Crash course on the last 15 weeks

My baby boy will be a whopping 16 weeks old on Monday Jan. 18th and officially 4 months on January 28th! WOW! He is getting so big! Just for my benefit, I am going to take the time to reminisce over the last 15 weeks.

I'm pretty sure Zayne was holding his head up before he even was even born because he was a champ at it from day one. He was sucking on his fingers by 5 minutes. He nursed like a pro the first time he ate and has pretty much been attached to me ever since. With the exception of about 1 week when he was 2 weeks old he REFUSES to suck on a paci. If it doesn't have anything coming out of it then he doesn't want it in his mouth. Daddy gave him his first bottle at 2 weeks old (mommy milk of course) and done ok with it but we didn't give him another one until he was around 6 weeks old. He done ok with bottles at first but now at 15 weeks we are struggling with that. He DEFINITELY prefers the real thing.

He has also been pushing up with his little legs like he thinks he can just get up and walk since he was a few weeks old. At 6 weeks old he really started to notice that he could 'play' with us. He LOVED sticking his tongue out and watching us do the same. Around the same time he began to smile REAL smiles...not the fake "i just let one and it felt awesome" kinda smiles. Those started on day one. At 8 weeks he was ALL SMILES ALL THE TIME.

His absolute favorite place to sleep was right next to mommy or daddy. For the first 3 or 4 weeks he was an expert sleeper. He would sleep all night in his bassinet and it was oh so wonderful. After that...not so much. Mommy made the mistake of nursing while laying in the bed and that was the end of mommy's good sleep because for the next 11 weeks he would be in the bed with me. Daddy began rocking him in the glider sometime around 7 weeks old and it was great because they would both fall asleep and I would get a few hours of sleep BY MYSELF in my bed. I'm not sure who put who to sleep though because many nights daddy would be OUT in that chair while zayne would be awake playing with his hands.

He found his hands around 8 weeks and they have been the object of his attention more often than not ever since. Around 10 weeks old he began swatting at toys hanging above him and 11 weeks old brought about some intense tummy time. He didn't like it but we got through it. Around 12 or 13 weeks we invested in a bumbo and he LOVES it {and so does mommy}. He is very nosey and wants to see everything and this gives him the perfect opportunity to do so. At 14 weeks he rolled over for the first time. I thought that maybe Alana did it for him until I saw him do it a second time. He didn't do it again though. He has tried to sit up on his own since around 10 weeks old...always throwing his little body around like he knew what to do with it. And so I figured he would be sitting up before he would roll over again. I was wrong. Today at 15 weeks 5 days he WILL NOT stay on his back. This is out of the blue. I put him on his belly and over he went before I could stand up. I rolled him back over and again..over he went and this time he smiled at me a smile that said "uh huh...now the fun begins". This went on several more times and I gave up and let the little rascal stay on his back.

He has also shown a big interest in putting toys in his mouth lately too. I figure I don't have much longer before I have to go through all of Alana and Jordan's toys and put away everything with small parts that are so conveniently about the same size as a baby's wind pipe. WHY do they (toy manufacturers) do that?

Remember how I said his favorite place to sleep is right beside mommy? Well that may still be true but mommy and daddy reclaimed their bed a few nights ago and so we have slept in a baby free bed for 3 nights straight now! I should NEVER have started that! Oh well. It was sweet in some ways. And we still take an occasional nap together...hey, I couldn't quit cold turkey.

Zayne has absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt been my easiest baby. He is growing so fast and I have enjoyed the last 15 weeks more than I could ever have imagined. I don't know what the future holds for our little family of 5. Will we stay a family of 5? Or will God add another little blessing to our family? Either way, I am content. If His will for us is that we grow in size then thats fine but if His will is for us to simply grow as a family of 5 then thats fine too. Either way we have already been blessed WAY more than I could have ever dreamed. All the Glory, Honor, and Praise to Christ The King!