7 weeks

Here we are at 7 weeks already! This past week was pretty busy, so it seems like the time flew by!

On Monday, I started to try to implement some type of sleeping schedule. Kasper was just sleeping randomly throughout the day up until then. I know he's still a newborn and that's fine, but I was noticing that he would go almost an entire day without a nap resulting in an extra tired, crabby baby in the evenings. We're started to loosely follow the E.A.S.Y. routine. Every 3-ish hours I feed him, give him some activity time - which at this point is a diaper change and some giggles, then I try to get him to take a nap. He's not very good about going 3 hours during the day without eating yet, but I try. I've been finding that the more he naps the happier he's been the whole day long. I usually get one 1.5+ hour nap a day and a couple half hour/45 minute ones. The long nap is never the same time everyday, so he's keeping me on my toes for sure. In fact on Friday I set him down and he tossed and turned for an hour, then my sister got here for pizza so I left him sleeping upstairs thinking I would get him when he woke up. He slept another hour and a half! A THREE HOUR nap!! You just never know with this one. I keep trying, though, since I read "sleep begets sleep". We aren't really getting more sleep overnight, but he's been pretty good at night for awhile.

He doesn't hate baths, but we heard of a product that is supposed to make bath time more fun from one of Rob's co-workers. It's called the Bath Luve and it's like a baby sized washcloth that you soak in the warm water then lay on the baby to keep him warm. A quick trip to Babies R Us this week and we are now the proud owners of a Baby Luve. We luve it and it keeps Kasper from getting so cold.




On Tuesday, I had my 6-week postpartum appointment. Everything is looking good apparently! It was fun to see the Dr. again and reminisce about the delivery. I love my Dr. Rob also went in on Tuesday with his Dr. At both of our appointments, we got the Tdap (tetanus with pertussis) vaccine. We got tetanus shots in 2009 before going to Africa, but as parents, it was recommended that we get the new version with whooping cough since it's going around. Rob also got his third Hep B shot. This would come to have an impact on him later...

Trying some of his old baby props on him to see how different he looks:










Kasper and I had baby class on Wednesday. We covered sleep, which is something that stresses me out. Soon we're going to have to start some type of sleep training and I just don't know what I want to try. Kasper was the sleepy baby this week. Class is 2 hours long - he slept in his car seat for an hour, ate, then slept in my arms for the second hour. He woke up at the end to scream while he tried to poop.

Weight check - 12 lbs!!

After class, my sister came over to watch Kasper because Rob scheduled a massage for me! It was an hour long and wonderfully relaxing.

Baby foot





Oh really?



On Thursday, Rob's vaccinations caught up with him and he came home at lunch time with a nice fever. He wasn't much fun and spent most of the time sleeping, but I liked having someone home with me!



Hey! This isn't right!



We brought out the playmat again a couple times this week. I think he is a little more engaged now looking up at the animals and batting at them.






Playtime overseer



Everyone looks smarter with glasses on, right?




Saturday night, we went over to Adam and Nicole's for some fun, food and fellowship. They whipped up a delicious chili then we played You Don't Know Jack on the Wii and enjoyed gin and tonics.



TJ had just made an off-color joke



Life of the party



Kasper and I will be spending the next few days up here in St. Cloud while Rob is in WI. We left early this morning to miss Snowmygawd 2.0. Funny thing is that while there's a blizzard down in Mpls, it's not snowing here at all! Fine with me.

Week 7 - Still a baby but plumping up and learning to play, instituting a nap schedule, Hep B vaccines can give you a fever.

My camera

I've had a couple questions about the camera/lenses I use. To be honest, I'm surprised anyone thinks I take pictures that are remotely cool. I think I am as far from a photographer as they come, have no creativity nor an "eye" for neat shots. I think I get lucky with the light in K's room. Honestly.

We have a Nikon D80. About a month after we bought our camera, Nikon came out with the newer D90. So we paid the same amount for a lesser model. Just our luck. From what I've read, the body is slightly less important than the lenses you put on it. (Remember, I am far from an expert.) I mostly keep a 50mm/f1.8 lens on the camera. Since the f-stop goes so low, I can use the camera in more indoor situations. It is a fixed length, so if you want to zoom in and out you have to move your feet, but I think it takes such nice shots of the baby's face. I use the kit lens that came with our camera (18-55mm) if I need a wider shot, like for taking pictures of the nursery or his monthly photos. The space between the chair and dresser is too small to use the 50mm lens.



A lot of photos are taken on his changing table for 2 reasons:

1. The light is great because of the window
2. He loves the changing table and I get many smiles and coos while he's up there


(Safe baby buckled onto his changing pad)

So I plop him down and shoot away.











The End.

I think the key is to have nice light and a nice lens. You can buy a 50mm lens for Canons as well as Nikons and at around $120 it's a steal!

So that's my set-up for taking pictures of the boy. You'll notice I left his newborn photos to be taken by professionals because I am not one. I just know what works for me.

P.S. Look how big Kasper is getting. I say that every week and will continue to do so until he's in high school I'm sure, but WOW!



P.P.S. (Or is it P.S.S.?) My necklace in the picture above was a gift for having our new baby. I'm obsessed with it and find myself admiring it even in pictures!

V-Day

6 weeks

Here we are at 6 weeks. According to "them", fussiness and crying peaks at 6 weeks then is gone by 3 months. That's weird to me because I think plenty of babies cry and fuss after 3 months. Maybe it's the amount of time they fuss in a day. Kasper definitely had his 6 week growth spurt this week. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were challenging around here as he was a pretty unhappy baby.



Fortunately that has passed and he is back to his lovable self (most of the time). He is still sleeping anywhere from 4-6 hours at first then another 2-3 hours after nursing but usually only wakes up once in the night. Every once in awhile I can get him to go back to sleep after 7 am, but he's generally ready to be up by then.

We didn't get out as much this week with the fussiness and cold temps. That was ok, I think we needed some time to lay low and grow. We did make it to class on Wednesday.

Ready for class!




He wore this to class. A little busy maybe but I love this onesie and the pants and I don't think either will fit much longer so I had to get him out in public with them.



Class was fun this week. The babies are all getting so much bigger each week! The leader chose Kasper to demonstrate a swaddler. I was worried he'd pitch a fit like he does at home when he's swaddled, but he cooed at her while she was getting him all bound up then fell asleep in her arms. It was too cute.

Weight check: 11 lbs 2 ozs - He gained almost a whole pound in a week!

After class, 8 of us and our babies and our infant car seats went out for lunch. It was a bit of an undertaking and we monopolized the floor space around our table, but people were very cool about it. I think people took pity on us frazzled new Moms.

The smiles continued this week along with some increased cooing. New this week - TEARS! We were doing tummy time when he indicated he was finished by crying, I rolled him over and saw tears!

Hard to see but they're there. Break my heart.





Other pics from the week:

Kasper faces






Helping Mom fold the laundry



Nakie baby (except for socks) time!



Playing with Mom





If I tickle K's lips, I'm almost guaranteed a giggle (also, my other sidekick makes an appearance here)






On Saturday night, Rob and I had our first date post-baby. We celebrated an early Valentine's Day by having dinner at Bar La Grassa. AMAZING food if you haven't been. We had a great time and even had things to talk about that didn't have "baby" in them. The Baby Whisperer (my Mom) came down to whisper to K while we went out. Of course she was able to tickle his feet for an hour then have him fall right to sleep.

After a cold week, it was a treat to have a 40+ degree day today! We took advantage of it and went for a walk around Lake Harriet.

Kasper fell asleep immediately once I put him in his outside outfit.



Not even squishing a hat on would rouse him






Rob ran around the lake a few times while we walked. 3 miles. I haven't been that active in so long and topping that with a lack of abdominal muscles, needless to say, I am beat!

Hi Papa!



Real men wear tights and push a stroller.




Peek!




6 weeks - Latest growth spurt over, smiles and tears, warm weather walks!


Have a great week everyone!