4 week old Ethan

Hard to believe it has already been 4 weeks since our wonderful son came into the world.  This week he has started making a few noises other than crying and has started grabbing onto my fingers.  His neck strength is amazing!

This week has brought quite a bit more crying, and I am wondering if he is having some gas issues (I am sure he loves me talking about his gas on the internet!).  He has decided that he isn't going to nap as well during the day and most of the time will only nap during the day if he is being held in someone's arms.  I don't mind snuggling with him, but I do get hungry and have to go to the bathroom, haha! 

He is doing great at night.  He usually gives me a 5-6 hour stretch, then we get up and he eats and then he usually gives me a few more hours.  Now that I say this he is probably going to sleep horribly tonight, but oh well! 

I have discovered that although he doesn't like to be swaddled, it has been the life saver at night.  He was only doing 2-3 hours at a time until we started putting him in a swaddle blanket at night.  He will also nap a little longer during the day if we swaddle.  I have discovered the magic of the 5 S's (swaddle, side/stomach, swinging, shhhh, and sucking).  This has helped a lot with the crying fits we have been having.  I have decided that the first few nights at home he didn't like the swaddle because I he was too hot - I did have him in a sleeper and a swaddle blanket then.  I now just do a onesie and the swaddle blanket and he does great.  He still fights the swaddle and still manages to get his arms right up by his face, but it has helped a ton!  

We went to the breastfeeding clinic on Tuesday and he was up 9.4 ounces to 11 lbs 9.4 ounces.  He ate 5 1/2 ounces while we were at the clinic, but I don't think he does that every time as we increased his nightly bottle to 5 ounces one night and he only ate the normal 4 ounces.  I am so glad he is gaining weight well.  We go back to the pediatrician on Tuesday, so we will see what she thinks. 

 Aww....this is the life!!

We love watching Ethan wake up from a nap (only after several hours of sleep of course!).  

He stretches and makes the greatest faces.

He loves hanging out on dad!

His nightly bottle - it sort of looked like he was trying to grab on to the bottle!

Enjoy the video of him showing off his tummy time skills, he loves to scoot across the blanket and gets mad when you don't have your hands behind his feet for him to push on.  He also acts mad while scooting, but I think he is just trying so hard and wants to do it on his own, so he cries a little!