ten incredible weeks.

today marks ten whole weeks of life for our little henry jude. being so accustomed to counting life in weeks since pregnancy, i find it hard to name his age in months. particularly since the way most people count their children's age is by the actual day the child was born. for instance, jude would have been considered two months old on september 7th, whereas he was actually 8 weeks old on september 1st. i'm so torn as to how best to describe his age. oh well, ten weeks works for now.

he is growing so fast; i simply cannot stress that enough. today for the first time he has sucked his thumb. he's been gnawing on those fists for about three weeks now and found his thumb about three days ago, but it was this evening when he finally realized how to get it into his mouth and use it as a pacifier substitute. i was amazed, although slightly disappointed that he has decided to become a thumb-sucker. it's extremely cute but orthodontically a nightmare.

i've noticed him becoming more aware of his hands, though he isn't really using them purposefully yet except to chew on and to rub his eyes. this past week he has started to rub his eyes when he gets tired, which i find to be really sweet. it's been so exciting to watch him do this, as it wasn't that long ago that he was only taking notice of his hands if one of them happened to get close enough to his mouth with all the flailing about he was doing. i have yet to see an "ah ha" moment where he realizes that those things swinging around above his face are under his control, but i'm waiting patiently. i guess the more things he can do with them, the more he will come to understand the possibilities. he can grab and hold things easily now but it will be fun to see him reach for something. right now, he is starting to grab everything that touches his hands. blankets, rattles, fingers, and my hair.

and every day he becomes more and more vocal. he now imitates sounds i make like "hiii" and "ooooooo" and watches my mouth and facial movements with complete fascination. he raises his eyebrows in a variety of expressions and even scowls. like i've said, he becomes more animated daily.

as far as sleeping habits, things have changed and continue to change from time to time. the first six weeks he slept so much during the day that he woke up every two hours during the night to eat, but as time has gone on he started going about four hours during the night and two to three during the day. he slept eight full hours for the first time a couple of weeks ago and until his vaccinations last tuesday was sleeping six to eight every night. since the vaccinations he has been sleeping about four hours, but i'm hoping that will lengthen again. "bedtime" the first month or so was whenever we went to bed (usually after midnight) just because he was only sleeping for two hours at a time and was doing so all day long. eventually we started to get him into a routine of bathtime between 8-9pm and bedtime between 9:30-10:30pm with a feeding inbetween. nursing is the easiest way to get him to sleep, especially if we are laying down in the bed together. although i've read a lot of dr.sears and his philosophies on co-sleeping it wasn't something i was really comfortable with until after the first month. there were nights during those early weeks that i let him sleep on my chest but i was so afraid of smothering him or accidentally rolling over with him there that i didn't sleep well at all. and even now, i let him sleep until the first time he wakes (now it is around 2-2:30am but it was between 4:30-6am) and then i bring him to bed to nurse and sleep out the duration of the night. i think the important thing is what works for each family and this works for us.

our daily routine is always subject to change, but generally our day starts around 8 or 9am when he wakes up and we talk and play for awhile. if i get up with him then he will stay awake for a little while before needing a nap but if we stay in bed he will sleep with me until 11am or later. it's indescribeably nice to have a baby who lets me sleep in if i want. he has just recently started to get fussy when he is tired. he acts hungry, but most of the time a pacifier and a good patting or rocking will put him right out. i'm in the bad habit of not letting him get himself to sleep, but he is able so hopefully i won't ruin him. after we get up we spend the day either hanging out watching movies, or reading, sometimes cleaning, and most of the time with my mom at her house by late afternoon. his favorite things to do are stare at walls, ceiling fans, and we try to go outside and walk around at least a couple of times every day, which he loves. he is usually nursing every two to three hours but sometimes he cluster-feeds so it's every hour and really wears me out. inbetween active awake time, feedings,and quiet wakeful observation, he naps. naps can be anywhere from 15 minutes to three or more hours. and if he has been allowed a generous number of naps during the day, he almost always sleeps better at night.

this is all i can think to say for now since it's getting so late. until next time!