Axel's 4 week birthday!

Well, the past week has been a busy and fussy one. Axel has had longer periods of fussiness trying to get out all of his gas which has made some days go by without much rest or relaxation on either Axel's or my part. Yesterday was by far the worst day where Axel cried or fussed from 8:30 in the morning until 6pm at night with only 2 hours of napping the entire day. Boy, was I glad to see Keith when he got home from work. The funny thing was Axel was an absolute angel the rest of the night. He ate at 8pm, 10pm, 1am, 5am and then 6:30 am. I think it is really funny how unpredictable the days are.


Speaking of unpredictable....I have been doing more and more reading, which if you know me is not necessarily a good thing. I tend to over analyze EVERYTHING. Well, it is quite confusing and maybe you mom's out there can give me some insight. When the books talk about routines and feeding schedules and sleeping patterns are they referring to children 3 months and up or are they also including newborns? I have done everything exactly the opposite of what I thought I was going to do. For example, I gave Axel a bottle right away, within 1 week, because it was easier on me to pump for a couple of days in order to heal. Before he was born I told Keith we have to wait atleast 3 weeks before starting a bottle to avoid nipple confusion. We also have Axel sleep with us because it is easier for us all to sleep, where I was really opposed to this before Axel was born. We want to do what is best for him, so it is hard to know if we should start him on a more strict eating and sleeping schedule now, or wait until he is 2-3 months old before trying to get him to sleep in his own crib and to try to sleep for longer periods of time during the night. I know every child is different, but it is good to get some input and advice from real mothers and not just a few books who make generalizations.


Now onto the fun stuff. This week grammy Goodrow sent us the swing that we had wanted. So far I think Axel enjoys it, but he tends to fall asleep or get bored within 10 min or so, but then again we haven't actually put batteries in it so we are pushing it manually. We will have to see how he likes it once he gets the full effect with the music and constant swinging.

this is cool!

I am feeling sleepy!

what's over there on that big screen?

Axel and I also went to a rummage sale of used children items. Are two big finds were a starter kit of cloth diapers and diaper covers for $25 and What to expect, The first Year for $2. We were excited to finally have enough infant diapers to start using cloth diapers......now we just have to actually start using them and see how it goes :) Here are two pictures of me getting ready and waiting for mommy to get ready.

all set with my running shoes and bib to whip the sweat off...I hear shopping can be a workout

what are you doing in there mom? can we go now or what?

Our last cool new adventure was to our first bike race this past Sunday. Mommy and daddy brought almost the entire house to go for a 60 min bike race that was 45 min away! Good thing we brought everything because we used both infant carriers and the stroller. We also needed all of the extra clothes mommy brought because it went from cool to warm to cool again and of course mommy freaks out about me being too warm or too cold. Daddy had a great race and was glad to race with his teammates again.

Axel in the "feed zone", daddy's favorite picture of the week

Here are a couple of pictures of daddy time. Daddy and I seem to be hitting it off quite well and we really enjoy our time together. Too bad he has to leave for work all day every day! We will have to work on trying to have him work less. Maybe I can get a part time job or something!!! i have thought about auditioning for Gerber, but mom said no! Oh, well, I can't help but try!Ok, we love you all and hope to write more frequently. This one took mommy all day, so hopefully as I get older mom will have more time and these will start to make more sense. The 10 min here and there makes for a choppy note, but a choppy note is better than no note :)

Just a few more daddy. I feel it coming....don't tire out on me just yet. you only have been burping me for 10 min :)

all better......hey, it looks like daddy found my Easter shirt. how cute I would have been with the matching shirt....oh well, someone else will have to look cute wearing it next year