5 Weeks

We had Will's 5 week Well Visit yesterday and he did so great! The vaccine shot barely phased him and the doc confirmed that we have a healthy baby! He weighed in at 11lbs, 13oz, so he's still packing on the pounds faster than the average baby. He eats all the time, so at least my efforts are paying off!

It seems like overnight, he became an alert baby and he's holding his head up!

He had his first Thanksgiving with his little buddy, Anders. But he could not be bothered to smile for this picture!

We also attempted to go shopping on Monday, which was glorious while he was sleeping, but extremely stressful when he woke up screaming! Another kind mom pointed me in the direction of the dressing room in Marshall's, where I could feed and change him. Crisis: averted! We are learning how to navigate life outside the safe confines of our house!  I do think, that much of my Christmas shopping will be online though!

We went on our first long card ride, too. It was 2.5 hours each way...to see the house we put an offer on in West Virginia! He made it about 2 hours to and from without crying. It was just a sneak peek into Christmas traveling.  We'll need to practice a few more times over the next month!

Still working on sleeping in the crib.  I don't swaddle his legs tight, so they flail and wake him up about every 1.5 - 2 hours.  Which is fine for a nap!  The pediatrician said he should gain more control over his limbs around 2 months, which should make sleeping a little better.  Somehow, my body seems to be adjusting to the lack of sleep...or very interrupted sleep.  I would certainly prefer 8 solid hours, though!

Life with our little buddy gets more fun all the time!

4 Weeks

I have never done so much laundry in my life!  And that is 2 sets of stairs, every time!  I did realize last week, that the cloth diapers we have DO fit him, so we are doing it part time.  At night, it's easier right now to just put a disposable on him, and Billy isn't a cloth diaper fan.  The leg holes are still a little big on Will, so there is a chance of a leak, but we have not had one.  They also don't have the "wet" indicator like the disposables do, which Billy doesn't like.  But I have been using them a lot during the day.  But oh yes, there is a lot more laundry with them!

We also have a crib sleeper!  You would have thought someone told me I won a small lottery when I got him to take a 2 hour nap in the crib last week!  Now, we have the monitor set up and as long as he's swaddled, he's pretty good in there.  I mostly follow the Happiest Baby on the Block guide to sleep.  I read the book and our pediatrician's office recommends the "5 S" system.

Billy have Will his first bottle today.  Success and fail...he took it right away, but we didn't realize we needed a slow-flow bottle because he chugged it right down like a champ, but then threw a lot of it back up.  Rookie parents at it again.

Week 3

Week 3 already!  No official weight update because we don't have a pediatrician appointment this week.  His next appointment will be in 2 weeks for his one month visit.  My home scale says he weighs 10.6 pounds, which sounds like it could be close to accurate.  Not only does he make the piggy sounds when he's hungry, but he also flails his head around and headbutts whoever is holding him.  This baby is serious about meal time.

We had our 3rd weekend visit from Lisamarie, Aaron and Baby Anders this weekend.  They live about an hour away, but every time they are near the city, they pop in.  Billy was gone for work Saturday and Sunday, so they brought me lunch and Aaron took Patton for walks.  I love this picture of the baby chaos!  

Since Billy was gone, I was on Patton duty.  For the first 2 walks, I used the Baby Bjorn and it really hurt my back.  For the rest of the weekend, I used the Moby Wrap...after watching some helpful YouTube videos about how to correctly carry a newborn in one.  I felt that he was much more secure in the wrap, and it hurt me a lot less!  We also got laundry and dishes done while he was wrapped up!

Last week, I was beginning to feel antsy about the house chores not getting done, but then someone in the New Mom's group I went to, referred me to this poem: Babies Don't Keep.  And since reading it, I've chilled out a little.

Mother, O' Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth.

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due,

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek - peekaboo.

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew,

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo.

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow,

But children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

~ Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

A lot of people have asked me about how cloth diapering is going, but we haven't started yet.  Even at about 10lbs, he's still too small for the one-size diapers.  Maybe in a couple weeks.  I didn't even realize how expensive disposable diapers are!  We go through about a box of 100 diapers per week.

We also took Will to vote with us on Tuesday.  Obviously, his carseat cover was the wrong color.  Red would have been more appropriate to support our ticket!  He was very popular with the elderly ladies in line with us though!

Week 2

Our little buddy is continuing to thrive, tipping the scales at 9.4lbs today!  That makes me feel like all the time I spend feeding him is really paying off!  He's a bit of a lazy eater and usually falls asleep about 10 minutes in, so I have to find ways to keep him awake and alert.

I get Babycenter daily alerts, and today's message was about umbilical cord care.  How timely, because until yesterday, we forgot to clean it and forgot that he should only be getting sponge baths!  Whoops - parenting fail.  The good thing is that it fell off today, so that is one less thing to worry about!

Sleep may be getting better...we went for 3 hour stretches last night.  We'll start working on crib naps this week.  I used to look forward to bed, but not so much these days!  I know it will be smoother sailing soon!

We tried the moby wrap with some success this weekend!  It is not easy to get it wrapped up and put him in, but once he was in there, he was loving it and I was enjoying having use of both arms again!

I picked up a Baby Bjorn today at the consignment store for more regular use...and I imagine it will be easier to manage on my own!  I'm taking my first venture out this week on my own.  I need a carseat instruction class from Billy before Wednesday!

Another week down, and we're both getting better at this new`life of ours!