Fun times

Life has been a lot of fun in the Hulgan home for the past few weeks! It is as though Jon woke up from a dreamy state and is now aware of the world around him. Our pediatrician told us that he would start to get social around six weeks, and he sure has! He smiles, 'talks,' bats at anything you hold above his head, and yes...has started tugging on our hair. He also tugs on his own hair! He grabs onto the hair on the back of his head while nursing and when he's going to sleep. The magic moment every parent dreams of happened last week when Jon slept through the night on his own!! I must give props to my friend Stacey, who gave me a tip to try to spread out that middle of the night feeding. It totally worked, and Jon now sleeps from 11:30pm to 5am. I feel like a new person!!! He still cries a bit when going down for daytime naps, but his wailing has gone from 15 minutes to about 5, and when he wakes up mid-nap, he is either able to get back to sleep on his own, or a quick pop of the pacifier in his mouth gets him settled. There are still not-so-good-nap days, like yesterday when I just let him sleep in his swing for his afternoon nap because he had pretty much cried through his entire morning nap. But we are making progress : )

Despite being on seven prescriptions for various silly ailments (long story which involves going to doctors three times in one week and crying in the parking lot of the dermatologist's office), I am feeling really good! With the uninterupted sleep my energy level is up, I feel good about how baby weight has started to come off, I 'ran' for the first time since August, and I have been able to get out of the apartment on my own sans baby a couple of times so that I remember I am a person outside of being a mom. I am so glad that I have been able to stay home for 8 weeks with Jon. If I had needed to go back to work at 6 weeks, I would have missed this super fun period his is in right now. I have also been able to help support Jonathan as he has finished up his dissertation (he turned it in to his committee yesterday!!!!). With me being home, he has been able to focus on adjustments to his research and has not had to be fully responsible for Jon during the day. It really has been a joy to have time to take care of things around the apartment and make special treats for Jonathan as he was in his final push.

I prayed a lot in the first few weeks home with Jon, when I was at the end of my rope with a crying baby who would not nap, I had no energy, my mood was on a roller coaster, and I felt alone. God answered those prayers in so many ways: first by drawing me closer to him through that increased prayer time, then by giving my husband a patient heart, by sending friends to me with encouragement, and by teaching me through our study of Timothy on Sunday mornings. I still have not-so-good days mixed in with the good days, but I feel better supported to handle those days when they come. I know that next week is going to be a challenge as I head back to work, but it is Holy week. Easter is my absolute favorite holiday of the year, because it is the celebration of our victory over sin and death by the loving sacrifice of Jesus! I will have that to meditate on as I get back into the working world.

And health care reform is now law! How sweet is that : ) (haha...I know that I have many conservative friends who are rolling their eyes right now. Well – I'm one of the Americans who is very, very, excited about health care reform.)

Okay, long blog over – now some pictures! These are all from my iPhone, so they are a bit blurry....

Jon realizing there is a mirror at the top of his swing. At first he was confused about the face looking back at him. Now he smiles and talks to his friend in the mirror whenever he is in the swing.

Jon has figured out that his playmat has fun toys. He has started batting at them and gets so excited when they move!

Proof that we still have our cat. Sigma is still not too sure what she thinks about Jon.

My goofy boy!

Finally I was able to capture that smile!