Week Three

My mom left Thursday and Garrick's mom arrived Sunday to spend the week with us. Most of the time we stuck around home, but did make a few trips out. We walked to the store down the street, had an appointment with Sylvia, and a hearing test at the health unit. Sylvia weighed Cash at 6 lbs, 11 oz and said he was right on track for weight gain (babies should gain 0.5-1.0 oz per day (I weighed him 4 days later and he was 7 lbs 3 oz!). He also passed his hearing test (after he stopped crying).

cuddles with Grandma

Cathy made us many delicious things, including a Thanksgiving dinner on Friday! Here's a group shot before we sat down to eat.

Cash got into the habit of demanding to be fed right when I would sit down for dinner. Thanksgiving was no different! lol. I did get through about 80% of my meal before he started squacking, so that was an improvement, I suppose.

As for my recovery and progress: everything is pretty good for me, other than my tailbone; it has always hurt (since labour, that is), but has been noticeably worse since I ran out of arnica after the first week, and the pain hasn't decreased at all. I've bought more arnica, so hopefully that helps.

Breast feeding has been going remarkably well. Despite Sylvia originally thinking he wasn't latching on properly, I haven't experienced pain at any point! We've definitely gotten better in the last couple weeks, even though it never was an issue to begin with. So far I've managed to avoid any engorgement or clogged ducts. Fingers crossed!

This past week, Cash and I seem to have established somewhat of a morning routine. When Garrick's first alarm goes off, he takes Cash from me and cuddles him til the second alarm. Then he tucks Cash back in next to me. Around 7:30, Garrick says good-bye and we continue sleeping. Between 8 and 8:30, he decides he's hungry. I would feed him, then take him downstairs to Grandma so I could make the bed, brush my teeth, etc. we'll see if this sleep pattern continues, and develops into a steady daytime routine.

During week three, Cash seemed to become much more aware of our faces. He would sit and actually study faces.. looking at Daddy's beard and mouth, then his eyes would move up to his glasses, and down to his shirt. And I swear, one day after being upstairs for a little while, I came back downstairs and actually saw his face light up a bit when he saw me.

Now we're beginning the fourth week, and it will be just the two of us during the day. I absolutely loved all the company and help for the last few weeks. Now I look forward to establishing somewhat of a daily routine, including a few of my house-wifely duties.

We're beginning to establish a bed time routine for the little guy. Since he sleeps with us, he would usually go to bed at the same time as us.. And typically, we go to bed pretty early, then watch some tv. However, when we have company, we stay up a little later. I began to notice him getting extra fussy past 8 pm, and on Saturday night, when it was just the three of us, he fell asleep in my arms at around 7. This is my plan:
Get him in the habit of going to bed by 8 pm, and spending the block of sleep in his crib (he's been taking a few naps there as well). When he wakes up for his first feed (Saturday it was around 9:30) I'll bring him back to bed for the night. As he grows, he'll sleep for longer stretches, needing less feelings, therefore spending more time in his crib while sleeping. I think it will make the easiest transition on him.
So back to Saturday night: he lasted 15 minutes or so before waking up crying. I rocked him back to sleep in his room and put him back in the crib. Another 20 minutes and he woke up crying again.. And again, I rocked him to sleep and put him back. That time he lasted over an hour! Success.

I think it's important not only him,but for Garrick and I, that Cash gets in the habit of going to bed earlier. This gives the hubs and I some time to reconnect and talk about things other than how we make darn cute babies.