AMAZING!!!!

That is the one word that best describes my sweet beautiful boy.  He gets more handsome by the day.  I never imagined it was possible to love something/someone this much and it just grows more and more every day.  I take him into my arms and just want to squeeze him and kiss him and never let go.  I see him with his Daddy and the way he stares up into his eyes and it simply melts my heart.

Monday is his 2 month check up with Dr. Gentile and we are anxious to see how much he has officially grown even though we see it every day.  I can't believe he is already 2 months.  It truly feels like yesterday when Dr. Soni placed him in my arms for the very first time. 

He is getting SO strong.  His neck muscles are stronger by the day. We give him 'Tummy time' every day.

He is holding his head up off our chest most often when we are cuddling or burping him.  He sits up with just a little help and loves to stand up tall. When we hold him up, he pushes his legs straight and tall.  He even tries to crawl up our chests when we hold him.

He is now grabbing and holding onto things like his burp cloth, Daddy's chain and Mommy's hair (ponytails are becoming my best friend).  He is also sleeping longer through the night, now up to 5-7.5 hours.  YAY for us!   He continues to be very alert  and looks all around and follows our voices and images.  He is wide eyed most of the day and is now just taking smaller catnaps throughout the day.

He loves his swing (thanks Pat and Laura) and sits and watches his Disney movies intently or just falls asleep whichever suits him best.

We have started having him join us at the table for supper every night.  He sits in his Fisher Price Space Saver High Chair.  We love it because we can recline him far enough back so he is comfortable and the settings will allow us to gradually sit him up as he is able to tolerate it.

He is gaining weight and we can really see it in his face and thighs.  We continue to swaddle him for bed as we find he sleeps much more soundly. He even sometimes falls asleep while Daddy is burping him.

This past Thursday we both had a dry run, as I picked up a day at work and Daddy stayed home with him alone for the first time.  It was the longest I had been away from him since he was born.  I had his picture at my desk and I couldn't decide if it was harder to stare at the picture and miss him more or stare at it and know he wasn't far from my every thought.  I am really busy at work and time flies by so it makes it much better to have to go every day...but not that much better.  I still miss him like crazy and don't want to miss a single minute of anything he does.  Monday I start back full time and then the real test will be on Thursday when he has a full day with the Nanny.  We really like her and I feel 100% confident that she is going to be great with Blaze...but that doesn't make it any easier to leave him. 

Grandma and Papa arrive today and Mom has called me everyday saying that they had only a few more sleeps till they get here.  I can't wait for them to see Blaze.  It is going to be so great to have them be so close to their newest Grandson.  My other nieces and nephews have never lived in the same town with their Grandparents so they missed out on a lot.  At least now for 6ish months of the year they will be able to spend as much time as they want with Blaze.

Our little Buddha

I am going back a little here, to when we were in Mumbai for the birth of our little one, but I had to dig out all the info and pics before I could really do this post justice.  Sorry for the delay.  Prior to going to India we both had mentioned to both of the Docs that we would like to have some sort of traditional Indian blessing for our baby.  We never really talked about it again and thought that maybe it had slipped their minds, since they were so busy.  So we just left it at that.

Much to our surprise, while in Mumbai, around a week after Blaze's birth, the Docs and members of the SI team, surprised the 3 of us with an authentic Indian Naming Ceremony and Celebration. It was truly a day of celebration all around. Not only was it Blaze's naming ceremony, but also the grand opening of SI's newly acquired extended office right next door to their present office.

SI's very first surrogate (Nagma) to deliver for an international IP (who also was KT's care taker) was there, and funny enough it was her birthday as well.  The entire team including our fantastic Docs, were all dressed up in different forms of beautiful Indian dress and there were decorations galore throughout the office.

Even the driver Agit, and our amazing Amit (our travel guy) were there.

Gerry and I were both so overwhelmed with their incredible kindness, it brought tears to our eyes.  The naming of a newborn is a very auspicious happening in the Indian culture.  It is said that the name is a lifetime thing and hence there is much excitement and showering of blessings on the baby.   Immediately as we arrived, everyone welcomed us at the door of the office with hugs and each of  us received a 'Tika' (ceremonies of the Hindus begins with a Tika topped with a few grains of rice placed on this spot with the index finger or the thumb) on our foreheads, even Blaze received one.

As we sat on the couch, we each were presented with gifts.  I had flowers placed in my hair and as the mother, I was also presented with gifts placed into a scarf laid across my legs of rice, coconut and henna.

Each had a particular meaning (figures I can't remember them).  We opened our gifts and to our amazement we were each given a traditional Indian top.

 

Can you believe it, they actually were able to find one that fit Gerry's broad shoulders, and we laughed at the size, XXXXXL!

We all changed into our new tops immediately and started the celebration.

In the center of the room there was a small cradle that was decorated with colorful flowers, ribbons and balloons.

All of the married women gathered around the cradle and Blaze was passed around as each of them said a male Indian name.

The last person to say a name, that is the name that is chosen and it is whispered in his ear by the Aunt (that was Gopa) and then it is said aloud for all to hear.

Blaze was then placed in the cradle by his Mother.

His Indian name is Siddhartha (pronounced Sid-art) and was Buddha's original name.  So now Blaze has 2 names and also a nickname. When we speak to the Docs they always refer to him as Sid.

The celebration continued with food (Nagma made a huge pot of the best biryani that we have ever had, YUMMY!!) and lots fun and conversation the rest of the afternoon.

We even got some henna (Mendhi) done.  Gopa tried for the first time doing it...I think she did a great job!

Even Gerry got into the action.

Then one of the surrogates came in and designed a full blown professional henna tattoo for me.  What an honor it was.

Even the sisters from next door taking care of the surrogates came by to see Blaze.

It was amazing and so wonderful in every aspect. What an honor to have everyone do this for us and our little angel.  At the end of a very long day, the guest of honor was a little tuckered out...

While in India, we looked all over for the 'perfect' little Buddha to put in Blaze's nursery, but ran out of time.  Once home I found this one:

Now its not totally authentic, but it certainly matches the colors of his room.

We chatted with the Docs last night.  They are both missing their Godson Blaze very much, but their office is showered with photos of him everywhere so he is never far from their thoughts.  We can't wait till they can come visit the U.S and see the 3 of us.  Hopefully it won't be too long!

Fun with Family

Well it has been a long, but much too short week.  My big sister Tracy, and her 2 teenage girls (my lovely nieces Micaela and Megan) left Saturday.  We had a full week of visiting, fun, sightseeing and relaxation.  They loved Blaze and he loved them too!

It felt great to have Blaze's first family visitors too.  Grandma and Papa come in just 2 short weeks, we are SOOOOO excited!.  Grandma is chomping at the bit to see her latest Grand Baby.  She made sure to tell my sister to be sure to save some hugs and kisses for her too.

We spent the week having fun in our backyard enjoying the beautiful Arizona fall weather sunbathing and swimming, doing lots of shopping, and some sightseeing which included a big trip north to Sedona and the Grand Canyon.

Enjoying the pool

 Sedona

Grand Canyon

Blaze was so good, Gerry carried him in our trusty sling and most people didn't even know we had a baby with us.  He has done more traveling in his 6 weeks of life then most adults do in a lifetime.  It is mostly due to the fact that he really is a joy to be around.  He is so amazing and such a great baby.  He is SO good.  He just stares up at us like we are his entire world.  I wonder if he knows how much we adore him.  Blaze has starting sleeping sometimes up to 5-6 hours at night and his 'fussy times are very few and far between.  He loves to be sung to, and is enjoying the cooler weather now for walks in his stroller.  He doesn't like to get out of the water once he is in it, whether it be the bath, shower or pool and he sure lets us know it. 

My sister even treated us to a homemade Canadian Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixins, since it was their Thanksgiving this past weekend.  They even brought lots of Canadian baby stuff for our soon to be dual citizen.

Gerry got the most thoughtful gift this past week from one of his co-workers at the Fire Station.  She had ordered it especially for Blaze and it was so perfect for his proud Daddy. (FF=Fire Fighter)

I am in love with another man...

He may be a little man, but none the less MY little man.  I am so in love!  In love with my adorable bald headed boy!  I can't help but stare into those big brown eyes at every chance I get, and tell myself how much I truly adore him.  We are blessed beyond belief.  I promised myself and continue everyday, to not take one day, one hour, one single minute with my little guy for granted! We are so very fortunate to have been given this amazing gift from God.  So many years of heartbreak and disappointment and now we have this sweet little angel to call our own.  We know how lucky we are.  So, many others are still waiting or still trying and I know their pain all to well.  I won't for one minute forget all that we have gone through to make our dreams come true and I remember ever time I stare down at my little wonder that he is my little miracle.  He seems to change daily.  I see it in his face.  He is constantly making funny faces and he makes us laugh all the time.  He is absolutely precious and perfect in every way.  He is the BEST!  Mommy's little Monkey... and so the change for our blog layout and newest chapter in our journey.

 Today he went back for a follow up with Dr. Gentile.  Blaze has some drainage from his left eye that started just before we left India and continues to be a nuisance, but the Doc says it is probably caused by a bend in the tear duct and as he grows, it will straighten out.  It is quite common in newborns.  His own daughter had the same thing, and at 4 months it was totally cleared up.  So to help clear up the drainage he prescribed some drops.

Blaze is now a whopping 8.13 lbs and 21 inches long.  He gained over a pound in 2 weeks.  WOW!  He continues to thrive and the Doc is very pleased with his progress.  Next visit is in one month for the start of his vaccines.  UGH!  Poor little guy.  At least we have a month until that sure to be unhappy, but very important day.  He has been sleeping in his own room for about a week now in his big boy bed (aka crib).  He looks so tiny in this big crib compared to the playard.  Our baby monitor (after much deliberation and research, we decided on the Sony 900mhz 27 channel, and it works really great) is a Godsend now, as we are able to move about the house and not worry about not hearing him stir. 

This weekend my sister and 2 nieces are arriving for a visit to meet our newest family member.  This will be his first family visitors, and they are coming all the way from Canada.  They can't wait to see him and I can't wait for them to see his beautiful little face.

We chatted with both the SI Docs last night.  We try and keep them updated personally on their growing Godson and send photos as well.  KT had been into the clinic last week and is doing well and often asks about the 3 of us. She saw the pictures of Blaze that are up in the SI office.  It is so nice to be able to have that contact and to know that she and her family are well.

In the mean time I have been occupying my time with some crafts.  I like to scrapbook and have been really bad at keeping up with it.  So, along the same line I decided to make some closet dividers for Blaze's closet, as I went a little crazy with buying and thought it would be easier to organize the closet with them.  They are fairly expensive for just cheap, plastic dividers, so I thought to save a few dollars and to keep me busy I would try and make my own.

They are certainly not professional by any means, but they have my personal touch, and the best part is, I had fun making them.

Bottom line, they will serve their purpose and organize my buying baby clothes obsession.  I think I have got it under control now though...I can finally enter a store and come out empty handed! or with just one cute little outfit!!  Now that's progress, can you imagine if I had a girl????