Baum Squad: The Baum Family Blog: Craft: Two Weeks Old

I'm a day late again on this one, sorry in advance Craft for when you get older and discover that Mommy is a slacker. :-)

Weight/Length: We had our 2-week well-check yesterday. If you recall from Craft's one week post, the doctor told us at his first weight check that we could skip this appointment and just come back for his one-month well-check if we wanted to since he was already back up to birth weight 2 days after leaving the hospital. We decided it couldn't hurt to keep the appointment just to check in on things and make sure everything is okay. Plus, there was an incident with his circumcision (more on that later) that I wanted to discuss. Anyway, they didn't check his length but I can tell you from looking at him that he's already getting longer. And, drumroll please...my little chunker is up to 10 lbs 11 oz in weight!!! Yes, that is serious. The nurse checked his weight three times on three different scales to make sure it wasn't an error. She said, "I'm sorry to make you keep weighing him, I just want to make sure - I've never seen anything like it." It didn't seem like that big of a weight gain to me but I guess it is, because I could hear the doctor outside of our room before she came in saying to the nurse, "Wow, is that weight for real?" When Dr. V came into the room she said, "Man I feel so sorry for you, you have such issues with milk supply and malnourished/failure-to-thrive babies..." I guess I should take it as a compliment that she had no concerns considering she just snuggled him for the next 15 minutes and let me ask a few questions. After reporting his weight to family and friends, I had several responses of, "you must produce chocolate milk, or maybe straight cream." HA! Big boy.

Hooray weight checks! And greasy hair eek. It's so hard not to touch it all of the time!

C has been finding his thumb a lot.

Weight checks are exhausting.

Sleep: Little man spoiled us for the first week and a half by giving us 4-5 hour stretches at night...I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop! We had a two-night period at the beginning of this week where Craft decided that he wanted to cluster feed from about 12am-4am (or in one case he just wanted to be held while he pooped), but last night he was back to 3-4 hour stretches and was only up twice. I'm of course tired but have no complaints at all because I know it could be much worse! I read in a sleep guide that at this age he should be sleeping around 16 hours a day - Craft definitely sleeps more than that. I have been working to keep him awake some between feedings to see if it helps at night. So far I can't really tell a difference but he's so alert when he's awake, he just takes everything in and it is the sweetest.

I have also been experimenting some with the swaddle. Big sister Lilly LOVED to be swaddled and once she started sleeping through the night, getting her to sleep without it when she outgrew it (read: was breaking out of it) was really (luckily) our only challenge. Craft has not been very jerky with his movements and also seems to like to have his hands up near his face, so I have been swaddling him with arms out - more for warmth than anything else. Last night, I tried the swaddle, so I'm not sure if that contributed to better sleep as well or what but I'll keep experimenting and report back.

Feeding: Clearly we are having no issues here. Craft is nursing like a champ, and I'm so grateful! During the day, he eats somewhere between every 2-3 hours (typically it's 2 or 2.5). At night, it has varied - sometimes he's gone 4-5 hours and other nights he's wanted to eat it seems like every 30 seconds. Last night he went down around 10:00pm and was up at 1:30a and 4:30a. Overall, not too shabby. I think I have discovered that on the nights he wanted to cluster feed, he wasn't really hungry as much as gassy/wanting to be held. I have the HARDEST time getting this kid to burp, and I noticed that the two nights that were rough were nights where it seemed like he ate a lot but would not burp at all. Last night I tried not laying him down until I got at least a small burp and he seemed to do much better. Any burping tips that I may not have tried are greatly appreciated! I have also been pumping once or twice a day - I hate it, but I'm trying to balance building a freezer supply and dealing with discomfort as well.

Developments: I'm sure it's partially because of his size, but Craft seems way older than 2 weeks to me. I think he is an old wise little soul already, ha. Craft is very alert and also holds his head up for short periods of time. We also get pretty frequent smiles, but mainly when he's drifting off to sleep. Still, they are so sweet. There isn't too much to say for this category yet as he basically just eats and sleeps a lot.

Firsts This Week: First bath (well, first bath that wasn't a sponge bath, since both umbilical cord and plastic circumcision ring fell off)! He was so relaxed, he could not be bothered to stay awake.

Craft loves having his hair washed!

On that same note, he also took his first bath with big sister. I couldn't decide whether to just let Lilly help with bath or put them in together - I was worried she wouldn't like him being in her space, but surprisingly she loved it. She was very sweet with Craft and wanted to help bathe him, and she even tried to have a tea party with him. :-)

We also had our first "outing," even though it only lasted about 30 seconds. After the doctor yesterday, Craft and I ran into Rite Aid to pick up a few things. So glamorous. AND we had our first photo shoot - Stephanie took some newborn photos for us on Saturday which I cannot WAIT to share with you, everything I have seen so far has brought me to tears and there seriously aren't enough frames in my house (or wall space for that matter) to display them all!

Behind the scenes

He keeps finding that thumb! Wonder if he'll be a thumb sucker like big sister?

Likes: Sleeping. Eating. Having a clean diaper. Bath - especially having his hair washed. The piano play mat. The bouncy seat. The swing. Big sister showing him how to look in the mirror. Pooping.

Dislikes: The actual diaper changing process. Being cold. Being hungry. Hiccups.

What I'm Thankful For: Again, my sweet husband. He has really stepped up to the plate and has been so, so helpful, which is so nice when it feels like all I do most days is sit around and nurse. He cooks, he cleans, he grocery shops. And he is so wonderful with Lilly. It's been hard for me to give up my status as "favorite parent" (ha), but it has also been so sweet to watch them play together and do things together and to watch her further develop this sweet bond with her Daddy. He's so good about including her in things that he's doing - whether it is cooking or a house project. He's also getting really good at painting toenails. :-)

What I'm Looking Forward To: Warm weather. We've gotten a taste of it this week here in Raleigh and it is glorious. I'm ready for a glass of wine or a beer on the patio (Even more ready to consume aforementioned adult beverage on my new patio furniture, right Dan?! Ha!)! ALSO meeting sweet Baby Stephen NEXT WEEK (if not before!!!). Can't wait for he and Craft to be best buds just like big sisters Hadley and Lilly are. And while I don't want to wish time away, I can't wait for sleepovers. :-)

Next Pediatrician Appointment: March 5 with Dr. V for squishy's one-month appointment!

How Mommy's Doing: No complaints here! The scale yesterday revealed that I am down 30 lbs, thank you breast feeding. Still have a ways to go to get to my goal weight and to get rid of the extra squish, but there's plenty of time for that. Other than that, just tired! But this too shall pass before we know it.

I'll leave you with some more pics from Craft's happenings during week 2. He is growing and changing so quickly already, I need for time to slow down! I looked at Lilly yesterday and wondered to myself where my baby went. She is such a big girl, and I know he'll be there too before we know it. Ahh, make it stop!