Hair

I love my son's hair! I pretty much love everything about it - color, texture, thickness, etc. His hair has the same texture and thickness as mine (one of the few things Xander got from me - funny to see a little boy who looks so much like David but who has my skin tone and hair). He has the same color hair that his Mimi, my mom, had when she was younger (she also has our same hair texture and thickness...and skin color for that matter).

Can you see the red tint? I know, there's not much hair there yet.

That's a better shot - of course, he's much older.
Summer 2011 - look how much blonder it gets in the summer.

As long as I can remember I hoped my kids would have red hair. Xander's is so unique, being true strawberry blonde. And I guess other people recognize how unusual it is, too. Everywhere we go people stop and tell me how much they love his hair. Not only is it a unique color, but it's got great body. He has some natural curl which gives it good volume. I just love it!



I added this one because I loved his 3-month pics...he was so darn happy!
Plus, look at my coppery red hair!



His hair color is really starting to show up in these.





A good top-of-the-head shot.



I don't think Amelia Jayne will have the same color hair. Stranger things have happened, but I don't see her hair changing that much. It was dark brown when she was born, but it's started lightening up some, so we'll see. Xander's hair was red when he was born and hasn't waivered. My hair was red when I was a baby, but by the time I turned three it had changed to very blonde. Then it continually got darker and darker until it was a brownish auburn. I can't even tell you what my natural color is now. I've colored it off and on in college and have consistently colored it for over 8 years. I can tell you that the majority of my hair is gray now. Yes, I know. Gray. It's hereditary, I suppose, seeing as my dad and mom were mostly gray by the time they were in their thirties. Though I don't know the exact true color, my roots don't lie. And my hairdresser started using a special kind of hair color that covers gray. Not too many things make me feel old. That does.



This is my natural curl. And baby bump.
Hi, Amelia Jayne!



Just another one of my colors.
I'll share a secret - my mom and sister color their hair, too. :)



I hope Amelia Jayne's hair has as much volume and thickness as Xander's, even if she doesn't have his same color. It's far more important that a girl's hair be voluminous like that. :) Her hair is getting lighter, though. Maybe it'll be in the red family, too, one day. I would love for us gingers to outnumber that awesome brown-headed daddy. :)



One of the latest pics...Xander's hair seems to be staying this color. Yay!



According to this chart Xander's hair is ginger blonde. Amelia Jayne's hair is probably chestnut right now, moving to golden walnut or buttered toast, though it's hard to tell at this time with as little as she has. "My" hair color goes between glazed strawberry, ginger blonde, ginger brown, dark copper, and dark auburn or a combination, as it is right now. David's hair is chestnut.



I would call this glazed strawberry with a
hint of "swedish blonde" at the temples. Ha! :)
Time to re-color!





Blankets

This post resonated with me today.
I, also, affectionately refer to my son as the blanket hoarder, or the blanket thief, depending on my mood. He steals all of my blankets. As soon as I pull one out, I look over and he's curled up in it. I don't know how this happens. Right now he has 5 blankets on his bed, not including his comforter. Only one of them is mine. Because I took the others back. It's a game we like to play. Well, he likes to play. He steals my blankets. I steal them back when he's not looking. He's becoming very savvy to this game though. He's starting to notice when they're gone or when I've replaced them with others.
There is one brown blanket that I have on my bed. It stays on my bed except for when I go out of town and then it usually comes with me. He knows better than to steal that one. All others are up for grabs, though. David used to make fun of me for owning so many blankets. Little did he know that we would have a very good reason to have so many. If for nothing more than to make my little boy happy :).
At night, when I tuck Xander into bed, I always ask him what blankets he wants. He almost never waivers from this - "I want my ball blanket, Xander's blue blanket and Mommy's blue blanket." I think if I gave him my sweater he'd sleep with it, too. I'll remember to only do that with sweaters I don't want returned. :)

Chicken Dance

It's just an arrested-development-chicken-dance kind of day.



Oh Arrested Development, how I miss you.
I'm excited for next year when we'll meet again - woo hoo!

Mother's milk

I am 4 months and 12 days into breastfeeding Amelia Jayne and loving every minute. I'm so proud and feel so accomplished in this area of my life, one of the few where I do right now. At this point with Xander I was having to supplement one or two bottles of formula per day. I never could quite keep up with his demand, but I now know it was because I did not pump enough or store enough milk while I was on maternity leave. AJ is actually bigger than he was at this same age, so I know she requires more milk, and yet I'm producing enough.

I was so upset when I came to the conclusion that I was not producing enough milk for little Xander and that he would require formula. This was the one thing I alone was supposed to be able to do as his mommy, and I couldn't do it. I stressed over it. I cried about it. David tried so hard to be supportive and loving, but in reality he was completely baffled by my reaction. And then, I just kind of got over it - God gave me peace. I nursed him when I could and I gave him formula when I was away from him. He thrived and I was fine. By the time he was 7 months old I was down to nursing him only in the morning and at night before bed. All other feedings in between were formula. Later that month I got sick and needed to take an antibiotic. The doctor told me not to nurse while I was taking it, so that ended up being the end of my breastfeeding days with Xander. (fyi - the lactation consultant I had when in the hospital with AJ said that most antibiotics are safe to take while breastfeeding - be sure to talk to your lactation consultant before you just stop or pump and dump. I'll do that this time around if needed.)

I cried. I was depressed. I thought it was too early, and too abrupt. I wasn't able to make the decision, it was forced on me. And I had no time to let the whole situation sink in before it was just done. Oh how sad I was during those next couple of weeks. Xander, on the other hand, was fine. He didn't seem to miss it. He wasn't getting much actual milk from me at that point anyway, and he was fine to just snuggle, not needing the breast to pacify him. For that I am very thankful. It would have made part of me die inside if I had taken away something that he longed for, too.

My experience this time around has been so different. Amelia Jayne was so good at the beginning - she latched on immediately when I offered to nurse her the first time (minutes after my c-section, while in the recovery room). She was a lazy eater for the first couple of weeks, meaning she would fall asleep at the breast every time I tried to feed her and I would have to keep her awake (rubbing, massaging, undressing her, putting my cold hands on her, etc) to get her to eat. My milk came in much quicker this time around, after just 3 days when it took 5 days with Xander. However, AJ lost enough weight in her first few days of life that the pediatrician wanted me to supplement her with pumped breastmilk. I pumped while still at the hospital and then, once I was home, I pumped after she ate...every.single.time. That was fairly exhausting, but she gained weight and my milk supply shot up. She started sleeping 6 hours at night after just a few weeks, so I would wake up ready to burst. I would feed her, but she wouldn't drain enough, so I would pump. That's how I was able to build my stockpile of milk in the freezer.

I exclusively nurse Amelia Jayne on my days off and I typically pump once per day when I'm home. On the days I work, I typically pump as much, if not more, milk than she intakes at home. My freezer is full of milk, for which I'm very thankful. I'm sure I will need to dig into those reserves at some point, but right now it's just a safety net and we're at least "breaking even" each day.

To wrap up this crazy post that has gotten ridiculously long, I love breastfeeding! I love nourishing my children and I love having that amazing bond with my kids that no one else can have. God made me to provide food for my children. I don't condemn anyone who chooses not to breastfeed (afterall we live in a world and culture where you do have a choice) and I certainly empathize with those moms who can't breastfeed. I won't do it forever (I would like to make it to one year, though), but while it's still an option I'm thankful for it. And oh so thankful for the closeness between my baby and me.

Funnies from the little man - Part 2

Remember this post from last year? Lately, I have been typing some of Xander's funniest sayings/comments/sentences into my phone. I love looking back at them!! Sometimes I have no idea where he comes up with these things. Sometimes I know all too well...

Here are a few:

Me: Xander, let's put your shirt on.

Xander: I can't! I only have two hands!

Xander (Talking about one of his cars): This one is little, in fact.

Xander (As Daddy was bringing AJ downstairs): There's Amelia Jayne! There's that cutie pie.

Me (as we were leaving my mom's house): Tell Mimi thank you.

Xander: No, I can't. I'm crying right now.

Xander, crying because he doesn't want to go to bed.

David: Xander, it's time for bed now.

Xander (in a pitiful little voice): Wait. I need a tissue to wipe my tears.

Xander (out of the blue): I love you very much, Mommy. Did you know that?

Someone posted this on facebook and I thought it was pretty cute. :)

Exersaucer time!

Amelia Jayne turned 4 months old on Xander's birthday. I'll be posting her 4 month post soon. Here are some pictures of her newest adventures!

Airplane

We love to play airplane!! At least, Xander does. AJ looks kind of scared. Ha!