Baby Firsts

We are in that really exciting time where we get to experience a hundred and one firsts. The first time he smiled, the first time he got the hiccups, his first time in a restaurant, his first road trip, etc. While it is really fun it is also a little scary because there is no real guide as to how things will go or what you can really expect. Every baby is different so we have been doing as most parents do and learning as we go and coming up with a lot of shoulda/coulda/woulda's. The next kid will I'm sure get the full benefit of our parenting expertise, but for now Nicholas is our trial run and so far we aren't doing too bad of a job. :) Here is a run down of some of our favorite firsts in the first 3 months of his life!

1st Bath

This was probably one of the more scarier things we have done with him and we put it off for quite some time. After a week we were like okay let's give it a go. We got out the infant bath, took off all the packaging, washed it thoroughly,  and came up with several more excuses before we were "ready." Even though we were paying close attention in the parenting class and are very familiar with the concept of bathing we still had no idea what to do. I'm not ashamed to say that we had the parenting book they gave us propped open and were following it step by step the entire time so as not to miss anything and get it just "perfect." It was a long process, reading the book verbatim, making sure his head stayed upright and didn't slide over (that seemed to be a one person job), and accomplishing all the bathing tasks described. Oh, and did I mention he screamed the entire time? Not just cried. Screamed. It was a glorious parenting moment. At the end Chris breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank God we don't have to do this every day!" Now of course, the worry is over, and confidence has taken over. I am doing what was once thought of as unthinkable and bathing him by myself. It no longer is a 30 minute procedure and more of 3-5 minutes sometimes longer to give him more time-you know why? Because he LOVES bath time. Winning.

                             Then                                                           and  Now

1st Trip in the Car
Mother's Day
We did several very short car trips with Nicholas, but the first longer trip in the car (i.e. 45m-1hr total) was when we drove to meet up with the Osekowski family for a Mother's Day brunch. We had to make a pit stop along the way to check out a U-Haul storage place close to where Chris worked which would be an ideal place to store the boat. This would only be a 20 minute detour in what was already a 30 minute trip over to Gotha where the restaurant we were going to was located. Everything was going fine, we had Craig in the front occupying Chris and his lovely girlfriend Bekki in the back cooing over the baby and helping me keep him entertained. However, as we soon found out, Nicholas takes after his daddy in that he does not like to be kept waiting! Chris wound up taking longer then planned talking to the owner and before you know it, Nicholas got very upset that the car had stopped and started crying. Soon this turned into screaming. Thankfully, as soon as the car got going again we had one happy baby! The rest of the morning/afternoon went smoothly. We had a leisurely brunch at a wonderful little place called Yellow Dog Eats and Nicholas didn't cry once! He was very observant and looked around and then fell asleep for what turned into a very long nap!

1st Story
One of the gifts we he had received for Nicholas was a recordable Hallmark storybook entitled All the Ways I Love You. This allows for a voice recording to be added so that your child can hear a story read by a family member or a loved one. I thought it would be a great idea to have Chris' dad a.k.a. Papi record a story for Nicholas- and he happily obliged. This was the first story Nicholas ever had read to him and is now a regular bedtime favorite!

Here is Nicholas listening to his Papi's voice before bed:

1st Girlfriend
This is debatable. Nicholas has two older women in his life, a one year old and a two year old. Both equally cute and obsessed with the new baby!

 

1st Weekend Getaway

Father's Day Weekend

You would have thought we were moving by all things we had to pack. Even though it was only going to be for one night (driving up Saturday morning, leaving Sunday late afternoon), it seemed like we had hundreds of items stashed in the back of the Pathy. We had to bring everything we thought Nicholas would need over the course of two days times three, all of the baby gear that goes along with it, plus the dogs and their beds/food, and then some things for ourselves (imagine that) including some clothes suitable for church attire. Oh, and did I mention he was getting baptized the same weekend so I had to make sure his little outfit we picked out stayed meticulously clean and presentable for the day of. Needless to say, we possibly over packed, but that was way better then doing the opposite. Even though we would be in Ocala which is still a civilized part of Florida and has stores such as Target, Publix, and other places where we could locate and purchase baby items, we decided just to bring everything. We had a great time once there and after experimenting with where to put the pack 'n play and how to reassemble it, we were able to enjoy visiting with friends and family members. 

My brother was in town with his girlfriend so Nicholas got to meet her for the first time, and my Uncle James and Aunt Paula drove down from Memphis which was so great to have them there too.

We did a big Stewart family dinner that first night with some home cooking courtesy of James and Paula which was absolutely delicious. Needless to say we stuffed ourselves. Chris and I were a little anxious on how Nicholas would do sleeping in another place, especially since we had to be up early for a 9am baptism the next morning, but we managed to survive the night as well with a little help from Folgers in the am. 

Another special thing about Nicholas' baptism besides it being Father's Day was that it was also my parents 33rd wedding anniversary! We had the baptism at the First United Methodist Church of Ocala contemporary service where both my dad and brother participate in the Praise Band. For this particular occasion my dad decided to just enjoy the service and the special moment taking place and my youngest brother Bobby played the bass guitar. 

I was amazed at how many friend and family members were able to attend the service including Uncle Mark from Orlando; Chris' dad Mike from Orlando; Chris' mom and step-dad Cindy and Ken from Titusville; Uncle David, Aunt Carol, and cousin Emmaline from Ocoee; Grandpa and Grandma V. and Aunt Dorrie from Titusville; and Grandma Maitland and Maurice from Titusville! And my family as well including Uncle James and Aunt Paula from Memphis; Trip and Katie from D.C./Baltimore; and Aunt Chris from Gainesville.

Check out our large group:

    

   

I was convinced that Nicholas was going to be screaming his head off since he was still undecided on how he felt about water, and since this was definitely not the routine! I am convinced that there was some Sudafed vapors in the water, because as soon as he was baptized he was out for the count! He slept through the entire hour long service as well as the 30 minute ride to the lake house and beyond. In fact, he only woke for feedings and slept pretty much the entire day. That night of course was another thing, but we were grateful to have a calm, relaxed baby on our hands for what would be a busy day!

After the service we met up with mostly everyone at the lake house for a celebration! Chris was given his first of many Father's Day cards, as were the other dads in the room. Nicholas was also presented with more clothes and presents including a very special book from Trip, Katie, and Bobby to read to him before bed with the message to please go to sleep. My mother and Cindy organized catering from Sonny's which could have fed an army. It was some serious BBQ. And even more food was offered in that we had several dessert selections in honor of his baptism. Uncle David baked a giant cake that I have to say was one of the best cakes I have ever eaten and Cindy brought desserts as well which I had to sample because his desserts are also worthy of accolades. Needless to say I did not need dinner that night or food of any kind for a long time.

              Four Generations of Maitlands

             The Great-Grandparents

 

Turtle Truffle (just kidding!)

For those that don't know, I am really big on thank you notes, and I typically go home and write personal messages that same day so they can get sent out as soon as possible. However, the little piece of paper I had written on got misplaced on the voyage back home, and I am ashamed to say I gave up on the idea of thank yous. :( But let me state here I am so grateful for everyone that came out and supported this big first for Nicholas and I do appreciate everything!

Big shout out to my mom and mother-in-law for hosting everything, providing decorations, lodging, taking care of puppies, etc. You ladies rock!

All in all the weekend was a success...so much so that we decided to come back for a two night visit the very next weekend so that I could spend some more time with Trip before he headed back north. And he did me a huuge favor by introducing me to a lovely little place called Chelsea coffee.

This stuff is seriously good.

So that pretty much wraps up the first three months and some of the major firsts we have been experiencing. 

Until next time...