, he seriously is getting up on his toes a bit and is pushing off,.projecting him forward!!!! Ahh he is going to be mobile way sooner than I prefer haha.
*on a sadder note, yesterday was a really bad day for him. He started fine but his second feeding he did his half way stop and refused to eat more. We went on our run, and by the next feeding he did the same thing (lately he only does this on his 7pmish feeding and only once a day). So I pumped and he took the bottle fine. However, it took forever to pump so I think I was dehydrated. The next feeding he wouldn't even try and he hadn't slept so he was very upset so I just pumped and he did his whole feeding via bottle. Then he was ok for a short period but then just cried off and on (mostly on) like the rest of the day. We had friends over at KRs parents house to swim and play games, and it was hard not to worry not only about him but our guests. By 8ish he finally fell asleep in my arms and slept an hour but when he woke up hungry again, same thing. Finally, KR gave him a blessing, Dean still didn't try eating and I just felt so against pumping one more time. We got him in the car, headed home, he fell asleep and when we got home, he finally ate normal. He went 8ish hours last night and woke up to eat normal again. I was prompted to try the nipple shield if it happened again (sorry tmi) and so I brought it to church just in case. Sure enough, in the mothers room he started screaming half way through so I tried it and it worked! I have no idea what's going on but I will take the shield over a bottle any day!! (Sidenote, I can't help but feel your visit, mrs steph Bates, was very providential. Your experience your shared probably sparked my prompting. Whichever way you look at it, I thank Heavenly Father)
*I'm so grateful for the power of the priesthood and prayer. I'm grateful for a husband worthy and willing to bless us in our time of need. And above all else, o an so grateful my family is sealed for all eternity. Enjoy your week!

11 weeks!!

Another week flown by again!
*This week, Dean is just learning to arch his back getting in the carseat. I'm sure we will love this new trick of his ad he perfects it ha ha.
*the bad week we had last week ended on Monday, thank goodness. He was getting shorter and shorter on the length of his eating times but still going 3-4 hours between. I was really getting worried. He was down to 6 minutes on one feeding (usually he does 15!!). My plan was to call the Dr Monday morning but that was right when he got back to normal. He still has a feeding here and there where he will stop early (as he does every feeding usually) but he will scream when I try to put him back on. He keeps his mouth open (unlike when he really is done, where he tightens his lips shut). I figured out that for some reason, when he does this, if I stick my finger in his mouth just a little, it tricks him and he will latch on afterward. Whatever works! As long as he is eating enough!
Those are the only two things I can think of that were new this week. Oh and I've started reading to him and trying to be more interactive with toys that make noise so he can learn that his arms and legs can cause the sound. It's so fun!
He is such a good boy and I'm so grateful to be his mama!!

10 Weeks!

Wow! 10 weeks! Dean is growing so fast! I think his weight is slowing down, and his eating too(to the point where i was getting worried but I'm keeping an eye on him).
*he is doing what I consider a laugh now! There isn't much noise to it, but I feel like that's what it is. It's adorable, either way.
*he has started, what seems like just yesterday, sucking his bottom lip in. Not sure why. Haha. It's just sucked in. Once its in, he isn't sucking on it like a pacifier. Cute though haha.
*he does this adorable "talking where he almost looks sad as he's making noises. Not necessarily a frown but just a sad or worried face. I'm kind of obsessed with it. If I knew a way to post video, I'd show you! Otherwise, I will send a link when I get a chance, to those who request it!
*he's making the "mama" sound a lot more and even KR will admit it!! Haha. I will try and get it better on video.
Love my little Bean!

2 Months Check Up

We went to the Dr today!! She said he's doing great, very healthy and ahead of schedule!!
He's 24.75 inches long (99th percentile!)
13lb 15.2 oz (80th percentile)
And his head is 16.5 cm (100th percentile!)
He had to get three shots and although he cried really hard, it was only for like 20 seconds!!
Otherwise, she was surprised he has rolled over and that he goes long stretches at night. And impressed with his head holding up and standing.

Week 1-3 of Dean

(I wrote this post on 5/29/13 but apparently never posted it, oops!)

So remember this blog? Ya neither did I. But since Mr. Dean joined our family, I figure I should pick this up again. At least for my own journaling.
Well, May 11, 2013, Dean Markham Stevens was born at 12:57am. He was 8lbs 3oz and 21 inches long. He is so perfect. I can't even believe the love I feel for this little boy. Psh, and I thought I wanted a girl. Heavenly Father knows best. He knew what I really wanted was Dean. My sweet, mellow boy who looks supposedly like me but luckily is more like his daddy in his temperament.
The birth story is already journaled, but if you want to know, feel free to ask. Otherwise, I'm just going to jump in to our new life with Dean.
I think the obligatory thing to do on your blog with a new baby is talk about their likes/dislikes, nuances, etc. So I guess I'll do that, at least for myself .

*I love all the funny sounds he makes but my absolute favorite is when his sneeze is a fake out. Oh my gosh I'm obsessed. So adorable.
*His umbilical cord fell off yesterday(I started writing this last week so its been a while now)! It kinda rubbed off against my shirt. But now he has a belly button! Side note: Jones loooves baby Dean and hovered around him all day on Sunday. But when I went to change his diaper and he saw the umbilical cord he freaked out! "Oh gross whats coming out of his belly!!??" It was hilarious!!
*We LOVE watching him stretch after we take him out of his swaddleme. He seriously takes like a good few minutes just to stretch.
*The first few days he sounded like a squeaky toy when he cried. He already grew out of it though!! He's growing too fast!!
*As long as I burp him after every little feeding, he does these massive burps but they are just air. If I don't, VOLCANO!
*He makes a LOT of low, grunting noises, especially when he wants to get his arms out. These noises are made the most when he's waking up.
*When he is rooting, I like to pretend he wants a kiss. Sometimes he doesn't think that's as cute or funny as I do. I love when he scrunches up hos face like, "gross mom!"
*He has been able to lift his head up since the moment they put him on me, straight out of the womb. He is so strong! Sometimes when he is gassy and I'm trying to burp him against many chest, he will full on stand up!
*I love when he is hungry and I put him in that same position and he licks my neck area. Ha ha so cute.
*This little boy is a big dreamer! He takes after his mama in that department. I love how he will whimper, smile, frown, duck face, and sigh all within a matter of seconds.
*Sometimes when I burp him. Holding his cheeks, he will fight me and fight me and then just take a big breath, sigh and go limp, like, "fine, you win..." I love it. *Overall he is a really chill baby. He only reallly cries when I take too long or he is gassy/can't poop. Which isn't frequent. *He lives to look at the light. I think most babies do, but I still like that he does.

2 months old!!!

Today Dean is two months old!! I can't even believe it!! Since I just posted about 8 weeks, which I wrote on Saturday, when he was eight weeks, I won't have much to update.
However there are two things:
*he seems to "talk" a how these days! He is making the cutest sounds and I love listening to him.
*he learned how to roll over!!!

I love this little boy so much!!

8 weeks!

Mr.Dean has had a big week! He had his first two flights and did fabulously!
I flew the way down to ca alone with him. It was extremely stressful but he did great and everyone was so nice! I especially loved the woman and her college aged daughter next to me. They purposely distracted me and were genuinely fun to talk to. I wish we were friends! Haha. I purposely chose an early am flight so dean would sleep, and he did! I'm so grateful!
The flight home, KR was with me so it went equally as smooth. He held him most the flight so I could relax and watch tv to keep my mind off flying (especially since there was a plane crash in San Fran earlier that day).

*Dean is smiling a TON! And its not just smiling randomly; it's in response to us smiling at him! I love it so much and can't get enough!
*he loved meeting aunts, grandmas, cousins and friends while we were in town and loved that there was always someone to hold him. He slept a lot more than he usually does because normally he doesn't stay asleep when you put him down. Well, since he wasn't being put down at all, he slept!!
*he also has gotten good (knock on wood) at going to sleep at bed time and after his middle of the night/early morning feeding. I let him wiggle and talk for a bit (important to the recipe) and then as soon as I give him the pacifier, he pretty much quiets down and falls asleep. It's heavenly. Again, knock on wood.

*he had his first beach days and he did great!! He slept both times for a good amount of time, let me feed him right there and just chilled like the sweet baby he is. Im grateful because I need my beach time!! Haha. It was so nice, I wish we could go all summer.

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