Three Weeks Old

So like babies tend to cluster feed, I tend to cluster blog. James was 3 weeks old on Tuesday! It's fun to think of what he's accomplished so far in this little amount of time: starting to find his fingers/thumb (although I'm not convinced he knows they are his just yet); blowing spit bubbles with milk he stores up in his mouth, spitting up that milk if he's not blowing bubbles with it; he's become miles better at breastfeeding, but still needs some work from the bottle (Jim gives him a bottle at night while I pump because it goes much faster and I can barely function at that time at night - we think he drools/spits up more than he actually eats); a "coo" here and there, but very rare; he gets too bored with tummy time to go for long, but his neck is really strong for the most part and he holds it up for extended periods of time when we're holding him; he loves to follow the shadows/light patterns on the ceiling, especially of the fan and he's actually making some eye contact with us! It's interesting because the dr. asked if he startles easily (to check for hearing I'm guessing) and our answer was No because James doesn't seem to startle when the dog barks or there is a loud noise (I'm guessing he's slightly de-sensitized from all the yelling I did at school and from Easton barking his head off at me while James was in-utero) but he will startle and throw his arms out when a glass clanks or the dog shakes really hard -- such simple noises startle him but the big loud ones don't..hmm, strange to me, but hopefully indicates he is hearing well!

No dr. appt. this week to check his growth, but James is catching up in length to his teddy bear that GG bought him for when he got home from the hospital. Here is a 3 week picture to compare James and the bear.
Look at those long legs! Almost as big as the bear!!!

Here is a picture of James doing some tummy time work...he kept wanting to check out the shadows on the ceiling from the fan in our room...he kept tipping himself over but would keep his eyes up to watch those shadows move.
You would think an activity mat w/ no tools needed would be easy to assemble -- this actually took us almost 20 minutes to figure out! We know he can't really see too far yet and that babies James' age prefer black/white contrast (thus, the obsession with shadows) but this play mat is just too cool to not have out as a play option. I figure, the more exposure (within reason) he can handle the better so he can learn to interact in different surroundings

Random note: Bonnie Hunt had breaksk8 on today -- a group of 6 guys from IN/IL who break dance on quad roller skates -- very cool to watch, but they also go around teaching kids how to skate and how to make good life choices as they grow up and run into tough situations.