8 weeks

Well, I'm 8 weeks into this mothering thing.  I've learned a lot so far.  A LOT.  Of course I thought I knew everything before he was born. (Not really...although I was confident I could handle it...whatever "it" was)

So far Will is a great baby.  He really only ever cries if he's hungry, ready to be moved or picked up (if he's been on his activity mat or on the floor or in his swing), or if he is in the car or stroller and it stops (this is not so good).  He sleeps wonderfully at night, loves to eat, and is absolutely adorable.

I think it's taken me these 8 weeks to even start to get the hang of it.  I think we bonded in the hospital, but I think we had some setbacks over the next 6 weeks or so.  Recovery is hard, and I don't think I anticipated how hard it would be.  I'm still not 100% comfortable getting out of the apartment with him, but it's good for both of us to do it occasionally (I don't mean walks in the park...I mean going to stores, restaurants, etc. We walk in the park and take Darby out often.).

I also know how I want my second time around to be.  It will be different than this experience, for sure.  Not that this has been bad...I just have the benefit of hindsight now.

I became a germ freak when I moved to NY, and became an even greater one when I got really sick after being on a plane in the Spring of 2011.  And now I'm an even greater one with a baby.  3 million people ride the subway in NY every day.  I don't need 3 million people's germs on my baby.  How many people have touched that elevator button you just pushed?  Or been in that cab you were in?  Wash your hands.  It also didn't help that they had a news story about a whooping cough outbreak in the city while I was in the hospital.

Will is smiling, cooing, talking and he almost rolled over last night (he was in his bassinet and I think he would have if he had been anywhere else).  He has learned to kick and bat at his toys, and discovered the mobile above his crib.  He loves to be sitting up or on your shoulder.  He needs to see what's going on.  He has also found himself in mirrors.  It's the best thing ever.

He is nursing like a champ, and we really haven't had any problems with it.  I've had minor concerns like a plugged duct and the usual soreness, but other than that it's been great for him.  For me...it's been hard.  At 6 weeks I was ready to give up, but I think we've hit our stride now.  One thing that is hard now is that he doesn't really like the bottle.  I'll pump and we'll try to give it to him, but he prefers me.  When he's hungry I will pull out the burp cloth and pick him up and he is all smiles and gets so excited to eat.  I hate to take that away from him when I go back to work.  It will break my heart.

Speaking of work, I asked for 3 more weeks off and got it.  I will have a total of 15 weeks off.  I will have a work from home/work in the office schedule when I return.  I hope that makes it easier.  I should have just gone back at 6 weeks.  I was still really tired and overwhelmed at that point, so going to work would have been hard, but probably a welcomed break.  Now, every day gets better, we are getting a good little groove, and I can't imagine having to go back and leave this sweet little guy.

I made a Shutterfly book of his first month.  Since we have all of our pics on the computer now, I wanted something tangible to look at.  It's nothing too fancy, but I love it.  It documents a lot of his firsts.  I won't do one every month, but I would like to do one every year.  I also got a great memory box from Paper Coterie.  I know I won't do a baby book, so this is a great catch-all for little scraps of paper, pictures, etc.

Now I'll shut up and share some pics.  We certainly aren't lacking those.

This is how he likes to sleep. No swaddling for us.

This was a rough afternoon.  Thankfully we've got our naps figured out now.

He was playing and just conked out.  He loves his activity mat.

We went hiking last Saturday and we had to stop for a break!

Little cutie.