Our days pretty much go as follows (I will start with late evening):
Preston generally goes to bed anywhere from 11pm-1am. It all depends on how awake he is. He will take a few catnaps during that time, but isn't ready to go to bed until pretty late. Around 2 weeks of age it was closer to 2am, now it's anywhere from 11pm-1am, but getting earlier, thankfully! I let Kyle go to bed whenever he likes, and I hang out up in the bed with Preston. I usually watch netflix, get on the computer, or play with him depending on how alert he is. He tends to be very awake from 9-11pm most nights. Anyways, so he goes to bed and usually sleeps around 3 hours, which is his longest sleeping stretch of the night. So, let's say he went to bed at 11pm. He will be awake and ready to eat around 2am. He goes back down around 2:45am or 3am after eating, diaper changes, re-swaddling, etc. His second stretch of sleep usually lasts for about 1.5 hours to 2 hours. So in this case he would be up by 4:30am or 5am. If it's really early, I will bring him into my bed, do side lying nursing, and he and I will fall back asleep in bed together (we follow bedsharing rules very strictly!). When he gets to bed a little later, he usually wakes up for the day between 5:30am and 6:00am, and I feed him again. Then Kyle takes him downstairs and lets mommy go back to sleep until he's ready to eat again! This works really well for us because I am a night person and Kyle is a morning person. So I take the night shifts, and he takes the early morning shift. Honestly, I am very pleased with this schedule. It's working out great for us. There hasn't really been a day when I think to myself, "I am just too exhausted! I can't do this anymore!" Things have been going swimmingly. We spend most of the day downstairs in the living room. Preston eats about every 1.5 - 2 hours, and usually falls asleep for an hour or so after he eats. Sometimes I will hold him and rock him while he sleeps, other times I will put him in his bouncy seat or swing. He's in his swing sleeping now, which is about the only time I have to type these days. Instead of getting a blog done in one sitting, it usually takes several days! Kyle is on diaper duty when he is home, since I do all of the feeding. Lots and lots of diapers get changed throughout the day! We are still using sposies because he is too little for cloth at the moment. I try to eat when he is sleeping, but I'm getting pretty good at getting things done while holding him. He pretty much eats, sleeps, and poops all day long...like any other baby! He is becoming more alert, which means his wake periods are becoming slightly longer. During this time I like to talk to him (I'm a huge baby talker), sing to him, turn on some music and dance with him, put him on his playmat, have tummy time, etc. We also spend tons of time bouncing on the exercise ball. Jaidyn loves playing with him on his playmat, but she pretty much keeps herself entertained these days. She's found her independence...good timing, but still hard for me to deal with! Kyle has been great at keeping the place clean and cooking meals while I am with the babe. Currently, he works from home in the morning and late evenings, and goes into work after lunch until around 4:30-5pm. Our evenings are very much like our mornings and afternoons, except that we like to throw on a family movie or attempt to do something as a family. Last week we went to the Jac in the evening for about 30 minutes. Then we head upstairs around 10 or 11pm. We are really making things work, much better than I had anticipated in fact!
Highlights: So, for most of week one and two, Preston would only sleep in my arms. I could occasionally get him to sleep in the pack n play downstairs for 30 minutes to an hour or so. But when we officially moved upstairs, he wouldn't sleep anywhere but in the bed with me. I would put him in his cradle, and he'd almost immediately start to cry. On July 15th, he slept for 3 straight hours in his cradle! He was in the bed for the rest of the night, but I was so proud of him! For the next couple of days, he would sleep in the cradle for the first stretch of the night, and then in the bed for the second. On July 19th, he officially started sleeping in the cradle all night long! He gets up for his feedings, but will go right back down. Sometimes I will even put him back in there when he's still somewhat awake, and he will fall asleep in there! If you know anything about how Jaidyn was as a baby, you will know why this is such a big deal! That baby girl would never, ever sleep anywhere but my arms. It's nice to have him right beside me in his cradle, sleeping so soundly, and letting mommy sleep soundly too! We all know that I am super paranoid about SIDS, but we have an awesome baby monitor that detects Preston breathing, and if he stopped it sets off an alarm. That, and the fact that he sleeps in his cradle less than a foot away from me, has really put my mind at ease at night.
On July 18th, we took Preston to his new Pedi (who is awesome btw) in Charleston to establish care there, and also to check for thrush (no thrush, thank goodness!). Preston was up to 9 lbs 6 oz! I was stunned! I'm very pleased that he is gaining weight at the rate he is, because it tells me that he's getting what he needs from me, and also...I love a chunky baby :)
On July 21st, Preston made it through a bath without screaming the entire time! In fact, he didn't cry once. It was fabulous!
We've also managed to go out and about successfully with Preston recently. We went to Los for lunch on Saturday, bible study Monday, and to the JAC one evening! Speaking of the JAC, Jaidyn and I finally got to have one of our dates, just the two of us! It had been a month or so since our last one, and it felt so nice to get some time alone with her. She had her usual cinnamon roll, and we read part of a chapter book called Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains together! I love that Kyle is such a great dad, and that I can trust him to look after P for an hour or so while I go out with Jaidyn.
His likes: Being swaddled. He is swaddled almost always, except when I put him in his play mat so that he can wiggle and kick around. I normally wouldn't keep him swaddled so much, but he's very happy that way. If he is crying, swaddling almost always helps to calm him down. And it's the only way he will sleep. He also loves it when I bounce him on an exercise ball. He still likes for daddy to hold him in the side position and gently wiggle him. Kyle started doing this thing where he holds him in that position and uses the baby to spell his whole name in the air. It's cute, and it makes P happy :) He also still really, really likes his milky! And he's starting to like his binky a little better, but will only take it from me, which I'm surprised by. P is very fond of white noise as well, especially when we are driving in the car.
His dislikes: Having a wet diaper, having his diaper changed, being dressed and undressed, and waking up in his swing/bouncer/etc and realizing he isn't in one of our arms! He loves being held! Oh, and he's not a fan of being in the carseat. He gets too hot!
Nicknames: Stinks (I don't know why, but I call him this more than anything else. I don't know where it came from, and her certainly doesn't stink :) but I like it!), Presty Westy, Preston Weston, Mr. Preston, Mister, Beauregard, and we also like to say "Preston Beauregard" in a fancy accent, because when we hear his name we picture some richy walking around his mansion in a fancy robe smoking a pipe. Yep, we are strange, and I wouldn't have it any other way! :)
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