Full-Time Parenting

Landon's been home for 3 nights now. My mom left yesterday (she's coming back in 2 weeks, otherwise I might have refused to drive her to the airport), so last night was JP and my first night on our own. All in all things are going really well. We love having him here- we spend a lot of time just sitting and smiling at him while he sleeps in his papasan chair. He was always swaddled in the NICU and we've found he really prefers to sleep that way (prefers as in, he won't sleep unless he's swaddled) so we swaddle him and then stick him in the papasan chair. He's quite cozy and sleeps a solid 4 hours between meals that way.

The first night was rough- he had been on Enfamil with Iron in the nursery and chose Thursday night to stop tolerating it, get gassy, and cry any second he wasn't being held and bounced. My mom stayed up with him until 2:30am, I stayed with him from 2:30-5:30, and JP was with him from 5:30 until he left for work. Luckily we already had a pediatrician appointment for Friday morning (preemies have to be seen within 48 hours of leaving the NICU) and she suggested soy formula. I really like our pediatrician- she's obviously very knowledgeable, but she seems quite practical as well. She introduced herself to Landon (sounds silly, but I liked it) and he behaved much better for her than he did for us the night before! He has put some weight back on (he's back up to 7 lbs. 1 oz after getting down to 6 lb 10 oz) and he has a follow up appointment Tuesday to check his weight again. He's been doing great on the soy formula and Friday night my mom stayed up with him anytime he woke up so that we could get a solid's night rest before we were on our own- she must be exhausted, but we really appreciated it! He seems to have his nights and days confused- his deep sleep is during the day and his lighter sleeping and awake time are at night. Now that he's able to eat more he's sleeping better at night- he still likes to be held, but we just put him on our chest and sleep in the recliner. Today we went on our first walk and his eyes were wide open the whole time. It was a beautiful day in Chicago and hopefully we can get his "awake time" to be during daylight hours!

I've already watched more TV and movies in the past 2 days than I did all summer. The Godfather I, II, and III were on TV Friday so my mom and I watched the whole trilogy. Last night JP and I watched the Bourne Identity and Supremacy (mom's babysitting when she comes back so that we can go see the Ultimatum). I'm filling out his baby book and going through all the pictures we've taken over the past few days. I look at him and still find it rather amazing that I made him and that he's ours forever- I'm pretty adjusted to the fact that I have a newborn, but the idea that I'll also have a toddler, young child, and teenager surprises me. JP's already concerned that Landon is growing up too fast (he's very attached to his baby boy), but I'm excited to see who he becomes as he grows. I wonder how much of ourselves we'll see in him.