Author Archives: Sarah

First Family Photo Session (4m3w)

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I gotta say, the folks at the PictureMe photo studio inside Walmart have their schtick down.  I got hit up in the baby medicine aisle at Walmart by a young lady with a clipboard.  She had awesome coupons with her, and I was sold.  I made an appointment for two weeks later.

We lucked out that our appointment on Saturday fit with Kieran’s schedule for the day – at 10:00am he was 20 minutes up from a nap, dry and had a snack.  Paul and I made sure we looked presentable, but the focus was on our little man.  The photographer girl was good at her job and tried to get poses of just Kieran to start with.  But since he can’t sit up unassisted, and he HATES being on his tummy for anything, most of the kid-only poses don’t work right now.  No worries though.  We were able to get some great photos with all three of us, just Mama+Kieran and Daddy+Kieran, and one of just Mama+Daddy.

Another candid that actually turned out pretty good!The photographer girl was good though – as I held Kieran and entertainedKieran loves to stand with help from Mama & Daddy! him while she was readying the camera for a different shot, she noticed that we were having a good time and kept clicking that shutter.  One of the two ‘official’ Mama+Kieran pictures came from those candids.  She was cool with suggestions too – Paul suggested a pose where we hold his hands, but he’s the focus of the shot.  It’s one of our favorites.

We took a while to look at the photos as the photographer added vignette borders and cropped them.  We were obviously not her average customers, with our combined photography & design experience.  (Paul and I both were fondly remembering photo sessions with Kim Plahuta a billion years ago too.)  She showed us some custom things they do with photo collages, which I was surprised that Paul liked as much as he did.  When it was all said and done (they’re smart to have you look at all the pics for a while before they spring the prices on you) the package we ended up getting was more than I expected to pay, but less than Paul was thinking – and because our photographer liked us, we got some extra big pics thrown in.  But the best part is that in addition to the prints we have coming, we have the CD of all the pictures from the session now.  So without further ado:  The Gorman Family.

Happy little family.Collage PrintInformal Family B&W

Four month comparisons! (4m2w)

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(Yeah, I know I’m mixing it up with the timestamping of titles… I dunno how I wanna do them now.)

I did Kieran’s 4-month comparison photos within a day or two of his 4 month birthday, but it took me a little bit to get them up into the gallery and then I just haven’t had a chance to write a post.  Sorry!

I cannot believe how big Kieran is getting!  He’s smack in the 50th percentile for his age, but he seems so big now!  He’s blowing through clothing still (much to my sister-in-law’s joy since she’s getting hand-me-downs like whoa) and is reaching farther and standing taller all the time!  (I blogged that his feet almost touch the platform on his exersaucer two weeks ago…. yeah, he’s got both feet on the platform now.)

So anyway, if you’re interested, click away to see the Monthly Gallery with 4 month photos included!

Chillin' with Eeyore from Auntie Lisa & Uncle Mikey (1mo)Sitting around with Eeyore! (2mo)Making faces with Eeyore (3mo)Nomming hands with Eeyore (4mo)

Sweet Little Man (4m1w)

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Paul and I have been laughing a lot in this last month. Kieran is growing and changing so fast, learning about his world and enjoying the heck outta it!

Paul has started calling Kieran “Bearcub” and “Baby Bear” because Kieran does this adorable little growling thing like a little bear. I’ve taken to calling Kieran “Care Bear” for basically the same reason.

Kieran talks all the time now. He has opinions and makes them known – loudly! I have to shush him when we’re up in the middle of the night because he wants to tell me about his dreams, and I don’t want him to wake Daddy up!

Love those eyebrows! (3.5mo)Kieran is getting really good with his toys now. He holds onto stuffed animals or rattles or linked rings and flails them around with abandon. He occasionally whacks himself with a rattle – much to Mama’s horror. (He’s given himself a Kieran loves his exersaucer from Great Aunt Susan & Great Uncle Kencouple of shiners already, but they seem to go away within a day or two.) Paul built the exersaucer this month, and Kieran loves spending time in it, playing with the toys on it and the other things Paul attaches to it with rings. Kieran’s feet almost touch the platform at the bottom already!

With rare exceptions (like teething off and on for three weeks) Kieran is SUCH a happy little guy these days! He smiles and giggles all the time. He us just a joy to be around 99% of the time. He is a little flirt, and will play shy with you – turning away and burying his face Kieran loves his Daddy!before sneaking a look back to make sure you’re still watching.

Now that Kieran can hold himself up better, he doesn’t mind being The start of the thrice-weekly Nakey Baby Parade!cuddled nearly as much. We are taking advantage of this while we can and snuggling him like mad. He’s the perfect size now to hug, not so delicate you’re afraid you’re going to break him. And if he’s naked and fresh from a bath – all the better! Soft baby skin + that clean baby smell + hugs = HEAVEN!

I know I sound like a broken record, but we just love this little guy so much. He is really developing his personality, and is becoming so much more engaging with us. It just keeps getting better and better.

Click any of the pics below to see the newest photos in the main gallery, including Kieran and Daddy’s big outing for a video shoot at an airplane hanger!

Silly little monkey faceSweet Nakey BabyHappy baby nomming hands!

4 Month Checkup (4m1w)

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How on earth is it possible that Kieran is 4 months old now?  (Actually, he was 4 months a week ago…)  It just doesn’t seem possible.  In some ways it seems like FAR longer since we brought him home from the hospital, but in others it seems like just yesterday.

Kieran has grown SO MUCH since his last doctor’s appointment at 2 months.  We knew he was growing just by how quickly he was outgrowing his clothes, but putting him on the scales at Dr. Hodapp’s office confirmed it!

2mo 4mo
weight 10.3lb (10-25%) 15.25lb (55%)
length 22″ (10-25%) 25″ (55%)
head 40cm (50%) 43.5cm (75%)
size 0-3 or 3m 3m, 3-6m, 6m

Dr. Hodapp was impressed and happy with Kieran’s growth. We were stunned to say the least to see a FIVE POUND gain in two months! And nearly as shocking to us was seeing that Kieran has put on SIX INCHES in four months! Good heavens, no wonder he outgrows his footie sleepers so fast! Dr. Hodapp doesn’t think Kieran will keep up this super fast rate of growth, which is probably a good thing because I don’t know what we’d do with a 6 foot tall 4-year-old! (At Kieran’s last checkup, everyone was commenting on our “tiny peanut” and this time they were cheering our “BIG BOY” – what a different two months makes!)

We talked about Kieran’s reflux and Dr. Hodapp is fine with continuing the Zantac and titrating up the dosage based on Kieran’s growth. He reviewed the printout I brought from Marci-Kids (Midwest Acid Reflux Children’s Institute) about using liquid Maalox for bad reflux episodes (heartburn) and he was fine with it. (Which was great, because Maalox has been our savior on occasion when Kieran is screaming in pain.)

We talked about starting solids too. Dr. Hodapp is in no hurry for us to start before 6 months. He commented that Kieran will probably spit up less with solids, but that that alone isn’t a reason to start them now. He gave us some guidelines for what to start first (oatmeal or rice cereal, followed by vegetables.) But he has no concerns if we wait until after the first of the year to start solids. We don’t have any plans to start them before then, but you never know.

Dr. Hodapp was very impressed with Kieran’s strength and ability to stand with minimal support. He was happy with Kieran’s core strength and said not to bother with Tummy Time if it pisses Kieran off – no need to make him cry just for Tummy Time. We’ll still do it, just not with the urgency of “OMG, have to do it for 20 minutes a day!!”

Suggestions for helping with naps and sleep were mostly to keep doing what we’re doing with instituting a schedule and to work on making Kieran go longer between bottles so he’ll take a bigger bottle, less frequently. Other than that, we just gotta wait for Kieran’s physiological growth to let him sleep and nap longer.

Kieran got three shots and one oral vaccine at his appointment, and took it like a champ. [#2 of everything he had last time: Hep B, Polio, DTaP (Diphtheria, Tetanus, & Pertussis/Whooping Cough), Hib (Meningitis), PVC13 (Pneumococcal disease), and Rotovirus.] 30 seconds of crying followed by a slightly hurt, bewildered look that said “What the hell, guys?” We could tell that he didn’t feel very good over the next two days, but by staying on top of tylenol doses, we were able to keep the worst of it at bay.

Our next appointment is at 6 months, just after the first of the year. We’re gratified that Kieran is doing so well and growing so strong. You’d never know he was almost a preemie!

Crunchy Granola Update (16w5d)

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I never expected to want to be a Crunchy Granola Mama.  (Well, I never quite met the full CGM classification, I never had any intention of co-sleeping or having a home-birth or delaying/refusing vaccinations.)  But as my pregnancy progressed, the things I found I cared about and the ways I intended to care for my son fell pretty well in line with the Crunchy Granola way.  Some folks thought I was nuts for the things I wanted to do, but it feels right for us.  So, here’s how it’s going:

1)  Exclusive Breastfeeding: yeah.  Um, kind of a non-starter there.  I’ve made as much peace with this as I can, but it still is a cold dagger in my heart that I couldn’t breastfeed Kieran.  That was *the* thing I wanted most of all in this whole pregnancy/birth/parenting experience for myriad reasons.  (Aside from a healthy baby, of course.)  Fortunately, Kieran is thriving on his formula – that makes this bitter pill a little easier to swallow.

2)  Cloth Diapering: GOING GREAT.  Kieran has been in his cloth diapers full time since about 6 weeks.  (Prior to that, he was in cloth & paper diapers because he was just too tiny to use our regular stash of cloth.)

We had Kieran in paper diapers at the Pumpkin Patch so that he could fit into his size 6 overalls last weekend, and neither Paul or I were happy about it.  They smell funny to us now.  They don’t fit *nearly* as well as Kieran’s cloth.  Kieran himself doesn’t seem to like them.  Their only perk for us seems to be a less-fluffy butt.  We have a stash of paper diapers from friends around for emergencies, but we’ll be offloading those onto Paul’s sister when she’s here for the holidays with her little man.Cloth Diapered Baby

Our decision to use Prefold diapers and covers has been a great one for us.  Our wash routine is set: a cold double rinse-only cycle and then a warm/warm wash cycle with a soak and an extra rinse using half the customary amount of dye & perfume free laundry detergent followed by a whirl in the dryer on high. Diaper laundry happens every other day or so, but we never go more than 2 days.  Our diaper pail is a lidded step-on stainless steel trashcan that we use a large moisture-proof bag in to facilitate easy removal of the diapers.  Smells are not an issue.  Really.  The lid on the diaper pail keeps the smell down so that it’s only noticeable when you open the lid to insert another dirty diaper.  Yes, the short walk to the laundry room isn’t exactly pleasant, but there’s no need to hold your nose.

Leaks don’t happen.  (OK, there’s been maybe 5 leaks in nearly 4 months.)  Diaper rash hasn’t happened.   We LOVE our cloth diapers, and the cost savings they bring versus paying for disposables.  (Our power and water bills are comparable to this time last year, so the increase in laundry overall hasn’t been a thing either.)

3) Baby-Wearing: Going much better now that Kieran is a little older.  Kieran hasn’t ever been a fan of the chest-to-chest “cuddle hold”, in or out of a carrier.  He always wants to face out, or be held sitting up sideways in your arms.  This made using our carriers a non-starter until he could hold himself up better and take advantage of non-cuddle-hold options.

Second try forward facing in the MaiTei with feet out, 12 weeksIn the last 3-4 weeks though, I’ve brought out the carriers again, with good results.  The MeiTai style carrier and the SleepyWrap have been the best options.  (I have fears that I never will get to use my RingSling, as Kieran freaks every time we try with that one.  Boo.)  The only limiting factor seems to be that Kieran is a little furnace and gets too warm eventually – which can be as quickly as 30 minutes sometimes.  I try to have him in just a onesie or diaper when I put him in the carrier, Solution for hot baby in the wrap: diaper only!but that’s not always feasible.  Regardless, the carriers have helped us get naps in, get chores done, comforted Mr. Crankypants when nothing else will, and allowed Mama to have some needed cuddle-time with her little man.  I’m happy that carriers are working better for us now, because as he gets heavier, my arthritic elbows are really starting to complain.  I hope to be able to carry Kieran even more as his ability to sit up on his own increases.  Hands-free parenting at 16 weeks!I still haven’t convinced Paul to strap one on during the day – but I think he’s almost there after seeing how Kieran has been calmed by flying on Air Mama this weekend.  (Although they might have even more heat issues, since Kieran gets his furnace-like talents from his Daddy.)

Paul and I are making our own way with our son, and while it’s never what I’d call easy – it’s a life we honestly never expected to live.  And we’re loving the opportunity.