Introducing… Elliot and Winston!

He did fine. I was worried that he would be totally freaked out. He was difficult to get to sleep in the crib but once he was out at about 9:30 he slept until 12:30. I heard his increasingly agitated grunting on the monitor so I went to get him before it escalated. I fed him in our bed where I fell asleep and woke up again at 1:30 with him beside me. I tried to put him in the bassinet but he woke up. So I changed his diaper, fed him the other side, rocked him, and put him back in the crib. At that point I turned off the monitor since it was defeating the purpose of the entire endeavor of me getting a little more sleep. At 4:30 I heard Elliot yelling (not crying, yelling, like as in, “Hey! Hey! You guys left me in here!”) so I went to feed him again. He rested in our bed again until about 5 when I nursed him the other side. At 5:30 I managed to get him back in his crib so Logan and I could go get ready for the day. All in all, I’d say it was a success.

In other news, Elliot got to meet his dad’s Pappy yesterday. He fell asleep on Pappy’s belly for about and hour and a half! Pappy and Juanita brought him an adorable outfit set with a sports themed onesie, pjs, a bib, and a toy.

Yesterday evening Elliot almost rolled over back to front! He swung his leg to the side and got his hips square on the ground but he could not figure out what to do with his arm underneath him. Logan eventually helped him the rest of the way to tummy time.

Elliot is 8 weeks old today! It is also my last day of leave. So this week’s anniversary of his birth is bittersweet. But there is no getting out of it. We have a mortgage to pay now and mommy cannot get anymore behind in her program or she won’t graduate on time. So it goes. Elliot will be getting quite accustomed to dad’s office soon. Maybe we’ll get more posts from him about Elliot. For that matter, maybe some of Elliot’s relatives who have kindly offered to babysit would like to post. We could probably set that up! I will do what I can to post at least once a week, but I imagine my posting is going to decline somewhat.

Yesterday Elliot rolled for the first time! He was doing “Tummy Time” and was lifting his head and chest, a feat he has been performing since Memorial Day. Mommy went to get the camera and as soon as she got back (but too soon to have the camera going) his big head wobbled and he rolled towards his right! He looked surprised but pleased.

Yesterday Dolly Parton sent him his first Imagination Library book. Logan read him The Little Engine that Could and he paid pretty good attention. I thought he could!

We ordered the first new bead for my bracelet yesterday. We got a smiling crab for Elliot’s first swim since his boat has a crab on it.

Last night Elliot would not fall asleep until 11 and then was up from 2 to 3, which frustrated mommy who will need to sleep tonight for work tomorrow! He seemed like he was getting used to the swaddle, so I put him in it while awake to see if he would kick around for a bit and then go to sleep. He didn’t. Turns out the swaddle still makes him mad. But he does sleep better (or at least longer) in it. I also tried leaving his feet in while I nursed him piglet style at 2am and then quickly velcroing him up as soon as he fell asleep after eating. Didn’t work. My frustration was escalating. Then Elliot pooted (which might have been the issue all along). Logan took him to change his diaper and when he came back he put Elliot to sleep, explaining every step gently along the way. “It’s time to go to sleep buddy.” “Here is your pacifier.” “Now I am going to put you in your monkey swaddle.” “Now we are going to your bassinet to sleep.” It was magical! I had to pop that pacifier back in his mouth a couple of times but otherwise he was out. Go Logan!

Yesterday, the Dyers came over and Gam Gam and Logan mulched and weeded. Then they planted tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplant. Tom came over and started some pumpkins and watermelon from seeds. It looks like Tom will be staying with us this summer, so that will be fun!

We had another marathon feeding session from 6-11pm. Mommy did not use enough Gas-X throughout the day and I think he was using me as a giant pacifier (which as Logan said at the hospital “Two out of three people in the room have no problem with that!”) I was pretty sure I was out of milk at 11, but Elliot was wide awake and crying. It was time for a change of plans. Logan got some laundry started and we took Elliot for a soothing dryer ride. We also got him to take a pacifier for a bit. He was still fussy afterwards but consolable. Logan was playing with him and his Simon, The Hedgehog Rattle and Elliot tracked it! He even batted at it a few times! We tried again this morning and he could still do it, so it wasn’t a fluke. Hooray for development!

We’ve come a long way, baby!