8 Weeks of Mommyhood

It blows my mind that Orion is almost eight weeks old! He's already over 11 pounds (up from his birth weight of 7lbs, 8.5 ounces). He's always been a strong and active little guy (even before he was born) so his ability to wiggle and move has been ahead of the curve since he was born. He can lift his head, if not hold it up constantly, so Russell calls him "bobble head baby". He can also roll over when he feels up to it, and likes to flex his legs if we hold him up - especially if he's upset or working on gas bubbles. He's starting to smile more often and with more clarity of response, which is fun for us. Everyday he makes new noises, though the grunt is still his most favorite mode of communication. His sight is also getting much better and he's entranced by his mobiles on the swing and bouncy chair.
Actually, the other day while I was in the shower I put him in his bouncy chair in the bathroom, which I wasn't sure about because he was wide awake and we could easily have had a bad moment with him screaming and me rushing to wash up. Instead, he gurgled happily while I cleaned up, staring at the little jungle animals - a lion, monkey, and hippo - hanging above the chair. Each animal has a ring attached to the bottom and makes a sound. The monkey jingles, the lion roars, meows, and plays music, and the hippo is a rattle. I had the shower curtain partially open and was watching him as he squirmed around in his chair, waving his arms and gazing at the animals, especially the monkey. It was accidental, I'm sure, but he managed to whack the rings a couple of times and got noise responses from the animals, which caused him to smile. It was a big moment for both of us when he grabbed a hold of the ring on the lion and pulled it to him, which activated the music. He made such a surprised face! That was a big day for him developmentally, and I couldn't wait to tell Russell. I think the fact that I was there, but not visible, was helpful to the experience because he wasn't so focused on me like he usually is.
He has been getting more used to spending a little awake time away from me (or anyone) here and there - yesterday he spent some awake time in his swing while we were in the other room. We could here him cooing away at the animals on the swing mobile with no concern that we weren't in his line of sight. It's freeing, especially for me, that he's starting to want input from things other than mommy!
Though that's not necessarily true at night... He's a good sleeper once he's really asleep - not much can wake him up, including noise and activity. However, he just doesn't want to be away from me when we go to bed at night. I've been trying to get him used to his bassinet, but he never sleeps for more than an hour or two in it, if at all. I can nurse him to sleep, carry him around while he's sleeping, get ready for bed, and as soon as I put him down in his bed he wakes up. Last night he was up until I let him lay on my chest - and we slept like that for over four hours. He woke up for his usual 4:30am feeding, and every time I got him back to sleep he woke up as soon as I put him down or turned the light off. I finally gave up and got out of bed (hence this entry) to nurse him on the couch, which is ultimately more comfortable for me. Of course he nursed for a bit and passed right out and has been asleep since - but I bet if I took him upstairs and put him in his bed he'd wake right up. In any case, I believe we'll be aiming for a nap later today.
All in all, I still feel like he's a good 'easy' baby, and we're lucky for that. He's a cutie pie and gets lots of attention. I'm loving being a mom, even during the stressful "please go to sleep" moments. A few days ago someone asked me what I was most surprised by, and I had to say that I am surprised by how easy it has been. After all the horror stories about life with newborns - "You'll never go out again" "Say goodbye to your life" "You'll never sleep" etc. etc. - I had expected things to be a lot tougher. But so far it's been more fun and joyful than anything, and we still manage to have fun and go places. We even spontaneously went to a sold out Phish show last week, initially without tickets, and had a great time! That should show all those negative haters out there!