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!