Week 2: reality

As Owen's post-birth sleepiness started to abate, the reality of or situation has begun to set in.  Specifically, we have a baby on our hands, 24 hours a day.  He has started crying more, and feeding him every 2-3 hours around the clock means that two hours of sleep in a row is as good as it gets.  The cats are starting to understand that this baby is a permanent condition.  We had a lot of visitors because everyone is so excited to meet him, including Uncle Nathan and Aunt Jenna from Wisconsin.  We went out with Owen to restaurants for the first time.  We went to the beach.  We are feeling pretty wrecked.

One memorable night, we had some friends over and kept him up with us in the living room until it was pretty late at night.  It didn't even occur to us that we should put him to bed.  It didn't seem like he had any schedule at all yet.  Rookie mistake.  But by the time they went home around 11 pm, he was so tired that sleep was hopeless.  We tried and tried, rocking and swaddling and pacifying and feeding...  finally around 2 am he fell into an exhausted sleep.  I realized how much we have to learn.   

Meanwhile Owen is doing great.  His newborn jaundice went away early in the week, and he went back to being very pink.  His umbilical cord stump came off midweek.  He started trying to lift his head and showed us what his gummy, beautiful little smile is going to look like in a few flashes as he drifted into sleep.  My milk really came in and he has begun to grow very quickly.  He's started to develop a double chin and rolls around his wrists.  He seemed to get longer and stretch out more.  His second checkup at the pediatrician indicated that he was doing great, and has regained all his birthweight plus some (6 lbs, 8 oz at 10 days old). 

The most remarkable thing about Owen in his second week (aside from his cuteness, which was extreme), is his alertness.  He seems to be grappling with reality as well.  He can sit quietly and observe the contrast at my hairline or a picture frame for 30 minutes at a time.  He loves to gaze at the images in his black and white picture books.  He scans the book pages back and forth--you can practically see the synapses forming.  It is really amazing how alert and focused he can be already!