Sleep, Smiles, and a Sweet Schedule

Over the last two weeks, life has begun to settle down a bit. Or maybe we're adjusting into the role of being parents. Our little man is growing out of the newborn stage a little everyday. It amazes me when I see how much he has grown over the last three months. He is becoming quite the happy baby!

He spends many hours in the day contentedly looking at his mobile or play yard. And instead of screaming when he first wakes up, we can actually get smiles and laughs while changing his diaper or cuddling.






Also, about a week ago we received the precious gift of five glorious hours of uninterrupted sleep. And after going back and forth for about a week, now we are pretty much guaranteed at least a five hour stretch at night! And because of this sleep, we've also been able to develop a schedule.

Ryan is now eating every four hours. So we get him up between 7 and 8 am in the mornings, I nurse him, and then we spend the next hour or so doing fun things like a bath, or reading a book, or cuddling (which is my favorite, of course). He takes a nap about 9am and again around 1 pm. When he is awake we run some quick errands and what not or Ryan plays in his swing while I start dinner and do my Five Minute Frenzy (which is another post altogether). He goes down for another short hour nap around 5pm. After spending some time with Jeremy, and sitting with us while we eat, we do a bedtime routine with the little guy, put him in his Jammies and put him to bed with sweet kisses and love from both of us. Around 10 we do a dream feed, to extend his nighttime sleep. I usually give him a bottle, and he doesn't really wake up at all, not even during his diaper change. And usually I get to sleep until 3 or 4 after doing this feeding, which is beautiful.

It has been really helpful for me to have some type of routine to look forward to. I loathe surprises. I like things to be predictable, routine, and only occasionally throw in some spontaneity. Occasionally though I'll find that he wants to sleep all day (usually accompanying a growth spurt) and I get sweet moments like this, when trying to wake him up to nurse after a nap:




And speaking of growth spurts, Ryan has started to move into his next size of clothes, 3-6 months. I have a sneaking suspicion that he won't make it to 6 months old wearing these either!


Loving this time with our sweet baby boy!