8 Weeks old

I have been reminded that my blogging activity is on the decline lately. I certainly don't deny it. Why it was easier to get a blog post written when Ethan was only a few weeks old than it is now I have no idea. It's not that there isn't anything to say, it's just hard to find time to say it.

Growing:
It's amazing how much Ethan has changed in 8 weeks. He is talking a lot these days, doing his little cooing and gooing noises. He's become much more interested in his toys and will lie on the floor and look at whatever I put around him for quite a while if he's in the right mood. He will lay on his tummy or his back, but doesn't seem to have even the slightest interest in rolling over yet. A couple of days ago I bought him a little play mat, with the bar that goes accross the top so he can lay on his back and look up at the toys. He seemed to get a kick out of it.

When I went to the doctor a week ago I stood on the scale with him and estimated that he weighs about 12 lbs.

Sleeping:
Ethan is still sleeping with us at night, although I'd like to get him starting out in his bassinet soon, then I'll be fine with him moving to the bed with us after a few hours. In general he's a good sleeper though - he usually wakes up around 2:30 and again around 5:30 when Darrell is leaving for the gym. I'm back to work this week so we'll see if the new schedule affects his sleep habits.

Up to this point he hasn't shown much interest in his little swing but I started putting him in it when he falls asleep and it's working great. He sleeps so much better in the swing, and a few times I've put him in it when he was drowsy and he just drifted off. I'm not in a huge hurry to make him learn to go to sleep by himself but it's definitely nice.

Back to work:
The daycare lady that I had found for Ethan "fired" us on the Friday before I was supposed to return to work. She watched Ethan for a few hours on Wednesday and decided that she couldn't handle it. Granted, he wasn't taking a bottle very well, but she was kind of insulting when she called and basically said he was spoiled and was going to want to be held all the time and they couldn't do that. Um... duh. Isn't that what all 8 week old babies want? Anyway, it was a mad scramble to find daycare but through a series of events I was referred to Melanie and her daughter Amber who are starting up their daycare again after taking a bit of a hiatus. It's funny because all during the week before as I was thinking about taking Ethan to the other lady I was stressing about it and kept wishing that he could go to someone who didn't have a bunch of other kids to take care of. Well, Ethan was the first baby they have taken so he's 'it' right now.

When we arrived yesterday morning I was still pretty nervous because I wasn't sure how Ethan would do, and if he'd take a bottle. So I hung around almost an hour and nursed him before I left. I was comforted by the fact that she asked if I minded if she cuddled with Ethan a lot and even held him while he slept. Of course I didn't mind a bit... A couple hours after I got to work I called once to check on him and he was sleeping but finally Melanie called me and let me know that Ethan had woken up, and taken the bottle just fine. I was so relieved! When we picked him up he seemed generally content and not at all traumatized. He was really clingy all evening though, and nursed constantly up until bedtime so he probably did not drink as much from the bottle as he normally would nursing at home. That's okay but I hope that he decides to go ahead and start eating a little more during the day - I barely got away to fix myself something to eat last night.