sleep and school

I guess we're back to nighttime feedings! The last couple of nights he has been up sometime between 3 and 4 wanting to eat. We had a week and a half or so of sleeping almost through the night, but looks like he has had enough of that! I actually don't mind too much because I was having to get up and pump anyway. At least this way he wakes me up and I feed him and I don't wake up to the pain from him not eating! Breastfeeding is still going well and I'm SO happy that I didn't have any decrease in supply from going back on the pill.

Tyler's dad bought us a really nice glider and ottoman last weekend and I can just feed Palmer in his nursery during the night instead of lugging him into the bedroom and trying to sit up in bed. I can't believe we didn't realize how handy one of those would be! We moved the old school rocking chair into the living room and it's nice to have that option for daytime fussiness.

Suddenly I'm realizing that going back to school is getting pretty close! I have two more entire weeks and most of a third week left to spend with my baby before I go back. I'm glad it's a limited amount of time (just have to make it to summer!), but I still get a little anxious and sad when I think about missing all that time with him. I've been with him for probably 98% of his life so far and it is hard to think I'm going to be away from him for the majority of those 6 weeks I'm teaching. I'm going to miss him a lot, and it may be irrational, but I feel like he needs his mommy :(

Since evenings and weekends just aren't enough for us to spend together, I'm not teaching next school year. It will be nice to soak up all that precious time with Palmer while he's still so young! I'm going to miss seeing all my teacher friends every day but I want to be the #1 presence in my baby's life as long as I'm able to.

cute little noises

2 month appointment

Palmer was a good little boy at his doctor appointment this morning! He talked up a storm to the doctor and passed his physical with flying colors. His neck has better range of motion to both sides now and the doctor said he's not worried about the flat side any more. Palmer weighs 12 lb 5 oz in the (75th %) and is 23 1/2 inches (75th-90th %). He was already so long at his last appointment that I'm not surprised he only grew a half inch.

The shots weren't too bad- she did them really quickly and even though he screamed his head off, it was over when I nursed him. He got an oral dose of medicine for rotavirus which apparently was pretty tasty. . . or maybe he was just super hungry! I'm so happy he's a healthy boy and that I never really have any questions or concerns when the doctor asks. Two months til we go back!

Palmer had a good 5-7 day stretch of sleeping 6, 7, or even 8 hours once at night! He decided to be a night owl last night though and wanted to eat at 2, 3:30, and so on. Oh well, I guess it's just a reminder to me that I really need to be appreciating those longer nights and not take them for granted! Now if only I would stop making so much milk and actually be able to sleep when he does without pumping. Time will tell!

I want to post a video soon of Palmer smiling and talking- I'll work on having the videocamera charged and handy sometime this week!

bathtime

These pictures are from the last time Palmer got his bath on the countertop. Now he splashes too much so we're putting his whale tub in the big tub! He really enjoys bath time now- I think because the warm water feels good. He's content as long as you keep basting him! The crying comes when you take him out and he gets chilly. Right now we give him a bath every other day and I always look forward to it!

7 1/2 weeks!

Palmer is so cute these days with all his smiles and other expressions! Here are some pictures my mom and I took this afternoon with him wearing one of the tie dye outfits I made over the summer (thanks Aunt Becky!). He is eating pretty often during the day now, sometimes right on the dot every 2 hours. I think he's trying to cram in that extra feeding that he's been sleeping through at night! Last night he made it from 11-5, and from 6-7:30 then took a morning nap while Tyler and I had coffee and blueberry muffins and relaxed a bit.

He's getting a LITTLE more predictable during the day: nurse for 30 mins, fuss that he wants to nurse more, nurse more, lay in my lap for a while smiling, "talking" and looking at his bug toy, then he gets fussy when he gets sleepy! This is usually when I put him in the Bjorn or Moby wrap. If you've ever been around when he is getting tired you know he is HIGHLY resistant to sleep. The carriers help to calm him down or I swaddle him to help him chill out enough to fall asleep. Being tired seems to always make him upset! Repeat the process when he wakes up from a little snooze, always ready to eat. . .

sleep

Palmer did a great job sleeping last night! He ate around 10:30, went to bed at 11, and slept til 3!!! After eating he went back to sleep around 4:00 and slept til 7:00. I think I was able to get about 6 hours! Despite getting up in the middle of the night I feel so much more rested. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction! Fussy McCriesalot has been quite a pill during the day but if he's going to sleep so much at night I'll definitely take that deal! Oops, mister crankypants is demanding attention- gotta go. . .

UPDATE:

An even better night Thursday night! I think he must have been pooped from shopping earlier in the day, fussing in the afternoon, and crying at the restaurant while Tyler and I had dinner. He got a bath around 9, ate at 9:45, and went to sleep at 10:30! I thought for sure he would be up soon, so I read my book for a little while, but he was still down at 11 so I went to sleep too. Fast forward to 4 am when I wake up in PAIN because he hadn't nursed in 6 hours! I got up and pumped a couple ounces for some relief and went to sit in bed with my lamp on because SURELY he would wake up soon, right? Nope- slept til 6! Don't get me wrong- I'm very happy with this new development, but will my body eventually adjust? If you've breastfed you can relate- it gets painful, uncomfortable, and messy when they go too long between feedings. I'll be up at 3 or 4 to pump if he doesn't wake up to eat, so it's not much more restful than feeding him in the middle of the night. We'll see how things go tonight!

6 weeks :)

Palmer has really started smiling these past few days! He loves to look at faces and will sometimes coo right back at you. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend.