One Month Old

 

Ethan is one month old!  He is becoming much more alert.  He's starting to coo - I love it.  He likes to look at his Sassy mirror and a black & white book called Art for Baby.  He's also starting to enjoy his play mat.  We already had these items from when Alex was a baby.  I'm glad we're getting more use out of them!

He's still sleeping pretty good.  We're lucky because he doesn't cry very much.  Our only issues are when he wants to be held at night while sleeping (although this is happening less frequently) and he still is not a fan of the bassinet or crib.  Last week he was all about the swing.  This week it's the bouncer chair again.  My goal is to make more progress with the crib in the next few weeks.  But to be honest, I'm fine with whatever gets me the most sleep!  With Alex, I was determined to use the crib from the very beginning.  I only used the swing for naps.  This meant a lot less sleep for me.  Granted, Alex sleeps great in his crib now (and has for a long time) but I'm not convinced it's because he slept in it since he was born.  I'm hoping Ethan will adapt eventually & we'll get the same result in the end.  Or maybe Ethan will sleep in his swing for years - ha.  We'll see!

We've been trying to do the eat, play, sleep routine but we're flexible about it.  Frequently he only stays awake during the day for about an hour versus an hour and a half but he's starting to last a little longer lately.  Keeping him awake for three hours in the evening usually doesn't happen.  He gets grumpy and once he starts crying, I give in.  That's ok, we'll eventually get there.  It's all very unpredictable at this stage anyway.  After a good night, I'll try to do everything exactly the same the next night but you never know what you're going to get.

Our little guy is going bald.  Boo!  He has the old man hairstyle going on - bald on top, hair on the sides & in the back.  I know that's typical but I hope it grows back soon.  We never had this problem with Alex - he's always had a full head of hair.  Oh well, Ethan is still a cutie even with his receding hairline. 

I still plan on posting Ethan's birth story.  My two little guys keep me pretty busy & we've been battling illness for the last week but I'll get around to it eventually!

Brothers?

One thing that has surprised me with Ethan is how he looks nothing like Alex at least so far.  Michael looks so much like his dad & brothers, so I assumed my boys would look alike.  I don't know about you but I don't see any resemblance!

Luckily, I think they're both adorable - just different.  J

Two Weeks Old

Ethan is actually three weeks old now, but this is a picture of him at two weeks.  With Alex, I took a picture at two weeks, one month, two months, etc so I'm going to do the same with Ethan.

Ethan is pretty laid back.  He typically only cries when he's hungry.  Actually, let me rephrase that.  He only cries when he thinks he's hungry.  Sometimes he wants to eat for comfort not hunger.  Luckily a pacifier usually helps with that.  He likes to eat.  When I took him to the doctor's office to be weighed (they wanted him to be back to his original birth weight by two weeks), he was 9 pounds, 3 ounces.  That's almost a pound over his original birth weight!

He sleeps a lot but we've been working on having more awake time during the day.  One of our biggest challenges has been where he likes to sleep.  His #1 preference is being held.  Not too surprising since he was held in the womb 24/7.  The next best option has been the bouncer chair.  Thank goodness for that chair or else I'd never get to sleep in my bed!  He'll sleep in the swing sometimes.  Alex loved the swing & I thought all babies were like that.  Apparently not but I'm giving up yet.  As far as the bassinet & crib...  The bassinet is hit or miss - sometimes he'll sleep for a decent stretch & sometimes it only lasts about 30 minutes, which is not fun in the middle of the night.  The crib has not been a success so far.  He'll wake up within 10 minutes.  Sigh.  We'll keep trying, though.  Anyone have any suggestions or magic tricks??

I feel more relaxed in general with the second child but it has been different having a newborn & a toddler!  Alex has adjusted pretty well, though.  He's having more meltdowns but that's probably also the stage he's in being two years old.  He's sweet to Ethan & doesn't seem to mind that he takes up a lot of our time.  When I took the picture above, Alex wanted one taken of him, too.

Sleep deprivation hasn't been fun but I've been trying to soak up the newborn phase - his sweet smell, his cuddles & cute sleep expressions.  Especially since this will probably be our last baby.  It's a lot of work but I definitely prefer him being out versus me being pregnant!