Just the Three of us

This week is the first week since Oz was born where we don't have family visiting. Dick and Jan left on Saturday to go back to Ohio. We miss them already. Lauren and I have really benefited from having family stay with us for the first few weeks. We are looking forward to a couple weeks of "us" time until my Mom comes to visit in November.

Oskar is doing great. He's definitely back up to (and beyond) his birth weight and he's falling into more of a routine. Still he is content for the most part eating, sleeping, playing, and 'expressing' himself regularly.

We have noticed that he is a "morning person". Wakeup playtime in the guest bedroom is the time when he is the sweetest. He loves looking out the windows, staring at the ceiling fan and doing his morning exercise regimen of kicking, stretching, and arm extensions.

Walks around our neighborhood in the afternoon are really good for us. They are the most physical activity that Lauren can handle until her post-op appointment and Oskar LOVES being outside for a stroll. The motion really calms him and he is generally fast asleep by the time we are through.

We have struggled with his sleeping patterns over the past week. A few nights he was up every hour or two crying. My mom thinks he may be going through a growth period and requires more (and more frequent) feedings. It's so hard to say at this point. He's only 3 weeks old (and change) so the idea of a schedule for him may be premature.

Regardless, we have taken a cue from our friends the Waterhouses and the VonSees and started a nighttime bath ritual for him that seems to be working. We think it is helping him recognize the difference between napping during the day and bed time at night. Either way, I have really enjoyed having this time with him at night.

I've got bath time down to about 20 minutes for him which is about all he has patience (or tolerance for being wet) for. As long as I keep the bathroom warm, a wash cloth on his torso (which I call "the heater") and a towel at my side to dry him off quickly he really seems to like bathing in his tub, looking at himself in the mirror, and listening to Dad ramble on about whatever.

Last night he slept for 7 hours straight. I couldn't believe it. Lauren kept waking me around 3:00 a.m. then 4:00 a.m. asking if I thought we should wake him up for a feeding. I checked him out and he was fine so we let him go. This was very encouraging for us both. I would love to be able to bank on more than 2 hours at a time, but 7 hours felt like we had just gotten back from a vacation.

We're still not sure what to do about Halloween this year. Oskar has a costume already thanks to Jon and Andrea. We usually have a pumpkin carving party, but I'm not sure we're up for hosting a big crowd this year. We'll scare something up I guess.

Off to work.

Baby Force Out!