9 Weeks (2 months)

Let's see... this week there hasn't been much improvement in naps. He seems to want to stay awake longer. I'm trying to keep him on a 3 hour feeding schedule (where he gets 5 oz of either breastmilk or formula), while trying to implement the eat - activity - sleep routine... not working out so much. The first couple days of the week, I actually had trouble keeping him awake after his feedings, now all of a sudden he thinks he wants to stay awake for hours at a time. Although on Friday, we did take a nice 2 hour afternoon nap, but it was in bed with me (I'm trying to keep him in his crib for naps). I guess a nap is a nap where ever it is. I really just need to make the most of the remainder of my maternity leave taking in all the cuddle time I can before he goes to day care and I have to go back to working.

We are still waking up between 2-3am to feed him. Man, if we could eliminate that night feed, our lives would be so much better because we'd be so much more rested! I read in a book that by the time a baby reaches 11 lbs (he hit that weeks ago!), metabolically, he should be able to sleep longer at night without waking up to eat. We've tried increasing the amount he eats during the day (from 4 to 5oz) to see if that would keep him sustained through the night... nope. We also tried cluster feeding every 2 hours after 4pm until bedtime... nope. We are trying a 11pm dream feeding... nope... he still wakes up about 3-4 hours after the dream feed. When he does wake us up at 2-3am, we have tried to soothe him back to sleep with a pacifier, rocking, reswaddling, music, etc... but he seems to really need/want that bottle to get back to sleep. I don't know. He may just NEED to eat every 3/4 hours. Liam's 2 month check up is Tuesday, so I'll see if the doc has any tips.

We have been on Nestle Good Start formula and everything seems to be going ok, I guess. But after trying this one and the Enfamil Gentlease and the Similac soy... he still strains really hard to make a poop. I think I liked the soy the best. But the Gentlease gave him the "softest" poops. I think Liam likes the taste of the Good Start better than the Soy. Argh... who knows... I will definitely have a shopping list of questions for the doc on Tuesday!

In other news... I think my stretch marks are finally fading a little bit. Woohoo! Also, my wedding band and engagement ring can fit on my finger again! I also went for my first run.... er more like a jog when Jen and James were here. They stroller'ed Liam around the park while Joel and I did a couple laps. I didn't time myself, but I did 2.6 miles (2 laps) without stopping... well, I stopped once for water. My legs were pretty sore for a couple days after that. I haven't run again since then, but hopefully we will get a chance again soon!