Sweet Shepherd

This is a "Shepherd-only" post with pictures of his sweet little face. 😍 Although he still loves to snuggle and sleep, he has been spending more and more time awake between feedings. And as his smile has been emerging, you can tell he recognizes us. He has given Ryder and Harper a few gigantic smiles when they lean in to talk to him, and I get some good ones too when he's on the changing table. Now I just have to remember to keep my phone with me at all times so that hopefully soon I'll capture one on camera! I feel like as happy of a baby as he is, he is serious too; he makes us work for those smiles!

Shepherd has started putting himself on more of a nighttime schedule, and I'm trying to follow his lead. By 8:30-9 most nights he is spent, so I nurse him, change his diaper, and put him into his pajamas and sleep sack. Andrew likes to rock him and then lay him in his crib, and I gladly let the two of them have this time together. Not only is it sweet, but it gives me a chance to get myself ready for bed so I can go to sleep when the baby does. He was usually waking up a couple of times to eat, usually at 12 or 1 and then again at 3 or 4. But then a few nights ago that changed. He made it until 2am before wanting to be fed, which meant I was able to get 4 hours of sleep in a row. Woohoo! And I hate to jinx myself by typing this, but last night we put him to bed around 9:45 and he didn't wake me until 4:04am! I bolted awake at about 3, feeling like I must have slept through his crying. But I looked at the monitor and he was sleeping peacefully. I tried to go back to sleep, but I was sure he would be waking up any second, so I sort of just snoozed for a few minutes at a time and then stared at the monitor to make sure he was moving. By 4:00 he was really squirming and starting to cry, and I took a screenshot of my phone so I'd remember the exact time. 😂 I know this schedule may not last, so I'm going to enjoy it while I can!

love those kissable cheeks!

He's really starting to enjoy diaper-changing time! Last week we switched to using the cloth diapers during the day after  figuring out exactly how to snap them for the best fit.

another tummy time nap

So much to think about...

drowsy with Daddy 

showing off his biceps 😜 

sucking on his thumb while giving the "peace" sign