Grayson Patrick | 6 weeks old!

Our sweet baby Gray hit 6 weeks on Monday!  While that means I am half way through my maternity leave {cue all the tears}, it also means that our sweet boy has "woken up" a bit more and is starting to show us his little personality. I love watching him grow and change each and every day- the Wonder Weeks app has always been one of my favorite apps for the boys and last week Gray started his first leap and I literally felt like I was watching it happen right before my eyes! He went through a big growth spurt and started taking in the world around him as he became much more aware of his surroundings. He has started to turn and look towards me when I'm talking and other people are holding him and even give some pretty great smiles {my absolute favorite new skill}.

I love knowing when he is approaching and going through a leap because it typically means he'll need some extra attention, snuggles, and nursing and being in the right state of mind helps me to focus in on giving Grayson what he needs instead of getting frustrated that he's changing up the game on me.  Anyway, I want to capture some of the details of this 6 week milestone so here we go!

Eating

Grayson is exclusively breastfed and it's going really well.  The first 2 weeks were pretty brutal. I honestly thought since this was the third time around, I'd just ease right back into it but HOLY COW that was not the case. I got extremely sore and had moments of dreading the beginning to each nursing session because the pain was so brutal. I was taking some serious deep breaths and counting to ten until the pain would somewhat subside and buying lanolin in bulk on Amazon.  Thankfully after the first two weeks, I healed up and we hit our groove and now I love nursing just as much as I did before! Gray eats like a champ which is such a relief.  I did a little at home weigh-in for my guy last week and it showed him at 10lbs even! He won't have his next appointment until 2 months so we'll see some official numbers then.

We haven't tried bottles yet but plan to this week because I will be at a concert next week and he'll have to have at least one bottle while I'm gone.  I'm sort of dreading starting bottles this time to be honest.  Partially it's because I don't love pumping before I have to {when I'm at work} but mainly it's because I feel like the time is going by really fast and bottles mean not only having to share my sweet boy but also that daycare is on the horizon. Trust me, I totally know the benefits of getting him started on bottles, I am just so acutely aware that this is our last baby so I want time to slow down just a bit.

Sleeping

We love the eat + play + sleep routine in our house so after Grayson nurses, he hangs out on his playmat for some tummy time, listens to me tell him crazy stories, or sits in the bouncer and looks around. Some days he has pretty long stretches of awake time during the day but others it's pretty brief until he needs a nap. Each cycle is about 3 hours so longer play time equals shorter sleep time and vice versa before he's ready to eat again.  I don't let him go longer than 3 hours during the day between nursing sessions so that his evening sleep stretches have a chance at being longer. He typically goes 3-4 hours between feedings at night. We nurse/go to bed between 10 and 11 and then he wakes up around 2 and 5.  After that he usually wants to nurse again at 6:30/7 and Duke comes in to say hi and get some snuggles. If I got decent stretches of sleep, we will get up for the day at that point, but we usually go back to sleep from 7:30-8:45 or so.  That might seem crazy to some people, but sleep is insanely important for my overall happiness so we take full advantage of maternity leave and get as much of it as we can!  Dennis takes the boys to daycare before work so I just have to worry about myself and Grayson, of course, during the work week.

Grayson likes his pacifier, especially when he's really tired. He typically spits it out once he's asleep and never really uses it at night because he falls asleep once he's done nursing, but for nap time and car trips, it's a life saver to soothe him.  We've been using a new swaddle that I am obsessed with.  We got this bundle from Lou Lou and Company and the swaddle blanket is perfection.  It is super stretchy so we can bundle Grayson up snug as a bug and he can't wiggle out of it. I highly recommend it if you're expecting or want to give an amazing baby shower gift!

Routine

Once we're up, I get ready for the day and grab a big cup of coffee and some breakfast.  Some days we head out of the house for appointments or a coffee date but otherwise we snuggle up and binge watch something on Netflix. I found Jane the Virgin a few weeks ago and am absolutely obsessed. I loooove it. We've had some awesome lunch date visitors the past 6 weeks that either come to the house or meet us out somewhere.  I love getting to catch up with friends or family and get a little adult interaction while I'm off work.  Depending on how the day is going one of my sisters or my parents will pick up the big boys for me from daycare and stop over for a visit or take the boys to their house to play. I feel a lot more comfortable with all three kiddos than I did a few weeks ago but it's amazing having family on standby since Dennis works until at least 6 every night and nearly all day on Saturdays. Some days we totally crush it- primarily when the weather is nice and I can take the boys to the park.  Other days, I am tired and have zero patience and do just about anything to keep us all happy until Dennis can tag in.

Grayson reminds me so much of Theo when he was a baby.  He looks just like him and has a very similar temperament, possibly even calmer. He is seriously sweet as pie. He cries when he's hungry or tired but otherwise he's pretty content.  I snuggle him pretty much all the time.  He sleeps in a bassinet at night and sometimes naps in the pack in play during the day but for the most part I love holding him for naps! I was like this for Duke and Theo too- I pretty much think the goal of maternity leave is baby snuggles any time I want em, so that's exactly what I do. :)

Big Brothers

Duke and Theo are loving life with G. They both check on him all the time. Duke loves to hold him and talk to him while Theo just makes sure to give him kisses on the head, say HI BABY and BYE BABY whenever he can and yell for me the second Grayson starts fussing {see, I put him down sometimes}. The transition from 2 to 3 has been really similar to the transition from 1 to 2 except now Duke and Theo have each other which is amazing. They play together really well so when I'm nursing or trying to get meals together, etc., they do a pretty great job of playing by themselves or together.  I've even had some Saturday mornings where the boys are playing great together while Grayson naps and I fold MULTIPLE loads of laundry - a huge accomplishment in the house where clean clothes go to die.  :) I love watching the relationship between Duke and Theo grow as they get older- they love each other so much and despite the occasional screams (Theo) from too much wrestling (Duke), they are a great team.

Alright I think that's all we've got to report on for now! We're just hoping warm weather comes back and sticks around so we can get outside more often for walks and park time. There is simply nothing better than kiddos that are worn out from running wild in the fresh air! Happy Tuesday friends!

-T-