Outings and such

Yesterday I took Jack to Starbucks for our first real outing. I've taken him to Target, Hallmark, and Kohls, but he stayed in his car seat the whole time and it wasn't for a very long time. We met 4 other moms there for a coffee date and there were 4 babies, all boys from 3 weeks to 3 months of age. It was great to get out of the house and talk with other moms. The group meets weekly for a coffee date at different places and there are other events during the month as well. I plan to go to as many of the coffee dates as I can while I'm on maternity leave.

Today I went grocery shopping by myself. It was the first time I've been away from Jack since he was born. I made sure he was well fed and clean, then left him with grandpa and off I went. I was only gone for an hour and he did great. When he's with me I can only get a few things so it was nice to be able to get whatever I needed. I haven't really gone grocery shopping since right before I had him and I desperately needed food!

I started pumping a little on Thursday and today I gave him his first bottle. It's recommended that breastfed babies be given a bottle at 3-4 weeks. Grandpa gave him 2oz. and he took it like a champ! He really wolfed it down and didn't seem to have a problem with it. He was still a little hungry so I nursed for a bit. I think he's going to do great going back and forth between the bottle and breast. I plan on giving him a bottle a few times every week just to get him used to it. I need to make sure he won't starve when I go back to work!

I am struggling a bit at night with sleeping. I was told yesterday by the other moms that a white noise machine might help Jack sleep better. I don't think he gets into a deep enough sleep and he startles himself awake. He sleeps great during the day though when I put him in his pack n' play. He is only 3 weeks old and we both still have a lot to learn. I would just love being able to get 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep. I'm not going to try to get him on any kind of schedule or routine until he's 6 weeks. Until then I'm just going with the flow!