All About Saylen…

So the main reason I started this blog was to keep everyone up to date on what is new with the little guy. I have been thinking a lot about how much he has changed in just 10 short weeks!

From day one he has been incredibly strong. He is always rolling on his side, and can now pretty much hold his head up on his own 100% of the time. I am sure all this strength comes from the workouts he does with daddy :) I am not kidding about the workout part – Spencer has his baby version of sit-ups, pull-ups, jumping jacks and more! I think someone is hoping there is an athlete in our future!

We have been sleeping a lot more lately, but still not a consistent routine. The doctor says we should be aiming for a seven o’clock bedtime, but that is just not realistic in our house. Both Spencer and I work jobs that start a little later in the day, therefor we just aren’t on the “wake-up at 6am” program! I can usually count on Saylen sleeping from about 10pm to 3 or 4am – not bad!! Naps during the day are pretty rare as well. He nods off for 30-45 minutes here and there, but none of these 2-3 hours naps I read about!!

My poor little baby is going bald! I am greatly saddened by his hair loss, mostly because I was a baby with lots of hair and didn’t  lose any of it. I was hoping Saylen would be the same! It started to go on top first – giving him the nickname of Benjamin Button by a few. He has now started to lose the  ring around the back of his head where it rubs when he sleeps. I will soon be cutting a piece off for his baby book, and then secretly crying about the natural disappearance of the rest.

“The Book” says that most babies will smile in response to a smile at 6-7 weeks. This was not true in our case. We were waiting  and watching every moment, but it just wasn’t happening. Around 7-8 weeks he was smiling all the time, but never in response to anything in particular. Recently this has all changed, and it is so much fun! He loves it when Spencer sings to him, and he will often give a big open mouthed smile when you smile and laugh at him.

I never thought I would want my kid to suck their thumb, but I am so ready for Saylen to master this skill. He has absolutely no interest in a pacifier (we have tried all the different sizes and styles), but he often shows the urge to suck. He is constantly trying to get his fingers in his mouth, but he can’t quite figure it out. This has definitely been the hardest thing for me to watch. I don’t know how I will deal with all the failures he will go through in life when I can’t stand to see him not be able to suck his thumb!! I was a champion thumb-sucker so I have no fear he won’t be able to figure it out eventually, but I just want to help out and hold it in place for him. I remember reading at 3 weeks that he would figure this out by week 7 (again, according to “The Book”), and here we are, almost at week 11, and he hasn’t mastered it yet. This picture isn’t an actual attempt at thumb sucking, but this is pretty much how mad he gets trying.

I am always amazed at how much change we can see from day to day. Usually you notice change when you don’t see someone for a while, but I can see something new almost everyday with Saylen! Hopefully those of you that are reading from a distance can see these changes too!!