3 month pictures

Of course I think my little guy is the most photogenic baby around. Which is why when I wasn’t happy with the pictures that JC Penney’s portrait studio took, I requested a do-over. Actually, I wasn’t that high maintenance about it all. What happened is I had an appointment for 10:20 a.m. on Saturday. We were running a little late and I called the studio to let them know we were running 5-10 minutes late and they said they’d move me to 11:20. Ok, even better – that gave us time to stop at McDonald’s for bacon, egg and cheese bagel sandwiches. Yum. By the time we got to the mall and took the stroller out and got inside it was 11:20 on the dot. But we waited…and we waited. There was a huge family in the process of having their picture taken with maybe 5 kids and it was taking forever. When we arrived, Luke was in prime smiling baby mode. No spit-up on his cute outfit with matching hat and he was rested and super smiley. And then we waited. It was really hot in the waiting room (and even hotter in the actual studio where they take the pictures) and he started getting fussy. So I gave him some of his bottle. After 30 minutes of waiting, I asked how much longer it would be and was told it would be VERY SOON. We finally got in there and the good photographer was occupied with the supersize family and we got the teenager who must have this job because she’s on summer vacation. The extent of her engaging the baby to smile was to make some unenthusiastic clicky sounds and call him “stinky” (hey, I gave my child a bath and he does NOT stink!) and I could tell she was not capturing the extreme cuteness my baby possesses. She took about 4 quick photos and then I took his overalls off because I was a well prepared mom and his next outfit was underneath his overalls. We got a total of 2 shots in his owl onesie and then he spit up all over himself (and me) because it was so crazy hot in there and he was now not a happy boy. We did some last shots of him in his diaper and I think the entire time we were having the photos taken was about…oh maybe 7 minutes. She then pulled the pictures up on the computer while the next family was getting pictures done (by the good photographer) and we probably spent more time looking at these pictures than the time spent taking the pictures. I was surprised that the photos I take on my camera at home capture him better than she did. I begrudgingly agreed to buy the cd of the pictures and we left. But the more I thought about it, I really wasn’t happy with the time we had to wait for our session, the way we were rushed through, the inexperience of our photographer and the poor quality of the photos. So I went back to the studio and asked them if we could schedule another photo shoot. We talked to the manager (aka the good photographer) and I wasn’t mad or yelling or anything (Pete was afraid I would go in there making demands and being that kind of person.) and they were very nice and understood my frustration. The store normally opens at 11:00 on Sunday but they opened the store a half hour early to accommodate us and we were the first ones in and even though we woke up to take his picture he was cute and smiley until about the last 5 pictures and then I think he just wanted to go back to sleep and get this thing over with. But the end result of the pictures were phenomenally better and we even got a family portrait of the three of us. Definitely worth it! I’ll post those pictures once I get the cd from them. And then he can win all kinds of cute baby contests because, well, he is an exceptionally cute baby (and I am not biased at all.) He also has good cute baby genes since his daddy’s baby picture stayed on the wall of the photographer’s studio for several years and his grandfather (my dad) won the Cutest Baby in Plymoth, PA award. So of course Luke is going to be a cutesie.

Happy Baby

I think he likes being 3 months old. He is happy almost all the time. I can't believe it. He even wakes up smiling. Smiling Luke DiVerde.

3 Months Old!

The Little Man (aka Handsy according to Pete) is three months old today! Happy 3 Month Birthday, Luke! I will take his three month picture tonight when I get home and he will be posing in his little onesie in the rocker. I received the custom onesie stickers from Aunt Jane as a shower gift and they are so cute! I pose Luke in the same rocker each month so we can see as he grows. The last two months were a little difficult getting him to sit up-right in the rocker so I could take his picture. He was actually more propped than sitting. I think he’ll have a much easier time sitting today than previous months. I’m sure when I make him sit in the rocker on his 18th birthday he’ll be holding his head up just fine and filling out the rocker quite nicely! Since I was so negligent about updating the blog while on maternity leave, I haven’t added his one month or two month picture. So here they are!




I’m trying not to obsess on baby milestones and whether he’s “on target.” It can become a slippery slope if I keep checking where he is developmentally and I’d rather just be aware of any warning signs of things he should definitely be doing by this age. So far, he’s GREAT! I also want to steer clear of comparing him to how his daycare buddy is doing. Tommy is the little boy (3 whole days older than Luke) who our nanny also watches. Tommy can console himself by putting his hand in his mouth and Luke doesn’t do that. Tommy sleeps better than Luke. I have to put a stop to it right now because as they get older and have more noticeable changes I don’t want to be comparing Luke to Tommy and thinking he’s not developing on target. One of them will roll over before the other one does and it’s ok. It doesn’t make one kid better than the other. (Unless it’s Luke and then of course he only rolled over first because he is the super advanced superior super baby.) Luke did roll from his back to his belly while we were in Virginia but I still think it was a fluke because we were both sitting on the bed and I think the mattress and my big butt kind of helped him out. So I will be comfortable and confident that my baby boy is perfect and developing at just the right pace. He will be doing all the big stuff soon enough and I am content to hold his not quite ready to fully roll over body close to me while he is sleeping. I don’t have to worry about him pushing me away or talking back to me yet.

Nicknames

I think Luke will have an identity crisis…or multiple personality disorder. He has several nicknames from us:

Luke
Lukey
Booger
Boog
Little Man
The Boy
The Kid
Banjo
Baby

And I have no idea what additional nicknames the nanny has for him too.

Back at work

This was the post I started on Monday at work:

“Not too bad

My first day back is quickly drawing to a close. It wasn’t as bad as I thought but I did miss the heck out of that boy! Luckily, I was busy and the day really did fly by. I got about 4 ½ hours of sleep but all of my list making and planning paid off. I made it to work 10 minutes early so I could find the mother’s room at work and settle in. I brought pictures of my lil guy to have at my desk. Before I left for work, I walked the dog (put the baby in the swing and turned on the monitor for Pete to get him if needed), ate breakfast, pumped, showered, got ready, brought my lunch and was on my way. I hope every morning goes as smoothly. Luke spit up as I was changing him but he managed to not get it all over me resulting in an outfit change, so Yay Luke.”

It’s now Wednesday during my lunch and I am grabbing a few minutes to update.

As of Monday night I felt GREAT but tired. This going back to work thing is a piece of cake. No problem once we get the sleep thing figured out. Ha.

As of Tuesday on my way home, I noticed a pregnant woman sitting near me on the train and I felt pangs of…I’m not sure. I was missing Luke so very much at that moment and missing having him with me at all times like when I was pregnant. Don’t worry, I’m not ready to get pregnant again but at least when he was inside me, I knew I was protecting him and he was safe. As much as I trust and love our nanny, it’s not that same sense of knowing he was safe at that exact moment. I’ve been so used to having him with me about 99.9% of the time for the last 12 weeks, it’s a bit of an adjustment to not be able to turn my head and see him there. Yes, I have pictures of him with me at work, but it’s not the same – obviously.

So, yes, I am missing him. I expected I would and its intensity changes throughout the day. Luckily I’ve been really busy at work so I haven’t had tons of time to obsess over him.

At the same time, I feel selfish for being glad that I’m back at work. I was worried that some maternal hormones would make me dread coming to work again and want to be at home with him every minute. I like the normalcy of coming to work. I like knowing a certain series of event will happen in a certain order. I am not afforded that luxury when home with Luke. As he gets older, I’m sure things will be even more unsure of if/when they happen. I like knowing when I get to my desk I can turn on my computer, pour myself a cup of coffee and read my email uninterrupted. I enjoy working on things and the sense of accomplishment I feel. I like hearing from colleagues that I was missed. But I also can’t wait to get out the door at the end of the day.

This week is tough and I need to find a way to get better sleep and get everything done that needs to be done each day. I’m sure we’ll start to develop a routine of what needs to be done each night and what needs to be done each morning. The hard part is sticking with it. I need to make sure I get to work on time – or early so I am able to leave on time every day…to get home to my darling baby boy!