c's 4th week

C is 4 weeks old today! He continues to thrive, grow, and change every single day.  These days he seems to be way more aware of his surroundings.  He is able to track our faces and has started noticing things around him like the toys on his play-mat and play-pen.  He is also getting stronger and holding onto us with more power in his grip, which probably means no more dangly earrings for me soon.  He is so strong that he now has the ability to kick and push himself away from me when I place him on my knees.  Carrying him also isn't as easy as it used to be as he is getting heavier every day.  My arms now get quite the workout and have begun to get a wee bit sore after holding him for a long time.  As he continues to grow longer and wider (which translates to taller and fatter), some of his newborn clothes are getting a bit snug and soon he will be outgrowing some of the cute outfits we have for him.  Thankfully we don't have that much and he has been able to wear all of the newborn items we have a few times, so I don't feel so bad about C growing out of them already.  Sadly he can't stay small forever!

This week I got a taste of just how helpless I am in regards to protecting C.  He had a couple bouts of spit-up that scared me as the spit-up seemed to erupt out of him and there was nothing I could do to ease the pain he seemed to be in.  It was so hard to watch him cry and struggle to get rid of the milk in his mouth and be so limited in my response.  I was able to pat his back, wipe up the spit-up, clean him, change his clothes, and attempt to soothe him....however, it just didn't seem like enough.  I think the worst part about it all was knowing that the milk came from me and was causing him pain, so I felt like I was causing him pain and the one to blame.  It affected me so much that the following nursing time was really hard at first as I was scared he would spit-up again and have the same difficulty getting the milk down.  These incidences made me realize just how much I want to protect C from pain but again  realizing that unfortunately I can't protect him from everything.  I think this will forever be an area of difficulty and anxiety for us as parents...

Day 22 (1/22)

C playing on his jungle themed play-mat.  I think he likes it!

Day 23 (1/24)

Daddy cutting his nails for the first time! Go daddy go!

 

Day 24

Happy. Sad.  So expressive!

Day 25 (1/25)

Using a pacifier for the first time! It is still hit or miss, but he's slowly getting the hang of it.

Day 26

So alert after his bath and then passed out 20 minutes later! 

I'm throwing it out there now...I think his eyes are going to be some shade of blue!

Day 27

Here is a preview of the photo-shoot C had with Uncle Bert! I'll make sure to post more pics soon.

Family photo time!

Day 28 (1/28)

 Matt gave C a bath for the first time this week.  It was a success!

All in white!

...Things to Remember...

- C had quite a few episodes of intense spit up this week.  One of the times looked as though he was kind of throwing up, which was not pleasant for either of us.  These episodes were scary to see and made me feel so bad as I felt so helpless. 

- C slept for 5 hours on his own accord one time this week! WOHOO! He's begun to sleep for longer periods, which has been so nice as it gives me time to get things done and have some uninterrupted sleep.  Yay!

- This week C had a rash on his cheeks.  It didn't seem to bother him, but it sure wasn't pretty to look at.    It is looking better everyday and I'm hoping his skin will settle down sometime soon.  The remedy we were told to use was to put breast milk on it.  Apparently it is a cure all for everything baby! 

- My body is almost back to normal (I think) and I'm feeling really good about it all...minus the baby pouch that I still have.  I'm not too concerned about the pouch as having Chris is way better than being thin! :) 

- I have been so hungry this week and have definitely been snacking on terribly unhealthy foods a lot more than usual.  In fact, my cravings seem even more intense than when I was pregnant! Besides from my meals, all I want is sweets, sweets, and MORE sweets! Hopefully it will pass soon or I might gain more baby weight and not have a good excuse for it.  HA!

(Linking up with P52 Sweet Shot Tuesday, Tuesdays Around the World, Our World Tuesday, and Che and Fidel.)