6 weeks

6 week old! I have a little 6 week old! Last week was his first responsive smile and it about melting my heart. I was thinking about little babies as my sister is getting ready to have her second one in the next day or 2! I was remembering how scared I was of infants and their fragile heads, And how I had absolutely no idea what I was doing the first few weeks. Before Jaden my interaction with a baby younger than 3 months old was so limited, I could count on one hand the babies I had held and of those 4 babies, I had only changed one diaper...which I put on backwards and caused a huge mess when the kid pooped!

All that to say, I am in no way a baby expert, but I'm slowly becoming an expert on my baby. Here are a few things that have been lifesavers these past 6 weeks, so I can remember them for round 2 baby!

1. Zip pajamas, no one has time for button pjs

2. Pampers swaddler diapers. They have the line that turns blue when he pees, we would change his diaper 20 times a day without that little blue line

3. Changing pad covers! We have 4 covers....and go through them each week.  Even though I have learned to change a diaper in record time and keep his penis covered as much as possible, the moment I let my guard down, little man is sure to pee everywhere. 

4. Ergo baby...that baby carrier is amazing, and gets us out and around

5. Sound Machine, it's a beautiful thing, we can go from thunderstorm to the beach to a brook all in a few seconds, but they all work wonders during nap time

6. Infant mittens! Jaden has some huge paws and he has nails that grow so fast women everywhere should be jealous, these mittens have been lifesavers for his eyes and face and mouth that get beat up without them

7. Gripe water and gas drops to help his gas problem and saline solution to clear out his nose, which he hates all three but they save the day a few minutes later

And now some photos of my 6 week old

6 weeks

6 week old! I have a little 6 week old! Last week was his first responsive smile and it about melting my heart. I was thinking about little babies as my sister is getting ready to have her second one in the next day or 2! I was remembering how scared I was of infants and their fragile heads, And how I had absolutely no idea what I was doing the first few weeks. Before Jaden my interaction with a baby younger than 3 months old was so limited, I could count on one hand the babies I had held and of those 4 babies, I had only changed one diaper...which I put on backwards and caused a huge mess when the kid pooped!

All that to say, I am in no way a baby expert, but I'm slowly becoming an expert on my baby. Here are a few things that have been lifesavers these past 6 weeks, so I can remember them for round 2 baby!

1. Zip pajamas, no one has time for button pjs

2. Pampers swaddler diapers. They have the line that turns blue when he pees, we would change his diaper 20 times a day without that little blue line

3. Changing pad covers! We have 4 covers....and go through them each week.  Even though I have learned to change a diaper in record time and keep his penis covered as much as possible, the moment I let my guard down, little man is sure to pee everywhere. 

4. Ergo baby...that baby carrier is amazing, and gets us out and around

5. Sound Machine, it's a beautiful thing, we can go from thunderstorm to the beach to a brook all in a few seconds, but they all work wonders during nap time

6. Infant mittens! Jaden has some huge paws and he has nails that grow so fast women everywhere should be jealous, these mittens have been lifesavers for his eyes and face and mouth that get beat up without them

7. Gripe water and gas drops to help his gas problem and saline solution to clear out his nose, which he hates all three but they save the day a few minutes later

And now some photos of my 6 week old

Sleep Training

Sleep training

For the first 4 week, Jaden has been eating and sleeping whenever he wants, he has a shirt that says "I may be small but I'm in charge" and he wears it with power and authority. He has run the show around here, but because I am going back to work in a few weeks, Kyle and I have started the fun adventure of sleep training. In a perfect world, jaden would start his day at 7am, then stay awake for 1.5 hours, take a nap and eat again at 10. We would do this on repeat of eat, awake, nap until 10pm where we would cut out the 1.5 hours of wake time and put him back to sleep only to wake every 3 hours to eat and then back to sleep until 7am.

That is life in a perfect world, in the training world, keeping Jaden awake for 1.5 hours has proven to be quite the task. We take a bath, take trips to target, stroll around the block, tummy time on the mat, go to every room and check out the ceiling fans...this kid is very aware and wants to take in everything. When he is bored and ready to move to the next activity he gives a little whimper and we are off to the circus. The problem has become after he feeds making sure he doesn't go back to sleep, but once he has awaken and has had all that fun, he will remain wide awake during nap time. It takes ever rock, bounce and sway to finally get this kid to sleep.  We were told the swing is the key to rocking a kid to sleep, so we borrowed a really nice swing from our friend. Jaden will rock in the swing looking at the mobile and ceiling fan, wide awake. I can tell he is tired, but he fights sleep constantly. We finally got a sound machine and this thing has been a life savor...combo his rock-n-play and white noise and we have ourselves a party! I have been rocking him to sleep on a few naps and one thing I love is that this kid definitely belongs to me...this evening I was rocking him while talking with my friend Lisa on the phone. Anytime Lisa and I get together it is almost guaranteed that someone tells us we are too loud and we need to quiet down. We were talking about her upcoming wedding plans so you can imagine excitement + our normal loud voices = escalated volume! Not only did my son not flinch at the level of "excitement" but my son fell asleep and slept through the whole conversation...whoo hoo finally a buddy to be on my side of the whole "you are too loud" debacle!!

Anyways all this training seems to be working, because as of yesterday he was sleeping 4.5 hours straight at night. The first time he did this, I woke up at the 3 hour mark ready to feed and he was sound asleep, I was worried he was sitting there starving so I watched him for the next hour, and finally at the first sign of movement, I scooped him up to save my poor extremely hungry and malnourished 12 pound son. He lazily woke up, ate without a fuss and went back to bed. I recognize now that I over reacted and have relaxed a little these last couple of nights. Now I am thinking a couple more days of this and we might be dropping that midnight feeding and sleeping on through the night..yippee!! Here are a few photos of our sleep and awake adventures

Sleeping through the patriots game

Taking off his clothes to keep his awake

Swing time (he acts asleep in this but never really is!)

Working on rolling over

Hanging out on his play mat

He loves sleeping in his bouncer

Checking out the world from his changing table, his favorite place to sit and wonder about the deep things of theworld 

1 month old!

One month old

I can't believe that Jaden is about to be one month old!! I love watching him discover the world and begin connecting with Kyle and I! My greatest accomplishment this month has been managing to shower almost everyday and getting dressed and matching most days (who am I kidding..tshirt and sweatpants always match) Also, kyles birthday was saturday and I managed to make a cake while holding Jaden...barefoot with a baby, baking in the kitchen...it doesn't get more classic than that! 

A couple of things I want to remember about Jadens first month of life.

1. In the first 2 weeks he loved being swaddled, in the last 2 weeks he has become a little Houdini and managed to free his arms everytime. We had a special Velcro thing made for swaddling and jaden managed to free his arms some how... He has won this battle and We have started putting him in wearable blankets every night which allows him to have his arms free and his body swaddled. Also, best invention for PJ's are the pj's with the zippers...the button and snap PJ's are the definition of evil for moms changing a kid at 2 am! No matter how many times I start over there always seems to be extra snaps without a mate left over!

2. He hates a pacifier. He is dramatic in his dislike for a pacifier, I've tried multiple times to get him to take it, but he will gag and cough like someone just tried to strangle him. He is no fool when it comes to knowing what produces milk and what doesn't.

3. He loves to eat. This kid has gained a pound a week every week and is now dressed in all 3 month clothing! Thankfully at night he wakes up, eats and goes back to sleep without much of a fuss, but when this kid is hungry, he means it. He is a mellow and chill baby until someone withholds his food for too long and then it's no more MR nice kid! During his growth spurt he ate around the clock and neither of us slept..apparently another one is coming at 6-8weeks...I'm preparing mentally for those few days!

4. His head control is incredible. During tummy time he keeps his head up and can turn it both ways to follow my voice around the room. He also maintains great eye contact. He rolled to his side the other day and Kyle and I both told him to stop growing up. 

Here are some photos to enjoy

Newborn - 3m

Today I had to pack up and put away Jaden's newborn clothes and it was kinda awful. No one really warned me about what that feeling is like...the feeling of wanting to see who your child will become and watch them discover their world but wishing they could do it without growing up so fast! I heard advice from so many moms to not worry because the late nights wouldn't last long, but when the late night feedings are gone that means my baby won't be an infant anymore. He has changed so much in just 3 weeks and the days have flown by, I cant imagine how I will feel when I look up and he is walking and talking. Every birthday my dad use to ask me, "who told you, you could grow up?" And it's a question I think about when I look at my son. I'm guessing I have to accept that he is going to grow up without my permission so I might as well enjoy each stage as it comes.

Today, my son weighed In at 11lbs 8oz! That's almost a pound a week for those counting...at this rate, I'm looking at early retirement and the world's youngest linebacker!! Here are some pictures of my 3 week old son in 3 month clothing!