7 weeks and counting

Seelie is 7 weeks old already! Time flies! I am on my computer a lot everyday, but usually he is in my lap at the time so I have to type one handed. I cannot imagine trying to type these long blog posts one handed. Maybe I need to try to do shorter ones though... lol!

Anyway, I just put him down for the night and am not too tired so I figured I'd stay up for a little bit. Seelie is pretty consistently sleeping for a stretch of 5-8 hours for his first sleep of the night now. He will eat for the last time usually between 7 and 9 and then be out. Sometimes he waits til later, but generally it is around then. He will wake up after that sleep and eat quickly then fall right back asleep. He sleeps anywhere from 2 hours to 3.5 hours after that. Then it is hit or miss from there. He may eat and go back to sleep for about 2 hours or he could be up for the day.

Seelie is awake pretty much all day these days. He will close his eyes while eats sometimes and then fall asleep right after he finishes, but then basically if I try to put him down he wakes up within 10-15 minutes. He is alert and happy most of the day. I don't worry too much about him not napping because he doesn't seem to get overtired and fuss about it. He really only fusses when he is passing gas or pooping. He does get pretty irritated about that sometimes. That can be frustrating to me at times also because all I can do is pat him and try to comfort him. I can't wait until that is no longer something that upsets him so much.

I am still not used to getting out and about with him too well, but I can go some. I have been to a breastfeeding support group twice now and that was really nice. We also go to my grandma's (right next door) every Sunday for lunch. Other than that I have only been out shopping with him a few times. He does ok, but I just feel like it is so hit or miss. I'm still uncertain about breastfeeding in public, mostly because we are not used to doing it anywhere but in one certain chair here at home. I need to work on that some. He still only takes my right breast, so I just pump the left. I have over 500 ounces of milk frozen though so that is really nice. We have introduced a bottle and he does ok with it. He was doing really well, but then last Friday I went scrapbooking. I was gone for about 7 hours. Tony gave him a bottle twice while I was gone and was giving him a third when I got home. He was not happy about that 3rd bottle and I ended up feeding him since I was home. Since then he has protested a lot more about getting a bottle. We tried to let my aunt feed him last Sunday and he refused. She gave him to my mom because she has fed him before and he still refused. We have only given him one bottle since then and Tony did it. Seelie took it but Tony said that he was not very happy about it and was not easily soothed afterward. So... we're going to have to work on that.

Seelie seemed a tad bit more clingy after I was gone for that 7 hours, so I am now pretty nervous about having to go back to work. I have 5 more weeks left though so I'm going to work on getting him used to me being gone gradually. I am also going to keep working on letting others give him a bottle too. I want to go back to work and need to, but I KNOW I'm going to be really sad when that time comes. Tony has one week left before he goes back to work. I'm also a little nervous about him being gone also. I know that I can handle everything, but life is so much easier when Tony is here. He can do dishes and laundry and get me something to drink if I need it. Once he's back to work I will have to do most everything by myself. I think it will help me to be more prepared for going back to work myself though.

Seelie is more alert and expressive now. He makes cooing sounds and smiles now. I have a video of him cooing and smiling at me. It was SO sweet. Now he usually coos at the wall behind me while he is eating. He'll stop and grin then start cooing. It is really weird. He won't be looking at me or any actual thing, just staring off into space. He seems so intrigued though. He also likes to lay on his playmat and bat at his toys hanging overhead. He can grab the rings but doesn't really get that he has to let go of them. My mom bought him a giraffe that plays music and he seems to like it a lot also. I try to talk to him and sing to him. Sometimes he seems to like it and other times he seems like he could care less. I also read to him on occasion. He will stare at the pictures and seems to enjoy that, if I catch him at the right time. He does really well in his bouncy seat but does not seem to like his swing very much yet.

Today he slept more than usual and was really wanting to be held. He seemed to want to sleep a lot, but would only sleep if I held him. I spent a couple of hours today just holding him while he slept. I am not worried about him doing that on a regular basis because he does sleep so well at night. He has also discovered that his fingers are good to suck on. He can put himself to sleep if he sucks on his fingers and will allow himself to rest. I swaddle him at night though and that is what helps us to get the long sleeps. Those swaddling blankets are a miracle and a life saver!

I love my little man! He is so sweet and adorable!