Yesterday I was on a walk with Wes and the pups at the dog park when all of a sudden it hit me: 7 weeks ago I had just started the induction process to get this little man out of my belly and into our arms:
It’s funny, it feels like the even-numbered weeks are so much harder to swallow than the odd-numbered ones. 2 weeks? Holy moly. 3 weeks? No big deal. Last week felt like a huge milestone, but 7 weeks just feels like a big fat extension of week 6. Not that I mind though; anything I can do to get time to slooooooow it on down is fine with me. I just can’t believe how big Wes has gotten, how much personality he has, and how much I fall more and more in love with him every day.
His newest favorite thing is being held facing out so that he can see the world around him (obviously his head is always being supported). I was holding him like that after changing his diaper the other day and just happened to see him in the mirror and the reality of how big he’s getting just slapped me across the face. His little cheeks are bigger (I think that’s where he gains all of his weight!), and his body is so long! I just can’t even remember him being a teeny tiny newborn anymore, which is so sad, but it makes me so happy to know that he’s growing well. I guess I just never expected it to happen so quickly.
One thing that’s a pretty big and new development is the fact that tummy time doesn’t always involve him screaming into the floor. Now he is starting to be able to lift his head up and realize that he can still see what’s going on around him, which I think has become a huge motivator for him. He loves seeing the action around him so much that he does whatever he can to look in that direction, including the long-awaited head lift. Again, I kind of want to slow down time and make it so he’s 7 pounds again, but watching him learn and grow is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Can you imagine a day where literally everything is new and wonderful and different? It’s such a huge blessing to be able to experience that through our little guy!
He’s still smiling a TON (even though not for the camera just yet) and has now started to really coo and make lots of “conversational” noises when we play – again, SO much fun. I love making the noises he makes back to him and watching his big blue eyes light up when he realizes that we’re kind of “talking.” Seriously, it’s one of the cutest things in the entire world. That and when he anticipates play time and you can see him just wiggling from excitement and anticipation. Not that I’m all that fun, but since I’m still pretty new I think it makes him pretty excited. We read books, look at colors, go on walks, lay on the ground on his play mat, and just chat all day long. Oh, and sing. I sing to him a LOT, and he’s probably the only person in the world who gets excited when I do. What’s not to love about that? 🙂
I know I mentioned last week that we were looking into maybe starting a bedtime routine for him and, well, we totally failed at that. I say failed loosely though because we have been TRYING to get him in bed around the same time every night and always doing the last feeding in his room (I usually feed him downstairs during the day because it’s cooler). Last night was the first time I put him down wide awake and let him cry a little bit before dozing off, and he ended up sleeping about 6.5 hours straight! I’m not going to go into bedtime with the expectation that will always happen, but we believe he’s starting to get to the age when he has the capability to sleep longer lengths of time at night between feedings. Obviously we’ll adjust things as needed for his health and well-being, but it was nice to know that I didn’t totally destroy him by putting him to bed awake. And you know what? He was so much happier this morning!
Nate and I are doing well 7 weeks in, although a bit sleepy. We are constantly in a state of evaluating things that we can do to make our life with our little man easier and more productive. It’s hard without family out here to help, but I think more than anything it’s helped our marriage and our friendship in general. I love the weekends because that’s when I get to see Nate and Weston together the most, and it makes my heart melt with how cute it is. Although I have to say that last night they were watching the NFL Draft together and I almost keeled over from the cuteness. This little guy and his dad are going to be some major troublemakers in the very near future!
As for me, things have been going well with finally being cleared for exercise from the doctor. I’m taking it very slowly still, relying on walks (that are getting longer and longer) for my main form of cardio at the moment. I haven’t really started to incorporate a lot of weight training into the schedule, but I have been slowly building up my upper body and core with tons of push-ups, planks, and lower abdominal crunches while I’m playing on the floor with Wes. This next week I’m hoping to really get in there and detail a workout plan of sorts and figure out a good workout schedule that works for me and Wes during the day. Obviously naptimes are the ideal times for weight training, and I’m hoping that the bedtime routine might make his daily schedule slightly more predictable.
All that to say it just feels really GOOD to finally get in there and get sweaty, to move around and to feel the soreness from muscles that are getting stronger!
OH! And one more thing with Wes – I’ve started actually dressing him in his clothes now! Before we were really only having him wear his pajamas all the time because they are SO much easier to work with when changing a million diapers a day. But now that he’s not going through as many diapers (still a ton, but it’s more consistent now) we can finally put him in his little clothes. Earlier this week I put him in this little green Ralph Lauren polo outfit and just about died. I may or may not have popped his collar a little too 😉
This past week has been incredible, and even at my tiredest and crankiest moments I wouldn’t give any of it up. Last night we were sitting on the couch after putting him to bed and I started crying because I just never knew that I would love being a mom this much. It has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but has yielded the most incredible reward in the love that I have for our little man. We have been so blessed and I’m so glad that you guys are on this journey with us!
He is super cute and you look great!
Love reading this. We go through so many of the same stuff…awesome post!!
I know what you’re feeling… my babies turn 8 and 11 this year! Enjoy every second Heather!
LOVE those little toes!! Take it easy those first 3 months are a whirl-wind, then everything sort of starts mellowing out.
Oh my gosh, Heather…Weston is adorable! It gets easier with each passing week, and it sounds like you are doing awesome!
Sweet little man!! Haha, Lila is definitely still in her “wearing pajamas, 24/7” phase 🙂
Such a sweet post, he is so adorable! Can’t wait to meet my little girl. 🙂
Awww, sweet, sweet, sweet. Love that hair!!! It DOES go way too quickly. Slow down, time!
love these little recaps Heather and seeing how much he is changing through the pictures! He is so adorable 🙂
he is the cutest baby boy EVER! love these intimate, quiet shots (know what I mean?)
I struggled mightily until my daughter was about 14 months old with living in the moment because I was mourning that she’d already left the last stage (and the stages before it). Now, thankfully, she is so freaking fun that I’ve quit doing that. So yes, 7 weeks is crazy awesome – but I can now tell you that you even when it’s over, things will still be awesome 🙂
Even though he’s getting bigger, he’s still cute as ever! Such adorable pictures. 🙂
That first picture of him is great!