Life of an 8 week old

I thought that I would give you an update on lil Carter now that he's a whole 8 weeks old.  He goes for his 2 month check up next week - it involves so many shots and vaccinations that they asked us to bring pain medicine with us for the little guy (infant Tylenol, but still!). We think he weighs close to 11 lbs already - we'll know for certain after the doctor's visit. A typical day for Carter:

• Sleeping (a lot) - he's almost sleeping through the night (bless you baby!) and will go typically a good 6 hours between his last feeding at night until he gets up in the morning. Yep, he's a pretty good baby.

• Eating (a lot) - Carter is still breastfeeding, and I've started pumping milk to freeze for when I go back to work (Jan. 16th).  Bill gives him a bottle of milk every couple of days - Carter likes to gulp down the milk in bottles; he certainly has no problem with them.  

• Changing diapers (yep, a lot) - we're still doing the cloth diaper thing. It's been working really well for us, and the diaper service is great. Ben Rapp, you owe us $20. We've had more than a few questions on how it all works, so look for another blog on the cloth diapering process soon.

• Playing  - we try to play/work on development as much as you can with a newborn in between eating and naps. It mainly consists of looking in mirrors, tummy time, rolling over, reading, talking about objects, and helping Carter focus on moving objects (toys, mobile, etc).  He also loves to look at the Christmas tree.  There's just not too much you can do with such a little guy, but Bill and I are both looking forward to when he is a bit older and can really play.

• Strolling - it's been really warm here in Nov. and Dec. (until today), so Carter and I have been on a lot of walks over the past few weeks. He really likes them and has started to stay more awake than asleep.  I enjoy them for the exercise too.

• Hair losing and growing - it's become pretty thin on the top of his head.  We know that it is normal for babies to lose hair after they are born, but we're ready for the top to fill back out - we affectionately call it the "Will Carver" look (and it's still reddish, a bit more brown than when he was born).

• Sucking fist - or hands/thumb/fingers - he's discovered his hands and loves to move/suck/look at them. Carter is not using a pacifier, so we occasionally find him sucking his thumb absolutely perfectly.  I don't mind it as much as Bill - it's just a way to self-soothe himself.  Which is worse to suck - a thumb or pacifier?  

• Smiling - Carter has started to smile at us, and it's just awesome.   Bill and I try way too hard to get a smile out of him - but it's worth the effort.

Thanks for reading...hey, why not leave us a comment about our favorite baby?  

Erin