Finding time to blog lately has been impossible. And of course, the further behind that I fall, the harder it is to catch up since it's difficult to figure out exactly where to jump back in. As it stands, I've got about 3 more blog entries swimming 
around in my head, trying to make their way out. But every time I touch the keyboard, it's either time to feed, change, sleep, eat, clean, work, etc. And so opportunities and "quiet times" come and go before I have a chance to do much with it.
And with that, so many milestones (well, "mini milestones", really) have come and gone that I've lost track of most of them. But then on the other hand, I'm also trying to be mindful that EVERY new thing Justin does is not worthy of being called a milestone (ahem... are you listening, proud momma?). Nobody wants to become those obnoxious parents that send out greeting cards commemorating the first time junior sneezes three times in a row ("awww... how cute!!!") but I can definitely see how it happens. It's a slippery slope.
Nonetheless here's my attempt to walk the line: updating the world on our child's progress without becoming one of those obnoxious parents that I just wrote about.
Most notably, Justin has been "sleeping through the night" (in newborn terms) consistently for almost two weeks now. By that what I mean is that he wakes up for exactly one feeding overnight, has learned to go directly back to bed afterwards, and consistently extends his eating cycle times from 2 - 3 hours to at least about 5 hours at night.
around in my head, trying to make their way out. But every time I touch the keyboard, it's either time to feed, change, sleep, eat, clean, work, etc. And so opportunities and "quiet times" come and go before I have a chance to do much with it.And with that, so many milestones (well, "mini milestones", really) have come and gone that I've lost track of most of them. But then on the other hand, I'm also trying to be mindful that EVERY new thing Justin does is not worthy of being called a milestone (ahem... are you listening, proud momma?). Nobody wants to become those obnoxious parents that send out greeting cards commemorating the first time junior sneezes three times in a row ("awww... how cute!!!") but I can definitely see how it happens. It's a slippery slope.
Nonetheless here's my attempt to walk the line: updating the world on our child's progress without becoming one of those obnoxious parents that I just wrote about.
Most notably, Justin has been "sleeping through the night" (in newborn terms) consistently for almost two weeks now. By that what I mean is that he wakes up for exactly one feeding overnight, has learned to go directly back to bed afterwards, and consistently extends his eating cycle times from 2 - 3 hours to at least about 5 hours at night.
Using the books we read as a guideline, this was a goal that V and I were very deliberate with since his first days home from the hospital. And it certainly has been a gradual process. Of course we're smart enough to know that we can't take 
all of the credit (I think some babies are just more willing to comply with the nighttime thing than others)... but it is a goal that we've been very deliberate with from jump (monitoring his naps, bedtime routine, daytime & nighttime activities, etc.). He's been good with knowing nighttime from daytime pretty much since birth, but for the most part, he was still waking up for his usual 3-hour feeding intervals until sometime during the 4th week. At that point, it was like someone hit a switch, and he decided that one feeding a night would be sufficient. As a newborn, we're still not supposed to let him go too long (about 5 hours) without eating... but after the around-the-clock feeding frenzy that was his first month of life, I'll gladly take only having to wake up once for about 15 minutes between, say, 10pm and 6am. And so with that, life has been grand.
I'll also admit that I almost didn't want to write about this sleeping through the night just because I didn't want to jinx us. In fact, I waited a week to log this entry just to make sure it was the "real thing", and sure enough he has slept through the night without fail the entire time. But of course, just because I'm writing this now, he'll make a mockery me tonight and wake up for a full feeding every 25 minutes. Such is life.
Anyway, in addition to that, he now also has tears and the ability to generate 4 gallons of saliva in 9 minutes flat. It's funny in hindsight, but until they starting streaming about 2 weeks ago, it simply never occurred to me that he didn't have any tears when he cried. And while that's not a typical milestone, I will say that it totally changes the game when you're trying to deny him anything. Letting him "cry it out" has a whole new meaning when you know it leads to welled up eyes and a pathetically soggy face. And so begins the making of a spoiled little baby.
And as for the spittle, call me the eternal optimist, but I honestly thought that we'd be the first parents ever with a non-drooly baby. Hey, we had almost 5 good weeks without even so much as a drop of spit trickling down his chin. But I guess his saliva glands kicked into high gear about the same time that the tears turned on. Now we've got that same nasty drool that everyone else does... you know, the type that gyrates up and down from his mouth like a bungee cord, growing to about 10 inches long, but simply refuse to break off. Nope. It'll just hang there until it either finds its way onto your favorite shirt or you wipe it. Otherwise, it will just oscillate forever. And while I'm admittedly exaggerating at this point (it's not quite that bad yet) I can definitely see the slippery slope that we're headed down with this one (... ick ...)
Last but not least (and a little less nasty) I think Justin's infatuation with faces kicked in almost right after I last wrote about his reluctance for eye contact. He'll now stare at you for days. In fact, he's not consistent with it, but at last as of last week, if you stick your tongue out at him, he'll mimic you and do the same right back. We probably entertained ourselves with this "neat little trick" longer than we should have (shameful parents) but sleep deprivation is a funny thing sometimes.
And on that note, I should close this entry out and try to "sleep while the baby sleeps", as every baby book under the sun recommends. Even though I have about 1000 other ways that I'd rather spend this quiet time, I know that if I don't sleep now I'll regret it tomorrow when he's hollering and I'm trying to take a nap.
all of the credit (I think some babies are just more willing to comply with the nighttime thing than others)... but it is a goal that we've been very deliberate with from jump (monitoring his naps, bedtime routine, daytime & nighttime activities, etc.). He's been good with knowing nighttime from daytime pretty much since birth, but for the most part, he was still waking up for his usual 3-hour feeding intervals until sometime during the 4th week. At that point, it was like someone hit a switch, and he decided that one feeding a night would be sufficient. As a newborn, we're still not supposed to let him go too long (about 5 hours) without eating... but after the around-the-clock feeding frenzy that was his first month of life, I'll gladly take only having to wake up once for about 15 minutes between, say, 10pm and 6am. And so with that, life has been grand.I'll also admit that I almost didn't want to write about this sleeping through the night just because I didn't want to jinx us. In fact, I waited a week to log this entry just to make sure it was the "real thing", and sure enough he has slept through the night without fail the entire time. But of course, just because I'm writing this now, he'll make a mockery me tonight and wake up for a full feeding every 25 minutes. Such is life.
Anyway, in addition to that, he now also has tears and the ability to generate 4 gallons of saliva in 9 minutes flat. It's funny in hindsight, but until they starting streaming about 2 weeks ago, it simply never occurred to me that he didn't have any tears when he cried. And while that's not a typical milestone, I will say that it totally changes the game when you're trying to deny him anything. Letting him "cry it out" has a whole new meaning when you know it leads to welled up eyes and a pathetically soggy face. And so begins the making of a spoiled little baby.
And as for the spittle, call me the eternal optimist, but I honestly thought that we'd be the first parents ever with a non-drooly baby. Hey, we had almost 5 good weeks without even so much as a drop of spit trickling down his chin. But I guess his saliva glands kicked into high gear about the same time that the tears turned on. Now we've got that same nasty drool that everyone else does... you know, the type that gyrates up and down from his mouth like a bungee cord, growing to about 10 inches long, but simply refuse to break off. Nope. It'll just hang there until it either finds its way onto your favorite shirt or you wipe it. Otherwise, it will just oscillate forever. And while I'm admittedly exaggerating at this point (it's not quite that bad yet) I can definitely see the slippery slope that we're headed down with this one (... ick ...)
Last but not least (and a little less nasty) I think Justin's infatuation with faces kicked in almost right after I last wrote about his reluctance for eye contact. He'll now stare at you for days. In fact, he's not consistent with it, but at last as of last week, if you stick your tongue out at him, he'll mimic you and do the same right back. We probably entertained ourselves with this "neat little trick" longer than we should have (shameful parents) but sleep deprivation is a funny thing sometimes.
And on that note, I should close this entry out and try to "sleep while the baby sleeps", as every baby book under the sun recommends. Even though I have about 1000 other ways that I'd rather spend this quiet time, I know that if I don't sleep now I'll regret it tomorrow when he's hollering and I'm trying to take a nap.
We picked out a super fantastic infant-to-toddler bathing tub... only to find out that he prefers a good ol' fashioned sink bath. Go figure. The good news (?) is that at the rate that he's growing, he won't last long in the sink anyway.
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