6 weeks

changes this week:
-he's been sucking on his hand/fingers much less
-growing pains, the poor thing will just cry in his sleep sometimes.  clean diaper, full belly, just growing pains.  Thankfully we can soothe him most of the time

milestones:
-getting better neck control
-more arm control
-can follow us around the room with his eyes and sometimes his head
-he's gotten big enough to do a new nursing hold-which is awesome for us-no pillow needed.  It's not quite perfect yet but once he grows just a bit more we'll be golden on the go.

 This was a big week for us.  Charles and I went out by ourselves several times.  On Tuesday we went to a le leche league meeting.  I'd gotten so tired and while I know I'm not anywhere close to giving up breastfeeding I was struggling a bit.  It was really nice to get out and be around others that are having some of the same struggles.  It was also nice to have our first outing be in a place where I could nurse if I needed to, which, of course, happened.  There are weekly meetings during the day that I'll probably go to while I'm on maternity leave and there are also monthly meetings during after work hours that I can go to when I'm back at work.

On Wednesday we headed to the grocery store.  There were some things that we just needed.  It's hard for Derek to stop on the way home from work because he's usually so tired.  The weekends are for chores and sleep, so grocery store is low on the list.  Charles and I did pretty well.  He made it about thirty minutes before getting fussy.  I checked out while he was crying and they were so helpful.  Without even asking a woman put all the groceries in a cart and walked me to my car.  When Charles took a breath I tried to chat with her a little bit.  She was really sweet and loaded up my car, I attempted to help and she said nono, put the baby in the car set, I've got this.  I love how friendly people are and I"m so thankful for their help.

On Friday we headed to Target.  I wanted to finish up Derek's stocking gifts and was looking for a few other things.  Shopping with Charles is a very different experience.  There's no milling about.  It's go in and get what you need before he gets fussy.  I'm still babywearing which is very helpful.  He did end up getting fussy in the store so I slipped in an empty aisle and set him up for nursing while in the sling, covered him and me up with the tail and headed to check out.  It was definitely a first.  The only open line was a male.  The lines with a female employee were atleast two deep!  So, I sucked it up and went in the male line.  It was an older male so I figured maybe he'd understand.  And then two males got in line behind me to check out.  We handled it though.  He finished nursing halfway through check-out and I put everything back together, set him back up in the sling and we were off.  It's really weird nursing.  My breasts have stopped being sexual when I'm in Mom mode.  So I"m not as conservative about nursing as I thought I would be, and when Charles is crying and I know he needs to nurse or nursing will help-you better bet we're gonna nurse!

that's right-our baby can sit up by himself.  look at that cuteness. the chubbiness kills me. I could just eat him up.

I've also clung to the mantra of sleep when he sleeps.  I was sitting on the couch with him in the sling and he kind of leaned to one side and dozed off.  The pillows were right next to us so I leaned over and we took a nap.  It was fabulous.  I didn't have to worry about him falling off the couch or me squishing him or any thing getting in his face.  We've been doing this every day since then and it's been a life saver for my sanity.  I love snuggling with him and the sleep I've gained is wonderful.  

I know this isn't the proper hold, but for laying down it works.