10 weeks

I won't be doing weekly posts for that much longer, but things change so quickly these days, I like to be able to look back and see what he was doing at each week! And how cute he was, of course.

So here's a little of what he's up to:

Sleeping (night time):  Ahhh sleep.  How I miss a solid night's sleep. It has been... YEARS.  Literally.  But enough about me...  Jackson goes to sleep every night around 7.  Some nights it's 6:30, sometimes it's closer to 7:15, but somewhere pretty close to 7.  Every single night he has a bath with Riley, then we go straight into his room with the lights off, I sit with him in the rocking chair, turn the white noise on, feed him, and sing him the same song every night.  He falls asleep while feeding every single night, and I hold him for a few extra minutes because I love the extra snuggle time!  Then I swaddle him up and put him in his rock 'n play in his room, and he's out like a light.  He stays asleep for 5-6 hours, wakes to feed, and all bets are off after that.  Some nights, he goes right back to sleep for a few hours.  Some nights he will go right back to sleep but then wakes if he's not being rocked or walked or bounced... some nights he just fights sleep altogether.  Sometimes he will sleep if I bring him in bed and hold him, sometimes he wants to be swaddled and sleep in bed next to me, sometimes he needs to just lay next to me and be nursed to sleep... we just haven't quite figured out the best way to get him back to sleep and to STAY asleep after that first wake-up.  He never has a paci during the night- he just won't take it.

Sleeping (day time):  Lately he has been super easy to get to sleep during the day.  But his sleep length is all over the place.  And sometimes he won't stay asleep if he's not being held, and sometimes he's just fine sleeping independently.  It's just a mystery.  Take yesterday for example:  For his morning sleep, I swaddled him and put him in his swing, and he fell asleep on his own and slept there for an hour.  For his next nap he fell asleep while nursing and slept for 30 minutes while I held him.  His following "nap" was more like 3 hours in and out of sleep... 45 minutes in the swing, then fed, then straight back to sleep being held, then sort of fighting sleep, awake a few minutes, back to sleep, etc...  He took a few short naps in the car while we were out and about, and then another short nap being held.  And then it was bed time.  The day before yesterday, he slept for almost 2.5 hours in his car seat.  Today he hardly slept except when he was held or in the car seat (after riding in the car, we don't just put him to sleep in his car seat).  So we just never know what's going to happen.

Eating:  This boy LOVES to eat.  If he could, I think he would probably be attached to me all day long.  And some days, it seems like he is! In fact, this evening for some reason he woke up way earlier than normal, so I nursed him while laying down on the couch and he just stayed attached to me comfort sucking for well over an hour.  Some times during the day he wants to eat after only an hour and a half, sometimes he'll go for 3 hours... it depends a little on how well and how long he sleeps.  He still takes a bottle pretty well a few times a week.

As long as he's fed and well rested, he's a pretty happy, easy going little guy.  He smiles a ton, and is totally interested in everything that's going on around him.  He LOVES his big sister, and watches her constantly.  Although, how could he not, since she is pretty much always in his face.  This little "game" they are playing below kept Riley entertained (and giggling up a storm) for quite some time.  She put the ring on his head, he would move and it would fall off, she would burst into hysterical laughter, and repeat. He was a total trooper.

The ultimate sign of love and acceptance by Riley, seen below left.  She handed him her most precious blanket ("gray-gray") and said "here Jack Jack, have gray-gray..." and in the next breath said "good sharing Ri Ri." 

He is getting so so big.  He's in 3-6 month onesies, and 6 month sleepers.  Pants and sweaters are mostly still size 3 month, I don't know why pants seem to run so big!  We've graduated to size 2 diapers, although mostly just because we went through our big stash of size 1-2 and now we have tons of size 2 that we brought back with us from the US, and I don't feel like buying more until we have to.

He makes the cutest little cooing noises, and he still does well with tummy time. He is constantly trying to stand up, and loves to kick kick kick his little legs.  He is really discovering his hands and likes to get them in his mouth, so we're trying to find a balance between having his hands free so he can suck on them, while not letting him scratch up his entire face.  It doesn't matter how short his nails are, he always scratches himself!

He still LOVES bath time, and he's back in the big tub with Riley every night.  As soon as we set foot in the bathroom he is just super calm and happy, and he never ever cries in the bath, even if he was crying before we put him in.  Getting OUT of the bath is another story...

His skin is looking fabulous these days, and his cradle cap is almost gone, although it seems to come and go so we'll see.  He loves to be held upright, and loves to sit propped up in his boppy seat.  Every single time I put him on the boppy pillow Riley runs over and wants to lay right next to him.  He is constantly getting squished and bumped and poked and he almost never ever cries, I think he's just so fascinated with Riley he doesn't even notice she's squishing him or yanking on his arms.

One thing we've found quite tricky with him is regulating his body temperature... we get some really cold mornings here, so we have the heater going and dress him warmly, but it's hard to get him just the right temp- he hates being hot, and prefers to be warm, but gets really upset if he gets too hot.  And since we swaddle him at night, we have to be careful not to dress him too warmly or he overheats big time.  And no matter what the temperature is, he gets SO hot in the car if he's wearing anything other than a short sleeve onesie- even if it's freezing outside.  So needless to say we're constantly adding and peeling off layers, depending on how hot or cold we think he is during the day.

He's overall a pretty awesome baby (albeit exhausting between the hours of 1 and 5am), and we love him to pieces.  And Riley loves him more than you can imagine, I can't wait until they really start playing together and interacting a bit more!