Seven weeks one day

This is us in our jammies last week. I have been pretty good about getting dressed in the mornings, but some days... I generally change Franklin into daytime clothes, however.

I think he had another growth spurt yesterday: all he wanted to do was eat and eat and eat, and instead of the normal 4ish-hour blocks of sleep that night, it was more like 2-hour blocks. He's normally eating every 2 to 3 hours during the day, but yesterday it was more like every hour. Hungry boy.

Naptimes are a little easier now. Of course yesterday: not so easy, seeing as he was just too hungry to sleep long. I can usually get at least one 2-hour nap in during the day, and two other (shorter) naps. He still throws a bit of a fit if I don't catch him in time; if he's too tired he'll cry and flail. When he starts to yawn, I watch him carefully and start to remove stimulus (no more talking/singing loudly, no new objects introduced, no exuberant games. After the third yawn, I wrap him in his blankie from the waist down, take him to the bedroom and close the curtains, and cuddle him and sing a quiet song and give him his pacifier (seen in the photo--I call it his sucker). When he's quite calm and a bit glassy-eyed, I place him gently in his basket and make quiet shhhhh sounds. If he's still quite calm, I try to leave the room.

Normally this doesn't get him to sleep the first try. I think for his first nap today it took about three or four return trips to the bedroom to replace his sucker and re-calm him. But he's now been in there quietly for nearly two hours, and I've been in the next bedroom studying. And still in my pajamas because I don't want to go back in there and wake him.

I've discovered the joy of bathing with babies. I think it's great to get in the bath with Franklin, and he loves it too. He'll happily paddle away while I support his shoulders and neck, and it's so nice to have skin-to-skin contact. Last night we spent a good long while in there, just cuddling and soaking. Partner hasn't tried it yet, but I've told him he should. Franklin hasn't pooed in the tub with me (yet) but he has peed. It's kind of funny.

We went to the local baby group the other day and saw two of the other ladies from our childbirth class there. Both their babies were born about a week after Franklin, but both were HUGE. They're both formula-fed and their faces are just so fat. Franklin looks much cuter than either of their babies. Though one did have lovely blonde hair and light blue eyes: if he was breastfed, I'm sure he would have been a lot cuter.

Six weeks one day

Franklin just looks so cute in his big boy clothes!

We got his first smile last week, and he now sporadically smiles at us if we're lucky. I'm trying to get him in a routine of eat, change, play, nap, but he doesn't like the nap bit. Today he had about eight hours of non-napping, with about ten minutes of sleep at a time during it. He did have one morning nap of about an hour, starting at 10AM, and has gone to bed for about 7.30PM, but skipped his bath. I don't know if I should wake him up for it, or just let him sleep. He's not even in his jammies.

Playtime mostly consists of laying down and looking at stuff, like the ceiling for instance. Or the curtain, or a chair. He likes looking at stuff. I played "This little piggy" with him last night and he liked it. He also likes having his tummy blown after changing; even if he's crying, he'll stop for a moment. He doesn't like passing gas much, though. If it's bad it'll make him cry. It's the same for forceful poo. It can wake him up at night, though he doesn't usually cry at night--he just grunts and squirms. I've found that I can't really skip changing him at night because he won't sleep with a dirty bum. If he wakes up to eat, he needs to be changed. Thankfully he is doing 3 or 4 hours sleep at a time at night, so I'm functioning during the day.

I've been knitting him a wool cardigan for next winter. I have really enjoyed it, and am about halfway done; when I'm finished I'll take a picture of him in it. If I have enough yarn, that is...

Four weeks five days

Franklin has decided he likes getting his bum changed. If he's dirty or wet and it's sleepy time, he makes a cute little grunt to let me know he's ready. If he's awake, sometimes he'll start to cry about it until I change him. However, I try to change him before or after (usually before) every feed, so he's clean regularly. Since we use cloth diapers/nappies, he feels the wet much more than if they were disposibles.

Speaking of cloth ones, I bought a new gadget for fastening them, called a Snappi. It's not a pin so there is no longer any danger of poking people or babies, and it goes on much more quickly and easily. Plus the diaper/nappy can be fastened very compact, meaning he doesn't have such a huge bubble butt like before. I love Snappies! It also means Partner can change the baby in the middle of the night. Usually he doesn't wake up fully, and I was concerned about him handling pins while still half-asleep: but not any more!

My mother was sad to leave us last week, and we (especially me) were sad to see her go. She had a very special way with Franklin and he loved going to her; even when he was fussy, he would happily shut up in her arms and go to sleep.

Now that she's gone, I've had a few days on my own with him while Partner's been at work. One day I took him and the dog out with the new stroller. He fell straight to sleep for the whole walk, even over the bumpy gravely bits. However, when I tried to put him in it later in the day so I could garden, he informed me that he hated it, and wasn't going to just lie there and take it. So not much gardening that day. The next day I tried him in the sling to garden, and he liked it so much he fell asleep, but I had a hard time digging holes and planting my beans while trying to keep my balance.

Have I mentioned how much this little boy is growing? He's starting to get too heavy to hold with one arm while nursing. He hasn't been weighed since his first week, but I think he's gained tons since then.

Three weeks, five days

Oh he's getting bigger and bigger. And he still wants to eat and eat. Unfortunately he's been getting bad burps, and they're hard to get up sometimes, making him uncomfortable and fussy.

He's a lot more alert and is awake for longer periods--maybe an hour at a time, a few times a day. He looks at faces now, and listens and watches when I talk to him. I played a little game with him--he may or may not have played back with me. I kissed his hand and told him what I was doing several times. Then he grabbed my finger and put it in his mouth. What a cutie!

He's sleeping a little bit longer by himself at night, but I'm still not getting much sleep at a time: two hours, if I'm lucky. He was down for two hours with me while Partner was downstairs watching tv, and when Partner came up, he woke me up with a start and I couldn't remember where the baby was.

I've also caught Partner burping an imaginary baby in his sleep.