Ch-ch-ch-changes

Okay, okay, so maybe all of you who said "it'll get better" were right after all.

Alex is eleven weeks old now, and though it may be premature to say so, I really think that ten weeks may have been a turning point for him. It seems like so many things have changed since just two weeks ago!

Recently, he has become fascinated with watching us talk and is much more vocal when responding to our voices. He is literally mesmerized when Timothy plays the guitar and sings, and he seems to be making the connection between noises and what is creating them. He will often hold a conversation - either with himself, with us, or sometimes with a blank wall - and his coos have become much louder and more inflective than they used to be.

He is so much more interactive and is more deliberate about grabbing onto things. Unfortunately he prefers my hair, my necklace, or my shirt.

He has been sucking on his hands for quite some time, but lately he is very intent on putting other things in his mouth as well. Anything he can get his hands on, really - blankets, burp cloths, toys, etc. When we were in the car, his pacifier had fallen out. A minute later, he had a hold of it and was staring at it, trying to figure out how to get it back into his mouth. Of course he had grabbed it by the nipple so he was attempting to shove the handle into his face. But he was making the effort, nonetheless! One of his favorite chew toys is a fun stuffed banana from Grammy, aka Banana Boy, that has removable peels that make crinkly sounds and has all kinds of fun (and tasty?) things attached to it. It doesn't look very appetizing to me, but Alex says "Don't knock it 'til you try it." It is a banana, after all...

He has always been pretty physically active, but this is getting ridiculous. Unless he is completely unconscious, his arms and legs are almost always moving a mile a minute. He still wiggles about in his bed, even while swaddled, and now I am convinced he does it in his sleep. The other day, during tummy time, he had worked himself into this awkward position. I thought it looked pretty uncomfortable but he just hung like that, without complaint, until I eventually moved him.

Thankfully, his sleeping habits have also changed for the better. He still isn't super consistent, but he has had several good days recently where he went down for most of his naps with little to no fussing. His naps have been averaging an hour and a half long, and at times he has slept over an hour past his scheduled feeding time. Of course on those days, I was convinced that Pod People had invaded my house and traded out my baby for a sleepier version. And I was okay with that. Is that wrong?

Bedtime is usually fairly uneventful, as he often goes down without much of a fuss. He's been going to bed between seven-thirty and eight, and on a "typical" night, he will sleep for four or five hours for the first stretch of the night. His record is six hours, which is great, but it would be even better if he did it from midnight to six instead of eight to two!! After that, he usually wakes up once to nurse, a habit that I hope to break him of sooner than later. Overall, a vast improvement. I am such the proud mama!!

When he's awake he's not so bad either. His wake times have stretched out somewhat, so he tends to be happier and more alert for longer periods of time. For example, we went to lunch with the girls from work this week and he giggled and smiled right through his naptime. When he did get tired, he fell right to sleep without a fuss and slept all the way home.

He used to get restless when waiting to eat, but he seems to have acquired a bit more patience lately (something mommy herself is still working on getting more of). Now, when he waits for his bottle, he sits patiently in his chair and sucks on his hands until it is ready.

As odd as it may sound, diaper changing is usually a more pleasant experience, too. Here he is chilling while I gather diaper changing-related paraphernalia. He had just eaten and his belly needed a little extra room, hence the already unbuttoned pants. Little did I know at the time of this picture what awaited me on the other side of those pants. Let's just say whatever it was required a complete wardrobe change...

I'm so excited to see what changes the upcoming weeks bring. He's really starting to be so much fun now that he's realizing how fun we are!