figuring it out

So I've read and heard in many places that the minute you think you've got this parenting thing figured out... kids throw you a curveball. Well, I'm experiencing this first-hand... and Little Man is only three weeks old!!

Last night was difficult. We were up almost every hour. My blessed husband took a before midnight shift... but when he woke me up at 11 (from a REM sleep that only sleep deprived moms can achieve after an hour of being in bed), he was frustrated. Tired, and oh so frustrated. Little Man was not following the 2.5-3hr pattern, and my husband was at his wits end with the screaming. Poor Little Man and poor us! He was oh so gassy all night long. Until this morning... after my husband already dragged his tired, aching body to work... Little Man had the biggest poop. All over his clothes, all over his blanket, and almost all over me.

Now he is peacefully and happily asleep. :D
And I've never been so grateful to clean up such a mess in my life.

That's the hard part.

The really good parts are things like noticing that this week is Little Man's due week... and he's been so much more awake during the day. He will eat and then "play" or look around a lot more before he goes to sleep. We even set up the little play station that Great-Aunt Rachel gave him (coincidentally also monkey themed like his room will be!), and he spent a good half-hour kicking his feet and flailing his arms around happily under the brightly covered canopy. How fun to see this and then realize (when reading a developmental chart) that premies usually become more awake when they reach their gestational age!!

His pants still don't fit... and many newborn onesies are still huge on him... but his cheeks are becoming rounder... and he fits so much better in his car seat (we got the kind that converts into a toddler seat and then eventually a forward facing booster seat. A great idea, but we didn't realize that the major downside is that it's not really meant for tiny babies!)