What day is it?

Brock will be three weeks old tomorrow, and I'm not really sure where the past 21 days have gone. I actually had to look at the calendar to make sure that tomorrow is Saturday because our days have all kind of blurred together. Apparently, the combination of a lack of sleep and being a slave to some tiny, little person's 24-hour schedule make for a general haziness when it comes to an awareness of details like what day of the week it is. But we trudge on with our newborn, thankful at least that he takes great naps on a fairly regular basis, allowing us to have a few moments of sleep here and there.

Brock had some significant first experiences this week. He had his first diaperless poo-splosion (as Blaine referred to it). This was not such a great "first" in my opinion, but Daddy loved it (Daddy also cleaned it all up, so I was thankful for that). We successfully introduced a bottle this week, and I was very excited about that "first" because it meant the possibility of a little freedom for myself from time to time. During "tummy time" Brock has begun to be able to turn his head from one side to another, which is really one of those "firsts" that only a mom and dad are proud of or care anything about, but I wanted to document it anyway. Finally, Brock had his first real bath this week, and he was a big fan. You can really see his enthusiasm in the pictures below.

I'll close with some things I have learned in these first few weeks with a newborn...

• Swaddling is an amazing thing that every parent needs to know how to do. We try not to keep Brock swaddled all day just so that he will eventually learn how to use his arms, but it is very helpful for nap time and at night since his arms like to flail about and wake him up constantly.
• Pacifiers are extremely frustrating. I had planned not to use one but revisited my decision the second night in the hospital after Brock had been using me as a pacifier for nearly an hour (after feeding for an hour). They are helpful for soothing, but he just can't get the hang of keeping it in his mouth which makes him more irritated than before I gave it to him in the first place.
• Baby boys love to pee any time you take their diaper off. In the three short weeks he's been with us, I have already lost count of the number of times he has sprayed us or his surroundings. We're wising up now though and keeping him covered with a washcloth every time we change him.
• With babies, it is very rare that you feel like you know what you are doing. I've never questioned myself so often or been so unsure that I'm doing things the right way (or that there even is a right way!).
• Newborns are a little boring. I think whenever I imagined having my baby, I thought of him more as a 3 month old than a newborn because I envisioned him smiling and cooing at me and being able to do things. That is not the case though. Newborns do not do anything, except sleep, eat, and dirty their diapers... oh, and cry. I'm looking forward to getting a little return for all of my investment.
• It is really easy to love your baby. He may cry all night long or want to be fed every time he's awake or get poo all over me, but for some reason no matter how irritated or exhausted I get, all I have to do is hold him and look at him and I feel nothing but overwhelming love for this tiny little human that somehow came from me.