6 Weeks Old: Milestones

Well, Caleb turned 8 weeks old last week, but we'll go ahead and post this for posterity. 

We're really seeing milestones at the 6 week mark.

First, we're in size two diapers! I noticed that the size ones were really tight on him so I pulled a size two from our stash (thank you baby showers!!) and tried it on: success! A well fitting diaper again!

Not too big for snuggles, thank goodness!

That leads to milestone number two -- the larger diapers are noticeably more absorbent, therefore Caleb has started sleeping five hours in a stretch at night! For the past three nights he's slept five hours, eaten and then slept for four hours.

Looking so big in the car seat.

And finally, we've started using our awesome cloth diapers -- milestone number three. We've had a couple leaks but we're figuring out how to avoid those and I'm super happy with our cloth diapers for the twelve hours we've been using them. He's adorable in them and I'm thrilled with how few disposables we're using now.

Cloth diaper cuteness. If I thought he filled out the 0-3 mo clothes before, the diapers certainly add extra bulk!

Looking far, far, far ahead to spring

This Garnet Hill swimsuit is pricy, but seeing it on a fair-skinned redhead, I now realize what colors I should be wearing, swimsuit-wise. Beach trip is only 4 months away!

Caleb will need some swim trunks for all the shade lounging he's going to do on the beach trip this year. Seriously, he might be too young for sunscreen when we go and I'm not going to let him play in direct sunlight.

Flipped through the latest Food & Wine while getting my hair cut this week. This Roasted Cauliflower-Lentil Salad looks awesome for starting to get back in shape.

Oh, my garden! I miss it. It's the time of year where I dream about plants and drool over seed catalogs. I can't wait to be settled enough to plant a serious garden.

And speaking of springtime gardening, I'm thinking I need a new pair of Wellington-style boots. I had a cheap Farm & Fleet pair that I bought when I was working on the farm every week, but in the midst of the move from my parents' house, they were lost. They're incredibly handy for our slushy springs.

Routine/No Routine

Caleb eats every 2 1/2 to 3 1/3 hours...except when going through the 6 weeks growth spurt we've currently hit. He's eating more during the day and sleeping more at night. Except yesterday, when he refused to finish most of his bottles, leaving 1/2 - 1 ounce behind at every feeding.

Caleb takes a really great afternoon in his crib right around the 1pm time frame, except when he refuses to sleep anywhere but on my chest and then only for an hour.

Caleb loves to cuddle, except when he just wants to lie down on his back and wiggle and flail his limbs for upwards of an hour.

Just when I think we're hitting a routine, it changes. We're attempting to follow the Babywise Parent-Directed Feeding, but one of its major tenets is a consistent first feeding time. For awhile we were shooting for 6:30 am, and lining up his late evening feeding accordingly. But we can't predict when he's going to sleep for 3 hours or 4 hours. And I'm not going to set up an alarm and go wake him up to eat when he's just eaten 2 hours ago. So I'm taking comfort in the fact that (minus this growth spurt craziness) he's always eating full feedings, he doesn't cluster feed, he naps pretty well and he's a great sleeper who always sleeps in his crib at night. He's so adorable and already getting so big and looking like a little baby boy.

Party time! #bigbed #nakedbaby

Seriously, like the rest of the day...

Such a little love -- I can't resist that teeny face

Bread of Life: Looking forward to Lent

Our church asked its members to submit short devotionals for Lent. Our focus is on the "I Am" sayings in the gospel of John. This is my submission. 

I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. John 6:35

I didn’t grow up celebrating Lent, my church focused on the resurrection at Easter. In my early twenties, when I joined the Methodist church, one year I decided that for Lent I would give up my afternoon candy habit. It seemed like a good little luxury to give up and if I lost a couple pounds, all the better! As you can imagine, this was a time of deep spiritual growth and repentance. I recall that I eventually amended that fast to just workdays. After all, weekends don’t count. I felt very proud of myself come Easter morning – I had fasted from a luxury for 40 days(ish) and isn’t that what Lent is all about?

Pastor Wiley recently preached on reading your Bible on a regular basis. That’s the spiritual nourishment that Christ is urging upon his followers. When we fast from something material it’s important to fill up our souls with the spiritual. Like Advent, Lent is an opportunity to look forward to the fulfillment of a promise of salvation. It is a time to experience darkness and the coming of the light. Since that year when I successfully managed to avoid the office candy bowl for forty days I’ve often skipped giving up something altogether. How could I possibly put together a goal that lived up to the deep call of Lent? My admitted lack of commitment to Lent in the past means that I’ve no stones to throw at anyone’s definition of fasting. I’ve squandered the opportunity to seek spiritual nourishment, to take in the Flesh and the Blood, to prepare for the overwhelming Easter experience of Christ risen from the Dead by God’s all-powerful Love. Can I say that I’m continually striving for perfection as John Wesley preached?

I continue to wrestle with the Lenten experience and how best to strive for the Bread of Life. Thankfully, Lent comes at the time of the year when my husband and I have to take stock of our lives and make decisions for the coming school year. We discuss all our options and last year, fittingly just after Easter, we decided to expand our family. We didn’t look at these issues because it was Lent, but this year I want to be intentional about this season. I want to take Lent and delve into scripture, let the Word and the Bread be our guides as we again seek the right path for our family. Christ will not let us hunger and thirst and when we seek Him he will lead us forward with purpose and direction, just as he led the disciples.