Back to work... 15 weeks old

and missing my little Tuckster! I went back to work this Tuesday and it really hasn't been too bad of a transition. The schedule and pacing are very different, but it does feel nice to be back and to see everyone. Grammy EE has been down watching Tuck all week, while I go to work, and they've been having a lot of fun. The first couple nights were tough, but he's back on schedule now, sleeping better than ever. He has been getting tired earlier, so we start the bath, bottle, bedtime routine around 6:30 and he was old cold by 7:30pm tonight! He's been sleeping to around 2:30-3, eating and then back to sleep until 6:30am! It's really quite wonderful.

This morning we went in to get him and he was completely turned sideways in his crib. The little bugger has been moving in his sleep and a few times he's bumped into the side of the crib... the bumper came off. We started rice cereal last weekend and he's been doing very well with that. It hasn't seemed to change anything for him, although last night he had a poop, and it was like peanut butter. He also isn't going as often, so I'll keep watching that.

Tuck is really aware of his surroundings and you can tell he recognizes certain people and their voices. He always smiles, especially in the morning. Lately he's been playing this suck the thumb, and then giggle game, which is very cute. In his bouncy seat, which he's approaching the weight limit in, he's grabbing the hanging toys. He's reaching for things and grabbing them, which is nice to see. Although, not the earrings.

Everyday he seems to get bigger and I keep packing up clothes. He is in 6 month clothing, and bigger in some companies still. I don't know exactly how much he weighs, but I bet he's approaching 17 lbs. now. We'll see at his next appt.

It's tough not being with him all day, everyday, but we're managing just fine. Tomorrow is Friday and then I get to hold him all weekend again. I'm pretty tired with this new schedule, and trying to pump at work, but it's worth it for the little man. I'd love to figure out some part time work thing, but we'll see. I'm definitely going back to work this fall, at least to try it for a year.

Memorial Day weekend

Tuck and I went down to Penobscot for Memorial weekend, while Jay got 2 whole days to work on the deck by himself. He's been working hard on this so he was eager to keep going. Tuck and I joined my family, as well as some other McMullin's, for an awesome weekend. The weather was great, the place looks beautiful and we got to hang out with everyone a lot. Plus, Tuck got to meet his cousin, Grant, who is 11 months old and running all over the place.

We played golf a few times, painted quite a bit, and just really enjoyed being down at the coast. Tuck has been sleeping so well! He has consistently slept for a 7 1/2 hour stretch the last 4 nights, and made it to 4:30am one night. Last night he slept from 8:30 to 4:15am, ate and slept until 7:45am! It was awesome and he was such a happy boy in the morning. He also finally took a good long nap, 2 1/2 hours this afternoon. He hasn't been napping in long stretches, more like cat naps all day long, unless we're in the car or someone is holding him. Hey, he's sleeping so well at night, I'm not changing anything just yet!

I just got home around 8pm and we're wiped! We gave Tuck his bottle and he downed 6 oz. Last night we added a little bit of rice cereal for the first time and he took it very well. We added some tonight too, and no problem. He's asleep upstairs, Grammy EE just put him to bed. He's such a happy little baby!

So, I go back to work tomorrow, for the next 3 weeks, and it will be interesting. I'm gonna miss my little man, but I have the summer coming right up. Grammy EE is watching him this week, and my friend Holly is the next couple. This little man will be getting lots of attention!

Getting late, off to bed. I'm hoping Tuck has another good night!

Swing time and facing out!

Tuck is really starting to like his swing. He would tolerate it at first, but he now is sitting in there, very mellow, for a god 30 minutes while I work. I might have to move it downstairs to the living room and having him face outdoors with our new glass doors and soon to be deck.

Jay's been working every spare minute on this deck and it's really coming along. After we put Tuck to bed, around 8ish, he goes outside and works. I have let him use some power tools until 9pm, but some are so loud and shake the house. I really don't want Tuck to wake up so the deck can get done. This weekend I'm taking Tuck to Penobscot so Jay will have all day Saturday and Sunday to work!

We went for a little walk tonight and I took Tuckerman in the Baby Bjorn carrier. I decided to try facing him out towards the world instead of my chest and he liked it. He is so aware now and loves to look at things, he's taking it all in! After the walk, Jay gave him a bath and fed him while I planted some of the garden. Tuck went down right away, so we hooked up flood lights and Jay worked on the deck and I kept planting. Our neighbors must think we're wierdos!!!

Hanging at the house

The last two days Tuck and I have hung out around the house, trying to get more of our schedule back together. He took a few good naps, but he really doesn't nap long in his crib. He'll nap in his car seat, his bouncy, my arms, but not in his bed. Apparently, it's pretty common at this age, I've been online reading. It'll come when he decides it's not comfy in his car seat and he wants to stretch out more. Luckily, he sleeps very well in his crib at night, so no complaints!

Tuck and ventured over to Freeport today to try and hit the Estore and do some LL Bean shopping. We tried the Estore, but you can't take kids in there, which I didn't know, so we didn't make it too far. Then we toured around the main store and I got him the cutest sweater and hat for this fall, plus a one piece swim type rashguard suit. Kids clothes are so cute!

This afternoon we visited with Tuck's cousins, Evelyn and Spencer. It's neat watching them all interact, well sort of. Tuck is a lot more alert and he looks st them now. He and I also stopped by Daddy's work to visit before going home.

Tuck and his Daddy

This weekend was Tuck and Jay's! I had guide training with LL Bean all weekend, so Jay and Tuckerman got lots of bonding time. They worked on the house, ran some errands, relaxed on the couch and according to Jay, he ate a lot! It's hard to tell how much he takes when you primarily breastfeed, but he is easily eating 6 oz. at a time.

The last two nights Tuck hasn't slept more than four hours at a time, and has woken up several times. It could be the different schedule with Daddy, which starting next week will be tough because I'm going back to work. We'll see how he sleeps tonight because I'm with him today and we'll get our routine back.

Cute as a button!

So I'm going to start by saying Tuck is our nighttime champ! Yep, he slept from 8pm-2:30am! For a 3 month old breastfed baby, sleeping 6 1/2 hours is awesome! He ten eats, goes back to bed. He woke up at 6am and I fed him before going to the gym, and he was up with Jay for maybe 30 minutes kicking and then fell asleep while he was eating breakfast and slept until 8:45am. It was awesome and he was so well rested. The only thing is though, that he doesn't take long naps during the day anymore. I guess he doesn't need them as much. He will usually do 30-45 minutes several times during the day. I've tried keeping him up longer, but he just gets fussy and falls asleep when I pick him up. Oh well, no complaints about the nighttime sleep he's getting!

Tuck and I mulched a lot today. He was so good when we went to Marden's to get the mulch, and as I unloaded. We did several short sessions outside today in the stroller with the bug net and eventually I mulched both flower gardens. He napped in little spurts but we had fun outside and kicking on the changing table.

He's starting to head butt a little more, which isn't my favorite. He did it once today pretty hard and started screaming right after. He cried for about 30 seconds and then was smiling again, but you've got to watch his head and yours, because he's an active little bugger.

I have sea kayak guiding training this weekend, so Tuck and his Daddy are going to be hanging both Saturday and Sunday. It'll be really good for Jay to get some alone time with him and they can bond.

3 months old!!!

Tuck is 3 months old! It's crazy how fast it's gone by and how much he's grown! He's turned into quite a happy, bubbly little boy. Tuck sleeps a lot, but when he's awake, he's ready to smile and loves to look at you. Of course I melt every time he smiles at me, which is quite often now that he's so much more aware.





In 3 months, Tuck has been quite a well traveled little man. We've taken frequent trips to Sugarloaf, to visit the Grandparents, down to Penobscot, and our April vacation drive to Florida. He rides very well in the car and falls asleep within a few minutes. He loves to look out the window and is happy as long as someone is talking to him. He's so easy going and lets everyone hold him, and many feed him. He even lets me feed him from the bottle!

Developmentally, Tuck smiles and coo's often! He loves to lie on his back, look at his mobile, and kick like crazy. He is very strong and has great head control, although he's into surprising his Mommy and Daddy but trying to jump out of their arms... He does tummy time, but he doesn't like it as much as his back time yet. He is infatuated with his hands and always has them in his mouth. I was burping him today and he stuck his whole fist in his mouth while spitting up. They've helped becoming more soothing for him, although the binky still works well! Bathtime is a special time and so is the first morning changing. He loves to be changed because someone is right above him talking to him. He wakes up so happy in the morning.

Tuck's a great little sleeper, and is now doing 5-6 hour stretches! He goes down somewhere between 8 and 9pm and can sleep til around 3am! Then he does a quick feed and goes right back down to about 5:30-6am. He does another feed, and the past several days has gone back to sleep until 7:30ish! It's amazing. He naps well, although they are on the shorter side. Most of his sleep time is now in his own bedroom. He goes to bed very easily at night in his own room, and I put him there for naps. We use the fan all night, room darkening shades, and a little water music for about 20 minutes when he falls asleep. Sometimes he can fall asleep on his own in the crib, other times he loves to rock in my arms, of course I love that too, but I'm happy he's becoming a more independent sleeper.




The chunky little monkey is asleep upstairs, and I just went through the hundreds and hundreds of pictures I've taken of him, and I can't believe how much he's changed. Tuck started small, but has gone from the 20th percentile to the 80th in a little over a month. The 16 lb. little boy is now is size 3 diapers and easily putting down 6 oz. of milk at his night feeding. I'm still breast feeding, which is a lot easier now, but he gets one bottle of formula a night. That's been working out well, especially now because I have to store up a little for going back to school for a couple weeks.

All in all, it's been the most wonderful 3 months ever and we are so happy to spend every day with him. What in the world did we do with ourselves before him??? Jay is a great Daddy and I have visions of them working on projects together, not too soon though. Tuck is going to be 6 months before I really start work full time again, and I'm so happy I have so much time with him when he's young. I'm loving every minute of it!




Here are some of my favorite Tuckerman pictures from the last 3 months. You can really see how much he's changed! Can you tell the little man has grown up in front of a camera... he really knows how to look at the lens... his baby book is going to be organized in volumes...haha

Bath time!

He used to hate it, but now he loves it... and getting changed too. He really likes the warm water and he's just starting to kick. The last couple baths I've gotten soaked, it's a lot of fun.

We had a pretty good day, he took a couple short naps and one longer one this morning. We tried to work outside a little, but it was very windy and he didn't last too long. I've been having him nap in his room during the day and he's been sleeping there every night for the past week or so. He doesn't nap as long as if I were holding him or he were right next to me, but I think in the long run, it'll be much better. I've also been rocking him and settling him until he starts to get heavy eyes, then I put him right down in his crib. He usually opens his eyes for a second and I rub his back, then he's been going down without a fuss. Sometimes he's only napping for about 30 minutes, but he'll sleep for over an hour too. Tomorrow he'll be 3 months old and his sleep should start organizing a little more too. Definitely no complaints here, he's a great little baby!

What a great couple days! We got to hang out at the house with Daddy on Saturday, working on the deck and in the flower beds! Jay has been working hard building the deck foundation and I have been clearing and fixing the flower beds. Tuck is so portable and can hang with us outside while he kicks. He loves the fresh air. When he's tired, we go in, eat and he takes a nap. He's such a good little baby!

Saturday night we drove up to Grammy Lyn and Grampy Mac's. Everyone was so excited to see Tuck and couldn't believe how big he's gotten, even since we've returned from Florida. Tuck slept really well, until about 2:30am and then until about 4am, when he was a little gassy, so he was tossing and turning. We spent Mothers Day morning there and then headed over to Waterville to visit with Grammy EE and Papi. They hadn't seen Tuck in a couple weeks either. We had a nice visit and we got to meet Tuck's friend Spencer Maloney, Alvah and Kelly's little man. They were so cute together. Tuck was tired so he was a little fussy and started crying when we brought them face to face. Spencer, who is 6 months old, saw Tuck cry and started crying too. It was so cute. They'll be able to hang out this summer, which will be a lot of fun!

Jay dropped Tuck and I back off at my folks where we hung out for the afternoon and he headed South. We stayed to drive down to Penobscot for the night. There's a lot of renovating going on down there, so Tuck and I went down to check it out and help. It felt so nice to get down there again...it has been since August, and I was pregnant with Tuck then.





We painted all day today and Tuck was so good! He napped for awhile in the morning so I helped paint. When he woke and was fed, he played and kicked in his pack'n'play while we painted. It was a beautiful day so we went for a nice walk down to the pier, and then he slept some more. He is such a good car rider, sleeps a lot and smiles too. He's so easy to take around, and the more we do it, the more flexible he is. He's already slept in 5 different places and driven to Sugarloaf several times, Penobscot Bay and Florida. He's a great little baby!!!


Here's a picture of Maddy, Janet and Trap's new little puppy. She is 4 days younger than Tuckerman, and just as peppy! Casco wasn't quite sure what to think of her, but she is awful cute!