3 weeks

i have a three week old baby! that's crazy, because i should be 39 weeks pregnant. instead i have my little peanut baby here by my side, snoozing while i skip sleep to blog...

the first few weeks have been great. sure, tiring, occasionally stressful, and certainly the adjustment of a lifetime. but looking at finley, watching him change before my eyes - it's been amazing. somehow i can survive on spurts of one hour of sleep, being his sole food source, and i'm sure it's because i get to spend my days loving on him.

mr. h3b and i were lucky enough to have grandma support for the first two weeks which made the transition into parenthood quite smooth. having extra hands whenever, for things beyond baby holding, was exactly what we needed to cope with the changes. dishes were magically done. laundry washed, folded, and put away. groceries purchased and meals prepared. there was plenty of grandson loving, too :) hmm, typing this out makes me miss those first bleary days for (of course) newborn baby and live-in gmas.

finn is growing so quickly. i weighed myself and him on the wii and it seems as though he is now about 7.5lb - we'll see at his 1 month check up. he is breastfeeding like a champ. we ditched the nipple shields during week 2 and he now latches easily (mostly) and feeds about every 2.5 hours. this results in short naps, but he's gotten calmer and more used to sleeping on his own. the first week or so was filled with noises and whimpers and cries that kept us all up. unless he was being held or laying next to someone, there was no sleep. he now sleeps soundly in his bouncer (not so much the pack and play yet) while swaddled in the kiddopotamus.

the biggest change we've noticed (aside from increased lung capacity...) is his ability to track objects. he crosses his eyes less often and can see things you move around in front of him. we attached the toy bar to his bouncer tonight and he watched those things for a good 20 minutes. it is amazing to see him stare in awe at the world around him. so innocent and interested.

i find myself snuggling into his neck folds and smelling his baby shampooed hair and just cherishing these sweet moments of tiny. i love when he finds me with his eyes, so alert, like he knows that i'm his mom. i crave his smooth skin and can't help but rub the back of his neck and his skinny thighs without even realizing i'm doing it. i'm starting to know his cries and noises and i feel at ease comforting him when he is upset.

i'm not perfect and i have no idea what will happen next, but newborn is faster than pregnancy, and i'm just trying my best to take it all in. pictures, videos, memories - everything is fleeting and i feel like i need to document it all. but i'm also happy to watch the sleep smiles, post feed eyebrow scrunch, and adorable successive sneezes and just be in the moment.