4 months under my belt.

Whaddaya know, Joe?  I have a four month old.  And I’ve been introduced to the hell known as the 4 MONTH WAKEFUL.  I was able to gloss over this weird anomaly with Anna, so I never had the wonderful experience of newborn-like night wakings, cluster feedings from hell, and raging ADHD that affects Joseph’s every waking minute.  What’s that, a toy?  What’s this, a boob?  Who’s that, daddy?  Look up, look down, look around, look sideways, latch, unlatch, laugh, cry, drool, kick, drop it like it’s hot.

Mama is tired.  And I’m worried this new wakeful Joe is here to stay for good.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore his newfound interest in basically everything, but I feel like I’m dealing with an entirely new baby here.  He went from the most chill baby on the planet to Elmo on speed in a matter of weeks. 

Help.  Please help.

Oh well, at least he’s adorable and sweet pretty much all the time.  Who needs sleep or the ability to function without having a baby attached to your boob?

Here are some recent photos of my little lad and lassie. 

This month in InstaGram and mobile uploads:


Rockin’ his purple Bumbo!


He’s not too happy about his hair transplant.


Joe and his favorite cousin Jocelyn!  We call them the twins since they’re only two weeks apart!


Anna drew a picture of Joe.  I think the resemblance is uncanny.

Anna decided to paint her own toe nails. 


My sweet, smilin’ baby.

Watch me grow!



Temperament:
As I mentioned above, we’re in 4 month wakeful hell at this point.  While Joseph is still an absolute pleasure of a baby, he’s definitely had his baby awakening and spends the majority of his day kicking and cooing and looking around like a mad man.  You can see the little baby wheels and cogs turning in his head, and it’s so cute to watch him really take in his surroundings and find so much joy in the little things. 

He’s a very sweet and happy baby, rarely cries unless he’s hungry or in pain from gas.  When he does cry, he’s easily calmed by me and instantly starts smiling again.  He enjoys playing with his big sister, too.  His face lights up when he sees her. 

He’s great with strangers and family members as well although his preference is always for me.  Probably because he knows I’m his food source.  The boy is smart!

Feeding:
Those first few weeks after having Joseph, I was worried that I would ruin his perfect latch if I gave him a bottle, so I waited until he was about 4 weeks.  He took to a bottle perfectly fine, so I figured all was well. 

I recently lost my job, so I’ve been at home and able to nurse him throughout the day.  I guess he’s gotten used to this method because now he’s flat out refusing bottles.  This is a serious issue because 1) I will hopefully find employment soon and will not be able to nurse him all day and 2) How am I supposed to go anywhere without him if he won’t take a bottle from anyone?  Mama needs her independence! 

So, yesterday I went to Tarjay and bought some ridiculously expensive bottles – Tommie Tippie and Advent – they’re both “close to nature” bottles that supposedly have a close shape to a boob.  Of course my child is no chump, so fooling him with a synthetic nipple isn’t easy.

He flat out refused the Tommie bottle.  I tried again later with the Advent, and after about 10 minutes of forcing it in his mouth (that’s what good moms do, right), he finally succumbed to it and actually drank it all down.  I gave him about 4 oz. of breast milk in the first bottle and then followed up with some formula, and he drank both bottles.  WOOT!  Now I just need to keep feeding him at least once/day with a bottle to get him used to it again. 

Other than that, nursing is going really well.  I made it past my four month first goal and really have no plans of stopping at this point.  It’s just so easy!  Of course once I go back to work and have to pump while I’m there, I may change my tune.  I absolutely HATE pumping.  I’d at least like to make it to 6 months.

Sleeping:

Joseph is a mixed bag when it comes to his sleeping habits.  Some nights he goes long spurts and only wakes to eat once or twice.  Other nights he’s up like a newborn.  I blame it on the 4 Month Wakeful and hope it’s just something that goes away soon.  I can deal with the frequent night feedings while I’m out of work, but I can’t imagine dealing with that and having to work all day.  I know moms do it all the time, so I’ll deal, but man will that be hard!

His naps suck now.  He used to nap for 3 – 4 hour spurts.  Now I’m lucky if he naps for an hour.  Naps at my mom’s house?  Fagheddaboudit!  The kid refuses to nap anywhere but in his swing which is definitely not a good thing since his swing isn’t exactly portable.  We go to my mom’s house every other weekend, and the kid doesn’t sleep at all during the day.  He’s also a very light sleeper, so any noise will wake him up.  I hate having to prance around and be quiet while he sleeps, but sometimes I don’t have a choice if I want to get things done.

Health/Milestones:
Since we’ve introduced the Bumbo and I’ve been working with him on his neck exercises, he’s doing a great job holding his head up and steady.  The wobbles are almost completely gone now. 

He’s also started turning from side to side while on his back.  He hasn’t flipped over entirely yet, but it’s getting closer.  He really enjoys grabbing his feet, so when he does, he flips to his side and then back on his back again.  I’ve been working with him during tummy time to see if he’ll flip over completely, but he’s holding out on that.  That’s OK, no pressure, kid.  In your own time, my sweets.

He’s very alert and very aware of everything around him.  He definitely knows our voices and will turn his head to see us.  He also loves looking at himself in the mirror.  I believe these are all little bitty milestones along the way. 

He can grab most things and clutch on to them for dear life.  He really enjoys his play mat with the dangly toys.  He will kick and coo for at least 30 minutes and totally entertain himself by grabbing at the toys. 

He had his 4 month shots a few days ago which pretty much sucked.  I HATE seeing him in pain.  This time Joe went with me, so he got to experience the torture as well.  It was so sad.  :(

He had to get 3 shots (Hep B, Polio, DTP combo, Hib, Pneumococcal Disease) and an oral vaccination for Rotavirus.

Stats:
Height: 24.5” (10th – 25th percentile)
Weight: 13 lb. 11 oz. (5th – 10th percentile)
Head: 16.5” (25th - 50th percentile)

I will be honest and say that I’m kind of surprised at his low percentages here.  He’s huge in comparison to babies his age, and people are always commenting on how big he is.  I know the weight is right since I was there when they took it, but I’m still not certain his height was measured correctly.  He’s super long.  The Dr. wasn’t concerned, so I’m not either, but I am still a bit surprised at his stats.  I need to bulk this boy up!

Here are his birth, 1 month, and 2 month stats:
Birth:
Weight: 7 lbs. 12 oz.
Height: 20.5”
Head: 13.5”

1 month:

Weight: 9 lbs. 8 oz. (50th%)
Height: 22 1/4” (75th – 90th%)

Head: 14 3/4 (50th%)

2 months:

Weight: 11 lbs. 10 oz. (50th%)
Height: 23 3/4” (75th – 90th%)
Head: 16”

Size:
I think I’m most surprised about his stats because the kid is in 9 months clothes.  I had to go through all of his drawers and cleaned out 3 bags of clothes, many of which he never even wore.  Some of the 9 months clothes he’s wearing are a little snug. 

He’s also in a size 2 diaper and is pretty much teetering on the brink of those being too small for him.  Oy vey!

Activities:
He enjoys his play mat and grabbing at the toys.  I also bought him one of these toys from yoyo.com (LOVE this store):

He really enjoys grabbing the different bumps and looking at himself in the mirrors.  It’s a great toy because he can easily grab it and is entertained by the noises and different textures. 

Other than that, there’s not much you can do with a 4 month old.  He likes sitting in his bumbo for about 20 minutes.  After that, it’s like he gives himself motion sickness and starts spitting up.  So odd. 

Siblings:
Anna is in love with her baby brother.  He recognizes her and lights up when he sees her.  She’s also pretty great at changing his diapers and fetching me stuff that I need.  She wants him to go wherever she goes and always makes sure he’s included.  “Anna, we’re going to Chuck-E-Cheese!” “Is baby Joe going?”  “Of course!”  “OK, good!” 

Since he’s bigger and she’s more aware of things, I feel more comfortable letting her hold him or watch him if I have to leave the room for a few minutes.  It’s nice having a second set of eyes. 

Inner artist.

Anna’s favorite activity these days is coloring and painting.  Joe and I enjoy watching her creative side come out, and it makes us happy to see her so proud of her work.  She loves it when we scan in her artwork and “show it to our friends” (aka post it on Facebook) – it makes her feel special. 

I’m sure no one else really cares, but it makes her happy, and I’m a proud mama, so why not?

Here are her latest accomplishments.  The child colors better than me!  And yes, we do have more than one color for her, but her color of choice today was orange. Oh, and she also just learned how to write out her name. 



I picked up some water colors for her to use, and she created this beautiful piece.  I think this is frame worthy!


My plan is to scan in each piece of art and eventually print them all out on a canvas to hang.  I’ve seen it done on Pinterest, but I’m too lazy to post a link to it right now.  Just use your imagination. 

Do you do something similar with your children’s artwork?  How do you keep it all organized? 

No dentures necessary.

Since I fail as a mom, I’m finally just getting around to bringing Anna in for her first dentist visit.  I’m not quite sure why it’s taken me this long.  Perhaps I was expecting to  be hauled away by CPS because, by some fluke occurrence, all of Anna’s teeth were rotting out of her mouth.  By all appearances, her teeth look perfectly fine, but what if the dentist started prodding around and discovered that my child’s mouth made a meth addict’s teeth look healthy? 

I mean, they are a little black.
Totally kidding.  The black areas on her teeth are because she ate a crayon.  I let my kid eat crayons sometimes.  Another fail.

Perhaps my dentist apprehension was because I was projecting my own insecurities on my child.  You see, I take great care of my teeth, and by all outward appearances, they’re very nice and healthy.  However, genetics threw me a curveball and made my teeth the kind of teeth that will always need upkeep.  I had many cavities as a child and young adult through no fault of my own (or my parents).  I’m just one of those fabulous anomalies who was dealt a crappy hand in the teeth department.  Joe, on the other hand, has fabulous teeth with zero cavities, so the tooth gods were obviously smiling brightly on him the day they designed his teeth.

Since I like my teeth and want to keep them, I’m always at the dentist making sure everything is looking A-OK.  If not, I pay a ridiculous amount of money to bring me up to code. 

I wanted to avoid this nightmare for Anna.

And, fortunately, I have!

My child had a great first dentist experience and walked away with a clean bill of health.  Zero cavities.  Beautiful teeth (even if they’re a bit spaced out like Spongbob’s).  And she blew everyone away by how polite and calm she was the entire time.  She really enjoyed the experience which makes me happy.  I don’t want her to have any negative associations with the dentist.  Even though we live in the south, I feel it’s pretty important to keep your teeth*, so hopefully we’re starting her out on the right foot.

*I was making a little funny.  I don’t think all southerners are toothless, just most of them.

Here she is being a big girl in the dentist chair.


And here she is smiling crazy next to the hippo.

Anna is ready to go back, so I’d say today was a total success!  We’ve now started the every six month dentist visit process, so I can reclaim my good mom card, right?

Happy 4th! 3 months under my belt.

I hope you had a wonderful 4th.  Ours was great – we spent the day with family and ate lots of delicious food.  It was the first time the majority of my family met Joseph and my niece Jocelyn, so it was really fun seeing everyone interact with the babies.  In just a few years, our family went from being kid-less to having a Duggar sized brood at our get togethers. 

Some pics from the day:
Joe’s face is pretty hilarious in this photo. Anna is a nut!

Anna decided she was tired of taking photos.

L to R: My nephew Jackson, niece Jocelyn, Joe, Anna
Just a few minutes prior to taking photos, Jackson poured an entire orange drink down the front of his shirt.  Sometimes you just have to roll with it!

Oops, looks like someone partied too hard on the 4th!

Little Joe with his death ray eyes!  Mine are looking rather death rayish as well. 

Joe had to work, so we didn’t get to take a family photo.  Oh well, next year!

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How do I already have a three month old?

So, time is going by way too quickly.  It seems like I just peed on a stick, and now I have a three month old baby and a nearly 4 year old toddler!  Prior to having Anna, I remember people always telling me to cherish every moment because it all goes by so quickly.  They were right.  Sometimes I’m almost scared to blink for fear that I’ll open my eyes and have a teenager.  As it stands now, Anna is a threenager and is already training me on how to deal with those pesky teen years.  Surely a teen can’t be any sassier than a three year old. 

Joseph’s 3 month shots:

Watch me grow…

 
Temperament:
Joe is still a sweet little baby although he’s officially found his “bark” and has started to fuss more to let me know when he’s hungry/lonely/needs a diaper change/bored.  I think I jinxed myself by Googling “Why doesn’t my baby ever cry?” because now he definitely cries.  And as I’ve posted before, his cries aren’t normal baby cries, they’re great big bird cries.  Buzzard squawks.  They’re a little scary and deafening.   

Despite the squawking, he’s still a very chill and happy baby.  He smiles all the time.  He’s started giggling although most of the time he lets out one giggle and then chokes on his own spit.  He’s very alert and aware of his surroundings and spends a lot of time taking in everything around him. 

He’s great with people, strangers and family alike.  He will readily smile at anyone, and he will also go to anyone and will be content with them.  He takes after his sister.  She was always very happy with whomever was holding her at the time, and we’ve never had any issues with her adapting to new people and situations.  Hopefully Joseph will follow suit. 

Feeding:
Joseph is still nursing and is an old pro by now (so am I).  I’m super confident nursing in public and have done so many times (always with a cover).  I never thought I’d ever be comfortable enough to nurse in public, but he makes it easy, and once you get past the initial scariness of it, it’s not bad at all.  Aside from the first time I nursed in public, I’ve yet to have any negative reaction, and even if I did, at this point I don’t really care what anyone thinks.  Empowerment, I’ve got it!

My initial goal was to nurse until at least 4 months, but at this point I really don’t see any point in stopping then.  As long as he keeps up his latch, I’ll continue feeding him.  I enjoy it and love the bonding time with him.  I also love how easy it is to just up and leave and not have to worry about packing bottles and formula.  I do have to supplement from time to time just to keep up with his spurts, but I’d say he’s about 98% BM. 

I have noticed lately that he has been feeding more frequently (within the last week or so).  I’m not sure if it’s a spurt or if he’s using me as a human pacifier.  He hates a regular pacifier, so I’m not really sure how to combat this.  I keep trying to give him a paci, but he gags and spits it out.  Maybe when he’s older?  Or maybe he’ll never take one.  I had a full blown paci addict with Anna when she was his age. 

Sleeping:
This is Joseph’s typical sleep cycle -
9:30 p.m. – 10 p.m.: nurses
10 p.m.: Falls asleep in his swing
11 p.m.: Move him to his RNP sleeper
3 a.m.: Wakes up for his first night feeding
5 a.m.: 2nd feeding of the night
7 a.m.: 1st morning feeding
9 a.m.: Up for the day/feeding

So, the first stretch is about 5 hours.  Not bad at all.  I believe that’s officially sleeping through the night.  He’s been doing that for a few weeks now. 

Health/milestones:
He’s started grabbing at objects that are placed in front of him.  I bought him a play mat with dangly toys, and he really goes wild grabbing at the toys.  He kicks out his feet and flails his arms all over the place.  One of the toys has long rings that hang down, and he will grab them and hold on to them for a minute or so at a time. 

His head is still a bit wobbly.  He does a great job keeping it in line with his body when I pull him to a seated position, but as soon as his head is level with his body, he droops it forward (almost like it’s too heavy).  At this point with Anna, she had full control over her head and was easily able to hold it upright with very few wobbles.  I know all kids develop at different rates, so I’m going to just keep working with him to strengthen his neck muscles.  We’ve been doing lots of tummy time activities, and he’s doing a great job lifting his head off of the ground.  Like most people, though, he hates exercise, so I try to only “torture” him 5 – 10 minutes/day. 

He’s doing great following me with his gaze and making tons of eye contact.  He immediately recognizes my voice/Joe’s voice/Anna’s voice and breaks into a smile as soon as he hears us.  He will turn in any direction he hears us, and he will even sometimes lift up his head to look around for us.  He’s an observant little guy for sure.

Size:
I’m pretty sure he’s nearing the 6 months size at this point.  He’s mostly in 3-6 months now, and the majority of those clothes are too short for him (the onesies).  He has a super long torso and short legs, so most of the onesies he wears cut him off and give him a camel toe. 

His feet are growing, too.  He’s finally able to wear some of the shoes my sister passed along to me from my nephew.  I had him in some the other day, and my sister said that Jackson wore those when he was 9 months old.  My kid is a big guy for sure. 

He’s still wearing size 1 diapers but will need to move up to 2 once we use the rest of the big box that Joe’s parents gave us. 

Activities:
He seems to be losing interest in his swing.  He still loves it and spends tons of time in it, but he also likes being in his crib looking at the mobile or laying on the ground under the toys on his play mat.  He’s definitely hitting that stimulation period where he needs to be entertained.  His swing has a little mirror and mobile on it, so he will watch that until he falls asleep.  He loves looking at himself.  Mr. Vain. 

He’s still pretty good when we take him places although the last few times we’ve taken him out to eat, I’ve had to nurse him as soon as we get there.  I guess he doesn’t want to be left out.  He also hates his carseat.  He’ll be OK in the seat for a while, but if he’s in there for a few hours or so, he gets super fussy (understandably).  I get claustrophobic just looking at his seat. 

Siblings:
It’s quite obvious that Joe is smitten with his sister and vice versa.  He recognizes her now and lights up when he sees her.  Anna is very maternal with him and will comfort him if he cries or will change his diaper when I ask her to (and she does a great job).  It’s adorable seeing them interact together.  I can’t wait to see how they play when he’s older although I don’t want to rush anything now.  Sometimes I wish I could just freeze time. 

They’re getting so big so fast. 

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Lagniappe photos from Instagram:

 

4th of July

I spy some hair (and a claw mark from his man claws)

His lashes finally started growing in!  The bald cat look is going away.

Baby feet beneath the nursing cover.

Daddy and Anna at CEC on Father’s Day!



Sweet cousins

Anna is using Joe’s toes as her piggy bank.

A picture of Joe when he was a baby next to Joseph.  It’s pretty uncanny, right?!