Witt is 6 Weeks Old!

Witt Cravens, you are 6 weeks old!  Time is flying by.  You are such a big boy (especially dressed in your polo today)!  Here are some things going on with you right now.

• You nurse 7 or 8 times a day for about 20 minutes and I think you are taking 4 ounces during your daytime feedings and a little less during your nightime feedings.  You LOVE to eat (and it shows)!
• I tried to weigh you on a regular scale this week, but I just can't believe it was right because it said you weigh 10 pounds!  You don't have a checkup until the end of October, so we will just have to keep guessing until you are weighed on the baby scale.  You are wearing size 3 month clothes and have already grown out of some of your 0-3 month clothes.  The polo you are wearing today didn't fit your brother (and was still big on him) until he was 10 weeks old so you are A LOT bigger than he was!  
• You are sleeping much better at night.  The past week you had some tummy trouble which kept you up for a few nights, but you seem to be feeling much better and the past few nights have gotten up once (sometimes twice) to eat and have gone right back down.
• You are such a happy baby other than the hours of 5-7 pm.  But really, I think every baby is fussy during those "witching" hours.
• You are already SO social. You are cooing and smiling and LOVE to be talked to! Even Jack loves to see you smile and will get close to your face and talk to you in his "alien language" just to get a coo or a smile from you.

Witt, you are SO loved!!!

Do They Look Alike?

Everybody always asks me, "Does Witt look like Jack" and normally my response is, "No, not at all".  After looking through some pictures today though, I have changed my mind.  No, they don't look just alike, but yes, they do resemble.  That's good, I want them to look like brothers :)

Witt is 5 weeks old!

Witt Cravens, you are 5 weeks old today!  Here are a few things going on with you...

• I'm guessing you weigh somewhere around 9 pounds.  You are wearing 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers.  It makes me so sad that you have already outgrown your newborn clothes and diapers, but at the same time I am proud of how big you are getting!

• You LOVE to eat and are still nursing every 3 hours during the day.  You have had a couple of nights of going 5 hours between feedings and all together skipping your 2nd nightime feeding and that makes your Mama VERY happy :)   You hit your 2nd growth spurt over the weekend and ate every 2 hours around the clock and you were pretty fussy, which meant we both got very little sleep.  As of today, you are back on track being your sweet self and eating every 3 hours...YAY!

• This week you started making eye contact and "cooing" and you have to work so hard at rounding those little lips...TOO cute :)   You are "talking" a couple weeks earlier than your brother did...I am predicting this means you will be an early talker like Jack was an early walker... only time will tell.

• You are doing great during tummy time and we work on exercising those neck muscles at least 3 times a day.  You are holding your head up like a champ and your big brother likes to lay on his tummy in front of you and cheer you on :) You do your best when laying on Daddy's chest...you hold your little head up so you can see your daddy's face while he is talking to you.

Witt, you are already such a sweet boy and as much as I want to say, "We can't wait to see the little boy you grow into", instead I will say, "SLOW DOWN GROWING and be my little baby as long as possible!"  Time is already going WAY too fast.

Witt is wearing the Feltman that his Uncle Cade wore home from the hospital 17 1/2 years ago :)

10 Things I Learned Today

1.  Taking 2 babies to Wal-Mart means you will have no room in the buggy for anything other than the babies.

2.  Before heading to Wal-Mart with 2 babies, it is a good idea to have a little prayer time and pray specifically that little baby sleeps while in Wal-Mart and that big baby doesn't have a meltdown because you won't let him open the package of cookies you just put in buggy.

3.  Chick-fila mini hashbrowns make a mess in the carseat when given to a 1 year old.

4.  A 1 year old with yell "Juice" repeatedly the entire 10 minute car ride home if you do not share your much needed diet coke with him.

5.  Even if your newborn has always fallen asleep and been a happy baby in the carseat for the first 4 weeks of his short life, that does not mean he won't decide that he doesn't like riding in the car today.

6.  It is nearly impossible to get 2 crying babies inside the house and tend to their needs while also getting groceries inside and in the frig/freezer before something goes bad. 

7.  Sometimes little baby just needs to be held (all. day. long).  When this happens, the Moby Wrap is your best friend!  (If you are a mama to a little baby, you need to get a Moby Wrap...look them up!)

8.  When little baby baby wants to be held, big baby will want to be held too.

9.  Even if you get up and get the boys dressed for an outing (and looking mighty cute I must say), that doesn't mean you will get a shower that day.

 10.  Days like today help you sleep GREAT at night (well, in between those middle of the night feedings that is).

Can't have a post without some pictures of the babies :)  Here is a photo dump from the week so far...

Once again, Jack takes this big brother job very seriously...helping Witt get his paci in his mouth (even if Witt doesn't really want the paci :)

Jack wasn't sure about another day at "school".   Although drop offs are still full of tears, his teachers say he is doing so much better and even loosened up and showed off some of his dance moves (to Jesus Loves Me) for his class on Wednesday.  Oh to be a fly on the wall of that classroom :)

As soon as Jack gets up from a nap he has to run into the nursery to check on Witt.  As you can see, Witt is LOVING sleeping in his nap nanny!

I knew Jack was be a good big brother, but I am so impressed with how well he has handled his whole world being turned upside down!  He is a little more needy for his Mama at times right now, but that is to be expected.  Witt is so lucky to have Jack show him the ropes :)

Witt is 4 weeks old!

Witt Cravens, you are 4 weeks old!  You will be 1 month old on Thursday and I don't where this month has gone!!!  It is going WAY too fast.  Here are a few things going on in your 4th week of life...

• You are sleeping SO much better at night.  After not sleeping well for 3 1/2 weeks, I bought you a "Nap Nanny" and it has helped you get comfy and sleep great which means Mama sleeps great too!  The past few nights while sleeping in the nap nanny, you have woken up around 2:30 and 5:00 to eat and have gone right back to sleep after both feedings! We moved you into your room at night the beginning of last week and that has also helped your Mama sleep a little more.  I can hear you over the monitor, but don't hear every little wiggle and sigh :)

• You are a great eater and are nursing every 3 hours (7 am, 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, 7 pm, 9:30 pm, then 2 night feedings whenever you wake up).  I have started calling you "Chunk" because your little cheeks are getting so chubby and I LOVE that!  You took your first bottle of breastmilk this week and did great with it. 

• We have been having lots of tummy time and you are doing a great job holding your head up!  You even rolled from your tummy to back, but it was an accident....your little head just got away from you and rolled the rest of your body over :)

• You LOVE to be held!  I rock you for a few minutes before your naps, then put you in your crib before you are all the way asleep.  It really upsets you that I am not holding you anymore and you let me know it!  After a little fussing for a few minutes, you calm down and fall right to sleep.

• I put you in your Moby wrap for the first time this week and you loved it (and so did your Mama)!  I think I will be "wearing" you a lot the next several months!

• Your big brother loves you so much and is always checking on you when you are crying.  He will give you your paci or push your swing to help you settle down.  He even tells me you are hungry by pointing to the clips on my nursing cami then pointing to your mouth... haha!

• Happy 4 weeks Witt!!!! 

Check out those cheeks!  (And big feet!!!)

Distracted by the ceiling fan :)

What's Normal Around Here

This is normal for us these days.

And while big brother plays and watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in his pj's and cowboy boots, little brother sleeps peacefully.  Sweet Angel :)

While both boys were dressed in real clothes (most of the time it is pj's or just a diaper while we are home) the other day, Allen tried to take a few pics.  As you can see, it didn't really work out.

 All I see in the picture above is 2 unhappy little boys and 1 tired mama!

But the tears did stop and we even got a smile from the big one :)

I have had several people ask about Witt's "bruise" on his forehead and upper lip, so thought I would satisfy inquiring minds.  Don't worry, my sweet baby is still not bruised from his birthing experience (what many people have thought)...ha.  It is a birthmark commonly known as Stork's Bite...cute and clever little name.  It will fade over time, but I like to think of it as an angel kiss (I had 2 angel kisses on my back when I was born).  The cute part about it is when he gets mad, it gets bright red, but when he is calm and cool, it fades to where you can barely see it.  From what I've read about it, even when he is over a year old and it is completely faded, it might reappear for a few moments when he gets fired up about something :)

Jack's 1st Day of "School"

Jack had his first day of Mother's Morning Out yesterday.  It was a tear filled morning not only for Jack, but also for this Mama.  I was already emotional about someone else taking care of my baby AND  about the fact that he is even old enough to go to MMO.  While sitting in the carpool/drop off line, Jack saw the playground and was already trying to get out of his carseat, so I really thought drop off would be so easy.  Instead he panicked, cried, clung to me, and looked at me with the most pitiful look when the teacher took him from me and walked inside.  I had to immediately pull my sunglasses down to hide my tears...it was HARD to get back in the car and pull away!  If I have this much trouble sending my child to MMO for 3 hours a morning, 2 mornings a week, what in the world am I going to do when he starts real school???!!!!  :)  Overall, I think he had a good morning.  I know there were more tears throughout the morning, but I think after a few more days of school he will get use to it and will love it! Witt and I used the 3 hours to run errands...something that I haven't quite figured out how to do with a 17 month old and a 3 week old in tow, but can definitely handle it with just 1 baby :)

Before we left for school yesterday morning, we had a little photo shoot to document this big "first" for Jack :)

"Say what?  I get to go to school today?!"

"Check out my new running shoes...I can run FAST in these things!"

My little (big) boy is growing up WAY too fast!

Witt is 3 Weeks Old!

Witt Cravens, you are 3 weeks old!  It feels like you just got here yesterday...slow down time!  Here are some things going on with you as a 3 week old.

• You LOVE to be held!  Your big brother has never been much of a cuddle bug.  Even as a newborn he was more content to lay in his bed to fall asleep rather than be rocked.  It broke my heart and I told your daddy "I hope our next one likes to cuddle".  I got what I wished for!  You are a very content baby, but at times you will scream at the top of your lungs when in your swing or in your crib and the instant I pick you up you stop crying, snuggle up close to your mama and fall right to sleep.  
• I could set a clock by you!  I wanted to keep you on a 2 1/2 eating schedule for a few more weeks (and a 4 - 5 hour schedule at night...I love to have scheduled babies!), but you were not having it.  Late last week I decided to forget about the clock and just nurse on demand and let you sleep (during the day) until you woke up.  You are now on a 3 hour schedule around the clock and you are doing much better than when Mama tried to schedule you :)  You eat at 7, 10, 1, 4, 7, 10, 1, 4 on the dot and if I'm not ready to feed you that instant, you make sure I know you aren't happy :)
• We are working on good night time sleep in our house....You really like to moan, grunt, and wiggle between the hours of 2 am and 4 am which keeps your Mama wide awake.  We might be moving you to your crib in your room sooner rather than later due to this :)
• You had your first real bath last week (your umbilical cord fell off at 2 weeks, 1 day) and you loved it.  You get so relaxed in the bathtub and don't even mind having all your hair washed !
• Your big brother still loves you and even likes to hold you these days (but only for about 5 seconds, then he tries to push you off his lap).  I think he has kissed your head about 28 times so far today.  You two are going to be the best of friends!  
• We are having SO much fun with you and we love you so much!