Lets train: Seven Weeks

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Seven Weeks

Lucky number seven today and baby boy is recovering from a fabulous weekend with some STL friends. On Friday night, Hannah, Michael, Tilly, Kim and Mark drove up here and stayed until Sunday night. It's the first time any of them met Truman and it's the first time we've seen Kim and Mark since December 2008 since they've lived in South Korea this whole time. I was so sad to think that we weren't going to see them while they are back in the states for just two months before they return to Korea for a little longer, but they hitched a ride with Hannah and Michael and made it a group trip! SO good to see our traveling friends. And Hannah and I decided that Tilly and Truman would likely fall madly in love with each other upon first glance and truly, they did like each other a lot:) We had a blast with our guests and enjoyed the decent but chilly weather outside quite a bit and we ate our way through Milwaukee, too.

After our escapades around the city with friends (probably our most social and most eventful weekend since T was born!) Truman decided to take a THREE HOUR NAP on Sunday. It was divine because I got to snooze, too. Not only that but he also slept wonderfully during the night on Saturday night just from pure exhaustion, I'm sure. I never really thought babies were affected by being out on the town all day especially when they still manage to sleep and eat just like normal, but apparently he was a tired boy. I've come to realize that the more he sleeps during the day, the more rested he is overall and the nights tend to go better than if he's up all day long. Go figure!

His grunting has been a lot better since I posted my concerns on Friday, which makes no sense to me because I didn't change a thing with diet or anything. Basically, I'm leaning towards assuming this is a normal baby thing he'll just grow out of someday. But when we have our 2 month appointment I'll still ask about gas drops, diet change, etc to be sure. I think I can last until then as long as he isn't having his insanely loud grunting sessions every day now:)

Truman is smiling a lot more lately and I just can't get enough of it. We still have to work very hard to catch a smile and it's now my life's mission to get a smile in a photo and on video. It's hard work being a sneaky baby smile catcher, though, and I haven't had much luck besides these two pictures that somewhat show his grin. Also, note his right dimple:)

T and I have been enjoying the outdoors a lot more since I was released to exercise again last week. I've taken him on many more walks and two runs in the BOB, plus I've run twice more on my own, as well. Truman seems to enjoy the BOB because he'll usually pass right out with the jostling around and the fresh air....just another way to encourage baby boy to sleep, I guess! He still despises his car seat in general which is a bummer since he has to ride in the BOB with his seat for now but he gets over it quickly. I'm not freaking out as much when he starts to cry because he's still so content overall that his cries are few and far between and usually serve a purpose, like: 'Mom, feed me!' or 'I'm so tired, put me to sleep!' It's amazing how much my confidence has grown in the past 7 weeks with my parenting skills. It really does get easier, just like they say, even though we still have our bad days or moments when I have no freaking clue what to do. Overall I think that we are settling into a more comfortable pattern of 'Truman and Mommy time' and I just love it.

I had another weepy moment yesterday when I put baby boy into the Moby wrap, turned off all the lights in his nursery, and started playing music for him while we danced around together. The Fray's 'Look After You' came on which has always been one of my favorite songs but Truman was just tucked right under my chin, staring up at me in contentment, listening to his Mommy sing and watching her dance like a fool and I swear he just looked so peaceful and happy I couldn't contain myself. I breathe in the scent of his little head and touch his sweet skin and immediately feel at peace with everything, happiness doesn't begin to describe it. And when I am successful at getting him to nap? Even better! Score one more for mommy-confidence.

I'm not going to jinx it but they always say that right around 6 weeks, all babies reach their peak of fussiness and since we are at 7 weeks now I think I can say that Truman's fussiness really isn't too awful. I was always worried that he'd have an official case of colic since I had it as a child but again, I'm pretty sure we've passed the common start time for that, too (around 3-4 weeks, I've read). His temperament is just so calm and content and most of the time I find myself wondering how I got so lucky with this baby boy. His laid back attitude reflects to me and makes me more calm as a mom and I'm so thankful for that. I have no idea how moms do it when their baby DOES have colic or cries inconsolably through the day and night. Kudos to you ladies out there, because I think that would be incredibly difficult.

His personality is shining through more and more each week and I love the little 'Truman' things he does each day. For instance, he is really cranky after he awakes from a nap, like 'Oh no, where am I? Why am I so hungry? FEED ME LADY!!' He loves to stretch his arms out in a dramatic way once I release him from his swaddle---I think he might be an actor someday:) His little coos and grunts and squeals make me think he's talking to us in his own little baby language. And in the past few days he's shown us that he can sometimes put himself to sleep without us helping him which makes his momma VERY happy. Plus he's taking his pacifier more often now which I really think helps him soothe himself to sleep at times.

Enough babble about my baby boy, let's look at some pictures from the weekend events, shall we?
Their first meeting: