It's truly amazing--Harrison is over a month old now. He's already around 11.5 pounds and is a very happy baby. He's started smiling at us and lifting his head to see the world around him. He loves the new mobile we put up in his crib and has started to spend more time awake during the day and a little more time sleeping at night (we can't wait for that magical time that he sleeps through the whole night!). We can really tell that he's interested in everything around him and that he's starting to see things more clearly now. He's starting to 'coo' at us and give us little baby giggles and noises that we gladly give back to him to keep him smiling. In this short time the incredible growth and changes he has gone through have been so wonderful to watch. 
Thinking back to when we first brought him home it was quite a stressful time. He was only sleeping for short hour and a half segments at a time, was completely demanding about eating (since he had a teeny tiny stomach that could only hold a teaspoon) and was unable to interact with us at all. Now to think in this short amount of time his personality is starting to come out and he can laugh and smile with us. That is just 
awesome!
awesome!
We're doing much better too--we're getting used to our new routine and are starting to understand what some of his cries mean. The "I'm starving" cry is the easiest to identify since he make snuffly sounds that accompany it. And with Harrison there is no "I'm hungry" cry, he starts right in with the starving one every time. Speaking of feeding, we also recently decided that it was time to go 100% to bottle feeding--that was not easy. I'm definitely glad I made the decision to breastfeed for the time that I did but since I'll be going back to work very soon, it really felt like the best decision for us to get him ready now for that change. He didn't like it at all for a day or so, but now he's totally content to eat from bottles. It may have helped that we introduced bottles from the very beginning to supplement at times when he was really hungry and I didn't have enough for him (remember, he was a big baby coming out and he has a big appetite). All in all, it took a good day or so to convert him over (a very tough day or two..but completely worth the stress and constant crying bouts). Now for all my girlfriends who will have babies of their own in the future, also take note that when you stop the factory, it takes a while. I'm not sure exactly how long since we just weaned Harrison this past weekend; I'm currently still waiting to see how long it will take. Every book says 24-48 hours to stop the supply but all my girlfriends are saying it's longer than that. I'm currently on Day 3 and it's much better. Be prepared, days 1 & 2 are no picnic. Just a lot of pressure that requires wrapping and frozen bags of peas--they truly help. Again, I'm happy we made the choices that we did but the more I think about it, the more I wish I would have been given the complete utter truth about both options of feeding in order to make a fully informed decision by weighing the pros and cons. So for my friends that need to make that choice later, I will be there for you. I will be honest and open about both sides and then you can fairly decide what is best for you. I will tell you this--it greatly helps having other Mom friends to connect with. There is just so much to learn and experience. You can read all the books in the world or never open a page, but all in all, you just have to do it and it's nice to not have to do it alone (no offense to our husbands---it's just great to have a female perspective).
What else have I learned so far? Hmmm...well, you can take a baby to the movies so nanny-nanny-boo-boo to all of those who told us we would never get to see movies again at the theater...he slept through the whole thing. Bath time is easier than I thought it would be and he totally loves it. Breastfed baby poo doesn't smell at all, but formula poo does! Babies can totally burp--I mean loud, manly burps that are totally hilarious. Baby nail clippers are super important and at least one of you has to be able to man up and use them. And mobiles, swings and pacifiers rock. I mean that in every way. Sometimes we've done everything we can to soothe him and it's just not enough--well these amazing modern devices help us do the job. I have no idea what archaic things our parents had to use but I feel super bad for them because modern technology has really helped us have a few moments of hands-free time and it's worth every penny!
Steph
