MONTH 1:
From the start, we learned quickly that Tucker has a pretty intense cry. The nurse in the hospital recommended viewing the video, "The Happiest Baby on the Block." I had read this book before having Tucker but it was helpful for both Jared and I to view it together and learn how to soothe a crying baby. The guy who created the video/book has a theory that parents should attempt to emulate the womb so that babies continue in what's called the, "fourth trimester." The idea is that you should shush (to mimic the noise in the womb), swing (like the movement in the womb), swaddle (similar to the snugness), and lay the baby on his/her side. It sounds kinda crazy, but I kid you not, it worked like magic. The first night we had him home, he would cry (quite intensely) and Jared would make sure he was swaddled and lay him on his side while shushing (as loud as possible) in his ear. We would also jiggle him gently and he would stop crying and usually fall asleep instantly. It was amazing. Many of the photos taken during this 1st month are of Tucker tightly swaddled.
This 1st month was amazing and challenging as we learned all the ins and outs of being first time parents. Fortunately, Jared was able to use 3 weeks of his sick time + 1 week for spring break to be home with us the whole time. Tucker changed so much as we were able to figure out why he was crying and what he needed. He slept in our room with us in the very same cradle myself, my brother and cousins used as infants until he was 3 weeks old. At that point, I realized he was only about 10 steps away from my bed and we would probably all get more sleep if he was in his crib. He did awesome right away in his crib. For the first couple of weeks, Tucker didn't take a pacifier. At first, I was really reluctant to give him one. I was hoping maybe he could do it without one. But, as we realized he was a little on the fussy-side, we were hoping the nuk would help, if he would take it. After trying 3 different brands, we found one that he liked and he started taking it to fall asleep. In the end, I realized that it wouldn't be the end of the world if some day we had to break him of the nuk, if it meant a little peace in the mean time!
A quick recap on the first month:
-sleeping: Tucker quickly figured out his nights and days after a week or so. This was helpful as he spent more time sleeping at night than during the day. He still woke up every 2-3 hours to eat, but usually went back down to sleep. Napping during the day mostly occurred in his swing or vibrating seat or someone's arms. Eventually, towards the end of the 1st month, I started working on him napping his own crib.
-eating: after the 2nd week, Tucker was nursing like a champ. He would eat every 2-3 hours during the day, with a little longer stretch at night.
-playing: Tucker didn't really like being on his tummy, so tummy time was limited. But, he loved laying under his playmat and looking at himself in the mirror attached to the side. He loved going for walks in the stroller or the front pack.
Here's the 1st month in pictures: (my favorites!)
One of his first photos.
The very proud, first-time grandparents. They were able to be there just minutes after he arrived!
This is one of my favorites of Tucker snuggling on my lap at the hospital.
Grandma Jane alerted the neighborhood- "It's a boy!"
"Aunt" Jess and "Uncle" Craig came to visit when Tucker was a week old.
Walking around the neighborhood in the front pack.
First bath- Tucker's not too sure what to think about it.
The BEAR SUIT! Because it was frigid for Tucker's first few weeks, he was required to wear the bear suit whenever we went outside. Jared was very relieved when it got warm enough to no wear the bear suit (plus Tucker really didn't fit in it). Not only was it a little difficult to get him into, but Tucker wasn't the biggest fan of it!
Jamming with daddy!
The day before Tucker was born, there was a huge snow storm and we both had a snow day! We were also surprised with a late-spring snow storm on April 19th. Here's a photo from that day.
Our little family of 3!
Tucker and his cousins.
Grandpa Don and Grandma Jane sent Tucker a very fun Easter basket!
Our little Easter Bunny- Tucker turned 1 month old on Easter.
The end of the first month- April 24, 2011!
MONTH 2:
Tucker's 2nd month included roadtrips to Minneapolis and Chicago. When he was 5 weeks old, we went to Minneapolis for our friend, Elizabeth's wedding. Not only was the wedding really fun, but Tucker got to meet his Paal cousins,Tommy, Katie, Aunt Laurie, and Uncle TJ. He also got to meet my cousin Mike, his wife Katie, and their three cute girls- Madi, Tessa and Keeley. It was a great weekend and Tucker was an awesome rider in the car. He mostly slept the whole way- we stopped to eat once on the way there and the way home. Here are some photos from that weekend:
Kate Paal loved holding Tucker and was sooo good with him!
All the cousins!
Our great friend, Colleen, flew from Denver for the wedding and stayed with us at the Paal's. It was so great to catch up with her!
Tucker was exhausted after the wedding. He was a great wedding guest- a little fussy during the ceremony (we pretty much missed the whole thing), but he loved looking at all the people during the cocktail hour and eventually crashed through the whole dinner and all the dancing (the loud music didn't even bug him!).
Other big moments during the 2nd month, were when Tucker first started smiling and talking.
Capturing these adorable smiles on film proved to be a bit difficult but here are a couple:
Tucker started talking:
Other exciting happenings were the return of Grandma Jane and Grandpa Don. My mom made it back when Tucker was 6 weeks old. We were able to spend Mother's Day with her which was a beautiful day and involved a lot of time outside!
When he was 7 weeks old, my mom, Tucker and I went down to Chicago for a "sip n' see" party at my friend, Jess's mom's house. It was a very fun little party that Jess's mom, Molly, and my mom's great friend, Barb, hosted for Tucker and I. Many of my mom's friends came as well as my friends to meet Tucker for the first time. My college friends, Molly and Jess, brought their adorable baby girls, Gwen and Paisley.
Tucker with Grandma and the hostesses
Tucker and the girls
More of my favorite photos from this month:
One of the many perks of having Grandma in town- a free babysitter! Here's a picture of us before Jared and I went out on our first date since Tucker. We enjoyed a nice dinner and then walked around the mall looking for a new swaddle to wrap our little guy in!
Tucker is too cute in overalls!
Grandpa Don came back from Arizona!
Tucker ended his 2nd month of life by meeting a very special new friend- WILLIS! Willis is my parent's new puppy. He and Tucker are only 2 weeks apart and we are pretty sure they are going to be buddies!
On May 24, 2011, Tucker turned 2 months old and visited the doctor for the dreaded first round of vaccinations! I'm pretty sure he handled the shots better than I did. I made Jared promise that he would come with for the 4 month visit- I couldn't handle watching him get poked!
Tucker's 2 month stats from his doctor visit:
Weight: 13lbs- 81%
Height: 23.5 inches - 73%
Head Circumference: 40.3 cm- 60%
Other info:
- sleeping: This was an exciting month in terms of sleeping for Tucker. He started stretching it out at night and eventually dropped the 2 a.m. feeding (praise the Lord!). After that happened, he would go down around 7ish and I would wake him around 10 p.m., feed him, put him right back to sleep so that he would sleep till 6 a.m-ish. When we went to the doctor for his checkup, she advised me to stop waking him at 10. She told me he was a great weight and didn't necessarily need to eat. So that night I didn't wake him. He slept till 3 a.m., instead of feeding him, I popped the nuk in his mouth and scooted out of the room quickly. He slept till 4, I fed him and he went back down til 7. This continued for a couple of nights and eventually he started stretching it out and not needing to eat at 4. So by the end of this month, he would go down around 7:30ish and sleep till 5:30-6ish only needing the nuk a couple of times early in the morning. What a champ! I attribute his great sleep to the fact that we keep him tightly swaddled. HIs arms don't startle him and wake him up.
-eating: still loving to nurse! We started feeding him a bottle occasionally so he would get used to this. It was a little rough at first, but he caught on quickly.
-playing: Tucker loved laying under his play mat or in the pack n' play. He especially loved to get his diaper change and to smile and chat with whoever was changing him. One fun toy (or at least that's what it became) was a helium balloon my parents brought to us in the hospital. He loved looking at it and one day I decided to put the string around his ankle. This way he could watch the balloon move as he wiggled around. This could honestly provide hours of entertainment for the little guy! Here's a video of him with his balloon. We joked that we should have painted a face on it because the balloon was like his best friend.
MONTH 3:
Tucker's 3rd month of life included many more firsts. We started with Memorial Day weekend. It was really hot and Tucker spent a lot of time in the shade while hanging out with family and friends.
Tucker, Dellie and Lucas at the Memorial Day parade in their matching stripes!
Trying to beat the heat on Memorial Day:
Memorial Day weekend also included Tucker's 2nd wedding. This time the wedding was in Appleton. Our friends, Liz and Justin got married. Tucker stayed back from the ceremony with Jared (we learned from the first wedding experience that it's not cool when your baby cries during someone's very special moment). But he came with to the reception where he hung out with everyone at the table and loved looking around at all the lights and listening to the music during the dancing. Here are a few pictures we took before the wedding:
The following weekend we headed back to Chicago for an engagement party for my high school friend, Matt Yena, and the wedding of my college friend, Courtney Bayer. We stayed with Jess and Craig at Jess's parent's house. Tucker came with to the engagement party where he smiled at everyone for a little while before snoozin' the rest of the night in the Yena's basement. Jess and I took Tucker to her sister's house where her nephews were very interested in Tucker:
Jess and Craig so graciously offered to babysit Tucker so we could go to the wedding downtown Chicago. It was such a fun night away and we felt great knowing that Tucker was in in good hands. Here I am with my sorority sisters at the wedding:
The morning after the wedding, we had the awesome opportunity to go for a boat ride down around Navy Pier in my friend Megan's dad's boat. It was Tucker's first boat ride. The weather was chilly but it was still a very relaxing and fun day:
Tucker was very appropriately sporting his Chicago onesie:
Other firsts this month include:
Father's Day
Minocqua! We were able to visit my parent's house in Minocqua for a long weekend in June. It was a fun weekend and Tucker loved staying at Grandma and Grandpa's log home.
Grandma Jane had been hitting up all the local garage sales and had tons of gear ready for our visit, including this sweet exersaucer. Tucker tried it out for the first time and seemed to like it!
Tucker enjoyed his first dining experience at the Thirsty Whale followed up by the infamous "Minocquabats" water ski show.
Tucker definitely loves the Northwoods already!
Another HUGE first for Tucker this month was becoming a big cousin for the first time! On June 9th, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Isaac and Della welcomed William Isaac Peterson into the world. Tucker and Will are 11 weeks apart and we know they are destined to be good buddies. Tucker looked like a giant baby next to little Will but this is soon to change!
More favorite photos from Month 3:
Bath time became a much more enjoyable experience for Tucker!
So many smiles!!
Big enough to sit in the Bumbo chair!
Photo shoot with Daddy in the backyard:
Recap of Tucker's 3rd month:
-eating: still loving to nurse but drinking bottles as well. When Tucker was 10 weeks old, I went back to school for the last 2 days. We were so lucky to have Grandma Jane come and stay with him while I worked. Although I was super sad to leave him for the day, I know that he enjoyed his days with his grandma.
-sleeping: He is a super sleeper! 10 hours at night with hardly a peep! If he does stir, popping the nuk in his mouth soothes him right back to sleep. I worked really hard during his 2nd and 3rd month to get him to take a solid afternoon nap in his crib. We would usually run errands or go for walks in the morning so he would nap on the go. But I tried to be home in the afternoon so he could sleep in his crib. He did really well with this and eventually started napping around 2 hours every afternoon.
-playing: During this month, Tucker really started enjoying playing more. We borrowed a mobile from Aunt Sarah and Tucker loved laying the pack n' play watching the mobile. He also started noticing toys and reaching for them. Here's a video of him laying under his playmat and really interacting with his toys:
He's really starting to change:
