8 weeks and shots. :(

Steven had his 2 month appointment on January 9th and he is doing really well! He weighed in at 12 lbs and 14 oz! He's in the 75% for his weight. Everything checked out fine, but then he had to have his first round of shots. Well, the first one his mother was present for. And hopefully the last...

I had always secretly giggled in my head at other mothers who said they cried when their baby got shots. I always said I would never be one of those moms who couldn't keep it together. It's just a couple shots, over and done in a few short minutes. Open brain, insert foot.

Ugh. It was awful. Steven has cried at the house, yes, but this was no ordinary cry. This was the kind of cry where he forgets to breathe. The kind of cry that brings actual tears. TEARS. My baby boy had real tears for the first time. INSTANT tears. And when I saw the size of the needles I almost cried before they were given. Those suckers are HUGE!! I had a few shots in the hospital and the needles they poked me with were no where near the size of the ones they poked him with. I don't even think my IV needle was that big. :(

So, needless to say, I cried. And cried. I cried longer than he did. The really sweet nurse even started to get teary. She told me she had a 2 month old at home, so this wasn't easy for her either. That made me feel a little better, but we still had to rock and sway for a few minutes so I could pull myself together long enough to walk through the waiting room with a little dignity. He was already asleep when we walked out to the car. I'm such a wuss. I called Matt on the way home and said all sniffley that there's no way I'm going alone again. His 4 month appointment he will be going and he will be in the room with Squeaker when the needles show up. I'll be getting the car.

Here's a few 8 week pictures:

He doesn't look very happy with me here, does he?

And this was the tailend of a smile. See? I told you it was hard!

smiles :)

I got a few quick smiles on camera! It's still hard and the pictures aren't the best and some are blurry, but it's what I have so far.

He's smiling all the time now! ALL the time. He's such a happy baby and it's so fun playing with him. He sure does love his Daddy though! A lot of times if I can't get a grin out of him all Matt has to do is look at him and he is all smiles. :) Little stinker.

He is "talking" to us a ton too. No clue what he's saying, but he jabbers non-stop. Aunt Katie thinks he's going to be an early talker (she's a Speech Language Pathologist).

Here's a few smiles

And here he is telling us (loudly) what's up.

naked new years

This new years I was thinking back to how different it was this year. In college my roommates and I would have been out all night dancing it up. Even married Matt and I went out a few times, at leat stayed up until midnight. This year, Steven and I were in bed by 10:30pm. I think this is the first time since I was little that I haven't stayed up until at least 12:15am on January 1st. How times have changed! But I wouldn't change them back for anything. :)

So, Steven started out his New Years 2009 with a bath. He's 6 weeks old in these pictures and he started smiling this week! It's seriously the cutest thing I've ever seen and I was so anxious to start seeing it! It is, however, etremely hard to get it on camera. Even with my amazingly fast camera, the second it covers my face I get a blank stare. Oh well, hopefully I'll get a good one soon.

Here's a few pics from Steven's naked new year!

the infamous baby bathtime mohawk

I think all moms put their babies through the bath time baby mohawk. It must be a right of passage of some sort- you're not a real mom unless you try the bath time mohawk.

And I tried it. You would think with the massive amount of hair this kid has it would have been better, but I guess I didn't do a very good job.

My attempt (5 weeks):

I think he had a feeling about what was going to happen

And here was the result. Pretty pathetic.

Noel Christmas

We spent a few days in Houston with my family for Christmas before going back to Austin Christmas Day. Squeaker had a chance to meet all of my family and everyone thought he was adorable. :) The house was bursting with people and even the Holloways made it down to meet our new addition!

We had a hoppin good time on Christmas Eve. After mass we all went back to Linda's (Mimi) house, ate dinner and exchanged gifts. Squeaker got some great toys and super cute clothes. I have lots of playtime to look forward to in the up coming months!

Jon (my brother) had such a great time playing with my new camera I didn't get any pictures of him! But here are some from Christmas Eve!

Here's me and Matt (no clue where the kid was)

Steven meeting his Great Grandma Peggy

Cousin Jackie and Steven

The Holloways
Kelsey and Jared

And a VERY cute picture of kelsey and squeaker :)

Uncle Joe, having a blast

Mimi and Aunt Jeanette

Great Grandma Peggy, Aunt Vincette and Cousin Taegen (Squeaker and Taegen are going to have so much fun next year!)

Mimi and Squeaker on Christmas morning

Aunt Yvonne and Squeaker

Sternad Christmas

Our Sternad Christmas was a great one, especially since we had a third to our party. We had a lovely dinner and then went back to Steve and Kathy's (aka B and Nana) to exchange gifts.

Nana and Auntie Katie had a great time fighting over Squeaker, who slept most of the time.

Overall his first Sternad Christmas was very enjoyable!

Here he is with Aunt Katie and Uncle Tom

And here he is with B and Nana

growth spurts

Sorry I haven't updated the blog in a while. Steven has had 2 growth spurts since Christmas, so it's kept me really busy. I'm working on it, I promise!