I suppose the delay in posting or uploading anything is a true indication as to how much free time you have with a newborn. Ryan is technically only a newborn for ONE MORE WEEK (he really is growing up so quickly!) as he is 7 weeks old today. It's crazy how much bigger he is. Joe and I did some very unofficial (and therefore probably inaccurate) measuring, and we think he's about 23-23.5 inches long now. I'm estimating he's well over 10 pounds, too! He's also well into his 3 month clothing. He's getting so big!
So, here's what's happened since my last post:
Ryan likes to get himself on a schedule and then mess it up a couple of days into it, just when I think "hey, I think he's beginning to get on a schedule!". One of our wonderful wonderful neighbors told us that at 6 weeks, something clicks and things get easier. This was mostly true. Ryan began sleeping between 4-5 hours at night, wake up for a feeding/diaper change, go back to sleep for another 2-3 hours, wake up, get changed/fed, go back to sleep for another 2 hours, etc. This happened right around when he turned 6 weeks old. And he did this for a couple of days in a row. I was so happy! I was so relieved! Finally, a schedule I can work with that doesn't make me feel horrible and crazy from interrupted sleep! Then, he decided to mix it up on me. A couple of nights ago, he had a HORRIBLE night. HORRIBLE. He slept for about 4 hours (woo hoo!), and then...didn't sleep after that. Sometimes when he's sleeping after I JUST put him down, he begins to fuss and grunt and make all kinds of noises. I've tried to figure out what's causing it, because he sounds like he's generally uncomfortable. He doesn't need to be burped (at least, I don't think--the whole burping thing is a different ordeal all together) or changed or fed. And his eyes are shut when he's making all of these noises, so I think he's still asleep. He doesn't cry for the most part, just makes a lot of noise. Anyway, it keeps me up because I think at any minute, he's going to begin wailing. He ONLY does this after I've fed him and put him back down for another nice chunk of sleep. If I pick him back up, no more grunting/fussing. If I lay him on his side on my boppy in front of me, no more grunting/fussing. If I even lay him on my chest, he'll quiet down. He doesn't want to be in the swing, the Rock 'N Play, or in the co-sleeper. He's already manipulating me! ANYWAY, for a couple of nights, we were in a great routine, and then he had a horrible horrible night...and then the next night, he did really well again...followed by another horrible horrible night. Last night was mostly a good night. It seems he only has a pattern of being inconsistent. Overall, compared to where he was a couple of weeks ago, I suppose he's still doing well, even on his bad nights. He's also inconsistent with his sleep during the day--sometimes he naps, sometimes he doesn't, and even when he doesn't nap, that doesn't mean he has a good restful night that night either. As someone who thrives on schedules and structure, this doesn't work well for me. So, he's consistently inconsistent. But, we've gone from only having 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep, to between 3 and 4 hours, and now to between 4 and 5 hours. We've also progressed from sleeping with the bathroom light on and door open and a nightlight and a bedside lamp on to only having the nightlight on. For some reason, Ryan HATED the dark (we discovered that within the first week he was home), which is rather odd, because isn't it dark in the womb? Shouldn't he be used to the dark? Anyway, we've slowly started deleting light sources and now we're down to just the nightlight. It makes it a little difficult to change his diaper at night though. But still, it's PROGRESS!
Ryan is also a champ with head control, making eye contact, and he's started becoming VERY smiley, particularly in the mornings. Seems kind of odd because even when he doesn't get a lot of sleep the night before, he's still pretty smiley in the mornings. I'll upload a picture of his awesome smile soon.
Ryan's still a very popular baby and has lots of visitors. Ryan's Oma comes over a lot with Levi during the day; Ryan's Nana and Dede came to visit one night last weekend; my friends Bonnie and Jenni (we all had babies within 4 months of each other) came to visit another day; Tia Karen came over last Sunday and spent the morning with us. Lots of visitors! Ryan and I ventured out of the house to go to two baby showers and to go to dinner at Uncle Paul & Aunt Jan's house twice. We've also remembered the diaper bag EVERY TIME! Again, PROGRESS! We also took two (very short) trips to Target and one trip to Trader Joe's. We're getting out of the house for short spurts of time and it's doing wonders to my mindset. It's almost like we're beginning to have a life again!
Overall, things have been going well these past two weeks. I can't believe Ryan is already 7 weeks old. Pictures WILL COME SOON!
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