Springtime Baby

Xander is now 9 weeks old, smiling and sprouting some hair on his head. He has been doing great lately, he really seems to be growing up! His personality is becoming more evident to us every day, which mostly has to do with more alert time. He still is sleeping a ton, maybe 6 hours during the day and then 11 hours at night. His nights are still going great, today he didn't wake until 5 am since putting him to bed at 8 and then doing a dream feed at 10:30! He had his first big set of vaccines at the doctor's and did great-no strange reactions, just didn't sleep very well that night. He is now around 13 pounds and 25 inches long, so he is a tall lanky fella (gee-I wonder where he gets that from?).

We have been attending the Baby and Me classes at Legacy Emanuel on Wednesdays and it is super helpful to hear other Mom's concerns and share info about our babies. The leader of Baby and Me, Bonnie, taught our Birthing Class and she is so sweet and laid-back and has great suggestions for us.

He has been hangin' with Grandma Lisa a few times a week while I go workout and love playing with the Big Bird puppet and doing tummy time on her carpet.

At home, playtime still consists of his infant activity chair, which he still loves, and singing and playing games on Mommy or Daddy's lap. We sing itsy-bitsy spider, ABC song (with sign language!), peek-a-boo, and we have little pretend conversations-where he has the chance to make sounds (even little giggles) after Mommy or Daddy makes sounds. It's pretty cute! His expressions are starting to come out more-smiling and happy are the most common. He seems facinated with his ability to make spit bubble and it has become a favorite passtime for Xander. Check out the video below for evidence!

Lyrik and I have been working a lot in our yard getting our garden ready and preparing a new raspberry patch. Usually Xander sleeps while we work outside, but occasionally we bring out his swing or his little play yard and he just watches us or stares at the trees and sky. Our garden is all loaded up with seeds and starts and all we have to do is wait for everything to grow. The raspberries won't produce a crop until next year, and even that will be a smallish one compared to the third year. I can't wait to have them! The blueberries I planted last year should give a small crop this year. I wish Xander was old enough to be eating by the time they are ready, but he'll be a bit too young. We are supposed to be starting our CSA (community sponsored agriculture) this June, where we pay up front for a share in a farm and get a box of fresh organic veggies every week for a year. Xander will get some great baby food from those boxes in a few more months!

Smiles Galore!

Here is Xander in his bouncy seat after staring at the little plastic animals and mirror above him. He loves it! He finally figured out that if he bats at the little animals, a song will play and the lights dance around. I am so glad my sister Chrissy gave me this chair!
This is Xander right after he woke up in this morning. I usually nurse him and then put him is his seat while I make coffee. Then I go over to him and we smile at each other for as long as possible. He is so happy in the morning-I wish I could just bottle up that happiness! Another development this week is that Xander has found he can bring his hand to his mouth. He is still working on his coordination, but I can tell there is some serious self-soothing to come.

Smiles

Xander is now six weeks old. Six weeks is some sort of milestone not just for baby but for Mom also. I am now out of my official "healing" stage and can resume much of my former life activities. So, the first thing I did was reinstate my gym membership. (I am learning that nursing doesn't help you loose all of the pregnancy weight). Xander is now much more aware of things around him, people and their eyes especially. He makes various noises now, and I think we are starting to recognise his different cries, one for hunger, one for tired, etc. And Grandma Betsy received Xander's first non-gas-related(i.e. real) smile!

We went on our first trip to the beach as a family last weekend. Chrissy and the kids came to visit for spring break and treated us to a few days in Manzanita. Xander pretty much slept the whole time, but in the arms of his cousins , none the less. We had a nice bonfire one night, did crosswords, made nice dinners, walked on the beach, and watched movies. It was great to get away and relax in a different environment than our house.

Grandma Betsy made her voyage back to Alaska this last week. We were sad to see her leave but we know that she needed to get back to her life in Homer. We actually sent her off on Tuesday only to discover that Mt. Readout had blown again and her flight was cancelled. We managed to get her for a few more days and Xander got to have more Grammy time, which he was happy about. We also were able to go to Betsy's favorite Lebanese restaurant on her departure night.

Lyrik and I have been taking advantage of the gorgeous spring weather the past couple of days. We spent much of Saturday getting our yard somewhat back in shape and Sunday we went to Sauvie Island to sunbathe and picnic. Xander is growing rapidly, he is about 12 pounds right now, moved up a diaper size, and really is starting to fill in all of the clothes we got as gifts. He's been doing pretty good with our "routine", and last night he even slept for a six and a half hour stretch! He usually starts out in his crib for the night, sleeping about 4 hours, then wakes up to eat and stays in bed with us for the remainder of the night. It seems to work out well, but I can't wait until the first stretch in his crib lasts 6 hours or more consistently.