6 Weeks Old

Someday I'll have enough time to post about things other than Jonah, but for now he's pretty much consuming my life :) Also, no editing on these photos because, who cares? Here he is at six weeks:

Y'all. This is monumental. This is the first week we were able to put him in his swing and he actually stayed there, happily. Before this, someone pretty much had to be holding him 24/7. I can go to the restroom without him screaming! I can change out the laundry! I can fix and eat lunch! Game. Changer.

Photobombed by Scarlett. She's pretty interested in him and doesn't like it when he cries.

His arms are always going.

We've been working on tummy time to help us with our neck muscles (which are pretty great, btw), but he really doesn't care for it too much. He gets easily frustrated.

Cheers!

5 Weeks Old

 After a hard week last week, I decided we needed some sleep training for naps. A few people have told me that he should sleep better at night since Jonah's not taking proper naps, but all parents know that sleep begets sleep, and a baby who doesn't nap during the day likely won't sleep well at night. Since we're bed sharing at night, I started laying down with him for his naps during the day. Doing this, we were able to get about one good nap most days of the week. Luckily, this did seem to have a positive effect on our night sleeping.

I left Jonah for the first time this week also. Will came home from work a little early on Thursday since it was our anniversary (4 years!), and I needed to run to Target to get his mom a birthday gift. It was much easier to run to the store by myself rather than load the little guy up in the car and take him, so Will stayed home with him. I worried the whole time and rushed home, but when I got there this is what I saw.

On Saturday we went to the Museum of Natural Science for a late Father's Day celebration. This was Jonah's first big day full of outings, and he did a great job! Will wore him in the K'Tan at the museum. I fed him at both the museum and the restaurant without too much ado.

I took this picture one night of him sleeping. He loved being swaddled while in the NICU. We bought one of those swaddle blankets with velcro for him, but he does not like his arms inside of it. I usually compromise and leave them half-out, but he always works out of it in a few minutes. I loved his pose here, though. He almost always sleeps with his hands up by his face.

 We had an evening with slightly cooler weather, so we took advantage of it and went on a walk with Will's mom and her dog.

 I've been bitten by mosquitoes in our neighborhood in the past few weeks, so I went to Academy and bought a mosquito net for $10 and cut it up to fit around the stroller. Problem solved!

 Anniversary pictures

And Jonah's 5 Week Pictures:

He was looking at something

We've been working on weaning off the nipple shield the lactation consultant gave us, and he's definitely getting more milk without it. As a result (I think), he's also started spitting up quite a bit. He's never spit up much; in fact, he did in the NICU when they were forcing 90 mL of formula down him and he did once or twice right when he got home when we over-fed him, but this week was the first time since then.

You also had your first real bath this week since the last part of your cord fell off. The first bath went really well until we tried to wash your hair. The second bath wasn't such a hit. I hope you learn to like them!

4 Weeks Old

One more to get caught up...

Week four was a bit of a doozy. You were still cluster feeding ALL evening long and then weren't sleeping worth anything during the night. In fact, two nights in a row you only slept three hours total. And naps. You had a good one on Monday morning, but other than that, forget about them.

 Yeah, you're totally wearing the same outfit as he was for last week's photos. Oops.

But then one night you slept for five and a half hours, so there's that.

You've started grasping my finger when I put it in your hand.

We've started taking walks in the K'tan (the only place I can get you to sleep these days), but we can't do it very consistently because it is SO hot here. And the mosquitos are about to be out in full force, so we'll have to figure out something else for our walks.

We took you to small group on Monday. That's the first time Mom and Dad have been on six weeks or so, so it was nice to see everyone again. Everyone is totally smitten with you.

We also heard your first hint of a baby coo. I can't wait until you can start communicating with me in a way other than crying.

On Monday we went to the birth center for your newborn hearing screening. It was great to see all the midwives again; they were quite impressed with your hair. Unfortunately, we have to go back in two weeks to redo your hearing test because they couldn't get an accurate reading. You are sometimes quite the noisy eater and you chose today to show everyone your skills! Hopefully you'll be quieter next time so we don't have to do the alternative test.

On Tuesday during our new moms' group, one of the lactation consultants told me it was time for you to start having tummy time to work on your head control. I couldn't believe that you are old enough for that, it seems like you just came home from the hospital! But we started working on it and you have already made huge progress on holding up your head.

 You assume a very serious position while eating. We call this your "do not disturb" pose. You LOVE having your hands up by your face. If we try to swaddle you with your hands down or across your chest you scream until we let them loose.

Thursday was the Fourth of July. You are the only one who ended up in something red, white, or blue. Mom and Dad were tired. Some friends came over and we grilled for dinner.

I was not prepared for how awake you'd be. I thought newborns ate, slept, and pooped. But you are awake so much!

3 Weeks Old

Time is a funny thing with a newborn. The nights seem to stretch on forever between feedings and diapers and lullabies to try and go back to sleep, only to wake up an hour and a half later to do it all over again. But the days are flying by at an alarming rate. Even though we're definitely experiencing some normal newborn woes (nap strikes! nursing difficulties! cluster feeding for 12 hours at a time!), I'm caught between wishing Jonah would stay my newborn forever and looking forward to all the learning and growing he has yet to do.

I think most people fall into one of two categories: baby lovers or kid lovers. That's not to say that kid lovers don't like babies or visa versa, but in general, I think people either look forward to the baby stage more or the kid stage more. While I can't wait for Jonah to be my little sidekick, I also panic a little every Saturday when he turns another week old. I LOVE having a teeny tiny baby.

I love his little grunts and squeaks.

I love his expressions.

I love when he explores his body. During week three he was really into making bubbles and sticking out his tongue.

I love his soft little feet and tiny little toes. I love watching him flex his toes. I love that he's starting to rub his feet over my arms while he nurses.

I love that he already loves me. I love that he's not a fussy baby and only cries when he's hungry (which is all the time).

I love that he seems to remember doing Crossfit in Mommy's belly. Some babies are swayers or rockers, but Jonah's a bouncer. Sometimes the only way to make him happy is to sit on my yoga ball and bounce, shush, and pat his back. I joke that it reminds him of doing double unders.

I love that he still curls his legs up like a little frog. When I was pregnant with him we called Jonah our little tadpole because we didn't want to call him an "it" before we knew his gender. The fact that he curls his legs up like this makes me smile, like our name somehow predicted how he would act.

Other notes from week 3:

• He's started grunting and moaning in satisfaction or frustration while nursing
• We had a few days of difficult nursing this week. Jonah would latch for a few minutes and then pull out and scream, and then go back on. 
• Started cluster feeding for about six hours straight in the evenings. This makes for one tired momma.