He Smiles! (And Other Updates)

As my title implies, we've finally gotten to see Wyatt grin without him being asleep! He's still in the early stages of smiling in response to us, but when he does it is adorable. He also gets much more animated in response to his toys now. He will coo, kick his legs and (sometimes) smile. It is quite amusing to watch. I will do anything to try and solicite grins from him now. Most days I would liken myself to a rodeo clown. But when I see this, it's worth it:

I couldn't get him to look directly at me, but I'm choosing to believe that it was my squealing at him that caused these smiles, and not some random shadow on the wall...

If only our little Wyatt would smile like that all of the time! He has his moments of fussiness throughout the day, but fortunately we can calm him down in a matter of a few minutes (though sometimes that can feel like FOREVER when he's crying!). Usually it's because Mr. Sensitive doesn't like the position he's being held in or is bored of the scenery. Walking him into the living room and bouncing him around on our shoulder tends to do the trick. At times he'll let out a pouty noise and stick out his lower lip in an attempt to be dramatic. I have no idea where he learned that kind of behavior. Despite his high-maintenance moments, we still love him :)

In other news, did I mention we're moving? Again? In about two weeks? Somewhere in the midst of all this baby business I’ve neglected to update about that! The bridge work Keith is running down here is just about done, and we will be moving back to the Kansas City area. We’re hoping to arrange the movers to come and pack us up on Nov 10th and move our stuff in on the 11th. We found a house to rent, and we’ll have a basement again…yippee! It’s amazing how you take those for granted when you are from an area of the country where they’re the norm. Once you live in a place without one, you realize how much extra space they provide you with. I am really excited to be closer to home again, and live in an area where we have friends. In the meantime we’ve got quite a bit of cleaning up/preparing to do. Things may be a bit hectic around here, but we’ll survive. It’s just too bad I can’t snap my fingers and be settled in there already!

So that’s what’s new with us. Try to keep up with us if you can…it’s hard for me to!

Love,
Ashley

6 Weeks

Today Wyatt is 6 weeks old. When each Sunday arrives I can't believe it's already been a week since the last one. We're getting settled into our daily routine together, and usually venture out for an errand or two almost every day. Wyatt has a hearty appetite, taking in around 4 oz 7 times a day. He's now tipping the scales at just under 11lbs. I know this because I am neurotic and bought a scale. And I'm not ashamed to admit it! We actually rented one from a store last month when I was still trying to breastfeed so we could guage his intake. I've gotten kind of addicted to being able to weigh him whenever I wanted, so I decided last week to buy one. In case anyone is interested, we got ours at Babies R Us for $59.99 and it goes up to 44lbs. So now this spazzy mommy can make sure he's growing properly...which he definitley is! You know your baby is a little chunky when he has skin fold lines on his arm besides where his elbow is. :)

Wyatt has taken more of an interest in his toys as well. There are two in particular that he's fascinated with, and we hang them from the shelf above his changing table to distract him while we change his diaper. He'll start to coo and make little noises while he watches them. It's so cute! I'm still waiting for him to smile socially. He smiles and even laughs in his sleep many times throughout the day, but I have yet to really see him do it in response to us. I've had a few moments where I thought I caused him to smile, but I'm still not sure. Personally I think I'm pretty hilarious, and hopefully he'll realize that soon...I get a little self-conscious when my jokes and silly faces go unappreciated!

Here are some recent pics:

Crime fighting is exhausting!

For a minute there I thought he was giving me the finger...

Hangin' out with Dad

Sleeping in my sling

I bought this Brest Friends pillow before I started pumping exclusively. Glad to see someone's getting use out of it now.

Love,
Ashley

Happy 1 Month Birthday!

I can't believe Wyatt is one month old already. The last few weeks have really gone by quickly. Wyatt has grown so much in that time. He's now around 9 1/2 pounds. What a little chunker! I am now exclusively pumping and bottle feeding him breast milk. We struggled with breatfeeding in the first two weeks, as he was such a sleepy boy. Though he was gaining weight, it was starting to slow down as his intake progressed. Our lactation consultant suggested a few weeks ago that we limit the time he feeds with me, and then supplement the rest of the feeding with bottled breast milk. Eventually this has turned into just feeding him from the bottle. So far it's working well and I'm even managing to pump and feed him simultaneously. Hopefully I can continue to manage this as he grows bigger! He has been eating 8 times a day, with about 3.5 oz per feeding. He usually eats about every 2.5-3 hours during the day. The last few nights, however, I've accidentally let him go between 4.5- 6 hours without feeding. And I had even set my alarm! You know you're tired when you don't remember the alarm even going off and wake up an hour later...
I know most newborns shouldn't go more than 3 hours without eating, but he's been getting 8 feedings in, so I'm sort of wondering if I should just let this pattern continue? I may call his pediatrician to ask about this. Anyone have any insight on that?

Wyatt has also been much more alert and interactive during his waking hours. He follows our faces and small objects with his eyes when we play with him. It's so neat to see him progressing. We have been doing tummy time with him each day, and he does a great job of holding up his neck. Though I think he gets more of a neck workout when I'm holding him on my shoulder and he's hungry. That child will throw his head around when he's rooting!

We've started nicknaming Wyatt "Monkey" because he's so squirmy and has a pretty significant amount of hair...and not just on his head. He has the hairiest shoulders I've ever seen on a baby! He must get it from his dad :)

Here are some pics of our monkey that we've taken recently:

Happy 1 Month Birthday, Wyatt!
Love,
Ashley