Six Weeks

Six weeks (and a few days) have come and gone. Though with the other two boys, I felt a definite sadness with the passing of time; this time I do not. It has been a really hard six weeks. I am not going to sugar coat it at all. Otis seems to have a bit of colic and that makes what would already be challenging, just down right hard. There are predictably fussy times (like evenings) and we are beginning to figure out his cues and what works to calm him, but there are also very unpredictably fussy times. He seems to be very easily over-stimulated. Why on earth the universe decided to deliver me a third boy that is easily over-stimulated, I'll never know! The poor guy has little chance for quiet. We try to provide it as best we can, but I am not going "shhh" Sam and Arlo all the time. We compromise and during his fussiest hours (which happen to be before bed times anyway), we try to keep it more mellow. He is an exceptional sleeper at night and that has been a saving grace. Things are certainly getting better. Whether it is because he is getting older, or I figured out the food sensitivities, or we learned some of the triggers and soothers, or the frequent trips to the chiropractor; I don't know, but I have stopped trying to figure him out and am just trying to accept him. I have also stopped comparing him to Arlo as a baby or Sam as a baby. He is Otis as a baby and he is pretty damn cute (even when he cries).

Sam and Arlo are doing wonderfully and taking this all in stride! I am very lucky to have such aware and accepting kids who really love their little brother despite his current disposition. They both try to offer suggestions as to why he might be crying like, "maybe he needs milk", or "maybe he wants to be held", or "maybe he wants to eat some cheese"...most of the time they are great suggestions. Arlo seems to be rebelling a bit lately and I have noticed him acting out for attention. We are trying to nip that in the bud with more direct one-on-one positive attention. Although today was a challenging day and Arlo threw a sippy cup onto Otis' head in the carseat and then a piece of cheese. Whether he was trying to "soothe" Otis with the cheese after the sippy cup hit his head, I'll never know!

The first two pictures below were taken by my friend Shelie, who took the amazing images of me in my last days of Otis' pregnancy. Otis was about a month old in them. Since then he has lost a lot of hair and now smiles! The lower three are more recent images I took. Otis is six weeks old and you can see the hair loss. Sam and Arlo are being the creative little monsters we usually see in the other two. They really have become excellent friends and despite the occasional argument, they play together very well and it is a lot of fun to watch. Sometimes we see super heroes or transformers running around our house and usually they carry some sort of gun they have made from legos, or blocks or something of the sort. Arlo especially likes to make guns out of everything, even the crust on his sandwiches!

All in all we are getting by quite nicely and enjoying most of our waking moments. Spring has certainly sprung around here. We have twelve new baby chicks in our brooding box, little flowers and perrenial herbs and things popping up everywhere and the apple trees are just about to blossom. There is lots happening outside on the homestead...but that is for another post...