Hunter: 6 and 7 Weeks

This week Hunter turned 7 weeks old! I can't believe how much he has changed in 7 weeks, it really just amazes me! 


Due to having a freak out momma, he has been to the doctor a few more times than usual. We went at 2 and a half weeks because I thought he had an eye infection, it was really just blocked tear ducts. We went at 3 weeks because daddy had a staph infection and Hunter woke up one morning with a red dot on his chin. That one turned out just to be a red dot. We also went at 6 weeks because mommy was convinced he has acid reflux due to a sudden start of spitting up and being more fussy than usual (is that possible?) She gave us a prescription for Prevacid, and we gave it for a few days, then quit because his behavior didn't change while on the medicine, but it has changed since taking him off! If he starts to get fussy after a feeding like maybe he has 'heartburn', I give him a tiny bit of Maalox, and that usually gets him to quiet down and relax. 


Going to the doctor more often than usual gives us pretty accurate weight updates, though, and I do like that! At 6 weeks he officially weighs 9 pounds and 8 ounces, which is exactly three pounds up from his birth weight. I think with the next one, I will make sure to embrace the tiny-ness of the first few weeks, because Hunter has grown up so fast. I know, I keep saying that, and one day I will blink and he will be 18, but he really is just growing up before my eyes! 


He has started rolling over more consistently, I even have it on video now! Not that I want to show anyone, he is a crying mess and it makes me so sad and look like the worst mommy ever! He had rolled over twice happily, and then I ran to get the camera just in time to catch the third time when he had clearly had enough tummy time!


He is so alert now when he is awake! Each week he has been more and more alert, but his big blue eyes just look all around the room, usually at windows and light fixtures. He still loves to be on your shoulder, which may have to do with his possible acid reflux since gravity works in his favor when on my shoulder. He holds his head up like a champ, and can keep it up forever when he is looking around on your shoulder!


He is getting to much better at getting dressed. He has never liked getting dressed and undressed, but now he can stand it.... don't take too long, but if you're quick he will be happy from start to finish! Does any baby like to get dressed?


I think he is growing new hair underneath all of his baby fuzz. When he was born, he had an old man style receding hairline going on, but now underneath all of that and up front he has tiny brown hairs growing in that you can see when the light hits it just right. 


Sleeping has gotten much better at night! He gives us between a 4 and 5 hour stretch when we first put him down, then 2-3 hour stretches after that. I have read that it is very common for the first chunk of sleep to be longer than the rest of the night so he is right on track. Now that I am better at picking up on his sleepy signals, he is also napping on a pretty good schedule. He has a pretty consistent sleep, eat, awake pattern which means that he is going about 3 to 4 hours in between feedings during the day. He also is a huge fan of all the white noise. No longer does he sleep through anything like in the newborn days! He needs peace and quiet in a darkish room with some sort of white noise... be it a hair dryer, vacuum, bathwater running, or his sleep sheep! We even bought another mini sleep sheep to put on his car seat! We have a pretty good routine in the mornings where he wakes up, eats, is awake for a while, then when I see the first sign of a yawn or heavy eyelids, I swaddle him put him in the bouncer on vibrate, then do dishes with the water running and I bounce him with my foot. Usually, by the time dishes are done, he is asleep! 


For the past few nights (almost 7 weeks old), he has given us 6-7 hour stretches for the first part of the night! I cannot believe how much better I feel in the mornings and throughout the day when he does this! The other day, he slept from 8:15 until 2:15, then until 4:30, then I let him nurse while laying down in bed, and he slept for a while, woke up after a while (not sure of the time), and then we switched sides and he did the same and slept until 8! I woke up before him, and that is a first for us!


I have discovered a new type of swaddle since I have a little Houdini on my hands! He always manages to get his hands out of the bottom and I can tell that is exactly what wakes him up. He used to grunt and groan and fight that darn swadddle, but with this new style he keeps that to a minimum. I am sure that this is what is accounting for our long sleeps at night! 


During his 6th week of life he started to socially smile! He has already smiled a few times at me and Tim, and once at the fan.... he loves that thing! I am so ready for him to start interacting and smiling as a result of being happy. I think this will help take him out of his fussy days. He is probably not what you would call a 'fussy' baby, but he is a pretty high needs/high maintenance baby. He likes to be held over the shoulder, hates any carried that I have put him in, and has started NOT falling asleep in the carseat. This means it is really hard to get any errands done. I used to rely on him falling asleep on the way, then sleeping through my errands. Lately, he has been waking up which has left me either bottle feeding him in the car seat in the cart, or going to a dressing room to nurse (yes, my errands usually have dressing rooms, lol!). The biggest problem is that he doesn't like to just..... 'be'. Once he is awake, no matter how clean, dry, and full he is, he still will fuss to get out of the car seat! I know it will get better, but I am ready for that day to get here!


Here is a photo dump, I have gotten in the habit of just snapping away while at home, but when we do things that need documenting, I forget to take pictures! I will try to get better about that!


Week 6:

With Brynna, she is two weeks younger

Supposed to be his home from the hospital outfit, but he was way too tiny!

Lost his shoe!

His 0-3 month clothes

week 7:

mid-roll!

looking at daddy's fish

He is starting to enjoy his crib :)

Starting to smile!!

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