Everett's First 8 Weeks

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9 Week Photoshoot

Everett is 9 weeks old today! I can hardly believe how fast the time has gone, and how much he's changed over the weeks. My little boy is getting so big!

I decided today would be a good day to set up camp in the nursery and try my hand at getting some good shots. I think we did pretty good! As you can see, Everett was feeling quite cheery, so that certainly helped. :)

First Night in the Crib

We've been putting Everett down to sleep in a Fisher Price Rock n' Play Sleeper (pictured below) because he's had a lot of spit up issues and the lactation consultant suggested keeping him upright. It worked wonders for him and for nearly 8 weeks we've had him in there. But, with the last few nights and naps not going so well, we thought perhaps the Sleeper is getting a little too restrictive for him. He likes to stretch and move and kick, and he really can't in the Sleeper. So, we decided it was time to get him used to his crib, and last night we put him down to sleep in that. I mentally prepped for it not going so well, and I wasn't too sure why I decided to give it a go at night time without getting naps down in there first.

Once again, he showed me what an easy going baby he is. He went 7 hours without waking up, and is working on another 5.5 as I type this. Wahoo! My little champ just seems to roll with the punches and take what we give him. What a trooper!

When I went in his room after 7 hours to feed him, I looked down at the Rock n' Play and had a moment of sheer panic when I found it empty. I'm pretty sure my heart stopped beating as my mind immediately jumped to "OH NO the sleeper is empty, the baby fell out!!" I don't think I've ever been so panic stricken in my life. In my sleepy stooper it took a good few seconds before I realized we'd put him down in his crib. Boy was I relieved to find him wide awake (and breathing!) in there!

8:00am and still sleeping soundly in his crib:

Jump, Jump!

So Ev's new thing is to jump, jump, jump. He anticipates the jump and signals that he wants to go up by throwing his arms up. I'm positive that's what he's doing because if he raises his arms and I don't lift him, he fusses. He surprises me all the time with how smart he is! It seems I've created a monster now though... he just wants to jump all the time. My arms are so sore!!

My Little Kicker

For several weeks now, Everett has had it figured out that if he kicks the cross bar on his playmat, the toys will move. It's super cute when he really gets going... he looks like a little running man he moves his legs so fast. Here's a little snipet of him playing.

I think he's destined to play soccer like his daddy, he likes to kick so much!

Weird Week!

This week has been one of several new records for our boy, but they've come with some moments of us scratching our heads and wondering what in the world is going on.

On Wednesday night we had some friends over to watch American Idol. Everett's evening routine starts about 6:30 and consists of eat, bath, book, then bed. He goes down to bed right about 8 and doesn't wake up until about midnight. Of course the night we have friends over he wakes up at 9pm and is clearly hungry. "Weird," we think, "he must have just hit this 6 week growth spurt we keep hearing about." So, we fed him and put him back to bed, and I mentally prepared for getting up every hour to feed him. Surprise surprise, he went a record 6.5 hours after that!

Fast forward to Thursday night. He wakes up wanting to eat only 2 hours from his last feeding. "Now," I think, "he has REALLY hit the growth spurt this time. I better get my butt to bed since it's going to be a long night." I awake 7 hours later and the little one is STILL SLEEPING! He went 7.5 hours before he woke up to eat. He beat his record by a full hour!

Kyle and I are starting to wonder if he's cluster feeding at night to prepare for the long night ahead. Could he possibly intuitively know it's night time and be stocking up for the long sleep?? I'm not sure, but after 2 consecutive nights of weird feeding patterns and then record sleep, I'll take it! :)

And now, for a photo to tide you over. I took this at 6 weeks:

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Kyle turned the big 3-0 this weekend, and Everett helped him bring in the new decade. When Kyle got up in the morning, Everett was wearing this bib. I didn't get to grab a photo then, so we had to pretend later that evening. Here, we're celebrating with friends at Outback. Everett is being quite the social butterfly, as you can clearly tell.

Weigh In

My little man is 6 weeks 5 days today, and is up to 10 lbs 14 oz! I'm not suprised with the way he's been eating. We're now giving him a bottle a day (night time feeding) and he's averaging between 5-6 ounces each time! Holy moly.

I took him to the doctor today because his belly button looked infected, so that's why we got a weigh-in. It's not infected (yay!) though it is herniated and has had moisture trapped in it. So, docs orders are Neosporin and no bath for the little guy until it clears up. He loves his baths! :(

Sleep Positions

We have a video monitor (best baby thing ever!) so we can see what Everett's up to when he's sleeping in his nursery. The last two days we've popped on the screen to find the most adorable sleeping positions ever. We simply had to take pictures of the monitor to remember this incredible cuteness.

We call this one "the thinking man".... This little guy does a lot of thinking. I'm pretty sure our boy is going to be a genius.

And this one looks like he's frozen in space. You have to look closely to see it since the picture is so bad, but check out his hands. He's out like a light, but his hands are sprawled out straight up in the air. Love it!

Smile!

I put Everett on the boppy for tummy time for the first time today, since he loathes it on his playmat. I had the camera handy just in case, thinking I might be able to nab a few good photos. And surprise!! I captured a smile on camera. Our first documented smile! Until now, the only smiles we've seen are when he's a) nursing, or b) Kyle's tickling his cheek.

Not sure if this one is a reflex or not (or if he can smile yet), but it sure looks genuine to me. I'll take it, reflex or not. :)

Spaz Monkey, That Funky Monkey!

My little darling is so jerky that I refer to him as my spaz monkey. While his spazzing out has lessened over the weeks he's been with us, I've come to find that every time I wake him from a nap, I still get him to jump. This video shows him spazzing three times in one waking! Kyle and I find it simply hilarious, and I knew there would come a day that I'd really wished I would have captured it on film if I didn't get it. Enjoy :)

Okay scratch that, my video was too large to upload. This one isn't as good (he only does it once and I cut off his arms), but oh well. It's still cute.

Tummy Time

Our little man hates tummy time with a passion. Within a few seconds of being put on his belly, the fussing commences. So, most times we do tummy time on mommy and daddy (he tolerates that much better). I do try to get a few minutes out of him on his playmat each day, and sometimes he decides to just lay there. This was one of those times. :) I was really hoping to catch him with his head up, as his neck muscles have really developed! He amazes me by holding it at 45 degrees for several seconds at a time. One of these days, I will catch it on film!

Mommy Lesson #6: The Nursery is a Wonderful Thing

Last night, we decided to move Everett to the nursery at night because I have been getting ZERO sleep. Instead of sleeping, I lay awake and watch him at all hours of the night, stirring at his every wimper and gurgle and grunt (and Everett is an extremely noisy sleeper). So, after the previous night of dreadful sleep, I decided it was time.

I immediately saw a big difference in both of us. I no longer was afraid to change into my PJ's or brush my teeth, afraid of waking him in our room. I no longer had to tiptoe around or felt like I couldn't do anything but quietly lay in bed without moving a muscle. He seemed to really like it as well. He slept like a champ last night - in 4 hour increments three times in a row! And better yet, mommy even slept!! Without him in our room, I was free to squirm around to get comfortable, and I kept the volume on the monitor low enough that his grunts and groans didn't keep me awake. I honestly feel like a new woman today. Praise God!

Milestone!

Today Everett reached for his toy for the first time. He's been tracking things with his eyes for a few days now, but today was the first time he actually reached out for a toy. Once he touched it, he grabbed on for a minute, and then continued touching it. It seemed as though he began making the connection that moving it meant it would rattle. I can't be sure, but he continued moving it and making it rattle. I am so excited for him!!

Sleeeeeeeep!

After what seemed like a round-the-clock nursing session yesterday, I had little hope for the night time. I settled in for expectations of being up every 2 hours, and went to bed with the attitude of "just get through the night one session at a time, it's just a growth spurt, it will pass." I fell asleep and woke 3 hours later... my little one was still sleeping! I laid in bed awake from then on, sure I must be missing his hunger cues. But he just kept right on sleeping... made it nearly 5 hours between feedings! We got up, he ate, and another 3 hours and 45 minutes went by before he beckoned again. Holy moly I feel like a new woman! Wonder if we can do it again tonight.... I'm not holding my breath. :)