Porter | Five Weeks

Notables from this past week:

Porter is smiling already!! I turn to mush when I see that gummy grin and love this milestone since it feels like, 'Hey, this kid might actually like me a little bit.' It's nice to feel loved by this little creature who is so loved by us! It seems early to see smiles at 4-5 weeks but I'll take it...never gets old.



He's still sleeping the same at night, up twice usually and back down without much fussing. I'm going to try using the co-sleeper instead of the MamaRoo now just because carrying the swing up and down the stairs every day is a hassle. And it's probably time that Porter starts sleeping relatively flat, I guess, but I sure hate to mess with a good thing. So we'll see, I promise nothing and still don't think P will sleep in a swing until high school either way. Daytime naps range from epic 3 hour stretches to just cat napping all day long for 10 minutes. Still looooooves to be held or worn for all naps and he's pulling the 'my eyes pop open as soon as you put me down' trick, no matter how tired he must be. So any nap that lasts more than 5 minutes in the swing or the Boppy is a big success in my book. If I held him or wore him all day he might sleep non-stop, he seriously loves it that much, and swaddles really help him snooze, too.









(got a Wubbanub pacifier and he loves it! So do I.)




Still nursing well but I had my first clogged duct last weekend and wanted to die from the pain. I actually thought it was quickly turning into mastitis (would have been my fourth time total with the Big M) but somehow I massaged the clog out and forced Porter to eat non-stop in addition to pumping. Something worked, thank goodness, but I sort of forgot how painful the clogs can be. I wish I knew what caused them for me----nothing really obvious, that's for sure.

I guess he's eating maybe every 2-3 hours during the day but I'm not tracking it at all. I'm trying to pump each day but many times the hours slip away and I just can't seem to work it into the routine consistently. Meh. Whatever. Not a huge priority at the moment, I suppose.



Porter still has acne but it's a little better this week and so far he doesn't have cradle cap. I know I'm severely biased but I think still think he is the most beautiful, handsome little fella out there---even with his pimples! He seems to be changing by the day, and is really coming into his own. Definitely not Truman's clone anymore! He's all Porter and it's fun to imagine what he'll look like as he gets bigger.

The best comparison I could do for 5 weeks---totally different, right? T v. P.


It's still pretty early to report on his personality but overall he seems extremely content and happy, especially if we are holding him/carrying him around. He will stare at windows and ceiling fans for a few minutes if I have to leave him alone but usually that doesn't last for long, and then he's like, 'Where did everyone go? I'm lonely! What am I supposed to do when I'm awake?' or something. P-man is not too crabby in the evenings anymore, and I find that we can usually fix the fussies with a swaddle, nursing/pacifier, and being held. SO much easier than a few weeks ago. He still screams as if the car seat is a torture device but the last two times in the van seemed a little less traumatizing. Allll about walking everywhere we can because the Ergo is 10000x more pleasant than the car seat! Bath time is hit or miss and he seems to love diaper changes for some reason---but really, he only freaks out in the car seat and sometimes if he's been awake/soaking it all in for too long and becomes overstimulated. Love this happy baby!! Even if he is cross eyed at times and this picture is a little blurry.


Before he let us have it for putting him in the seat


We haven't even had to use our secret weapon for our previous fussy babies: Dave Matthew's 'Two Step' and the iTunes visualizer were both in heavy rotation for Truman and Cecelia at this point. I still laugh when I think about Nate putting the co-sleeper directly in front of the TV at the duplex, blasting DMB, with the psychedelic visualizer flashing from the screen...such a hilarious sight to see my baby blankly staring at the boob tube at one month of age. But it worked to calm him down, and you better believe we will pull out all of the stops again if needed!

(at his one month appointment---no shots but even that didn't make him too angry. The car ride to and from did, of course).


Now that my mom is gone and it's just me with the kiddos during the day, I can see that Cecelia is going to be the most 'needy' child and the one who demands the most of my attention. Porter is easy compared to his two year old sister right now! But that's another post for another time. ;) I know this could change and hopefully it's just a phase but having three kids in general is not particularly overwhelming for me. There have been so many awesome moments when I feel like, 'I totally have this Mom of Three thing!' I mean, I was even brave enough to bake cookies with all three kids alone----bold move, indeed. I only had to raise my voice three times which is insane.


 But when Cecelia is inconsolable for some unknown reason, Porter needs to nurse, and Truman is whining about me providing him with the incorrectly colored drinking cup it's reeaaalllllly challenging to maintain my composure. Especially when it's been an off day for all of us and then the evening comes and we are all just OVER IT. Luckily there is plenty of coffee in the mornings, cold beer in the evenings, tomorrow is a new day, and kids are incredibly forgiving when mommy briefly loses her freaking mind.









So yeah, it's going pretty well so far with three kids and no other adult helpers during the day! A few rough patches here and there of course, but I'm typing this while two out of three kids nap, after a fun morning with this crew, and it's a Friday. So life is (currently) good;)






Life with three! Baby wearing and refereeing brawls in the bathtub.


First time to the Wisconsin State Fair also deserves it's own mention in this post. He slept 99% of the time we were there so he missed out on some great people-watching and didn't even get to see his first cream puff. Sad.











Attempted cloth specifically for this photoshoot. Will have to re-do it at some point because P was not happy about showing off his dipes. And CC's legs are obscenely long!!


And also, tummy time is seriously hilarious. Fatigues in about 10 seconds. Heavy head!







(Truman took this one and Porter's little hands under his chin make me laugh)


Because I don't remember anything about the early weeks with my other kids...
Cecelia at 5 weeks: she was spitting up huge amounts and was growing quite a bit, almost ready for 0-3 month outfits. Porter has not been a big spitter at ALL which is really appreciated and he has been in his 3 month outfits for a solid few weeks already. She was 10lbs 2oz at her check up which is just a little less than the boys, and I remember being shocked by that since CC seemed to much tinier than Tru! I had just done my first two nights alone with both kids, since Nate was out of town, and I survived with the help of my in-laws in the evenings. I think I could probably handle all three kids alone overnight now, too, since those 4:40-7:30 pm hours are already the WORST and I am on my own with those twice per week anyway. I didn't write about her nighttime sleep but I have a feeling it was pretty similar to the two wake ups Porter is boasting right now, too. And then it got really really horrendous so I just hope Porter doesn't follow suit with that sleep regression stuff.

Truman at 5 weeks: I was still forcing the kid to wear newborn clothes for some reason and I forgot about his little fall from a bouncy seat before this! He was just getting his acne and my mom had just left from a visit, so I was feeling kind of down about everything---specifically like I was NOT good enough at getting Truman to sleep. HA! He was on the verge of smiling, was sleeping really well with two wake ups around 3 am and 6 am (woah, even better than P), and I was kind of shocked at how often I had to nurse Fatty McGee. I was just coming to terms with feeding on demand and letting go of the concept of a 'schedule' with anything in life. Ah, to have just one child again with the energy to overanalyze it all.

So that's it! My boy is rocking the 5 week mark, for sure. And this post goes to show you that even though I thought there were nothing to report, I still managed to make this lengthy in words and included tons of pictures. Go figure.