Turning seven weeks is hard to do!

Sucking and Swaddled

Kai prefers to sleep on his tummy. I know, a big no, no, but when I can lay the boy down fully awake and within 5 minutes he’s sound asleep, this is not something I want him to forget how to do! (And me and all my siblings survived and we were put to sleep on our tummies all the time!) So, he gets to sleep one nap during the day on his belly. And yesterday I caught him sleeping so soundly that after FOUR hours, I had to wake him up! But not before I got a few pictures. Doesn’t he look so peaceful? Apparently, turning seven weeks takes a lot out of a boy.

There’s another picture in the album (just click on the picture above) that proves he does sleep on his back. But before he agrees to sleep on his back, he has to be swaddled tightly (we have on loan a blanket to rival all swaddling blankets: the miracle blanket) and wedged in between two wedges. All I have to say is thank goodness for other parents who’ve shared our sleeping issues and invented the tools we need to help him sleep!

The last picture in the album shows him earlier tonight. He was getting some tummy time while I was folding his clothes. He started to fuss, but I was almost done with all the folding, so I let him be for a little bit. The next thing I know, he’s not fussing anymore because he found his fist! He was sucking away, happy as can be!

An apple a day

 

I think from Kai's point of view, the old saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" would have him begging his mama to eat more apples! We had Kai's six week check-up today. Everything went fabulously! He now weighs 8 lbs, 8 oz. And he's getting longer, too! The doctor was impressed by his neck and shoulder strength (he's holding up his head high when he's on his tummy) and by how alert and watchful he is (he followed her wherever she went in the room).

He did get two vaccinations today, though. So, he screamed up the wazoo for the first shot in his right leg. Then screamed down the wazoo for the second shot in his left leg. Poor guy. But now we're home and doing fine. And he doesn't need anymore shots for another month!

Weeks are flying by!

4-5-6

So this picture is from Kai's fourth week birthday! Ironically, he's in the same outfit he was wearing when he turned one week old (see post below). He's just gotten a lot bigger. In fact, I think this day we decided it was about time to retire this outfit! :( He's growing so quickly.

If you click on the picture above, you'll get another web album. The rest of the pictures on the web album are from the other week birthdays he's just had: five and six! We can't believe he's already six weeks old!

We've learned a lot about each other over the past few weeks. Kai's learned how to hold up his head really well and Mommy's learned that right before he's about to spit up a lot, he makes a very distinct sound so she can get a cloth ready to catch it! Unfortunately, we've also learned that Kai prefers to sleep on his tummy. When he does sleep on his back, he wakes himself up within fifteen minutes of being put down, even if he's sound asleep when he's laid down. So, we've taken to swaddling him in a tight bundle and that seems to be working for the time being. Who knows how long that will last? We can't wait for him to be able to roll over on his own, so we can worry a little less about him when he's sleeping. But then I'm sure we'll be worrying him a little more while he's awake! Oh, the joys of parenting!

Squeaky Hiccoughs

We captured Kai while he was in the throes of a hiccough (or hiccup) fit. If you listen closely, you can hear a small "squeak" after each hiccough.

This was taken on January 5, just under four weeks old.

The hiccup

The K(a)ing and his Entourage

So it's felt a little like a revolving door here the past few weeks. We've had many family and friends come to visit and stay with us. In order of their arrival (and where they were from), they were:

12/12/06 Uncle Alan - Mommy's brother drove 2.5 hours to visit us in the hospital for 2 hours to turn around and drive another 2.5 hours! (Providence, RI)
12/14/06 - 12/17/06 Grandma Darlene - Uncle Alan came back when Grandma Darlene was here for a few days. (Cleveland, OH)
12/19/06 - 12/21-06 "Aunt" Vickie - Mommy's best friend stayed for a few days between her finals and before her review class for the bar started. Yup, she's gonna be a social worker AND a lawyer soon! (Baltimore, MD)
12/23/06 "Uncle" Aniq - Daddy's best friend stopped in for a day visit while he was "watching" Chuck and Jess's place in Boston. (Cleveland, OH)
12/23/06 - 1/1/07 Lola Fe and Grandpa Rudy - They spent the first Christmas in CT with us. They stayed about a week and also got to spend time with other relatives on the East Coast. (Cleveland, OH)
12/27/06 Papa Osrox, Tita Genevieve, Tito Willy, Cassandra, Alexandra and Luke - Daddy's family came in for a quick visit to meet Kai. They enjoyed playing our Wii! (Westbury, NY and Orangeburg, NY)
12/27/06 Deborah, Kim and Gretchen - Mommy's friends from work arrived to pick up their car. They stayed long enough for a few pictures! (New Haven, CT)
12/27/06 - 12/30/06 Aunt Marlinda and Aunt Rachel - Mommy's sisters arrived to spend a few days with us. We had adventures getting Kai's footprints and handprints. (Cleveland, OH)
12/30/06 - 1/3/07 Tita Michelle and Tito Tom and Cousin Lucas - Daddy's sister, husband and nephew came in time to celebrate New Year's with us. It was a pretty low-key New Year's, as you can imagine! (Cleveland, OH)
1/7/07 - 1/13/07 Grandma Darlene - Mommy's mom spent another week with us in January when Daddy was away at school. Yup, you read that right, Daddy left Mommy for an entire week! (Cleveland, OH)

So, as you can see, we've had a very full house! We hope to have a few more visitors before Mommy goes back to work. Just maybe not all at once again! :)

To see some more pictures of all of Kai's visitors, click on the picture of Uncle Alan and Kai.

K(a)ing and Entourage

All I want for Christmas is a new post...

Ok, so it's been a while since we've posted anything. (Sorry to all of you who check this out to see what's new.) But now that RJ's finally showed me how to post on this blog (it's actually pretty easy...in case others of you want to set up your own!) and Grandma Darlene's visiting again while RJ's at school this week, I might actually put one or two posts up! We've had a busy few weeks! We've had lots of visitors and many new things to learn (like how to sleep in a crib!).

And of course, there are the pictures! I'll post some more web albums so you can check them out.