Week 11

I'm finally starting to grab and hold things!

Its definitely getting hard to post a weekly update - our little guy certainly keeps us busy!  We started off the week with our first trip to daycare.  Pratima, the owner, wanted us to come for a few hours before we start daycare just to get him used to the people and the environment.  All in all, it went pretty well.  Austin actually took a bottle and napped in a pack-n-play there, which made me feel good about actually starting daycare.  On the flip side, I definitely started having a little anxiety over leaving him there and going back to work.  Of course he will learn new things and make new friends and adjust over time, but I got a little panicked that he won't have his favorite toys or his mommy with him all day!  To prep for daycare, I've been giving him bottles of breastmilk or formula for his 4 daytime feedings.  While its a little tricky to find time to pump during the day, I'm enjoying the switch to bottles.  We now know how much he is eating, and dad can help too which is a huge advantage.  I think we'll stick with it, and I'll pump when I go back to work and see how things go.

Over the weekend since the weather was fantastic, we decided to take a day trip out to Sugarloaf Winery.  We love how beautiful the views are, and of course the wine and sangria are pretty fabulous too. 

Austin is eying the sangria...mmm!

Afterwards, we wanted to go on a walk and realized that we were pretty close to an access point for the C&O canal.  We parked right by the Monocacy Aquaduct and walked for a bit in the woods before turning around.  Gorgeous day for a walk with the stroller!

In other news, Austin definitely got more chatty this week.  Its so cute to hear him babble on and on.  Sometimes in the morning when he wakes up, instead of crying, he will just lay in his crib and babble for 20-30min.  Its hilarious listening to him on the monitor....we wonder what he is talking about!  We still spend alot of time on the playmat.  He holds his head up pretty good these days when he's on his tummy:

And crazy enough, he actually rolled from belly to back on Wednesday!  I'm sure it was a bit of a fluke because I couldn't get him to do it again, but he's definitely trying! I took a video of the second try, but can't get it to upload.

He also discovered the mirror on his playmat.  I guess he's looked at it a few times when I've put it in front of him, but this week he seems more mesmerized by his reflection.  Its pretty cute!

Who's that cute baby in the mirror?!

Naptime is still a challenge.  He definitely sleeps in between every feeding, but generally only for 30-40 minutes.  He's still going through some fussy moments, but much less than a month ago.  Its generally pretty easy to swaddle him and put him down for a nap these days.  At least at night, he's a sleeper.  We usually put him to bed between 8 and 9pm and he sleeps till around 5am, sometimes longer. 
On Thursday we headed to New Hampshire for my friend Heather's wedding.  We booked a flight right around Austin's bedtime, hoping that we could board the plane, nurse him, and then put him to sleep.  Of course, our plan was thwarted when our plane was delayed a little over an hour.  But Austin was a champ - he nursed at the gate, fell asleep in my arms, and pretty much stayed asleep during the whole flight!  More about our vacation in the next post!