ChristinelovesChristine: Turning 6 weeks is a big deal.

Ariy is 6 weeks old this week and he has grown soooo much! I had to rearrange our dresser to fill a drawer with clothes that fit him and removing all the clothes that are way too small. He has officially graduated to 0-3 month and 3 month cloth sizes. He hasn't been weighed since his 2.5 week appointment but we are pretty sure he has far surpassed the 10 pound mark. As soon as we find a scale, we are going to weigh him and see where he's at.

For any new mom, I would say the first 6 weeks can be tough. For us, week 3-5 were probably the toughest. And now looking back, it was only 3 weeks but it felt like forever. This was when the little sleep starting catching up on us, Ariy was diagnosed and started on medicine for relux, he seemed to be fussy all the time to the point we were apologetic to others for his crying. There were lots of awesome moments but I would say so far these were the hardest weeks.

I really enjoy reading books on parenting and baby development as well as talking with friends about their little ones. It seems as though the consensus from all sources is that things start changing around 6 weeks. I would have to strongly agree. Here are a few highlights:

Ariy has started sleeping in regular increments of 3-5 hours (mostly 4-5 hr blocks) at night. This is a shift from anywhere from 1-3 hours. HUGE difference and makes for a much more rested mommy and daddy.
He has started taking regular naps in his bassinet. For a while we were only using the swing because he was so fussy and the swing was the only thing that soothed him. Our goal has been to move away from the swing and really just use it when we need it, not as a regular "sleep aid."
In terms of his reflux, he is doing much better and doesn't seem to be in anymore pain. His crying now usually is around when he is tired.
He has taken fairly consistent morning and afternoon naps. Over the last 5 days, he has started to take a long morning nap pretty consistently. It has lasted anywhere from 1.5 hrs to 2.5 hrs.
He is becoming much more alert and social. Last Thursday, I had some friends over for lunch and when I got him up from his nap and brought him out, he was all smiles for all the ladies. Very cute. He also loves looking around, especially when he gets up in the morning - so curious.
His bed time seems to be becoming more consistent. The last couple days he has gone to bed between 7:30 and 8:30 and we are thinking this is probably going to become more regular. Usually around 7:30 at night he is very fussy and is obviously pooped and just wants to go to bed.
His awake time limits are becoming more clear. I really didn't understand just how much sleep a newborn needed. I was afraid that if we made him sleep too much during the day he wouldn't sleep good at night. The opposite has been true. We have tried putting him down for naps earlier than we use to and we have gradually seen success in doing this (both in napping and nighttime sleep). He really only can last for 40-50 minutes of awake time before he is ready for a nap. Our fast growing little man needs a LOT of rest.

I know a lot of this is only interesting to me being Ariy's mom and all but I also like documenting it so I can go back and see the milestones. We love Ariy so much and are loving seeing him grow up, although it does happen way too fast. Check out Rick's blog to see.