Craft: Three Weeks Old

It's hard to believe it's already time for another update!  The days (and weeks) seem to be flying.  I thought things moved quickly when Lilly was little, but now that I have two I really can't figure out where the time goes.  We are coming up on feeding time so I will (try to) be brief (except really when does that ever actually happen?!)!

Weight/Length:  I should probably start removing this category and just adding it back in when we go to the doctor for measurements, because I have no idea.  He's not starving and his growth is decidedly not stunted, though.  Keep reading for photo evidence.

Sleep:  Craft had me fooled for the first two weeks of his life - the little chunker tricked me into thinking 5-hour stretches were normal!  I am not sure whether he hit a growth spurt or what, but this past weekend was rough - up every two hours (or less) to eat (not only at night but during the day as well) and it seemed like he was eating all. the. time.  My lovely lady lumps and I were beyond exhausted.  For some reason I thought Lilly was sleeping more at this point, but I'm not really sure that's the case - I went back and looked at the records I kept for her (yes, I kept records, nerd alert) and she was up less but she was not nearly as good at nursing (I do not miss that one bit!) and typically  nursed for an hour at a time.  Anyway, this week has been a little better, and C must have known I was going to blog about him being up a lot because last night he gave me a 5-hour stretch followed by a 3.5-hour stretch.  Let's keep up the good work, buddy, because Mama feels like a new person today!  Also a random sleep-related item: Craft does not appear to like being swaddled.  I tried to force it at first, because Lilly loved it and slept so well in a swaddle, but Craft seems to like having his hands out and near his face.  This changes everything I know about sleeping, so I am winging it!  Although I guess the good news is if he isn't swaddled it's one less habit we have to break later.  I have been swaddling him with his arms out, more for warmth than anything else.  He also likes to sleep on his side.  I know, the fact that I'm not following the rules ("back is best!") is shocking even to me.

Feeding:  This varies seemingly by the day.  Since my 2-week post Craft has been eating around every two hours and cluster feeding in the evenings.  However, for the past two days he has gone a little longer between some of his feedings, and then as mentioned above last night he went for 5 hours and then 3.5 hours.  Due to the longer stretches between feedings and the fact that I'm a cow anyway I am producing a lot of milk, and Craft is clearly really good at eating, so it doesn't take him too long to eat and we are typically up and back down in 20-30 minutes.  He is much better at nursing than Lilly was at this point, and I'm grateful for that.  However, I'm not sure whether I've mentioned it yet but this kid refuses to take a bottle.  The doctor told us to try to introduce it between 2-4 weeks for best results.  We started right at two weeks and we have tried quite a few times, but even if he's starving he wants nothing to do with it.  Lilly was the opposite - she was a champ at bottles but not good at nursing - so I am in uncharted territory with this one.  We have approximately one million Dr. Brown's bottles, so I keep hoping he'll learn to love them since we already have so many but so far he's seriously uninterested.  He needs to figure it out, though, because I am in a wedding in a few weeks and I don't know what I'm going to do if he won't take one by then (not to mention when I go back to work, but we have a while before we have to worry about that).  I ordered a few different types of bottles for him to try (including a MAM and a Comotomo, both of which have great reviews and are allegedly  more breast-like), so we'll see what happens...wish me luck.  And send me some tips if you've dealt with this too!

Developments:  Craft seems to be "waking up" more by the day.  He's been pretty alert from the day he was born, but he is awake and alert for longer periods of time now.  He also gets bored easily and likes to do different things every so often - so if he's in the bouncy seat for a while, he may fuss a little until I move him to the Mamaroo (thanks Aunt Meagan, Uncle Bo & Kinsley for letting us borrow it!) or the swing or his mat.  He just likes to be in on the action, I think.  He finds his hands quite a bit and has even started batting (not on purpose, I'm sure) at the toys that hang from his play mat.  His neck continues to get stronger and he is continually improving at holding his head up.  I'm sure it's a fluke, but he's rolled onto his side a few times as well, mainly in his sleep.  I finally figured out that he likes to sleep that way (actually, Dan figured that out) and both of us have been happier since that discovery.  

Firsts This Week:  First time meeting his bestie, Baby Stephen!

C looks even more huge compared to sweet little Stephen, ha!

The weather was SO nice over the weekend, we also went on our first walk.  I didn't get a pic of both of my babies in the stroller, but it was nice to get out of the house and the weather was glorious.  Craft seemed to enjoy it as well:

Also, we celebrated C's 3-week birthday by going on another outing - we took big sister Lilly to school for the first time today!  More on that later.

Likes:  Not many changes since last week: sleeping.  eating.  having a clean diaper.  bath, especially the hair washing part.  the piano play mat.  the bouncy seat.  the swing.  the mamaroo.  pooping.  sleeping on his side.  being entertained.  peeing during diaper changes (only on mommy).  being outside.

Dislikes:  Again, no real changes here: being cold.  being hungry.  hiccups.  tummy aches due to not burping (ugh!).  the process of diaper changing.  

What I'm Thankful For:  Last night's 5-hour stretch!  I'm sure it was a fluke but I would not be unhappy with a nightly repeat performance.  :-)

What I'm Looking Forward To:  A visit from my parents this weekend!  Dan and Lilly are heading to Concord on Saturday evening to celebrate Erica's birthday on Sunday, so Mom and Dad are coming to visit for the weekend to see Lilly and Craft and to keep me company when Dan and L head out.  I'm excited to get to spend some time with them.

Next Pediatrician Appointment:  A week from today!  March 5.

How Mommy's Doing:  Better today, again I think due to a little extra sleep. I need to stop talking about it or it will never happen again, I'm sure.  With all of the nursing and the lack of sleep, my nerves were a little on edge and I have been feeling a little overwhelmed.  There was one day earlier this week where I genuinely did not think I was gonna make it.  I'll do another post on how we're adjusting later, but things improved drastically from that rough day and I'm feeling much better about life in general.  This has definitely been an adjustment for all of us, but I wouldn't change one thing!  OK that's a total lie, if babies would sleep 12 hours straight from the moment the exit the womb who wouldn't change that, but you know what I mean.  Ha!

Remember how I did a post on Lilly's many moods?  I feel like I should dedicate a similar post to the many faces of Craft, this kid is so expressive!

If you follow  me on Instagram, you've already seen this but I couldn't resist posting it here as well.  This was not posed, he did this all on his own.  I was laughing so hard!

We're halfway to the weekend, y'all!

Sarah