First Week with Graham!

Ahhh, having a newborn is the best! I have always love, love, looooved babies. But newborns just grab hold of every heart string you got. There is seriously nothing like a fresh, brand new, tiny little baby. Maybe that's it. They are just so little! And they smell good. Like, I want to eat them. But instead I kiss them like crazy :) 

I can't believe I grew this:

I mean look at him!!!! He is so beautiful!! Aside from the fact that he is beyond adorable, his little spirit is what captivates me the most. When I look at him, all I see is life. Graham is so innocent and he is the sweetest thing on earth. He is capable of anything and he has so much ahead of him! It's so neat to experience these feelings of being a parent! 

Now here is what our first week or so was like having Graham with us:

It's been so fun getting to know him! Learning what makes him sad and what makes him happy. The list of things that make him upset isn't too long, but there is a one big thing that makes him very happy. Eating! :) Look at him, he has such a little body! He didn't quite fill in his newborn size onesies that first week. So cute! 

His first little photo shoot after we brought him home from the hospital! We did good that first night! Since then I still haven't caught up on my sleep...and part of me thinks that I won't for a while. Me not being a good napper doesn't help either! Graham probably gets up about 3 times during the night to eat. He doesn't cry unless there is something that he needs, and I am so grateful for that! He is such a good baby! Very content and happy! 

First little grin captured on film! We all just about died!

Graham had a little bit of jaundice, and he was due for an appointment a couple days after we left the hospital. He had such a hard time getting his heel pricked before (she had to use both heels) that we figured he didn't deserve more hospital time. So we spent some good time in the sun with him, for an at home light therapy session. Aw look at Nonni! Those motherly instincts at work :)

By the way Seattle, thank you for letting the sun in that entire week! It was beautiful! 

Now it was time to try out all our fun baby stuff we had been staring at for 9 months! Including the mustache collection! So funny!  

Lots of cuddling :) Those two were instantly pals. Love my boys.

Graham having his first bath from Nonni! He didn't seem to hate the water at first, but he was very unhappy about being naked! Still is haha. He prefers showers to baths, but he's very content if he has his passie. And he's taken very well to his passie! It's so nice to have when he's upset. It really calms him down. Although he's not super good at keeping it in. I'm guessing that it's because his mouth isn't quite strong enough yet. Hopefully he catches on soon! For now we are either holding it in for him, or he holds it in on is own! He is learning so fast!! 

Oh and he also peed on himself during his bath. We got it on video. Win! 

Speaking of which, OH my lanta the poop! This little guy went through so many diapers in just one week. We found ourselves out of diapers before we knew it! He is also very good at managing to pee on himself, probably every other diaper change. Himself, or the lucky one who gets to change him :) Okay maybe not that much, but it seriously happens all the time! And his blowouts are pretty frequent too. His poop isn't that stinky yet, but it does make a mess and I am constantly doing laundry! 

I probably asked my Mom about a thousand questions those first couple of days! She helped me so much! There were times where I felt stressed out and she saved me from a couple meltdowns. I felt like I knew babies, and I had a lot of exposure to them growing up. So I was very confident in how I would be able to take care of him. But no matter how much you know about babies, there are things you just don't know too. Especially when it's your own. Your not just babysitting, you're the parent! It's a whole new experience, and you have to remember that. 

Take breastfeeding for instance, the first couple of days were kind of rough. We had been doing a good job at feeding but we were far from being pro's. My milk hadn't come in fully yet, and Graham was still learning how to latch. The two combined made it kind of hard for me emotionally, and I was always worried about him getting getting enough to eat. There was this one time where he didn't eat for almost 5 hours and he was so mad! I knew he was so hungry and I felt stupid for not getting him to eat earlier. I had tried but he didn't seem interested, so I figured he wasn't hungry. But I had let it go too far by accident. I tried to get him to calm down so he could eat, but he would not have it. He was still new at breast feeding and so was I. We couldn't get it to work. So of course he got even more frustrated, on top of being so hungry! It was the saddest thing I have seen in a long time. It broke my heart, and I was trying everything I could to get something in him! Eventually Steve took him for a while to calm him, and I just broke down. My Mom came in and reassured me that he was okay, and we managed to get some food in him. Enough to calm down and latch on to finish eating. It was rough, but we got through it! I was so emotional because this was something I didn't expect. I automatically assumed that I wasn't doing a good job and the fact that Graham wasn't eating, kind of scared Steve and I. But ya know, it's just one of those things that you learn along the way, you can't beat yourself up over it! And of course that doesn't mean your a bad parent! But I learned that the love for our baby is beyond what I could have imagined. And that makes me a good parent! :)

Since then breast feeding has been great! My milk came in all the way the next day, and he was so much more satisfied! It was crazy! All the sudden he was more full, and he was also learning to latch on better! Isn't that cool think about? At 4 days old he was already capable of learning?? And I could see it happening right before my eyes! I thought that was neat :) Now we both really got a handle on this nursing deal, and he eats a ton!

I knew that having kids meant taking a longer time to get ready and head out the door. But ummm it takes forever. I have to set my internal clock a whole hour back so that I'm actually on time for things! Haha! We had made a few trips with Graham that first week. Doctor visits, grocery store trips, and walks. He didn't hate his car seat for the most part! But when he was hungry he definitely wanted out :)

It surprised me how often people want to see your baby when your out in public! Just in those few trips that we made there was at least one person who was interested at taking a peek in the covered car seat. The first time it happened, we were at Costco and the nice lady at the door wanted to take a peek. But she kind of just went for it without getting a confirmation from me. It shocked me that my protective instincts flared up for a split second! Both Ashley and I tensed up for a moment, but all the lady did was lift up the corner of the cover a bit and it was completely fine. I was going to lift it up myself to let her see him because she seemed like a good person, but she just did it and I was a little peeved by that. But I'm happy that he made her day because she loved him! It melts my heart that Graham can give that effect on people!

We were also able to share him with visitors! We had friends from our church that came and brought us dinners! How sweet! I got so excited every time someone came over!! I loved sharing Graham with our friends! 

This is just hilarious. This is his little "milk drunk" expression. 

Steve playing with his little boy! 

Dominos and a baby :) what could be better! These two are in heaven!  

Graham is so tired all the time! How precious! 

On our first walk together! We took family pictures while out on our walk, and they turned out so cute!! Great job to our photographer, Mom! 

These two are amazing. They did so much for Steve and I! Having them here was perfect, and I'm so grateful that we were able to have it that way! They cleaned, made dinner, and helped take care of Graham. All the while I was getting used to having a baby and a new life. I couldn't have done it without them! Plus it wouldn't have been as fun :) Absolutely love them!

Graham had a pretty small umbilical cord left on which was nice. It fell off a little over a week after being born. I was so excited! It was like, a little milestone that Graham had conqoured! I do have to admit though, I was kind of sad! It meant that he was growing, and his "brand new-ness" was wearing away. How silly right? But it was good a thing that it fell of when it did! It was starting to get so stinky! 

Ta-da! Brand new belly button! 

These two were joined at the hip! There's nothing like having your twin love on your baby. Ashley adores him! She wanted to help as much as she could and it was so cute! Gosh she's been going through all this new baby business with me, she will be an expert on when she has her own baby! Lucky! 

It's so funny, Graham always seems to sneeze on Ashley! Haha! Funny enough, the first thing Graham did when she held him for the first time, right after he was born, was sneeze on her! And he has kept it up ever since. 

Can you believe this hair? We were always talking about it and playing with it! It's so long and soft! It goes way curly when it's wet, but then dries out straight. We of course had to mohawk it. But it instantly went curly even with product in it!! So this was the best we could get for now. Doesn't he look suave? He's going be a lady killer for sure. 

Another walk with "auntie mommy". Haha! Totally works right! 

This first week our lives changed. It changed so much and all so fast! We love all the changes, the lack of sleep, diaper messes and everything that comes with having Graham in our lives.