2 weeks!

Caden is two weeks old today! He had a doctor’s appointment this morning and had the second dreaded heel prick test. He cried for the first five seconds and then just snuggled into me the rest of the time. I’m glad it wasn’t too bad for him.  I was really worried we were going to have a problem with weight gain since I still haven’t been able to get him to eat at night.  But he was 1oz away from his birth weight and the doctor was happy with that, so yay!  He eats great during the day and he’s gaining, so I’ll just let him be at night as long as he keeps growing.  You’re going to hate me for writing this, but he slept 7 hours straight the night before last.  7!!  Can you freaking believe that?! 

He has been a SUPER easy baby so far, but I’m still not convinced it will last.  I’ve been reading back about when Emily was an infant to compare, and while she was never this easy, she slept decently the first two weeks and only started getting fussy and inconsolable and colicky between 2-3 weeks.  I’m just waiting for the shoe to drop, lol.  Seriously though, he is so laid back.  If he’s sleeping, Emily can be jumping up and down and talking up a storm right next to him and he doesn’t even crack an eye open.  He pooped in the middle of the night last night (like midnight) and changing him woke him up pretty well.  I laid him next to me in bed and we literally just stared at each other for like 5 minutes and then he silently closed his eyes and went to sleep.  Is this kid for real!? lol!

We are co-sleeping.  I knew the day he was born that’s what was going to happen.  He did sleep in the swing a few times, but that got old.  Even though they say babies with reflux do better at an incline, it’s exactly oposite for him.  He makes this weird wheezing sound when he’s upright in the Rock N Play or bouncer or swing.  Even his car seat.  He’ll spit up more and generally be uncomfortable.  He sleeps the best laying flat.  And I have to admit, I sleep better with him next to me too.  I was constantly waking up and seeing if he was okay when he was in the swing.  I haven’t tried putting him in the basinett even though it’s set up in our room, lol.  I’m really enjoying the baby snuggles and he sleep so well and he’s most likey my last baby..*sniff*..so I’m liking the arrangement for now. =)

Emily has been great!  And yes, she seems so much bigger since I came home with Caden. =)  But I swear to you while I was gone for those two days she had a HUGE vocabulary leap!  She is just talking up a storm now, stringing words together like nobody’s business.  She is constantly talking and I love listening to her. <3 She is still being amazing with Caden, kissing him and being gentle and sweet.  But honestly, with him being so easy and sleeping a ton, it hasn’t really affected her life much yet.  The one thing that’s different is we’re not going outside a ton like we used to, but I’m not sure she correlates that to him being here.  Bryan is still here in the mornings so after I feed Caden he usually just sleeps and I give him to Bryan and play with Emily, then we’ll switch.  So she’s still getting a ton of attention.  When Caden gets a little needier and more mobile, then it’s probably going to be a little more diffcult on her.  But we’ll take it as it comes. =)

I had my two-week incision check yesterday and everything looked great.  It had been itching like crazy and apparently I was becoming allergic to the glue in the steri-strips!  So thank god those are off.  I was afraid it was going to look terrible because I haven’t been following pretty much any of the restrictions for after surgery.  I’ve been carrying around Emily since I left the hospital..a few times carrying both kids, lol.  But I haven’t had any pain.  I know the belly binder had a ton to do with that and I’ve been taking it off every other day to start using my ab muscles more.  It definitely feels more difficult to do things and I feel weak with it off.

OH, and we finally ordered the elliptical/stair climber for our gym!! I am so freaking excited. I feel much more motivated to get back in shape this time then after I had Emily.  I am really looking forward to being healthy and strong again.  I know it’s going to be difficult for me to find the time for myself and use it, but I am determined to do it.  I don’t care if I have to cut into my bedtime a bit to do it, I am going to this time.  So it would be REALLY nice if Caden and Emily would kept going with these great sleep habits they have going on. =D

Yesterday was my first day alone with both kids while Bryan went to work.  It went great, but I am struggling with not being able to do as much as we’re used to.  Caden is still to small for the Ergo carrier even with the infant insert.  I don’t want to buy another carrier at this point.  I have one of those wraps that I could give a go, but then I almost feel bad that he’ll just be strapped to my front pretty much forced to sleep while I do my thing with Emily.  That balance is hard for me.  I want to be fair to both of them.  And my biggest struggle with Caden so far is keeping him awake during the day!  If I let him, he would just constantly sleep.  If I strap him to my front, that’s exactly what he will do.  And he needs interaction too.  So, I haven’t figured that one out yet.  Maybe if he has some good awake time and then is ready to sleep I can strap him to me and take Emily for a walk.  Emily really wants to go outside and I really want to take her, but I’m not confident enough to do it just yet.  

Shoot, she’s waking up from her nap.  Here are a couple pics.

Two more sneak peeks from our newborn photos:

I was feeding Caden yesterday and Emily went down the hall and got a little too quiet, so I got up and found her doing this:

"Riding the cat, mama!" LOL. We’ve been playing horsey a lot and she thought the cat needed a turn. =)</s

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I took this one of Caden yesterday:

Such a handsom little man!  Then yesterday my mom sent me a few pictures of myself as a baby:

All the pictures I’d seen before I was pretty blond, like Emily, but apparently I had darker hair when I was itty bitty!  I hesitated showing Bryan the pictures because he wants Caden to look like him so badly it seems.  Everyone always says how much Emily looks like me and I wanted him to have that with Caden..and I do see a lot of him in Caden!  I think he was a little butt hurt when people commented on FB that he looked like me..but whatcha gunna do. *shrug*

Here’s the only pic I have of Bryan as a baby:

His face is obviously much more round here than Caden’s (though he doesn’t have a very round head now, lol), but they definitely have the same lips. =)

~Sheralyn