CAN't wait.

It's funny how often throughout my life I've found myself saying "I can't wait until.."

.."I finish school!!"
.."I find the right guy."
.."I have a great job."
.."I'm married."
.."We can buy a house."
.."I'm pregnant."
.."I have this baby!"

I am now finding myself saying things like, "I can't wait until he smiles...or says 'Mama'....or walks....or can enjoy reading books with me."

But the truth of the matter is that I CAN wait. For the first time, I feel like I really want time to slow down! The first 5 weeks of Zachary's life have literally flown by, and I already want that time back. I want to look back on this time and be able to say I cherished every minute and every milestone! I want to revel in everything new in this little creature's life, and I don't want to be spending my time looking forward to what's coming next. I want to live in the moment that is now...because I know all those fun things will happen in time, but he'll never be this small again!

There's a really great song by Lone.star called Let Them Be Little, which I highly recommend listening to if you get a chance.

Zachary's one month appointment was last Wednesday. He weighed in at 9 lbs. 12 oz., which is up a pound and a half from the weight he was a few days after his birth. Doc says he's pleased with the growth. His large head is measuring in the 85th percentile and he has grown an inch and a half.

Breastfeeding is going well, but I gotta admit that it is hard work. We were forewarned that it is a huge commitment, but no word of advice truly prepared me for what I'd be giving up. It's a lot more sacrifice than pregnancy, in my opinion. Just sayin'.

4 weeks

At 4 weeks, Zachary:

Eats a lot! He is/has gone through a growth spurt, which sometimes means he's feeding every 1.5-2 hours throughout the day. While exhausting for me, I love that he's getting what he needs and letting me know when he needs more. I'm so glad to be able to provide it!

Has officially outgrown his newborn clothes. He fits pretty nicely into the 0-3m, but some are still a tad big. My little boy is growing up so fast!

In general, has two wakeful periods during the day. First thing in the morning after his first feeding, he loves to just hang out with me and look around. Again in the evening around dinner time, his eyes are wide open and he's just taking it all in.

Has given us a few nights with 4.5 hours between feedings. What a WONDERFUL thing this is!!!! M loves that when he is hungry, he will try to get his milk from anyone who is holding him...this means M's neck, chin, shoulder, etc. It's pretty darn cute!

Is still just doing the involuntary smiles, but they have definitely gotten more frequent. We are eagerly anticipating the real deal!

Loves to be carried in the Moby Wrap and Baby Bjorn.

Is still wearing newborn sized diapers...but as soon as we run out of what we have, we are moving up to size 1.

Doesn't cry in the bathtub. He LOVES the warm water. This amazes me, and I love this sweet, bonding time with him.

Screams when he's hungry, but doesn't make a peep for any other reason. Actually, that's not true. He grunts when he has gas...and let me tell you, they are man-sized toots. He IS is father's son!

Has a blocked tear duct in his right eye. We clean it out frequently and are just waiting for it to resolve itself. Apparently this is quite common amongst newborns.

Loves to be bounced and rocked..and is mesmerized by any and all types of lights.

Is sooo strong and frequently jailbreaks his swaddles. He loves to have his hands near his face when he sleeps and eats.

Loves his carseat and going for rides in the car. We are grateful for this!

Is now sleeping in the bassinet next to the bed. Mommy misses him, and Daddy was glad to see him move out. He seems so far away now!!

Still likes to pee on us while we're changing his diaper. We are getting better about blocking it with a cloth diaper or a pee-pee teepee, but there are days that he goes through 3 outfits as a result of our inattention! Ah, the joys of baby boys!

Is absolutely the joy of our lives. We can hardly believe it's already been 4 weeks, and we are so smitten with this tiny little being. He is the miracle we waited for, and he was worth every minute of pain and disappointment.

Career Aspirations

Okay, so this confirms that we do, in fact, have the world's cutest baby. Anyone familiar with the movie Zoo.lander?? Well, apparently my little Zachary has seen it and is an aspiring male model. Here is his best "Blue Steel" pose:

The King in His Castle...and other Highlights

I truly can't believe it's been two weeks! M and I are soaking in every minute with our little one, and this bonding time has been invaluable to our little family! We feel so blessed with this mellow, sweet, adorable baby boy.

Here are some highlights from the first few weeks:

Sleeping:

While I swore I'd never be the type to have my baby sleep in bed with us, having a c-section caused me to be much more flexible in my ideas. Our plan had been for Zachary to sleep in the bassinet right next to the bed, but I quickly discovered that I couldn't sit up in bed without help, much less reach over the side of the bed to pick up a hungry baby. We had already invested in a S.nuggle Ne.st, thinking it would be a great device for Z to nap in downstairs on the couch:

Well, as it turns out, we are loving having Zachary sleeping in between us at night. This device also has a night light and plays the sounds of a uterus (!!!), which our little man loves! It makes tending to his needs (while I am still healing from the surgery) so much easier...and I truly enjoy being so close to him at night...another feeling I was not expecting to have! It's amazing how strong the bond is right away! The first 9-10 days were extremely sleep-deprived (oh boy, that's another post!)...but we are into a nice routine now and have found our rhythm in terms of sleep.

Eating:

Zachary is a champion breast-feeder. We never had any latch problems..the only thing that was frustrating at first was that it took my milk forever and a day to fully come in. I know that this is more common with a c-section (and hours upon hours of pitocin-induced labor), so I was trying to just go with the flow (or lack thereof, haha) and not get too worked up about it. I was also listening to all my friends say, "Oh you'll KNOW when it comes in!" This was throwing me for a loop because as it turns out, mine just came very gradually and I've never had an oversupply problem. Anyway, it's here and Z is definitely getting enough. At his 1.5 week pediatrician appointment, he had gained 11 ounces in 7 days!! We had been to the doctor when he was 4 days old because after birth he dropped almost an entire pound, and was slightly jaundiced. My milk coming in definitely fixed our problem!! I use a Bop.py Pillow and a Nipple Shield (and the Lan.sinoh nipple cream), and am loving the bonding time with my little man.

Other Fun Stuff:

Our Black Labrador Charlie has been an excellent big brother so far! Of course, I had some apprehension about the dog-baby relationship, but have found that our dog is a gentle giant! He only approaches the baby when he's invited, and is gentle with his kisses!

Zachary is much more alert in the past few days. He has more wakeful periods where he'll just look around or stare at us. He makes the cutest faces - one of which I'm going to do in a separate post. We love seeing his eyes open more as he starts to discover his world!

He is still wearing newborn-sized clothes, but he's so long (gonna be tall like his daddy - who is 6'3") I can see that he'll be moving to the 0-3m very soon. I already feel like he's growing too fast, which makes me want to spend every minute with him. We've already taken upwards of 300 pictures, as I'm so afraid we'll miss something great!

Knock on wood, but my little man is sooo mellow. He can sleep anywhere, anytime, and in pretty much any position! He slept almost all the way through a bath the other day! I'm not so naive to think that it'll be like this forever, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless. It has made our first two weeks together so much more manageable!

M and I (and various family members) found out very quickly that little boys LOVE to pee as soon as their diapers are removed. This has made for some HILARIOUS moments, and my poor mother has been the unluckiest recipient - all over her face and shirt - of the wee wee!

And (Finally!) some nursery pictures - with the king to make them official!