2 weeks

Andrew Lee is growing up.  He's almost back at his birth weight, currently tipping the scales at 8 lb even.  Dr. B is very happy with that.  Nursing is SOOOOOOOO much better.  We are even moving forward with side-lying nursing, which was a challenge at first.  We are co-sleeping, and so the side-lying nursing is key to getting mommy, and daddy too, a lot of sleep.  And though of course we are up in the night, I think we are getting a whole lot of sleep, all things considered.  I honestly can't imagine doing this any other way.  People actually get up and walk to another room every 2-3 hours?  Andrew and I just roll over, he latches on, and we both drift back off to sleep.  Other than a couple of diaper changes (thanks, daddy, for handling those), we don't leave our nest.

This  is also the clear choice for sleeping because he seems to absolutely *loathe* being on his back, alone in a crib or bassinet.  So we've been "practicing" during naps, experimenting with laying him down in the crib or the pack-n-play.  Usually, if he's already asleep, it's about 2 minutes before he's woken himself up (swaddled or not) and is asking politely to be picked up.  In 2 minutes more, the polite asking has turned to demanding.

Lately, though, he's been having more "quiet alert" awake time, which makes him seem like a very mature kid.  If he's put down when quiet alert, he seems content to look around and take in the world from his back.  He won't go to sleep though.  A couple days ago he started fussing and Daddy put on an Alabama CD, and he immediately quieted down and seemed perfectly content.  It was really funny, because one song would wind down, and he would start to fuss a bit, then the next song would start and he would calm right back down, listening and dancing to the music.  So I guess that we have discovered Andrew's first favorite band.  :o)

Listening to old Alabama...

Today the sun finally came out after our May snow, and we went for a walk up the gulch.  It wasn't that far, but it was really nice for mommy to stretch her legs and get some exercise.  Andrew rode in the Moby carrier and fell asleep.  As the weather is nicer, we are recovered from birth, and we are having more quiet alert time,  I can't wait to experiment with more of my baby carriers and slings and get this one out to enjoy the world.

I guess it's really time to admit it - I'm really going in for the Dr. Sears "Attachment Parenting" approach.  I didn't go into this with a lot of "rules" about how I wanted to parent my baby (other than the breastfeeding, which I felt very strongly about), but I'm pleasantly surprised at how easy the attachment parenting principles are and how natural and good they feel.  The experiment continues - after all, what is first-time parenting but one large experiment??  ;o)