Stevenson A-Z...: 11.2010

I am a bad blogger but we can blame it on motherhood! Our sweet little boy was released from the hospital when he was 3 weeks old on September 16th...that day is also Mexican Independence Day, kind of fitting that Tate got his independence from wires and such that day as well! It was the longest 21 days of my life, but now he is home and healthy!

When he was released from the hospital he weighed 4 pounds 10 ounces, up a whole pound from his birth weight. At his 2 month appointment he was 8 pounds 12 ounces...the boy can sure put on the weight!! Now is most likely already a 10 pounder! He has come so far and doesn't even look like the same skinny baby we brought home from the hospital.

He is a really good baby...not a big cryer, just a bad eater! He takes a long time to eat and seems to have bad gas. He was put on soy formula a few days ago and it seems to be helping. His intolerance for milk has given me a reason to stop pumping since he never would breast feed. I am not sure still how I feel about that...but I knew with a preemie that things would probably not go as I had pictured them in my mind, starting with his early birth. He is also really pretty good at nights since he was about 6 or 7 weeks old he has slept from about 11pm-4am and then 5am-9am. I can't really complain about that! Just waiting patiently for the night that he doesn't wake up...it will come!

We are so blessed and love this little guy so much. He started smiling for real this week at 11 weeks old, 4 weeks adjusted. Our doctor has assured us not to worry about him being behind, as long as he hits milestones by his adjusted age we have nothing to worry about! It was a long 11 weeks waiting for that smile but it was totally worth it! I have realized that when he is smiling at me, I have a constant smile on my face, so much that my cheeks start to hurt! He is also making progress on holding his head up but is not quite there yet.
We are getting ready to head to Texas for our 5 week Christmas break. We fly out the day after Thanksgiving which is also the day of Zach's last test and Tate's 3 month birthday. Can you tell we can't wait to get back home?!? Tate has yet to meet my dad, or any of our siblings or extended family. The only ones he has met are my mom and Zach's parents! Needless to say, he has a large fan club waiting to pounce on him! I am pretty sure that Zach and I will be fighting to hold our own baby!!

I will try to update more often...but most likely not until we get back to Mexico at the beginning of January. So Happy Holidays...Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's! We can't wait to celebrate our first holiday season with our amazing little gift!!