Mothers Group

Here in Denmark it is customary for the county to gather a group of mothers for what they call a “mother group.” The mothers can decide it they want to be in a group or not, and they try to put first time moms together.  I have been meeting with my mothers group for almost 2 months now and have enjoyed it a lot.  It is fun to get and give advice to each other and to watch our babies interact.  A lot of times our babies are sleeping now when we get together, but we look forward to in just a few months where they can actually play “together.”  Here is a view of what it was like trying to take a picture of them today!

One Grumpy

Few Grumpy

Many Grumpy

ALL GRUMPY!!

Curiosity

Lately Silas has been so curious with everthing Søren and I are doing.  He is our little social bee and likes to be where the action is.

Watching TV with Daddy

Grading papers

Watching the Vikings!

Big boy beds

Silas is really becoming a big boy! Two nights ago he was quite fussy and crying a lot at bedtime. Søren kept walking around with him with not much luck.  Then he decided to put him in his crib to look at his mobile just to see if that would calm him down.  Not more than 5 minutes later, Søren came back into the living room carrying the basket Silas usually sleeps in.  All of a sudden he quickly dumped the basket upside down and I gasped, assuming Silas was in his basket. But no, Silas had fallen asleep in his own crib!! Since then we have put him to sleep there with lots of success! It’s been fun deciding what his night time routine should be. So far it has been a song and prayer, a quick kiss and out the door. He is such a good sleeper! (knock, knock)

Good morning Silas

After this success we decided that he should try his other big bed! This is his baby carriage, where he up until now has slept in inside his basket.  We have a special sleeping bag that he can get wrapped in when he is in the big carriage, so we decided to try that out too. He has also slept very well the last 2 days here, and I think he likes being all cuddled up inside.

I can still see you!

Swing, swing

Our living room has been transformed into a mini playground, Silas has a swing in the middle of the room. The round swing is supposed to be good for the development of balance, etc in small children. It was a bit of a challenge finding the right board in the ceiling that could hold a swing, but now it is up and Silas really enjoys it!

3 month vaccination

On Monday Silas had his first vaccinations.  At three months all infants are given two shots against all these weird diseases.  They are all abbreviated with letters so I can't at all remember what they are for, but  I trust it's a good thing.

 Already a few weeks before Silas' Doctors appointement I was getting a bit nervous. I was nervous about the shots hurting him, about him crying during and all day after, about him getting a high fever and not knowing what to do...etc.  Well I can say all the worrying was not neccesarry! It all went so well. Silas didn't even cry at all when he got the shots. He made a few pouting noises but that was it.  The rest of the day he was pretty sleepy but otherwise pretty much himself.  At 4pm he went down for a nap and didn't wake up again until 9pm! At 9, when he woke up, he was burning up and after getting some food I took his temperature. It was 39 degrees Celsius, so I wasn't too worried as the package said that the thermometer would beep if there was a fever at 38.5.  So I  thought 0.5 over the normal was not so bad.  Then Søren said, "Wow, 39, that's pretty high."... So  I decided to convert it to Fahrenheit and it said 102! Hmm...it turns out that the thermometer beeps when the fever is high enough to be concerned. But he was still smiling at us and otherwise just a bit more cuddly than normal so we weren't too worried.  We gave him some Tylenol Junior and put him back to bed. He slept pretty well during the night and in the morning he was fever free.  It just goes to show that worrying ahead of time does no good, you always figure it out when your in the middle of it!

Two ouchies, one on each thigh

Baby swimming

Silas has now had his first swimming experience. They have baby swimming classes at the local pool so I decided to take Silas.  The class is at 9:45am and with Silas' normal morning schedule this is quite early to have to be ready and at the pool (especially when we have to leave quite a bit earlier because I have to bike 5km/3 miles to the pool)!  Luckily Silas woke up on his own, in a super good mood, at 8:15 so we had just enough time to eat, get ready and bike!

I had gotten everything ready the night before so that everything would go smoothly.  I looked up directions to the pool and we headed out.  It was so exhausting pulling the bike tralier behind me, and half way there I was so tired  I didn't think we were ever going to make it.  But  I put my "yes" hat on and kept going. I couldn't find the right road at first but then I saw a sign for the sports center and just followed it.  It took me up a huge hill and around the curve was the pool! YAY! Finally!!

I went up to the counter to pay and the receptionist told me that I didn't have to pay today because the instructor was sick, so we would just be on our own! WHAT!? We had never been swimming before and I was kind of hoping to get some tips of what to do with a 3 month old in a big pool! The woman told me that if I didn't feel comfortable I could just come back next week.  "NO WAY," I said. "I have just biked from Skjern, I am going in that pool!" And we did! There were so many women there with their babies, and many of them had been there multiple times before, so they instructed the new beginners on what to do! It was perfect.  We both had a great time.  Silas was smiling the whole time. I even dunked him under the water and he was a bit shocked but only a small half cry left his lips and then he was smiling again.

It was quite an ordeal to get there, get us both dressed and showered, but I will definitely do it again. I have to admit I was pretty proud of the adventure we were on, so next week I'm going to wear my SUPERMOM T-shirt to the pool!!



Silas in his swim trunks





Silas 3 months

Silas is now 3 months old! It seems like this past month has flown by, but as I reflect on all the changes in Silas I realize that maybe it has been a whole month since the last time I wrote about him!


In general Silas is still a very happy and quite easy baby. It is incredibly easy to put him to bed at night, as long as it is after 10 o’clock and then he sleeps until 6 or 7. He smiles a lot and likes to play! It’s fun to watch him grow and develop.


Here is a typical day for Silas at 3 months.
6 or 7 am: Wake up and groggily eat in bed with Mom. Afterwards fall back to sleep.
9 am: Wake up smiling and talking to myself. Ready for a new day.
10am: Morning snack with Mom.
11:30am: Time for another nap
1:30pm: Wake up hungry after a good nap.
3:00pm: Go for a walk in my carriage and fall asleep.
5:30pm: Time for more food!
6-8:30 pm: Play time on my mat or with Mommy and Daddy. A bit crabby after 7, but  I like when I can walk around with Mom or Dad holding me.
8:30pm: Night snack #1.  Afterwards more walking and fussiness.
10:00pm: Night snack #2.
10:30pm: Time for bed.  Laying and looking around in my basket for awhile with my pacifier. Eventually fall asleep on my own.


It is nice that Silas has kind of a rhythm now and it’s easier to know what he wants and needs, this also keeps the crying to a minimum which is great for all three of us.


Notable traits at 3 months.


1) Sleeping in his own room the entire past month. We all sleep better and we don’t get woken up by his rolling around and weird high pitch noises while he sleeps.


2)”Dirty” diapers only once every 4 or 5 days.  Great for diaper changing, not so great for the smell of his gas. WOW!


3) Last we checked he weighed 6.6kg and was 63 cm long. That was a few weeks ago though.


4) Smiles and giggles more and more.  Especially during “Paddy Cake” and if I sing “You Are My Sunshine” to him.


5) Plays and sits with Mommy at the piano.


6) Has learned to “walk”…Basically he is just holding a lot of his own weight and picks up his feet.  He can go across the room though with a lot of help!


7) Has rolled over a few times from tummy to back…pretty sure it was an accident though.


8) Has found his hands. He stares at them in amazement before shoving them in his mouth!


9) Wears size 3 diapers.


10) Has a real laugh.  Sometimes it is a little squeal, but he has had a “ha-ha” kind of laugh a few times and it is so adorable.

         11) Eats much quicker! A feeding typically lasts about 20 minutes now!


         12) Can be on his tummy for 10-15 minutes at a time.

         13) Weighs 15.4 lbs (7 kgs) and is 25.9 inches (66 cm)






Silas’ 3 month photos:

 













Yum, my hand.



Playing piano with Mommy