6 weeks!

Tomorrow Jon will be 6 weeks old! It is amazing how much he has grown up in such a short time. I head back to work in 3 weeks, and I have had many bittersweet feelings as the time draws nearer. I am ready to get back to work, mostly because I really do love my job at Youth Villages as the volunteer coordinator. Every time Jon smiles, though, I think of what I'm going to miss. He has had quite a few firsts in the past couple of weeks, and I know I will most likely miss a 'first' or two while I am out of the house. The best news is that Jonathan will be taking care of Jon at home, so I will hopefully get a phone call or a picture emailed to me with any special moments that I miss. Okay...enough dwelling on that!!

What Jon loves:

* Waking up in the morning! We wake up at 5am (eek!) for Jon's first meal of the day. I actually set this time, because it gives me enough time to feed him, go through my morning routine, and get to work in Bartlett at 7:30am. Jon is a very sweet baby in general, but he is SUPER happy in the morning when he first wakes up. He smiles and coos and is very interactive. This makes getting up at 5am much easier for me : )

* The swing: I have wondered this week if I put him in the swing too much : ( It is an easy place for me to put him when I need to do something, and it also soothes him if he is fussy. Just in the past day or two he has realized there is a mobile attached to the top, and it is so fun to watch him watching the little sheep turn around or to look up at the mirror right above his head.

* Spitting up on Jonathan! Jon spits up about once a day, and without fail Jonathan is always holding him when he spits up!! It has become a bit of a joke around here, and I am washing lots of Jonathan's shirts : )

What Jon has learned to tolerate:

* Baths: Thank goodness! He did not cry at all when we last bathed him : ) Yay!!!! This is most likely due to the weather change, since the kitchen room temperature is much warmer now than it has been the past few weeks.

* Diaper changes: Again, thank goodness! He has almost stopped crying when I change his diaper. Hopefully he is just getting used to it. It definitely makes diaper changing less stressful for me : )

* Naps: Can I get a 'Praise the Lord!'? While I do not have a perfect napper by any means, Jon is getting much, much better. Every night when Jonathan and I pray, we pray for Jon to learn to be a better napper and for us to know how to help him nap. We have reintroduced the swaddle and I use the pacifier if he takes more than 15 minutes to settle down. Yes, yes, I use props. But hey, it's working for us. He does not need the swaddle or the pacifier at night thankfully.

Thankfully he really doesn't get upset by all that much. I can't think of anything he really hates this week. I am going to bask in this glow of happy baby while I have it : )