Belly Button

Yea!!! Your umbilical cord stump finally fell off! We have waited over seven weeks. I wondered if it would ever come off. It fell off on Sunday night and Monday afternoon you had your first real bath in a real baby tub. Of course I had to get pictures. You are such a big boy and I just love your belly button!

Wedding

Yesterday you attended your first wedding and made it through your first road trip. Our good friend Michael Stevens got married yesterday in Monroeville, which is about 3 hours from home. You did great. The trip there took about 5 hours (because of traffic) and you slept 4 1/2 hours. Daddy had to stay outside with you during the wedding but at the reception you did great. You were very alert and enjoyed looking all around and meeting new people. You really seem to enjoy being out and about and experiencing new places. You are always taking it all in. You just look all around and are very content. I held you most of the time and you enjoy being in my arms. You fell asleep in my arms for about an hour and everyone admired how cute and precious you were. We left the reception a little after nine and after getting on the road you were back asleep for the night. We were worried about taking such a long trip with you but you did great. Needless to say we are all very tired today. You and I have spent most of the day in bed together napping on and off. It's nice to have those days.

Eating and Sleeping

Because of complications we had to give you formula for a few days. It didn't seem to settle with your stomach. You were very fussy and spit up a lot. Monday night you hardly slept at all. We would get you to fall asleep and after putting you in your crib you were awake after only 20 to 30 minutes. We were up all night. After getting you back on breastmilk you seem much happier. Tuesday night you had a great night. You slept from 10pm-4am which means mommy and daddy slept from 10pm-4am. Then you slept for a couple more hours after that. Yea Jackson!

No More Gunk

After 4 weeks of gunk, today is the first day that I haven't had to clean out your eyes. We think you had a blocked tear duct which was causing lots of junk to ooze from your left eye. I know...yuck! Every time you cried or woke up from sleeping your eye was filled with gunk. But, today, out of nowhere, it's gone. All that massaging the tear duct with warm water finally worked.... but you sure didn't like it!

6 Weeks Old

This past Thursday, you were 6 weeks old. The past 6 weeks have been very eventful...full of ups and downs and I decided that I wanted to keep a journal of you and our days together. As I sit and type you are laying right next to me on the bed....asleep. You are beautiful.

This new life of ours is quite a change from our old life. Of course I wouldn't have it any other way, but I find myself sleep deprived, food deprived, and my thoughts are only for you.

I wanted to note that I am not breast feeding you. You and I were not able to make it work. While I did mourn the loss of that bond we have definitely bonded in other ways. You are getting only breastmilk though because I am expressing every ounce of milk that you drink which has been a daunting task. My days revolve around pumping milk and feeding you. I have had a couple of infections and while pumping milk is sometimes painful I only want what's best for you. A couple of weeks ago I had mastitis and had to take antibiotics to get rid of it. Because of the antibiotics I got thrush which I currently have now. Sometimes I want to give up. It's hard, it takes up a lot of time and energy, and can be quite painful at times. But then I look at your beautiful face and it's all worth it. I want you to have this part of me that God created for you to have.

Today, you and I went to your first birthday party. Our neighbor across the street turned one and invited you to his party at Overton Park. You slept the whole time...of course! You were wide awake until I put you in the car. The car always puts you to sleep. You slept for the next three hours.

Last night you went 6 hours between feedings. This is the longest you have gone so far. You ate at 8:30pm, went to sleep at 9:30pm and stayed asleep until 2:30am. You are really growing.

Some entries may be short and others long, but I want to remember these days....things that happen as you grow and my thoughts and feelings as we figure things out together. I love you sweet boy.