The Life and Times of a 2-week old

It’s two weeks into the life of More Mojo.  Mom is resting lots and has finally been given the green light by the doctor to go up and down the stairs!  We’re also settling into a grove with our newborn and getting back in the habit of (somewhat) cleaning the house. 

Food and sleep for the newborn

Our 2-week old is drinking four ounces of formula every three hours.  After he drinks he’ll go to sleep for an hour or two.  He’ll then wake up, look around, yawn, stretch, cry and have another bottle around the time of the third hour.  It’s like clockwork, except for when he goes to sleep.

He’ll still have four ounces, but this time sleep for five to six hours, wake up for a bottle, then sleep for three to four hours.  We’re still waking up once a night, twice if we go to sleep earlier, but thankfully he’s going back to sleep after the bottle is finished.

The stereotype of not getting much sleep is unfortunately true.   If your 2-week old is your first child then you should nap when you can.  If this is your second child then schedule accordingly, get to bed earlier, split shifts with your spouse or learn to embrace caffeine.

The belly button appears

Sometime after the 10^th day their umbilical cord stump will fall off.   Previously it was a black scab that you had to keep dry; that was the reason why you had to give them a sponge bath.  However,  now that the scab is gone the belly button has revealed itself and you can give the newborn a proper bath.

Eyes wide open

Even though your newborn is sleeping for most of the day you will notice how much more they are awake.  They’ll look at you with these big eyes that are somewhere between really old man and extraterrestrial.  That distant, unfocused appearance will disappear soon and now is the time to take those close-up shots.

Head bigger than your fist

One thing that made us realize that we needed to take more photos was our son’s head.  When I’d feed him during the first week his little head was smaller than my fist.  In the second week his head is now bigger than my fist.  If we’re going to get these shots to demonstrate how tiny an infant really is then we need to get snapping.

Anytime is a good time to take a photo of a newborn.  When they’re eating, sleeping, yawning, in the bathtub or wearing seasonal outfits are all great times to sneak a photo or two.  I’ve made the goal of taking a couple of pictures a day, being aware to include objects that will contrast their size and growth as he gets older.