6 weeks

I mainly want to talk about what has been going on with Parker but I lured you in with a picture. Sneaky, huh?? I can not believe his is already 6 weeks old. I feel like I will forget what is happening if I don't write it down so here it goes.

Sleep: Some days are good, some days are bad. At best we can get 4 hours straight at night. If we are lucky sometime he will go back down for a few more hours but that is usually not the case. He naps several times a day. I bet he would sleep more at night if I could somehow manipulate his naps during the day but I am usually so relieved that he is sleeping and I don't have the heart to wake him up. Once he gets a little older we will start working on a schedule but for now we are on HIS schedule. This boy loves to be rocked to sleep. I have read all kinds of things about how that is teaching him bad habits for the future. Guess what experts...for now I love rocking my son to sleep. I enjoy watching him calm down and rest against me while his eyelids get heavier and heavier. He's cute. Deal with it. A good thing about his sleeping habits - he can sleep through just about anything. Loud restaurants, the tv, his parents yelling at the Braves baseball and Auburn football, and lights mean nothing to him.

Feeding: After all the "issues" in the beginning he is back on track with gaining weight. That is definitely a relief for this momma. We are mainly breastfeeding with a little bit of supplementing formula. Thankfully he has no trouble switching back and forth. I am feeding on demand for the most part. The exception is when he naps through a feeding during the day and I wake him up. Some days I feel like I feed him continuously all day long and other days are much more structured. I knew the right answer for how long and how many times he should be breastfed but WOW I didn't grasp how much of my day would be spent on feeding him. Especially since he takes him time and has to be encouraged to continue the entire time.

Activities: At 6 weeks he is VERY alert. When his eyes are open they are wide open and searching the room for new and fun things to look at. He does not like to be in one position for very long and lets you know by screaming. At least we know he has a great set of lungs. I should have known by all the activity during my pregnancy that he was not going to be laid back baby. He has extra strong legs and neck muscles. He is moving his arms and legs constantly. He likes to be held so that he can look over your shoulder. This way he can practice head-butting your shoulder and face. He is also very expressive. My personal favorite is the pout face. He can stick that lower lip out more than anyone I have ever seen. Looking forward to the stages in life where he does it on purpose... He grins all the time but I am not convinced I have seen a full smile. He does not appreciate being put on a blanket for tummy time but we do it anyways. He also will squeeze your finger harder than I was squeezing Ben's hand before I had the epidural. I can't wait to see how his personality and abilities develop as he gets older.

Thanks for being patient with all of my thoughts. Obviously I am in love with this little boy and I am so thankful to have such a gift in my life.