Cheap Diapers

As a way to celebrate "Pickles" (now called Derek), Mike had a guys baby shower where the guys got together to drink beer, play poker, etc.  The price of admission was a package of diapers.  Because of this & a few other good deals I had found before Derek was born, we haven't had to purchase many diapers so far.

Derek is currently in size 1 or size 1-2 (depending on the brand).  And we have lots of size 2 already.  Today I put together a deal I just couldn't pass up and purchased some size 3 diapers:

1. Amazon.com and found the diapers that on sale - cheapest per diaper (since we don't have to be brand loyal - Derek's butt can thankfully handle them all so far). It ended up being Luvs for $35 or $0.17/diaper.
2.  Being a member of Amazon Mom (free to do) earned me 15% off.
3. Signed up for Subscribe & Save earned me 15% off and free shipping. (free to do as well)
4. Used coupon code for 20% off diapers from Parents magazine.
5. Used coupon code for $10 off from Parenting magazine.

Final purchase price of $7.23 (including shipping) for 204 diapers = $0.03/diaper. When the diapers arrive, I'll go in and cancel my Subscribe & Save so I can do the same deal again when I get more coupons.


Go me!   :-)

Derek's Almost Hungry

We've gotten into a pretty good overnight/morning routine which includes Mike giving Derek a bottle before going to daycare.  We keep up this routine on the weekends too and I get a little extra sleep.  Here's what Mike had to say:  "He was making his usual distinctive "I'm hungry" cry and I wanted to videotape it to capture what it sounded like.  But when I entered the room to give him a bottle, here's what I found...."

The Big 3-0!

Mike has officially turned 30!

Friday morning my mom called and asked if we had plans that evening.   Then she offered to come down and watch Derek so we could go out and do something.  So I called Mike at work and we accepted her offer for some free time.  We decided to go out to a restaurant we've been wanting to try for some time - The Rack Shack and then to the MOA to try out the Mirror Maze.  Unfortunately our gift certificate for the Mirror Maze wasn't good until Saturday - bummer!  So we opted to just go to Red Robin instead for dinner.  We had a nice dinner out and about.  And my mom got to spend some time with Derek:

Derek is happy in Grandma Schultz's arms.  (This was taken before we left).

We came home to a sleepy little boy.  (Note the change of clothes on Grandma - Derek likes to spit up on her).

Although I don't agree with the saying, he does love both his Grandmas.

On Mike's actually birthday I made his annual special birthday supper.  He gets to pick out whatever he wants.  Last year I made him crab cakes (and made our house smell yucky the whole night!).  This year Mike requested Turkey Scallopini, a meal he enjoys occasionally at work.  It was described it as "Sauteed turkey breast scalloppini topped with fresh tomato, roasted garlic and basil served over angel hair pasta."  I went to work immediately while Mike watched Derek (who was very happy - he must have known it was his dad's birthday).  Derek was great the entire time and when we ate, he joined us at the table playing with one of his favorite toys - his yellow duck:

Dessert followed with Resse's Bars and presents.  I think it was a pretty good night to be turning 30!

Trivia Weekend

This past weekend was the annual trivia contest in St. Cloud.  This contest is something Mike has been participating in since high school.  That same group of friends (plus a few additional people they've picked up along the way) get together the second weekend in February for 50 straight hours of trivia fun.

This year proved to be a little different for us because of Derek.  Mike did great at planning ahead and got most of his work done before Derek was born (Mike runs a server for the team to streamline opening & closing of questions, submitting answers, and communicating with one another).  He still participated almost 40+ hours worth.  Meanwhile, Derek got to hang out with Grandma & Grandpa Nistler.  Both were very helpful in taking over Mike's normal duties and taking care of Derek so I got a little "me" time.  We got some excellent photos courtesy of Uncle Matt:

Grandma Nistler playing with Derek

One of his favorite ways to be held - up on the shoulder so he can see everything.  And it tastes good too!

Lots of kisses for Derek

Nancy planned a "meet & greet" party so the Nistler extended family could meet Derek for the first time.  Mike came home from trivia to hang out with the family and we celebrated his birthday a little early too:

The big 3-0!

Mike's Grandpa came for a little while and gave us a beautiful hand crafted quilt rack.  We also took that opportunity to capture the first photo of four generations of Nistler men:

After all of the fun settled down, we went for a walk and a little more play time:

Ready for a walk on one of the rare nice winter days

Playing with Grandpa Nistler

And Derek wouldn't be a Nistler if he wasn't a fan of computers.  He started his trivia playing at an early age - probably one of the youngest trivia players ever.  Saturday we played from the Nistler house but Sunday went to the trivia headquarters:

Exhausted after a long day of trivia playing.

Dad helping Derek play trivia on a laptop just his size.

All and all it was a great weekend for everyone.  We successfully had our first weekend away from home with Derek and Mike's team came in 5th place - an all time best finish!

First week of daycare

This was Derek's first week of daycare with Lori.  He only went part-time this week and I worked part-time from home too so we could both easy into the change.  We have been working on a new morning routine and think it is coming together.  Derek goes to bed between 7-9 pm and has been going 5-6 hours before his next feeding.  I get up to feed him.  Mike gets up to help me get Derek set-up and then goes back to bed.  Derek will usually wake up about 3-4 hours later around 4:30 am and Mike gives him a bottle and puts him back to sleep.  Then we both get up early to get Derek ready and out the door to daycare around 7:30 am.  (I'm surprised at how long it takes to get things going in the morning - we have a longer check list now).  Then I've been picking him up around noon.

Monday our schedule was just starting to be put into place and we were running a little late.  We provided Lori with a "manual" of what we know for Derek - his general schedule, tips & tricks, things we'd like her to do, etc.  When I picked him up around noon, she mentioned that he hardly slept for more than 15 minutes at a time - quite a change from our days together at home.  When I said hi to him, he instantly feel asleep and stayed asleep for 3 hours!

Dropping him off the first day

Each day gradually got better and he became more comfortable around them, and them around him.  And of course, Mike and I have been perfecting our morning routine too.  The kids at daycare LOVE him:

Reading stories to Derek

Happy in the swing

Derek gives them hugs too!

Everybody gets to take a turn helping Lori feed him.

Smiles

Derek has been smiling a lot lately but it's hard to catch it on camera.  I always seem to snap it just before or just after.  Here are my best attempts so far:

I have been successful when he's sleeping  (he really doesn't like tummy time this much):

Now my goal is to get one with those beautiful blue eyes open!

Two Month Check-up

Tuesday we went in for Derek's 2 month check-up.  We had to wait until then because he had to be at least 2 months + 1 day old before we could be seen.  And not 8 weeks.  It's all very confusing when things are measured in weeks versus months.  It's crazy to think that he's already 2 months - I remember walking around the Burnsville mall with him when he was just 4 days old.  The check-up went alright.  Derek is doing well - he is growing and now weighs 11 lbs 5 oz (45th percentile) and is 24 inches long (85th percentile).  We on the other hand are the worst parents in the world, or at least that's how I felt when we left the doctor's office. 

Our appointment started late, but I wasn't surprised since it was one of the later ones in the day.  It all started when the doctor came in and asked if we would go through the appointment with the student she had with her today, then she would come in after.  We said sure and proceeded to have the ENTIRE appointment with the student.  She examined him and asked us about our questions.  We listed them off but I wasn't completely comfortable taking the advice of someone still in school.  So finally our pediatrician came into the office and we went through everything again.  She was moving very quickly examining him and talking at the same time.  I felt like she would often jump between subjects as she found something in the exam to discuss and then back to answering questions.  I had a hard time keeping up.  We learned that we weren't cleaning him properly during diaper changes (sorry - nobody ever showed me how to clean a penis and it's not like I have one to know).  She showed us what happens when we don't clean him properly, which caused him to bleed (and of course cry).  Strike one.

We were talking about his eyes and the cause of why it appears that he always is crying when he eats.  Apparently he has clogged tear ducts, which is common up to 1 year of life.  One of them started to get goopy the day of our appointment (good timing at least) and got infected, so we got a prescription for it and learned how to massage the tear ducts to open them up.  During the exam, Mike was holding him and he was very wiggly and not happy (naked, being examined twice & moved around, and a bleeding penis - I wouldn't be happy either) but she stopped the exam to tell us that we have to hold his head more.  Mike was busy trying to make sure he wasn't going to drop him with him loosely wrapped in the blanket, moving, being examined, and following what was going on at the appointment.  Apparently his motions were the equivalent of whiplash for a baby.  Strike two.

Then we brought up the question about feeding him bottles as we are thinking ahead to me starting work next week.  It seems as though he spits up more when bottle fed versus nursing.  We were wondering if we should heat it up vs cold (it doesn't seem to make a difference as he'll take it either way), change to a different brand of bottle, burp him more, etc.  He currently takes about 7 oz from a bottle, which is when he lets us know he's full.  Apparently that is way to much to be feeding someone his age - which is why he's spitting up.  He should be eating 4 -6 oz, 6 oz max - and that should be closer to when he's 4 months.  We just assumed that we feed him until he was full, like we are supposed to do with him nursing.  And since my body makes what he needs and I'm pumping about 7 oz, it seemed to make sense.  Nope, we were wrong again- strike three.

It was a very stressful appointment for both of us and upon discussing it in the evening, we had quite a few follow-up questions.  If this had been our first appointment with our pediatrician, we would be finding a new one.  If we have another one like this, we will be finding a new one.  But for now, we'll give her the benefit of the doubt and hope it was just the stress of being behind schedule due to the student.  And at least Derek is doing well despite having us for parents.