Small Victories

Caleb is 6 weeks old today! Wow I cannot believe it. He is weighing in at 12 pounds and 4 ounces. He is my "porker". :)

Daniel and I have been working really hard since Caleb was born to follow the Babywise principles. I know some people think we are crazy, but we are scheduled people and thought it would be great to get Caleb on one. Now I know that I am not doing things exactly like the book says, but I feel like the past few weeks we have made a lot of progress. 

Caleb was used to eating every 2 hours in the day and this week he has actually stretched it to 2.5-3 hours a few times each day. He normally nurses, stays awake for about 30 minutes (tummy time, bath time, etc), and then goes down for a nap! 

At night, Caleb has a tendency to get fussy around 6 and stay that way until about 8 or 9. Last night I tried something different and it seemed to work. Caleb was extremely fussy and we knew he had just had a poopy diaper and he had eaten about an hour before. I asked my friend (that successfully breastfed for over a year) for advice. She said that Caleb may want to cluster feed at night to prepare for a longer sleeping period at night. The last thing I wanted to do was be his pacificer at night, but if he was hungry then I was not opposed to him nursing sooner. I tried it out and Caleb's last two feedings were only 1.5 hours apart. I decided to lay him down after his 8:30 feeding and he actually went the longest between feedings than he has ever gone---- 5 hours!!! I was so excited that after his 1:30 AM feeding I could not go back to sleep, I was so proud of him. I hope this continues :)

I am so proud of Caleb. He is now napping without much fussing, we lay him down awake and he is learning to self-soothe!

Ok now on to the "Small Victories" 

1. Caleb went 5 hours between feedings last night!! I hope it keeps getting longer, but I am very content with this small victory!

2. Caleb is napping much better-- he sleeps 30-45 minutes longer if he is swaddled. I just found this awesome blanket that someone gave us at a shower, I put Caleb in this during his daytime naps. He is napping anywhere from 1-1.5 hours after waketime. 

3. At night, I lay Caleb down after feeding and he self-soothes. He doesn't always fall asleep instantly, but no fussing. He sometimes makes sweet baby noises for about 10-15 minutes!

4. He is smiling with a full diaper! Ha, anyone that has been around Caleb knows that he does not like to have a wet or dirty diaper for long, but he is getting a little better.

 
5. He is starting to hold his head up and is so proud of himself when he does it. He is such a morning baby and he is full of personality!

I am so thankful for all of these small victories. 

I have a few friends that are in the same phase of life and I LOVE texting them throughout the day to see if our daily events are "normal" :) I am so thankful for my new friendship that has developed with Megan Fleck. She is a true blessing to me and I have got to get a picture of Caleb and Rylee together.  I am pretty sure I text her like 50 times a day. It is so nice to talk to someone going through the exact same things. I sure do love that girl!