On Wednesday last week you turned six weeks old. I simply can't believe how quickly those six weeks have passed! Not that they've been a breeze, lemmetellya. But our rewards for making it this far are great. Your smile is number one! Sometimes I know what makes you smile (your mobile above the changing table, seeing dad, knowing you're about to nurse) but many times it's not entirely obvious. I'm looking forward to making you smile... on purpose!
Other things that are happening now... you're looking at things a lot more. Your mobile is always fascinating unless you're really melting down and even then sometimes you pause in crying while staring at one of the geometric designs, maybe crack a smile, and then go right back to wailing. (It really doesn't do much for your complaint case, kid!) When I take you out in the BabyBjorn I leave the back folded down so you can really look around. And you REALLY look around! Left, right, left, right, left right. You seem totally into the world. Of course, I love taking you on walks and last week we went to Volunteer Park a few times. I can't wait until you can see the beautiful Koi in the ponds. I say that because while you love to look around, that's usually only during the first 10-20 minutes of our walk. After that you're sound asleep with your face planted into my chest.
Your neck is getting so strong! You can hold your head up more steadily for longer and longer periods of time. It is amazing to see you grow! You are very determined it seems. I'm predicting that will translate into early crawling and walking. But maybe that's just your mom talking. This is also exciting because mom and dad love to go out to eat. While we've eaten over your head while holding you in the Bjorn, it will be so fun to take you to a restaurant and put you in a booster seat! Once you can sit, that is.
I bought the next size up in your diapers!! No longer a newborn!! Oh my goodness... amazing.
Sleep. Should we talk about sleep? It is the topic all parents like to obsess upon. Only because it is so different than it used to be. I say different because it's not as though we don't get any. It's just very disturbed! Your daytime naps are not much to speak of. You nap here and there and on occasion one will last an hour or more. At night you sleep until about 1 or 2 a.m. and from that point on it's rough. Lots of nursing, pooping, diaper changing and nursing again. You usually get a little more sleep between 8 and 9 a.m. I'm still working out how to get more sleep for myself. But when morning comes on a particularly rough night it doesn't take long for your smile and other antics to make it seem like a distant memory. It's not until an afternoon nap sounds good (although impossible!) that I realize how tired I am. And then we start all over again! But at this moment you're sleeping with dad. I got out of bed to get a little breakfast and came back to find you tucked close to him and both of you snoozing peacefully. Beautiful!
Yesterday we visited a friend Cecile and her little boy Isaac. He had the same due date as you but decided he wasn't ready to come out until a week later. So, technically, he's a week younger than you but that seems strange. Anyways, he's a sweet boy. Cecile is French so she speaks French to him all day. It will probably be his first language. I often wish we could give you a bilingual house to grow up in but it's just not in the parents you picked. :) I suppose that's just one of many things I'll wish we could give you as parents. We'll do our very best but some things just won't be possible. That seems like one of those really rough parts of being a parent.
So excited to see what the next week holds!
