Graham is 3 weeks old!

Weight - Project pack on the pounds seems to be working for Graham.  As of Tuesday, August 7, he weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces.  YEAH!  We finally made it back to his birth weight, plus some!  Now he can slow down growing!

Sleep -  Graham is definitely having more wakeful times during the day.  But the nights are still very hit and miss.  Some nights he does great but other nights he is up every two hours.  We just received the Zen Swaddle from my sister in law, Suzi, and tried it out last night.  We had previously had a hard time swaddling Graham because everything is to big on him or he can bust out of a regular blanket swaddle. So then when Suzi told me ours was in the mail, I was so excited.  First and foremost it fits him!  While we have only used it two night so far it is awesome. The swaddle has something on it called the sweet embrace that is suppose to similar to the pressure they feel when Graham is being held, it is really cool!   Graham slept for an almost four hour stretch then a two in half hour, yes I am excited about five hours of broken up sleep.  Everything else in between there, I guess I must have not been fully awake because I don't remember.  So you get the idea, three weeks in and we, or should I say I, am desperate to find something which helps this boy sleep.

Graham in the Zen Swaddle

Clothes - Graham is wearing newborn size clothes and diapers.  We did venture out a bit this past week and picked up some clothes for our little man!  While the boys clothing selection is much more limiting, I found some pretty "handsome" outfits that I look forward to dressing him in.  Reece has also picked out all the sports gear one can imagine for Graham, but I will be waiting on that while I can still chose his clothes, like collared shirts and plaid!

Diet - Nursing.  I have begun to notice that Graham is having a ton of gas.  Therefore I am beginning to chart my food and try to determine what I am eating which may be causing this.  While the gas doesn't seem to be painful to him yet I know it is just a matter of time.

Vistors - Our  friends Dan and Angela Dingman had a little boy Will nine weeks prior to Graham.  Will and Ang came by to meet Graham.  It was so great to see them.  I hadn't seen Will since he was almost a month old, I can't believe how fast he has grown and what a difference nine weeks makes.  I am certain we will have many play dates in our future!

Graham wasn't nearly as terrified as he looks:)

Likes - Graham really enjoys being outside and going for walks.  As soon as we bring him outside he calms down and becomes quite alert.  Graham also loves being massaged.  We get some great facial expressions out of him!  He also loves having his hands up by his face.   It wouldn't surprise me if he becomes a thumb sucker as soon as he can figure out how to keep them in his mouth!  But needless to say his mittens have become a permanent fixture otherwise he scratches himself constantly.  He also loves to have his head and face rubbed.  When he gets upset it almost instantly calms him down.

Milestones - Graham has been smiling a lot.  While I know that these are not "social smiles" as they are called, it is amazing to see his joy and expression.  I do remember seeing the occasional smile out of Reece when he was a newborn but always thought it was just gas.  Well I read online and asked our pediatrician that these early smiles are quite common when babies are showing pleasure or contentment, which happens usually just as Graham is waking up or falling asleep.  So while we don't care where they come from, we certainly cannot get enough and Graham is up for sharing often!!  We have also started noticing that Graham is gaining is eye strength.  There isn't a much better feeling that when he looks right at me and I am able to talk to him about all the adventures we are going to have together.

His smile!!!!

 Graham's first of many trips to DTE amphitheater for La Vida Circa

Getting aquatinted with his play mat!

Postpartum - I just had my first check up with my OB.  I was overjoyed to be so close to my pre - Graham weight .  She also said I am healing great and within a few weeks I can start back to longer walks and workouts.  While I know my first run is going to be painful, I am really looking forward to getting back in my running shoes.  Otherwise generally I feel pretty good.   I would say that one of the biggest challenges is learning and adjusting to life with two children, which in turn has caused several irrational and emotional moments.  I am hoping that working out will help to stabilize some of my emotions.

So that leads me to something I have spent little time having to deal with yet, transitions!  Week three has brought about some challenges with Reece that I am assuming are normal transition issues.  While Reece wakes up ready to take on the world as a big brother, as the day progresses things become more volatile.  Of course Gregg and I are racking our brains about how to handle this.  Then throw in the fact that we are both incredibly sleep deprived, the situation becomes even more volatile.  We really are trying to be patient with Reece and show him a lot of individual attention but the reality is he is having to now share the spotlight and we just will not tolerate some of the behavior that he is doing.  So I guess as we are learning each day, it is a work in progress.  There are definitely times I say things I later regret,  times when I wish I would have handled myself better, or said something different, but at the end of the day we are all trying to figure it out and know that maybe it is good for Reece to see me cry, or lose my patience, or ugh I hate to even admit it but argue with Gregg.  I am hopeful this will teach Reece that emotions are a good thing and expressing ourselves is okay.  Now I just also need to remember that he can do the same thing!