Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

The latest nifty slideshow can be found here

All pictures of Kevin can be found here

On Wednesday, Oct 3, Kevin LeRoy will be 6 weeks old. People have told us the time would fly by and it certainly has. People have told us that babies change every single day and he certainly has. Some forthright people are honest with us and tell us the first 6 weeks are kind of a blur and are, at times, hideous. This is true too! Sleep deprivation does funny things to your outlook on life. Perhaps this why people have more than one child….the sleep deprivation of the first 6 weeks makes them forget what it is really like.

No, but in all seriousness, things are going very well. We think Kevin is pretty cool baby. He is growing like a weed – he gained over 3 pounds since birth in the first 5 weeks. He weighed 10 pounds at the doctor, but then spit up a bunch on the scale, so they subtracted an ounce; 9 lbs, 15 oz. He has many chins to be proud of.

Kevin is doing all the things he’s “supposed to” at this stage. And some better! He really showed off at the doctor’s appointment by doing a full head/shoulder raise for many seconds. His daddy was so proud when the doctor told us that was typical of a 2 or 3 month old. Daddy says that he has to start doing real man push-ups…none of these girlie push-ups with his knees on the floor! No pressure, Kevin.

Tracking objects is also a milestone for this age. He likes looking at black and white patterns and can follow these when moved across his face. His changing table is right under a sunny window with lots of trees, so he is quite content looking at the horizontal window blinds with the sun shining through. Supposedly, babies tend to focus on the upper part of your face – between the nose and the hairline. Kevin does this often and tries to mimic our eyebrow movements.

He isn’t smiling yet, but he is definitely thinking about it! He smiles at random things (usually due to digestive issues), but we think he is very close to smiling back at his smiling parents.

After Kevin’s umbilical cord fell off, we gave him his first real bath. His infant tub seat fits perfectly in the kitchen sink. He didn’t dislike the whole experience, but he wasn’t really sure what to make of it! After his bath, he gets to do naked tummy time to work on those push-ups. We are prepping him for crazy college days when he’ll have to partake in naked drinking games. What a trooper.

We are very lucky parents because Kevin does very well at night. He gives me the luxury of eating every 4+ hours. Last night he went 6 hours! In general, I only get up twice in the night to feed him and can manage 3 hours of sleep at a time. He goes to bed early though, so I miss all the new primetime television shows because I hit the sack early too. Kevin started out sleeping in a bassinet next to our bed. He did this for 4 nights. He grunts and groans all night long (even in his sleep), so we kicked him out. We put him in the hallway, just outside our door. Each night, however, we scooted the bassinet a little farther down the hallway, and even around the corner! Last night, he slept in his own room for the first time. I don’t think he noticed. He’s so flexible.

Now, for the hideousness. He cries. And cries. At week 2, he started to cry every evening, between 6 and 9pm. The medical field has given this “crying for no reason other than to hear your head rattle” a name: COLIC. At 10pm one night, I made a Craigs list purchase of a Graco swing. At 3am one morning, I made an Amazon purchase of a Miracle blanket for the ultimate swaddling (next day shipping, of course). At 5am one morning, I made another Amazon purchase of the “Happiest Baby on the Block” DVD, per recommendation from our pediatrician (next day shipping again). And actually, all these things put together have helped tremendously. His crying was reduced by more than half and his parents’ sanity was restored! And thankfully too, because our budget might not allow for too many more middle-of-the-night-panic Amazon purchases.

So, a side note about “Happiest Baby on the Block.” We decided we didn’t have time to read the book, so we went with the DVD. Good move. Dr. Harvey Karp demonstrates his 5 S’s – swaddling, shushing, side/stomach, swinging, and sucking. We watched some parts of the DVD twice, just to get the techniques down. I’m telling you – a miracle worker! His approaches don’t work when Kevin is super hungry or has a dirty diaper, but when he’s just drying to hear his head rattle, these techniques worked wonders. I highly recommend.

Some comments from my last posting stated that there was an awful lot about poop. So, I’ll leave those details out of this posting. But, rest assured, he still poops often and proudly!

Breastfeeding. Sigh. What a job. It is supposed to be a peaceful, beautiful, bonding experience between mother and child. Sometimes, I get a glimpse of that. Kevin is a vigorous eater, so the experience can be painful at times. He grunts, he groans, he pulls, he tugs, he kicks, he stretches, he arches, he cries. I went to a breastfeeding support group to see what others’ experiences are. There are a lot of gung-ho breastfeeders out there. I’ve nicknamed them the “militant formula haters.” When I admitted that Kevin had formula the first night of his life, they glared at me and looked at him like he was a devil child. I didn’t go back to that group.

Kevin has been napping for a full hour, just long enough for me write this post. Guess what? He’s hungry! Gotta go!

Tags: baby, Family, kevin