Week 4: July 29 – August 4

41 Weeks! (Colt at 4 weeks old — Aug. 4, 2013)

Colt Medical: Sweet boy is still happy, healthy and doing great, praise the Lord!

This week however, he did develop some baby acne on his face – poor little guy! He also had a super stuffy nose the other day so we used our awesome snot sucker (thanks Sara!!) and it cleared everything out! I’m excited to visit the pediatrician on Friday to weigh him again, but he seems to be growing really well. Colt is becoming more alert with longer awake-times, and this past week we started doing some tummy-time which he loves! He’s lifting and turning his head and loves looking at his surroundings.

Feeding: Colt is still a great feeder, eating every 3-4 hours during the day and every 4-7 hours at night. Feeding continues to be some of my favorite time with him – he makes such funny little sounds and faces that just melt my heart!

I pumped for the first time on Wednesday because I was curious to test it out and I wanted to introduce the bottle so that we would know we could have that as an option. Pumping felt really funny but it was super easy and worked great (thanks to Lori for my amazing pump!!), and Colt took the bottle very easily.

I was glad that I had figured it out because on Friday Colt seemed to have a smaller appetite and I ended up in a lot of pain, but pumping (+ hot compresses) was really helpful. Thankfully everything seemed better by Saturday, but Saturday night I pumped so that Michael could feed Colt for the first time too!

Sleep: This week I started feeding on-demand during the night to let Colt sleep for longer stretches, and I think we have all been enjoying the extra rest. At night he will usually sleep somewhere between 4-7 hours at a time which has meant that I’ve only had to wake up once or twice to feed at night, and getting those longer stretches of sleep has been key. Colt continues to be a great sleeper and really hasn’t had any fussiness this week. We generally lay him in his crib while he is still awake and let him fall asleep on his own. It’s so funny to watch him on the monitor because he will just lay there in the dark, totally silent with his eyes wide open until he gets sleepy.

Colt’s Personality: Colt continues to be super chill and incredibly awesome. The “witching hour” / fussiness that we were seeing glimpses of in week 3 never really seemed to come to fruition (so far!). He will definitely let out a yelp or cry if he’s upset, but he’s quick and easy to comfort which keeps our life pretty easy. He is SO precious and we just can’t get enough of him!!

Mama Updates: I’m still feeling great and absolutely loving being a mom. It is so much fun and so fulfilling – I never could have imagined how amazing it would be.

Activities: Colt had lots of fun this week! He loves bathing, strolling through the park, the mall and our neighborhood, but here are some highlights from the week:

Colt, my mom and I visited Parque Ibirapuera and walked around with Brett and Jana. Although the walk through the park was a total success, getting there proved to be quite the scene — first I set off my car’s alarm and we spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how to fold our stroller, then we drove around the park forever trying to find a good place to park. After finally parking, we spent 5 minutes trying to unfold the stroller and then another 15 trying to get the carseat out of the car! Thankfully I have patient friends.

We also visited Michael at his office this week! It was so great introducing Colt to all of Michael’s coworkers as they have been so sweet and excited for us during this time.

Stand up desk and a baby. Nbd.Michael’s office building:After our visit, we went across the street for lunch, and then my mom and I strolled around the mall (Shopping Iguatemi) for a bit, and stopped by Sharon Harper’s favorite store – Gloria Coelho.

Friday night we went out to dinner in our neighborhood at Rouge.

After grits and eggs on Saturday morning, we all walked down the block to our weekly feira (or street market) to pick up some fresh fruits and veggies for the week.

And I wore our baby carrier for the first time!

Later that afternoon, for a little change of scenery, we drove about an hour to a little artisan town, Embu das Artes. We strolled around looking at lots of crafts and wood furniture, and stopped to enjoy some ice cold chopps, yummy Brazilian appetizers and great feijoada.

Then yesterday we celebrated Colt’s 4 week birthday with a trip to our park – Parque do Povo – with the Hudson fam!

Visitors: During week 4 Colt visited with my mama (Gigi!), Uncle Joe Harper, Brett Coppens, Jana Pearl, Trent, Paige & Mailey Jane Hudson, Michael’s whole office and Ana Paula Pinho.

Thoughts: It has been so incredibly special and fun having my mom here over the past 2 1/2 weeks, and I am SO sad that she had to leave today. I have loved sharing this special time in my life with her, I have loved watching her get to know and fall head over heels for our precious boy, and I have been SO thankful for all of her help. She has cared so well for my family and me and I honestly can’t imagine having done it without her! My sweet mama has made us so many delicious meals, kept our apartment looking great, stayed up late each night with Colt and gotten up in the middle of the night to bring him to me for feedings, she has changed a million diapers and generally taken care of all of us. And more than anything, she has helped give me the confidence to know that I can do it as a new mom — after all, I have the best possible example.

Gigi – thank you for this amazing visit and for all you’ve done for us! We miss you already and can’t wait to have you back (with Dad) in November!!