I'm so sick - and he is so awake!

Well, it is official - I'm SICK. I can't breathe, I'm all stuffed up and coughing, and I'm just feeling horrible. We've been having a rough day today - Micah has been cluster feeding all day, and he has been wide awake for the past 5 hours. It is kind of fun having him awake, but then he gets upset and wants to nurse. I think he isn't sure what to do with himself. I've been singing to him
(poor guy) and talking to him. I've been giving him a pacifier today - not sure if that is a mistake. It seems to keep him calm, but I don't want to discourage him from eating. He is able to hold it in his mouth all by himself! As Elliot would say, "He's so advanced." Perhaps Micah isn't feeling well either.

Hopefully being awake will help him sleep better tonight. We're also going to try the secure sleeper and see if that helps. Wish us luck!

My little porker . . .

Micah had his 2 week appointment today, and he weighed in at 6 lbs (well, with rounding up)! He is growing well (averaging an ounce a day) and we were officially given permission to stop force-feeding him at 3 hr intervals around the clock - we can now feed "on demand" so tonight is the first night we intend to let him sleep until he wakes up. I'm SOOO excited - I think we might actually get 4 hours of sleep in a row. I've continued to feed him every 3 hrs or so all day in the hopes that he won't be too hungry tonight to sleep a bit longer.

The past few nights, he has been unhappy from about 4 am until 8 am. We've been waking him up from a pretty sound sleep to feed him, and then we have a hard time getting him back to sleep after the feeding. He'll start crying, and I almost always have to nurse him again . . . we've been cluster feeding for several hours every night, and it is taking its toll on us. It is probably more accurate to say he won't let us put him down after the feeding - he'll sleep on me or Elliot, but if we try moving him to the bassinet so we can sleep, he starts crying, and since we are too exhausted to stay awake and hold him on us in the bed . . . well, let's just say it has been challenging. We've eventually been able to get him to sleep in the bouncy seat, but we don't want to have him sleeping in the bouncy seat every night. Here is hoping we have better luck tonight!

We are going to attempt to use the playmat tonight - we'll see if he is ready for that. Luckily, he seems to really like tummy time, although he mostly spends tummy time on Mommy or Daddy's chest. We thought we'd try a change of location tonight, so we're off to the rec room in the basement for a change of scenery.

Micah Pictures

Jewish Christmas

Well, we do not celebrate Christmas in the traditional sense, but Christmas for us is still a time to celebrate. Every year, Elliot & I volunteer on Christmas Day at The Original Pancake House where they feed over 300 homeless people. Elliot works in the kitchen cooking pancakes, eggs, and bacon (we always find it funny that the guy who keeps kosher cooks the bacon). I usually work the "gift" table, and this year I arranged for 300 bags of toiletries to give out to all the people who came to eat. We also raise funds to buy hats/scarves/sweatshirts, and we collect donations of clothing, jackets, gloves, etc. and give those out to people who need them.

This year, we weren't sure if we would be able to volunteer - Micah could have been born much later making it impossible for us to attend. Instead, he arrived nice and early, and my mother graciously agreed to come babysit for a few hours so I could run down the street and volunteer. Micah and his Grammy spent the day napping on the couch together, and Elliot & I got to volunteer. I was only able to stay for 2 hours, but it was so nice to go and participate. One of the women (a Russian lady) yelled at me for abandoning my son to work, but everyone else couldn't believe I was out so soon. It felt good to see this project through, and I'm so glad I could be there!



After volunteering, we went to eat at my cousin Michelle's house. We don't celebrate Christmas, but since everyone is off of work, it is a great time for the family to gather. We ate potato latkes and lit the Chanukah candles, and we generally had a good time and relaxed. Elliot's brother, SIL, niece and nephew were passing through town, so we had a quick visit with them as well. All in all, it was a great day, and Micah was wonderful!

We've discovered the swing!

Today my mom brought over the baby swing . . . I think we are in love! It is the first day Micah has been cranky at all. Last night, he was inconsolable after one of his feedings (probably my fault - I was really late feeding him because my alarm didn't go off). He pretty much nursed constantly for a few hours, and we just couldn't put him down. Then again tonight, he was doing the same thing. Up until now, he has only cried while we are bathing him or changing his diaper. He actually nursed for 2 hours tonight - and he would cry and cry anytime I put him down. As a last ditch effort before I tried nursing again, I plopped him in the swing. All I can say is he has been unconscious in the swing for the past 2 hours. I'm now putting off waking him for his next feeding because he looks so comfortable. Tonight we are just loving the swing!