Finnegan: Two Months

Happy two months Finn! The second month went by as fast as the first.  We had a ton of fun the second month, as Finn woke up and gave us lots of smiles.  Mike and I feel like we've (kind of) got this little guy figured out and are loving watching Finn grow and embrace the world around him. 

Eating:  Breast feeding is still going great.  He's a great eater and 90% of the time latches on immediately and I have to pry him off.  Occasionally, he'll be a little finicky and be squirmy and not latch on, but it's random and doesn't seem to have any lasting effect on his eating habits. I have no idea what causes it, but I'm not too concerned.   We also introduced the bottle this month and, just like breast feeding, had no issues! I celebrated by leaving him with Mike and getting a manicure and pedicure.  I'm almost hesitant to post this second part, but both Mike and I agree that in the past few days, Finn seems to have turned a corner on how long he can go in between feedings! HALLELUJAH!  We can usually get a few three hour stretches throughout the night and then maybe one or two throughout the day.  The other times, we're averaging over two hours, which makes this mamma VERY happy.  Fingers crossed this keeps up.

Sleeping:  Last month, I was dreaming of four consecutive hours of sleep and I got it...once.  My parents have the magic touch and Finn slept for four hours in my dad's arms while I slept soundly in my bed.  We've yet to get that luxury again (Mom and Dad, want to come back?), but I would say we're getting longer stretches.  It's not uncommon for Finn to sleep for three hours after the 10:00 feeding and then usually again after the next feeding.  On average, we're waking up three times between 10:00pm and 8:00am.  Finn usually wakes up around 5:30am or so with the sun and Mike will bring him into bed with us for a few more hours of sleep. We also transitioned him to the crib and out of the bassinet this month.  It's a little earlier than most babies (I think), but we needed him to be able to sleep in a pack n play when we travel, so we had to transition him a little bit earlier.  We've had a night here and there where he wakes himself up every time he stretches out, but overall has gone pretty well. 

Noises: Still a grunty little guy, but not quite as bad. Or maybe I've just gotten used to it.   Overall, though, he's just a loud guy.  When he's sleeping, he kind of snores and when he's awake, he's making all sorts of noises.  We think he's trying to laugh because every so often, we'll get a smile and a little shriek.  Both Mike and I are anxiously awaiting the first laugh.  

Milestones: Such a fun month! The biggest milestone I can think of is smiling and boy do we love it.  Finn is a smiley little baby in the morning and loves to flash his gums at both Mike and I. He's also started making some shrieking noises that we think are him trying to laugh. Hopefully that will come next month.  The other big milestone we've noticed is better control of his hands.  It's still very jerky, but he has definitely figured out that they can do things.  He is constantly working on getting his hands in his mouth with about a 50% success rate.  When they do make it into his mouth, he will suck on them like they're covered in chocolate! When we put the wubanub (pacifier) in his mouth, he will often put his hands on the stuffed animal.  At first, we thought this was just a coincidence, but it's happened frequently enough for us to think he's trying to keep the wubanub in.  Last, maybe the most exciting milestone is that Finn is officially an American citizen!  He received his passport and the paperwork to get a Social Security number has been filed.  See you in August, America!

The cutest passport photo ever!

That smile will get him anything he wants

Likes and Dislikes: He still loves his swing and his playmat and we miss them both dearly now that we're traveling.  He also still loves his wubanubs and pacifiers, but now that he's figuring out his hands, I definitely think he prefers them.  I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up being a thumb sucker once he has better fine motor skills. He still loves riding in his stroller, but the car seat is a struggle. He will entertain it for a little while, but if he falls asleep and wakes up while strapped in, watch out! He also won't fall asleep in the car, so he'll usually scream instead of sleep.  It's not fun.  The only real way to calm him down is to either bottle feed him or to take him out.  We've got LOTS of driving this month since we're traveling, so let's hope this gets better.   He also has learned to embrace the bath this month, which has been so nice.  We can see him calm down and relax when in the warm water, but (like everyone else in the world), doesn't enjoy getting out. I don't blame him!

We're mean parents and make him wear his seat belt when riding in the car. 

Travel: We got back on our travel game this month and have generally been impressed with how Finn has handled it. He doesn't like the car seat after a while, but otherwise has been great.  He aced his first flight and slept the entire time, even on the take off and landing. He has checked off three new countries (Denmark, Montenegro and Albania) off his list and will check off a few more next month. Travel is definitely different with such a little guy in some ways, but in other ways has remained the same.

Ready for his first big trip!

Nicknames: Finn, Finny, Grunty, Sweetheart, Buddy, Big Guy

Clothing Size:  We packed up the newborn clothes (I think I was the only one who was sad about this) and are completely in the 0-3 month clothes.  I haven't tried any of the 3-6 month stuff, but I'm guessing it would probably fit, even if they are a little big. 

Diaper Size: Size ones still fit but are looking a little small.  Size twos fit, but we've had a few blowouts that lead me to believe they might be a smidge too big. 

Height: Not sure, but I can definitely tell he's gotten taller.  I'm guessing about 22-23 inches.

Weight: My very scientific and accurate strategy of weighing myself holding him and then without him tells me that he's weighing 12lbs!  Such a big guy!

Month two was so much fun! My parents and my cousin JP came to visit, we went on our first trips with Finn, and we've started seeing our little guy phase out of the sleepy newborn phase and into the infant stage of life.  I went back to the OBGYN and got the okay to start working out again, which I'm surprisingly grateful for.  It feels good to sweat and get my heart rate up, but man, am I out of shape!

Month three is going to be VERY busy! Finn will get a more stamps in his passport and he'll have to help us start packing up our stuff for the big move back to the United States. Hopefully we'll sleep a little bit more and eat a little bit less, but regardless of how it goes, I'm sure Finn will still have Mike and I wrapped around his finger!

A Trial Trip: Copenhagen

The second half of our trial trip took us to Copenhagen, where we were pleasantly surprised with the food selection and unpleasantly surprised with the cost of how much the food costed.  We arrived in Copenhagen mid afternoon after a pit stop for lunch in Odense, where Hans Christian Andersen grew up.  We stretched our legs on a walk past his childhood home. 

We arrived in Copenhagen in the afternoon and walked around before grabbing dinner and calling it a night. 

Riding the bus

Reminiscent of Berlin!

Our first stop the next day was to go to War Pigs for lunch. It has American Barbecue and Mikeller beer, so it was high on the priority list for Mike.  The barbecue was DELICIOUS and we split some hush puppies and pimento cheese which were also amazing.  Neither of us were complaining.

Our main goal for the first day was to go to the Tivoli Gardens, an amusement park in the middle of the city.  It kept showing up on lists of things to see so Mike and I knew we had to do it.  Plus, it was different from all of the other sights we're used to seeing (churches, statues, buildings, etc).  As soon as we walked in, we understood why it's on every list.  It's beautifully designed with gardens all around, as well as rides for people to enjoy.  Mike and I both rode the big roller coaster and agreed it was a lot of fun. 

Had to snap a pic in the funky mirror

Finn obviously had a blast as well

Hanging out in the park

The AirBnB that we were staying at was owned by a Michelin Star Chef, so we made sure to ask for food recommendations in the city.  He directed us to Sticks n Sushi for one meal and it didn't disappoint.  Even though it's a chain within the city, both Mike and I agreed that it was the best sushi we've had in Europe.  The only reason I didn't take a picture was because we at it so fast!  I'm still dreaming of that sushi...

The next day was our last full day in Copenhagen and we wanted to walk around and enjoy the city atmosphere. Finn was in a "I must eat every two hours exactly" mood, which meant we had to stop pretty frequently and were moving a little slower, but we didn't have anywhere specific that we wanted to go or a time we needed to be somewhere, so it was okay.

My boys.

Cue major meltdown after this picture. 

Another recommendation from our AirBnB host was to go to the food markets in Copenhagen, so we figured that would be a good stop for lunch and we were right! They had everything from falafel to Indian food.  We were in heaven!

Traveling with a baby looks a little different than our previous travel. 

That night, we went to one last restaurant recommended by our host.  His recommendations hadn't disappointed thus far, so we were excited for a pizza place called Baest.  Mike and I agreed that this was our least favorite of the food recommendations, but it was still delicious.  On a scale of 1-10, we'd probably give it a  9, whereas everything else was an 11. We were definitely spoiled in the food department that weekend. 

We were sad to leave the next day because we both loved Copenhagen.  Mike has stated that it's one of his favorite cities.  While I'm not sure I'm ready to go that far, it was beautiful and the perfect first weekend trip for our little traveler.  We packed up and headed out Sunday morning to catch the ferry back to Berlin, but not before I got spit up on and  a diaper exploded all over Mike. The joys of traveling with an infant!  Despite a few hiccups and a nightly meltdown around 7:30 because he couldn't fall asleep, Finn did well.  There's always room for improvement, so I think we gave him a solid B every day in Copenhagen, but we didn't know how he would do and we were happy that we were still able to see the city and enjoy each other's company (most of the time).  

Let's hope this continues!!  Inshallah!

A Trial Trip: Hamburg and Kiel

Towards the end of my pregnancy, we were getting the travel bug and were itching to plan our first post-baby trip.  Since neither of really knew what to expect when it came to traveling with a baby, we figured we should do a "trial trip" before we took on anything too ambitious.  

There were a few things that were taken into account when planning this trip.  First, I wanted to wait six weeks after giving birth. Second, we didn't want to fly. We figured our first trip should be in the car where we could pack (almost) as much as we wanted and stop when we needed. In the end, we probably could have flown, but I think it was a good decision to drive and get our bearings.  

We got a little bit of a rough start to the trip.  Our plan was to leave once Mike got back from class around two, so when I left for the store around 12:30, I figured I'd get back around 1:00 with an hour to get things together.  When I returned, though, I was locked out of our house.  This wouldn't be the end of the world because I would just go walk around with Finn and wait for Mike to come back.  The bigger issue was that I was locked out of the house AND it had started pouring outside.   As if that wasn't enough, Finn began to meltdown as I was standing in the hallway trying to figure out what to do. I frantically texted Mike and he ended up coming home an hour early. As if getting locked out wasn't enough of a hiccup, we walked in to our apartment to realize that the windows were open and there was water all over the floor. We quickly mopped the water up, grabbed our stuff and hit the road, hoping that this was not foreshadowing for how the weekend was going to go. 

Our first stop was Hamburg, Germany which is about three hours from Berlin.  Finn ended up screaming for the first twenty minutes of the trip and  I'm pretty sure there were a few moments at the where I wondered if we should turn around, but we persevered and he eventually fell asleep. We knew other Navy people stationed in Hamburg and had tentative plans for dinner with them.  By the time we arrived, it was after six, Finn had another meltdown the last twenty minutes of the car ride and our plans had fallen through, so Mike, Finn and I walked around Hamburg before settling on dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe (judge away, but we figured after almost two years abroad, we deserved some good American food and I think we both wanted a strong drink).   We actually enjoyed Hamburg, which neither of us were expecting. It's a port and a big business city, so there wasn't a ton to see like in a lot of other major cities, but it was a good stopping point for the night.

Finn ended up having a meltdown as we settled in for a drink at the hotel bar and Mike ended up doing laps around the hotel room with him the Ergo before he finally fell asleep. We were grateful that, despite the meltdown, he had a successful night of sleep and the next morning, we got on the road and headed towards Kiel, Germany.  The trip was only an hour or so and Finn did a lot better this time around.  Can you tell we're celebrating any and all successes?

We actually stopped in Laboe, which is near Kiel, around 11:00.  There is an old WWII U-boat there, so knew we had to check it out.  It was actually really cool, even for those of us who don't work on a submarine. Mike wore Finn in the Ergo carrier and it was perfect for being able to maneuver around the U-Boat and for giving Finn a tour of his first submarine.  

So much to look at!

Finn's first look through a periscope!

How appropriate is it that the radio room is the funk room?

Gotta get a picture with the torpedo

Baby's first submarine!

After checking out the submarine, we grabbed lunch and walked around Laboe before heading to Kiel.  We were amazed at how many wind surfers there were, but it made sense because the wind was out in full force. 

Can you see all of the wind surfers?

That night, we met up with Ryan and Ashley Stevens, who live in Kiel.  Ryan is an Olmsted Scholar in Mike's class and they have been in Kiel since the summer of 2015.   The Stevens definitely put our travel to shame, so they had tons of stories to tell about their travels.  They took us to their local Mexican restaurant where we enjoyed delicious Mexican food and margaritas (nomz) before ending the night at a wine bar.  My kind of night.  Finn had a meltdown while we were at dinner and Ashley and Ryan got a look It's always great to catch up with fellow scholars and their families and hear about their experiences.

We ended the first half of our trial trip the next morning when we headed to Copenhagen.  While we were driving, Mike and I were reflecting on Finn's behavior and travel thus far and gave him letter grades for each day. 

Day One: D.  Sorry buddy, but three major meltdowns leads to an almost failing grade.  The only reason you didn't fail was because you slept through dinner instead of screaming. 

Day Two: B-. So much better!  After a successful car ride and sight seeing tour, the only major meltdown we had was the routine dinner time meltdown at the Mexican restaurant.  

I would say it was a semi-successful first half of the trip.  We learned that Finn doesn't do well in the car seat for extended periods of time and definitely does better when we drive in the morning.   He had a meltdown both nights around 7:30, maybe from just exhaustion and overstimulation. It was a trend that continued for the rest of the trip.  Luckily, he was able to calm down (eventually) and we continued on with our night.  Other than that, he was great.  He slept well in our two different hotels and was happy as a clam to be cruising around in his stroller. 

We have a lot of travel in the next few weeks before we head home to the United States, so hopefully Finn will get better in the car seat and we'll figure out how to avoid the 7:30 meltdown as the summer progresses. Inshallah (God willing) as the Turks say....