5th element and 6 week growth spurt!

I'm late, sue me!

Let's recap the last couple weeks.

Duncan turned five weeks on September, 13th. During that time he got to meet his first family member (besides Mummy & Daddy). 

 We were very lucky to have Nanna Forsyth fly in from Perth for a visit. While she was here we got out for lots of coffee and cakes, we both love a good treat. She is a Mummy of three herself, and she gave me some great tips, and reassurance. It was incredibly calming to have such a warm visit. Duncan was absolutely at home in his Nanna's arms, and it was beautiful to see. 

I also noticed he has his Nanna's eyes! 

She pointed out that he has his Grandad's bum ;)

This is Nanna putting a silver coin under his mattress. An English tradition from his Grandad's side of the family and something that Daddy and all his siblings had done, it symbolises health and wealth.

He doesn't know what to do with his hands.

Milestones:

-Meeting Nanna Forsyth

-Between the 4th and 5th week he started smiling and giggling for real!

-Lots of batting at his toys and holding onto his rattle now (mostly with his left hand).

-Survived another couple nights without Daddy.

-Now cooing when he gets really excited.

-His first poo-nami (Thanks, Amy for the hilarious adjective)!

-Waking Mummy up at 2am for middle of the night giggles and smiles.

-Pizza party and cuddles with Aunt Roxy!

 Now onto six weeks! 

D turned 6 weeks yesterday, September 20th.

Over the weekend he hung out with Mummy and Daddy in the garden.

Daddy tended the garden while Mummy crocheted and aired out the old milkers. It's amazing what a bit of sun does to heal overworked nipples. After a little workout, and some garden time we ventured out for a coffee and a bit of shopping. D was a little angel. We also realised over the weekend that he's going through a growth spurt. He went from feeding every three hours to demanding every two. It's amazing how quickly these little humans grow. I inevitably started getting stressed, and questioning myself, like most new Mummies. Then Paul pointed out that he's growing out of all of his newborn clothes, and it clicked. Duh, he's cluster feeding, because he's going through a growth spurt! Yeesh, I hope I can realise that next time and save myself a few tears.

Yesterday he had one pretty good projectile vomit. It landed on me, the feeding pillow, or bed, and the carpet. It took some serious skin to skin to calm both of us down.

Yesterday he and I both had our six week check up. We're both growing, and healing as we should. Daddy read D a book while we waited to be called back.

After work Daddy and D did some push ups and tummy time in the backyard.

Milestones:

-Gained a whole mess of weight. D now weighs 4.4 kilos from his previous 3.98 kilos at 4 weeks.

-Projectile vomiting on not only the bed, but Mummy, and a few other places ;)

-Giggling and smiling for Daddy at 5am.

I can't even keep track of all the changes. D is changing hourly! But I'm thankful for what I can remember to key in.

His eyes focus more daily. He absolutely recognises his Mummy and Daddy, and has for weeks I'm sure. His giggles are getting more obvious, and are quite contagious. We're going a lot of co-sleeping/bed sharing. I get a much better night's rest when I don't have to stand up to check if he needs a feed or just a tummy rub. I know it's not going to continue long term, but it's just so calming. The sound of his deep sleep breathing is like heaven on earth.

A whole month!

How and I mean how on earth is our baby already a month old?!?

Where does the time magically go?

I think the hardest part of the first month is the fatigue. You want to soak in every single minute of your little one. But you also need sleep, so you can actually take care of the bub and yourself. As soon as he lays down for his evening sleep it's relax mode for me. Quickly shower and lay down within the same hour or so. He's been giving us roughly five hours of sleep as of late. So I need to get my butt to bed as quickly as possible so that I can also get four-five hours myself.

He's been primarily breast feeding the past few days with only 1-2 bottles of expressed milk. I think he was being overfed with the bottle and not necessarily letting us know when he was truly hungry. We also have limited his use of the dummy right back. He only uses it to calm down if he's really worked up (primarily gas/bed time).  He's not a fan of going to bed before 7pm. It's no harm/no foul but we were really stressing ourselves out the first couple of weeks about getting him to bed earlier. Now we know he's a 7:30-8:30 sleeper and if he gets a big enough feed he'll let us sleep between 4-6 hours. Let me tell you how glorious six hours of sleep is! 

Though, I always have to wake before then to pump, but it's all good!

D is a HUGE fan of the outdoors and feeling the wind on his face. 

As soon as he catches a glimpse of trees he calms right down...for now.

We got to catch up with the beautiful midwife who delivered D.

He was a sleepy boy and only woke up for an angry feed just as we were finishing.

Father's Day was really special for us. Paul's Father, John Robert passed away fifteen years ago, this was Paul and Duncan's first Fathers Day as a pair. It was divine. I know John played a huge role in why Paul is such an amazing Father already. We woke up and all laughed and cuddled in bed for an hour or so. Duncan farted and I'm sure we did too. Then we went on a quick workout and got cleaned up for a coffee out. D was a calm boy and let us relax for over an hour. Then we had a leisurely stroll together. We admired all the million dollar plus homes in a near by neighbourhood and thanked our lucky stars that we bought our house when we did.

Cheers to a successful play outdoors and a sleeping baby.

Just kidding, this nap only lasted about 15 minutes. 

Then we had to go on a walk to get back to sleep.

At the moment you turned one month I was breast feeding you from my incredibly sore breast. It's not your fault that I second guessed myself and reinjured my boobie. But we're both improving, sweet boy. Sometimes I get worked up about over/under feeding you, the fact that you have wind, or when you spew. The thing is I'm probably doing something wrong. But that's Motherhood and that's why breastfeeding has such a steep learning curve. We're getting there, and I won't beat myself up too much about it. But I am allowed to get a bit emotional from time to time.

Milestones:

Loads of sensory play and not only reaching for his toys, but actually grabbing them!

Holding onto our fingers and his rattle.

Less time with the dummy/pacifier.

First night on our own without Daddy. We survived!

Beginning to coo or make coo like sounds.

Gained a solid 500 plus grams in weight and grew over an inch!

Played outside and let Mummy crochet for a whole hour, or so.