August 31, 2013:

I guess it's appropriate that I blog on the last day of the month. :) At least I'm getting in a post before the 2 wk mark. I can thank my husband for this. He's home for the whole weekend!!! Gives me extra time to do things like blog. :) RJ has become much more alert and awake during the day making it challenging to get things done. I did manage to do multiple loads of laundry, clean the house, grocery shop, make gluten, pay bills, and of course exercise 3 days this wk in between taking care of our precious lil boy. I've found that the early morning hours before he's awake are the best time for my worship, exercise, and getting dressed/eating. I get most of that done before he officially wakes up. I usually do one early morning feeding and then he will sleep till around 7-7:30am. Then all bets are off as to how long the naps during the day will be. This week they've lasted around 30 mins. A couple in the morning and then a couple in the afternoon. I did get one or two 2hr naps out of him in the afternoon when I was holding him and fast asleep myself. :). He's started to fight sleep more around nap time. I guess I need to ignore his eye rubbing and keep him up longer so he's even more tired before feeding him. He likes to change up the routine daily. Oh well, keeps me on my toes. Just a little more difficult to plan anything.

Last weekend RJ and I took our first road trip just the two of us. I was nervous for sure driving about 4.5 hrs to my moms house without having someone in the backseat to keep RJ entertained. Thankfully I timed it just right after a diaper change and feeding to make it 4 hrs with him napping the whole time!! It worked both on the way there and back!! He of course woke up and was ready to eat after the 4hr mark. :) That first night we arrived, Aug 22nd, was momentous in that he slept from 9:30pm-7am!!! He woke up and ate 5oz at one sitting!! That's the most at one time. It was impressive. :)

RJ has become quite the lil heater. I remember keeping him all bundled up at the beginning when he came home. It was fun keeping him all cozy. I kept long sleeves and long pants on him. Just in the past few weeks he's started to sweat a lil when he's all wrapped up. I guess it's the extra pounds he's putting on. He's up to 11lb now!!! I've heard that once preemies hit that 10 lb mark they start to really  catch up in the weight department. He's filling out and getting lil rolls. It's adorable. The preemie look is totally gone in my book!!

So since I've been talking about sleep. I've taken some notes to remember long sleeping. On Aug. 24th he slept 10.5hrs straight!! Unfortunately I was not sleeping that whole time. I was trying to get lots of things done once he was in bed, but now I've changed my routine. Since I get up early to get my day started, I've begun to get ready for bed right after I put him down. I get more sleep before midnight which is healthier anyways. :) Something funny about RJ is that around 10pm every night when we look on his baby monitor, he's having a wiggling fest. His legs are kicking all over the place and his arms waving. Your sure he's going to wake up, but eventually he settles down and is calm again. I'm sure he does that more throughout the night b/c he makes a significant move over night from his starting position. I put him in the middle of the bed towards the wall. When I come in for morning feedings he's wiggled his way over the the front of the crib down at the bottom. It's truly impressive. :)

Now that RJ's become so much more alert, he loves riding in the baby Bjorn facing forward so he can take everything in. It's a great way to calm him down too when he's fussy. He really enjoys taking walks around the neighborhood too. He's also getting more interested when I read him books. My mom bought one of those books where you can recored yourself reading it. He really listens intently as he hears grandma's voice reading to him. :)

He's started to look into my eyes more during feeding time and study my face. It's like he's looking deep into my soul. It's so precious... I'll start talking to him and playing w/ his face and he'll smile at me. It warms my heart.

Well this weekend we've been lucky enough to have daddy home all weekend!!! The 40% chance of rain today turned into a torrential downpour this morning on the way to Sabbath school and church. I bought a couple large umbrellas, so thankfully we had one, but we all still got a lil wet. Robert got soaked, but he was still smiling.