Jude's Favorite Things

I’m back at work today and it feels so weird to be away from my sweet baby and my amazing wife after spending so much time together these last two weeks.  It makes it easier that  my days at work are literally numbered as I’ll be handing in my notice on Monday.  I can’t wait to be at home with my little man.  Of course, I know from these last two weeks and from the text messages from S today that it won’t be easy.  Apparently all Jude wants to do today is cry and eat.  That makes for a rough day.  We had our two week check up with Jude on Thursday and everything was good other than he needs to gain more weight.  So feeding him really has become a full time job.

We have gotten several emails and lovely comments from all of you these past two weeks and I just wanted to stop and say thank you.  We’ve got a bit too much on our plate right now for me to respond individually to everyone right now.  It has been so encouraging to hear that other people have had to supplement with formula and that we aren’t the only ones being peed on constantly. J  So thank you so much for your kind words, really.  Also, I have heard from a few people that blogger isn’t letting them leave comments and I’m not sure exactly what the problem is or how to fix that.  It seems to be people who have word press blogs.  So maybe just leave comments under anonymous?  Anyone have any ideas (other than switching our blog to word press that is)?

One nice thing about being back at work is having a few minutes to get caught up on everyone else’s blogs.  I feel like I am years behind on my reading and I don’t think I’ll get caught up anytime soon, but I am still reading.  

So S and I make lots of jokes about the LONG list of things that Jude doesn’t like.  He doesn’t like having his feet touched, being cold, when I sneeze, not getting food the very second he is hungry, any pacifiers that aren’t Soothies, and many other things.  But I did want to share with you all some of the things that we couldn’t live without at this point.  Of course this is just the stuff that works for us.

First thing on the list is the already mentioned Soothies pacifiers.  Jude loves these, but is very particular and will only use the 0-3 month size and nothing else, though I guess that does make sense.    We didn’t want to use one this early but in the NICU the nurses had to do lots of stuff that was a bit painful and pacifiers are the only thing they can really do for pain relief.  And the little dude loved them so much that we couldn’t just take them away once we left the hospital.   Now I don’t know what we’d do without them, sometimes they are the only thing that will make him happy.

Next on the list are the Playtex Ventaire bottles.  We tried a few others and actually have TONS of other bottles but we liked these the best so far.  He rarely spits up after feeding and something about the design keeps him from sucking down too much air.  Plus they are pretty slow so he isn’t gulping down too much too fast.  And they don’t leak if you have everything screwed on correctly.

We also could not live without our Aden and Anais swaddle blankets.  A friend got them for us as a baby shower present and they are the very best.  They are so big and strechy so you can really swaddle tight plus they are pretty light so even when Jude is dressed warmly I don’t have to worry much about him getting too hot.

We love our rock and play sleeper.  It is nice and small and fits in our room for Jude to sleep in.  We don’t plan on him sleeping in our room very long term so it was nice to get something light weight and cheap to get us through these first few months.  And he seems to think it’s pretty cozy too.

Last on the list, we heart our ocean activity play mat.  Jude isn’t spending a lot of time yet under it but when he does he is mesmerized by the sound and light machine that comes with it.  He will watch that thing like it is the most amazing thing he has ever seen.  

Happy Friday!

Liz