Eight Weeks Old!

Matthew turns eight weeks tomorrow! He continues to grow before our little eyes. His eye brows are filling in, along with his tummy and his thighs. I take him to the doctor a week from Monday for his two month check-up and his first round of shots. I am not looking forward to that part, but I know it is a part of his well being. However, I am excited to see how much he has grown in his weight and his length.




Matthew smiles a lot more and recognizes us a lot more too. When I get him up in the morning or change his diaper, he will often flash me a little smile my way. Sometimes he has his whole mouth open and other times he will just smile. His sleep continues to be good at night. He is still eating about every three hours during the day, but really wants to eat a lot before bed, almost double what he will eat during the day. Then he sleeps for six to seven hours.


We are all eagerly awaiting the birth of Matthew's new friend Brady Brink. We want to wish Lindsay and Jon the best. Hopefully he will be here before the end of the weekend! We also have new photos on our website. I try to add a few new ones on a weekly basis. Visit http://picasaweb.google.com/Chenerys to see the albums!

Sleeping Beauty

Since moving into his crib, Matthew has been sleeping so much better! We are seeing 5-6 hours for the first shift of sleep once we put him down for the night! He is in bed by 9:00 and usually up at 3:00 to eat. I haven't gotten used to the pattern because I know it will most likely change soon, but we are enjoying it while it lasts. After that long stretch he is up every three hours to eat. He loves his crib too. We wanted him to get used to the idea that his crib is the place to sleep, so I try my hardest to get him in there if he naps during the day. Once I feed him before he goes to bed, we change him and wrap him up. He hits the mattress of his crib and usually falls asleep within twenty minutes. Sometimes he just stares at the wall or plays with his hands in his mouth. He has a CD player playing music too, which he really seems to enjoy!


Matthew also loves bath time! Now that he doesn't need a sponge bath and his can be in his bath tub, he really enjoys it. Only on a few occasions has the warm water made him go tinkle.

In addition to Matthew discovering his hands, which he often sticks in his mouth, we got our first real smiles the other day. It was just so precious, I cried of course! To have your son look at you in the eyes and flash that grin is just so heartwarming. I am loving every minute of it!

It's Crib Time!

The blinds came in and Matthew slept in his crib for the first time last night!! After a nice warm bath and a nighttime lotion he fell right asleep. He slept quite well too, up about every 4-5 hours. After each feeding and diaper change he fell right back asleep. Tonight I put a CD player in his room and played a CD of instrumental music and lullabies and he enjoyed those, falling asleep pretty easily listening to them too.

I have to say it was a little weird having him down the hall from us. I was checking up on his often and slept with the baby monitor on my pillow. I know this stage will pass with me, but having him in my room for six weeks and then all of the sudden down the hall is quite a change. I don't hear every baby grunt or noise anymore in the middle of the night and I think my few hours of sleep were more of a quality than before. I think he got more quality sleep as well not having to listen to Daddy snore!

It is finally starting to feel like a home here. Jobs and tasks get checked off our list and things get put up or assembled and with every new thing it feels more and more like home. With Matthew turning six weeks old today, it means I have six weeks until the first day of school, which seems way too weird to me right now. I am going to enjoy these next six weeks with Matthew because I know they will pass by quickly and I want to cherish every moment!

Just Kidding!

Maybe he is going through another growth spurt, but our five hour nights have been replaced with three hour ones once again. Maybe I blew it by writing about it...who knows. Yesterday he was very fussy and wouldn't nap much during the day. We gave him a nice warm bath before bed, but last night he was up to his three hour on the dot feeding schedule. At least he is predictable! If it is a growth spurt, this will last a few days and then hopefully he will be back to his other schedule. Either way we still need to keep the bedtime routine going and try to stick to a schedule.

Good night, sleep tight

Matthew is now 5 1/2 weeks old and continues to amaze me everyday. He has started to smile more at us when he looks at us or we make funny noises. He has quite the grip now and is able to hold onto things if I put them by his hands. He can't reach out to them yet, but that will come sooner than later. We have started to establish some kind of a routine and it seems to be working. I have tried my best to have him fed, diaper changes, Pj's on, swaddled and in his bassinet by 9:00 every night for the past week. He usually falls fast asleep, especially on bath nights, occasionally sucking on his pacifier. He is usually up around 1:00 a.m. to eat and be changed and re-swaddled and then it is back to bed for him ( a one hour process to complete). He then is up again around 6:00 a.m. to eat and be changed and back for his morning nap until 11:00 a.m. After that he is usually awake with me for much of the afternoon and early evening. He takes short naps occasionally during the day, but for the most part he is bright eyed and rearing to go. I can only keep my fingers crossed that this routine will stick, I would to have something in place when I go back to work in late August.

Matthew will move out of his bassinet once our blinds are here and installed. Right now we have sheets and towels up in the windows to block the light, but our room is the darkest and the easiest for him to get some good sleep. The blinds should be here by the end of this week or early next week. Once they are up, Matthew will move into his crib for some better sleep.

He continues to grow and gain weight daily. He is getting heavy, so I weighed him on my scale (with me holding him) and he weighs close to 11 pounds! I know this is an estimate, but it lets me know that he is eating right and getting the nutrition he needs. He made his first trip to the lake last night for the weigh-in for Ryan's fishing league. Matthew smelled his first fish too ( I am not sure how he liked it though). It won't be long before Ryan and Matthew are fishing together!

One month old!

Happy One month birthday today to Matthew! I can't believe he is already one month old. He continues to amaze us everyday. He slept last night for five hours at a time between feedings, so that was very nice. He is starting to track objects with his eyes like toys with black/white contrasting designs and he is starting to track us as well. I was just watching him as he focused on the mobile on his swing and watched as it moved in a circle. We will celebrate his first holiday tomorrow and watch the fireworks from our driveway. Matthew is now 22 inches long and 9 pounds! His newborn clothes are starting to become too snug for him and we have started to move into the 3 month clothing, although many of the clothes are too big a this point. We put new photos on the web album, visit http://picasaweb.google.com/Chenerys to see the new photos!