4 weeks old yesterday

It's Saturday morning 8am, I've been up pretty much since 2:30am. Renée takes the night feedings during the week so I can get enough sleep to work, then I do some relief duty on the weekends.

Mostly he's been sleeping in longer stretches recently, up to almost 4 hours at a time, but at night it's more like 2 hours between feedings, and sometimes it takes a long time to get him back to sleep, like last night.

But he's doing great. Had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday, he's up to 8 pounds 9 ounces, that's 19 ounces more than two weeks before, and 23 ounces more than he was born. And he's grown a full inch, up to 20.5 inches.

Right now he's in his little sack, sprawled open on our bed, out cold for the time being but we'll see how long it lasts.

We are both sleep-deprived but not as bad as it was the first two weeks. He is awake and alert for longer periods, looking all around, making a cute little "o" with his mouth. Sometimes he stares right at me when I'm feeding him with great intensity; othertimes he stares at some shadow or what looks to be nothing at all with equal intensity. Sometimes he eats with his eyes closed shut.

Feeding, burping, diaper changing, making formula, washing bottles...it's all becoming more routine, integrated into our daily life. Or should I say taking over our daily life! During the week I'm working, often here at home so I can see him occassionally during the day.

I had a moment earlier in the week when he was quiet, just staring at me, and I got the feeling he was starting to realize that I was a person, that I was somehow like him, and not just an object that appeared and made him comfortable with food or diaper changes or body warmth. It felt like the beginning of a connection and was really quite amazing.