Baby Stuff.

When we brought Mason home we kind of had an idea of what to do with him, and thank goodness we had family in town to help us out.  After the first few days of chaos, I thought we needed some kind of schedule because I was going crazy because he was so unpredictable!  I later learned that babies are unpredictable :) and at 4 weeks we introduced a schedule - feed him, keep him awake for 1.5 hours after feeding, then let him take a 1.5 hour nap.  We have been doing this schedule with him since he is 4 weeks old and now he's sleeping 5-6 hours at night at 10 weeks.  I think that's normal but I don't know and I'm not sure if you can compare babies sleeping at night since they're all so different.  But I can't complain!  I am a lot more sane having an idea of what to expect, and he knows what to expect too. 

At 8 weeks we started feeding and putting him to bed at 9pm no matter where we were in the 'schedule' that day.  He doesn't always fall asleep at 9 but we're trying to establish that time as bedtime.  He started drinking 4 oz at 4 weeks and has drank 4 oz ever since.  I'm not sure if he drank that much before because I was breastfeeding exclusively, and now I pump and give him a bottle sometimes and breastfeed sometimes.  Most of the time I give him a bottle which requires a lot of pumping and it's exhausting!  Now that I'm back at work it's especially inconvenient- I'm sitting in my classroom right now, door locked, pumping.  Someone just knocked on my door and I'm not about to answer!  They can wait. 

Also at 8 weeks I started getting more relaxed with the schedule because I have started to interpret his cries and can (most of the time) know what he wants.  At 12 weeks we'll start transitioning to eating every 4 hours instead of 3... we'll see how that goes, when Mason is hungry he gets MAD that the bottle isn't heating fast enough so I usually have to breastfeed him until the bottle is ready.  He prefers the bottle because it's easier but if he's hungry enough he'll nurse.  Lazy.  I also like knowing how much he is eating and if he eats 4 oz it'll hold him over until the next feeding time. 

Going back to work has been bittersweet- it's nice to have a break from motherhood and do what I'm used to doing, but I miss his sweetness!  I do love picking him up from the sitter though, because as soon as we make eye contact he gets a huge smile and it lasts for about 5 minutes!  Nonstop smiling and loving on mommy.  I'll take it!  It makes our evenings special when that's the only time I see him.  Last night (morning) he woke up at 2am to eat, so I fed him, but after he ate (and pooped his diaper so much that we had to change clothes because poop was up his back... awesome) he just wanted to smile and play so we did!  I didn't get back to bed until 4.  Then woke up at 5:45am to feed him and get ready for school since I have to leave at 7 for the sitter's house.

All for this cutie pie!