Growth Spurt like Whoa - Weeks 6-8

Feel free to slap my wrists because I haven't been as diligent with this as I had hoped so unfortunately I have to lump together a few weeks. I wish I would have done more on a week by week basis since week 6 is so much different than week 8 but as we all know sometimes life  a cute, sweet little baby has other plans up his sleeve, so sorry for the extra long post. Don't worry though, the baby is still absolutely adorable and I love him more and more each day.

I find myself thriving in having something to take care of - I am no longer bothered by lack of sleep, or whether I brushed my teeth that day or a multitude of other things that now seem so trivial. What I've noticed in the last few weeks is that I've switched from feeling burdened by taking care of him and like I'm not doing a good enough job to really embracing the impact that I am having on this little guy's happiness, well-being and growth. I never thought I would ever be the stay-at-home mom type, but now I can't imagine being away from him (sidenote: some of that has to do with the fact that I don't trust anyone else to do what I do as well as I do). I rolled my eyes at women who said taking care of a kid is the hardest job, only to now realize how stupid and naive I was now that I'm a parent. I can't imagine now what I did with all the time I had before he came into our lives but I really look forward to every day to see what kind of new challenges (see picture below) and special moments await us.

Anyway, enough with the sappy BS. We've noticed some huge changes in his development these last couple weeks, both mentally and physically.

Physically: I broke out my tool box and tape measure this past week because I was curious how long he was and was not surprised to see he was over 24" long. He was born 20.5" long so it would seem that lengthening by 3.5" inches in 7 weeks would be a pretty impressive feat. He's also filled out quite a bit and doesn't look so much like the offspring of the Jolly Green Giant. I'm so curious to see how much he weighs, but we don't go in for his 2 month appointment until early October. I know growth is what is supposed to happen, and tons of babies do this everyday, but I am naturally so proud of him and think he's the greatest thing ever.

With the growth spurt has come some big (haha) changes:

• Clothing: I put the kid in 3 month clothing around 6 weeks, and he fit into them lengthwise but by no means filled them out. Just this week I was dressing him for the day and noticed the onesie was starting to stretch a bit from top to bottom! I also had to start putting him in 3-12 month sockies and those fit him quite well. Thank goodness my mom and sister have shopping addictions because at this rate he will be in 12 month clothing by Christmas. 

• Stroller: he used to inexplicably scream so hard his face would turn bright red and he'd cry so hard he'd stop breathing. It was so scary that I stopped taking him on walks. One day I decided to play some music on our walk and that really seemed to calm him down a bit but he'd still have little temper tantrums every now and then. I've been taking him outside and laying him on a blanket in the grass which he really seems to like and with nothing else to do I decided to adjust the straps on his stroller. And by golly, wouldn't you know the kid now just smiles and observes the whole time. It seems sort of like common sense to know to adjust the straps when you know your baby is growing, but sometimes with everything else you have to think & worry about, simple concepts fly out the window. 

• Crib: probably the most significant change due to the growth spurt has been him outgrowing his bassinet. Truth be told, I grew to hate that thing; we have a Moses basket and in theory it was a great idea, but I really never used it the way I theorized I would. The biggest issue was that the mattress was really nothing more than an egg crate and as he got heavier I think it started to get too uncomfortable because he'd squirm around all night. I knew I wanted him to fully transition to the crib by the time he was 3 months old, so I started putting him in the crib during the day while he was awake, and also during daytime naps so he could get used to it. I had a whole plan (Type A) to slowly shift him into the crib full time, but as with everything over the last 8 weeks, my sweet little babe had other plans in mind. He sounded pretty congested for a few nights and it was keeping me awake with worry. I'd wake up and check on him, move his position in the bassinet and stare at him to make sure he fell back asleep. The deal breaker came when I woke up this past Sunday to find his face somehow smashed up against the side of the bassinet and that was it - bye bye bassinet. I was expecting Monday night to be terrible since I planned to sink or sleep him into the crib all night all at once. However, this magical little baby surprised us both and slept in the crib from 9pm - 1am and then 2am - 530am! Tuesday and Wednesday night were more of the same. I was worried about not having him in the room with me, but we have a futon in the same room as his crib so we've been camping out on that sorry excuse for a mattress and still using the normal human bed for feedings and changings. I am so proud of this kid and know that it could've been a lot worse. I know how lucky we are! 

Mentally: as you may recall from a previous post, I had made some red, black and white felt squares to practice sight development. I worked with him to focus on the squares, then moved them slightly to see if his eyes would follow, and low and behold, it worked! Since I was starting to put him into the crib during the day while he was awake I decided to put some of the squares on the side of the crib as a way for him to be entertained. He would focus so hard on the shapes, so I started moving his hands over to touch the shapes and next thing I knew he was reaching out to touch them himself! It is so awesome to see developmental results in your child and to know you had a hand in it.

I've been getting the itch to take him on hikes and with cold weather just around the corner, I've started to take him on walks in the Ergo baby carrier and I love it! He just looks around in the beginning of the walk, and then eventually just passes out and sleeps the whole time. I'm sure it has something to do with being right up against me and the motion of my body but it is a great tool to have when he's fussy and nothing else seems to work. The only tough part is when my first baby, Doodie, takes a doodie, I have to squat down to pick up her poop because I can't lean forward. I'm sure some of my neighbors have gotten a laugh out of seeing me trying to figure that out!

Unfortunately the little guy got diaper rash under his man bag and in his little butt crack right around the time we transitioned him to size 1 diapers. It didn't seem to bother him at all but I still wanted to get rid of it! I called the triage at our pediatrician's office (Diane is a total lifesaver by the way) and she said not to use baby wipes and add baking soda into his bathwater. I one-upped it and used paper towels soaked in water and baking soda for wipes and was extra diligent to ensure he was dry before putting on the diaper (this lead to MANY sprays from his little hose and lots of additional laundry). I also put baking soda into his bath and just let it soak and within days the rash was completely gone! So parents if your little nugget gets diaper rash I highly recommend the baking soda treatment!

I can't think of anything else to add to this post, other than how happy we both are to have him in our lives. He is such a great baby and we are really enjoying watching him grow and learn more and more everyday.