It’s an amazing thing to say that I’m a mother. Steve and I are parents! I never thought this day would come, and now my son is about to turn 8 weeks old. Where has the time gone? Our lives have changed in many ways since little Grayson Russell came into the world. Lack of sleep is one of them. The first 3 days of this week in particular were difficult. Grayson slept pretty good for the first stretch of sleep (from bedtime at 8pm until about 1:00 – 1:45am), but after that he was up every 45 minutes to an hour on the dot, and since it would take me at least 20 minutes to fall back asleep every time I would put him back down, I was only getting 30 minutes of uninterrupted sleep at the most. After the 3rd night of this, I wasn’t sure how much more I could take, especially since I wasn’t going to bed, myself, until around 11pm or midnight each night.
Luckily, two nights ago, Grayson slept the longest he has ever slept in one stretch — 7.5 hours!!! I couldn’t believe it when I looked at the clock. I actually woke up once when he started fussing a little, made a bottle for him, and by the time I came back in the room he had fallen back asleep, and stayed asleep for another hour and a half! And last night was probably his best night ever. He slept from 9pm to 4:10am, and then, after he ate, he slept again until 6:30am, ate again, and then slept until 7:45am. That has never happened! Even the night before when he slept 7.5 hours straight, he was still up every hour after that! This is just one of the ways that I know that my little man is starting to grow up. He is not the tiny newborn baby he was just 8 short weeks ago, when he would only sleep for 2 hour stretches at a time!
Since his birth, we have celebrated Steve’s first Father’s Day, as well as our first wedding anniversary. My, what a difference a year can make! Grayson can now pretty much hold his head up by himself (although we still support it just in case…..he’s still a little floppy at times). He’s starting to “talk” to us as well, and always greets us with a huge smile every morning. Mornings are definitely his most happy time of the day! He even gave me his first laugh this morning. I can’t wait to hear him laugh more and more!
Our kitty, Lazarus, absolutely LOVES Grayson. Whenever Grayson is laying on the floor, Lazarus always has to come and lay right next to him. I know they’re going to be best buddies for several years! Our other two kitties, Lacey and Fancy, are good with him too. They were only curious for about a day, and now they either completely ignore him, or just treat him like another member of the family. It’s still a competition to see who can take up Mommy’s lap the most, though.
Grayson absolutely loves bath time. Whenever he’s grumpy in the evenings, bath time always calms him down. He could probably splash in there for an hour if I let him! We’ve made it part of our nightly routine, and he knows that after his bath, it’s time for bed.
When he turned a month old on June 24th, I made sure to take lots of pictures. This one is my favorite from that day. Such a happy boy!
We also celebrated his first 4th of July!
I think he’s starting to get used to having a camera in his face, and it’s a good thing, because I don’t plan on putting it down anytime soon!
He even poses for me occasionally. 🙂
Steve is a wonderful daddy, and Grayson sure loves him! He gives him the biggest smiles whenever Steve picks him up. And then of course, if he gets fussy again, he gets handed back to me. Haha!
Another thing that calms him down if he’s being fussy is being burped. He doesn’t even have to get anything out, but just the sitting up and patting his back will usually instantly calm him down. Of course, nothing calms a fussy baby like a nice bottle of milk. 🙂
We’ve been out to eat at a restaurant twice with him, and both times he did great! We try to time things perfectly so we know when his happiest time of day is, and then try to do most outings during that time. It’s worked for us so far!
I can’t believe our little man is going to be 8 weeks old tomorrow! I hope the rest of his life doesn’t go by this quickly, or we’ll be in real trouble! I’ve tried to take as many pictures, and even videos, as I can so that we’ll always have lots of memories to look back on as he gets older. Slow down, Son! You’re growing up too fast!!!
