Month Five

Per usual I am late again with the monthly post. It's been a crazy few weeks and I rarely have any extra time to do anything that is not necessary for  daily survival. The struggle is real yall. Okay it really isn't quite as bad as I just made it seem. However, things can be chaotic making it difficult to take the time to write a blog post, but I did. Just two weeks late....

Sleep: You started off this month with a sleep regression as you were waking up twice *gasp* a night. Was it related to your shots? Teething? Who knows. It was short lived and you went to only waking once during the night. Because you starting rolling over we had to quit using the Magic Merlin suit. It was heartbreaking as that suit possesses something crazy like Harry Potter powers. In fact, we shipped it off to a dear friend and hope that they love it as well. We continued to use a Wombie sleep sack. It is a transitional sack that allows your arms to be out. In the next month or so I will order the next transitional sack from Wombie to see if that will be successful as well. Your G Daddy and Granny Fox babysat you one evening and Granny Fox was able to do the nighttime routine with you to put you to bed. She greatly enjoyed rocking you to sleep and I was so thankful you went down easily. We still put you on your back to sleep, but by the morning you are on your tummy. You do this at school too - we know you are knocked out when you lay on that belly!

Clothes and Diapers, etc: You are in 3-6 month clothing and really have no pants since they were all 0-3 months. You are still in a size 2 diaper and we will always use an overnight diaper for you at bedtime or for a longer car ride. You remain uninterested in a pacifier which is a good thing in my opinion since I hopefully will not have to break you of that habit as you get older. If given a paci you may pull it out of your mouth and play with it in your hands. You did put it back in your mouth a couple of times which is a milestone I suppose.

Bath: Bath time continues to get easier. I mentioned earlier that you and G Daddy have the same prescription shampoo. In fact the last time he was in town he stole yours and left his (on accident of course).

Medical: This time around you had a mild reaction to your shots that included a low grade fever, small knots at the site and you were fussier. I was also convinced that your chubby thighs were swelling, but we are not sure that it was actually happening. After a few days you were back to your cheery self! Teething is a long process, but one day both your dad and I noticed a little white speck at the surface of your gum (bottom right). It has since disappeared and let's be honest. Teeth absolutely frighten me when we think about nursing.

Food: You are still EBF. I try and nurse you in the morning before work and in the evening before bed. Lately you become quite distracted while nursing. You will lift your head and flash a huge grin at me. Totally cute, but you still need to eat! I increased  your bottles to 6 oz. but then your appetite decreased so you get around 5 or 5.5 oz bottles prepared and take anywhere from 2.5 oz to the entire bottle at a feeding.
 
Stats: You weigh 15.5 lbs and are 24.75 inches long.

Development/Mannerisms: We can hold objects in front of you and you will grab them. From there they are immediately shoved into your mouth. You have also started grabbing my hair occasionally. Sometimes you pinch me. Not to cause pain, but because you are developing! Since you are teething a bit we have brought out some teethers (one looks like a hand which is funny because you loved to chew on your own hands) from the fridge. You are extremely chatty which is so much fun! You are also getting ready to sit on your own. You will use your ab muscles to lift up and grab our hands or a toy within reach. When you are propped up on pillows you use your core to come forward and reach for us. At this age you are beginning to recognize familiar faces and will cry at strangers or people who you do not see often. You are great with females since you are around them all day at school, but are hesitant about men unless it's your daddy. The best part about this month is that you are noticing Miss Friski! You watch the foos and are definitely interested in them because foos are awesome.
 
Appearance: The small area on the back of your head that began to bald has begun to grow back. Woo hoo! Your hair is still a light brown color with a redish tint. At first I thought the red appeared when using different filters on Instagram, but other people have commented on it in person.  Your eyes are still a gorgeous blue and you have better lashes than I do. Your toe and finger nails are sharp and out of control.

Likes:
Making noise
Trying to sit up
Your father
Chewing on anything and everything

Dislikes:
GasNaps



All About Mom:
- J & I had our first date night out.....We did have a few football dates a few months ago, but this time it was a night time date where someone else put you to bed. We went on a double date with DJ and her boy to dinner and then a comedy show with Ron White.

- My hair still falls out.

- I accepted a new job this month. I am totally anxious and excited. It has great benefits and is completely in the career field of what I went to school for. The hours are earlier so I get off earlier and may be able to get to the gym during the week. J & I will be on similar schedules and the location is close to our home and near school. Hopefully it will be a fantastic fit! 

- I also had 3 cysts removed and had stitches for each one. Two were on my chest which made it difficult to nurse at times. One was on my hip and praise be to God that the lab results came back normal.

- Confession: We purchased a Nose Frida Snot Sucker. I absolutely love sucking the snot out of her nose. She gets so congested that I feel very accomplished when I clear her nasal passages. These accomplishments make me feel like superwoman haha.

Month Four

I was fortunate to stay home with you a lot during this past month. The South had some crazy winter weather and my office was closed probably more than it needed to be. Atlanta basically shut down, but all of our friends and family were safe. The winter storms brought us your first snow! Like the fantastic parents we are, we did not play in it or get any pictures with it. It totally kills me that we did not take advantage of this, but we both had pretty bad colds and your father was adamant about not taking unnecessary chances. I was also told by your teachers at school that we are their favorite parents. Assuming they do not tell everyone this, J and I had to laugh about it. Their reasoning is that we are totally honest and upfront about things and not delusional. This is very, very true. They seemed to enjoy hearing about how your father said I looked like a meth addict who had been up all night when he saw me the next morning after the night from hell. You are doing so well at school and we have been very happy with it so far.

Sleep: Sleep is such a sketchy thing. You started off month four sleeping through the night (for the most part). Then you began waking up to eat around 4-6 AM, which was not so bad since your dad gets up around that time to go to work. Four months to the day you were born (literally), you started waking up twice during the night. You would wake anywhere from 11 PM to 1 AM. I honestly attributed it to the shots you had that day or even the four month sleep regression. We moved you into a convertible Wombie sleep suit because you started rolling from back to belly. The first few nights were crazy with you occasionally sleeping on your stomach and sometimes it would wake you up. Since it’s been a few weeks, it’s gotten so much better. I am sure you would be fine in your Magic Melin suit, but it’s so fluffy that it freaked me out with the whole rolling skill. We put you to bed either asleep or somewhat drowsy. If we put you down and you are still awake, we may give you a paci. You continue to not be a good napper. Yesterday at school you slept for forty minutes around lunch and forty minutes in the afternoon.

During this month we also experience what your father and I lovingly call the night from hell. Your dad fed you and then you screamed your cute little head off and refused to go to bed. Mom came in to nurse you and you continued to scream. Your tummy felt gassy (or so I thought because really I have no idea what a gassy tummy feels like) so we gave you gas drops. Then you proceeded to throw up all over me. You would only quiet down if we held you and walked around the house. About the time we realized this, I received word that work was closed for the next day so your father escaped to the bedroom to get some sleep. I cannot walk for hours on end and you started crying again. Dad and I put you in the car to drive around. Yes, we were those parents and it worked - until we came back home and tried to put you in your crib. At this point, your father moved us downstairs and he went back to bed as he had work in a few hours. I walked you around the house for a while and finally was able to settle into our recliner with you sleeping on my chest. That lasted for a couple of hours until you work up screaming. I walked around with you a bit more and then decided to try the swing. You fussed for 15 minutes as I gave you a paci to use and then you were out! When dad came down to go to work we moved you into your napper and went back upstairs so I could sleep in my bed. Finally. You woke up a few hours later like nothing and happened and you were all smiles. Really?! Since my office was closed for the day, but school was not, I took you to daycare and told your teachers “good luck!” The point of this long novel is to pay attention when you feed a baby with a bottle. If the baby finishes the bottle and is sucking in air while you watch Netflix on your ipad, you too can experience a night of hell with a gassy baby.

Clothes and Diapers, etc: You are pretty much in 3-6 month clothing. There are very few 3 month pants that fit you. We also moved you up to size 2 diapers. Forget Soothies or Wubbanubs! I never really wanted to get you hooked on pacifiers, but in reality you are not too fond of them. Your favorite pacis are the plain, basic ones. You pretty much chew on Wubbanubs when we give you one. We truly do not offer them to you a whole lot except maybe in the evenings if you fuss while we eat dinner or get ready for bed.

Bath: Bath time has become a much happier time for every member of our family. With the random cold weather, your skin was getting very dry so we started using Burt’s Bees lotion and now use lotion from the Honest Company. Thanks to the prescription shampoo you used, the cradle cap seems to have gone away. We also discovered that you and G Daddy have the same prescribed shampoo. Weird. It the cradle cap continues to stay at bay then we will go back to using the shampoo/body wash from the Honest Company.

Medical: At the beginning of this month you caught a yucky cold. At first we were convinced that it happened to get too cold in your room and we did not dress you properly for bed. Everyone else liked to blame school. You had a very stuffy nose and bad cough so we had to squirt saline up your nose and suck everything out. You loved it! In actuality, you despised it. We happened to be in Atlanta that weekend and Granny Fox and I caught the cold. About a week later, your father woke up with a horrid stomach virus. I threw you into the car and took you to school to get away from our house. That Friday evening, I caught the stomach virus and seriously wondered how on earth either of us could take care of you without you getting sick. J woke up feeling a bit better and I stayed away from you pretty much all day. You managed to miss out on the stomach fun and I am SO thankful you did!

Food: You are still EBF. I try and nurse you in the morning before work and in the evening before bed. Sometimes we will give you a bottle before bed depending on the time. Around 15 weeks, you had a crazy growth spurt and started to cry when you finished your bottles. Plus, you nursed a ton and I was constantly starving. We increased your feedings to 4.5 oz – such a big girl you are! I also changed to level 2 nipples for your bottles and you seem to be handling that well. We have the go ahead to try rice cereal, but since you show very little interest in food we are probably going to hold off for a bit longer. We attempt to put you in your high chair so you can sit with us at the table when we have time to sit and eat together. Some nights are better than others.
Stats: You weigh 14.6 lbs and are 24.5 inches long. Your head is 39.9 cm.

Development/Mannerisms: You have started to grasp objects and love your orange ball because you can easily grab it. Everything goes in your mouth and I mean everything. You chew on your hands like it’s going out of style. It was confirmed at your doctor’s appointment that your bottom gums are swollen so the teething process has begun. It makes sense because you are a drooling mess. You started off the month by rolling on your side and at 17 weeks you rolled onto your tummy. Thank the Lord it was literally right before bed. I came upstairs and your father was like “Hey. She just rolled on her stomach so I rolled her unto her back again.” I flipped out and he was all “What is this a big milestone?” I went over to you in the crib and you did it again! We put you into your convertible Wombie sleep suit as I was afraid that Magic Merlin suit would somehow be bad for you since you were rolling.
Appearance: You were born with a head full of dark brown hair and luckily your hair has remained. It has changed from dark brown into a much lighter brown color – more like your fathers. He said his hair turned blond when he was younger so we shall see if yours will too. Since you have spent so much time laying on the floor, in a swing, napper, etc. the hair on the back of your head has started to fall out. I will not lie to you – it is kind of awkward looking. J Your eyes are gorgeous! They are a beautiful, deep blue color. I know eyes can change colors (as mine did when I was younger), but J has amazing blue eyes so there is a chance yours may follow suit. Your eyebrows are still very light in color, but your lashes have started to grow. Woo hoo! The nails on your fingers grow so quickly and can get very sharp. In my humble opinion, you have a lot of ear wax as well.

Likes:
Play Mat at school and home
Your father – you love looking at him and have the biggest smiles for him
Chewing on anything and everything

Dislikes:
Gas – maybe dairy?
Your swing in the evening
Naps



All About Mom:
- Down 33.5 lbs from pregnancy. Still not sure when I will be able to use that gym membership.

- My awesome, long finger nails have disappeared.

- I am losing so (and I mean SO) much hair. It falls out all the time now. I knew this could happen and it started for me around 3 months post-partum.  

- Confession: I miss dates with my DVR. As soon as I get home in the evenings I am trying to get dinner ready, finish getting dinner ready or eating. Then it’s time to feed the foos, wash and sterilize bottles and pump parts, get pump bag packed, make labels and bottles for the next day, pack breakfast and lunches, get the coffee maker ready for the next morning, etc. We both get E ready for bed and one of us will feed her and put her to bed. Around this time, I usually take a shower and J gets in bed since he works such early hours. I may watch a bit of tv or Netflix while I pump before bed and then it’s lights out. I thrive on having a schedule/check list for the evenings, but the day is literally over before I know it. J helps out SO much. I have no idea what I would do if I was by myself or if he did not help. Guess I will find out in the next month or so since it is grass cutting season! It is totally worth it, but I sometimes daydream about the time I will have when I am no longer your food source. Oddly enough, it saddens me to think about it.

Month 3

I went back to work in January after 10 weeks with you at home. You also started school on the same day that Auburn played for the National Championship. Unfortunately, you and I were way more successful at going back to work and starting school than Auburn was at bringing home the win, but we love our tigers regardless! I also started using the “Moms On Call” app to assist with getting us on a routine schedule. It has been very helpful and I believe it greatly aided us in being able to get out of the house. As much as I miss being home with you, I get so excited to pick you up after work! It also gives me a sense of great accomplishment when we make it out the door in the morning, like I am a super mom or something.

Sleep: This month began with a sleep regression that resulted in a 5 hour stretch at night which amounted to me getting up 1-2 times a night. Luckily that only lasted a short while and you went back to sleeping 10 hours straight around 11 weeks. Glorious! At this point we decided to (lovingly) kick you out of our room and transition you into the crib in your room. At exactly 12 weeks old, you spent the night in your Wombie in your crib. Obviously you had so much more room to move about so you were a crazy wiggle worm that first night. I stalked you through our video monitor (which I LOVE) and your father and I decided to forgo the sleep sack. I feared that you would roll over on your stomach and I could not deal with that anxiety. For the next few nights you went without a sleep sack and it was okay, but not great. At our household we like to “go big or go home!” Clearly this is evident in our parenting as we switched you out of our room, into a new crib and without any sleep sack all at once. What is wrong with us?!? Surprisingly, you only had trouble falling asleep and would wake yourself up a few times with all the movements you continued to have. I decided to order another Wombie that freed your arms and a Magic Merlin sleep suit to try. The Merlin sleep sack reminds your father of the kid on the movie “A Christmas Story.” It’s so thick and allows you to move, but muffles the movement so you are not constantly waking up. You once again started sleeping through the night. Success! There have been a few times we have put you to bed awake and you have put yourself to sleep. You typically wake up in the morning and peacefully hang out until I come and get you. Although you are still not a great napper, you are doing much better. This past month we have gotten better about reading your tired cues. In addition to actually yawning, your eyes get a bit red and you will continually rub them when it’s bedtime.

Clothes and Diapers: You are in 3 month clothing and typically wear onesies to school. I have also discovered that it was a successful day if I pick you up from school in the same outfit you were dropped off in! You are a size 1 in the diaper world, but will be moving to size 2 soon. We began putting you in size 2 overnight diapers (they do not make them in a smaller size) when you go to bed or when we head on a longer car ride out of town. So far there have been zero leaks, but I’m sure something crazy will happen since I put that in writing. You wear Target brand diapers during the day and Pampers Dry at nighttime. We primarily use organic wipes from Earth’s Best or the Honest Company. I swear it helps keep diaper rash away!

Bath: Good news – we still bathe you! And it is still a family event with you, the two of us and the foos. Twice a week we attempt the craziness that is bath time. I seriously need to Google easy ways to bathe a baby. Bath time makes your parents want to drink.

Medical: We haven’t had any more blood issues so the GI specialist was not too concerned. Between you, myself and my medical degree from Google, I really think you are anti-most dairy. I still eat some, but have cut out a tremendous amount.

Food: You are still EBF. I try and nurse you in the morning before work and in the evening before bed. Sometimes we will give you a bottle before bed depending on the time. You currently take 3.5 oz per bottle and will eat anywhere from 3-4 bottles when you are at school.
Stats: You weigh 13 lbs and are 23.5 inches long. Your head is 39 cm. You had a big head when you came into this world. Yup.

Development/Mannerisms: Your fists are unclenched! You have now discovered your hands and love to chew on them and stick them in your mouth. The drooling has begun and you blow bubbles all the time. Such a pleasure you are to be around because you smile A LOT. You are a happy girl and we love to see that big gummy smile! Like mother, you love to stare at yourself in the mirror on your swing – you make yourself smile and are so happy to see yourself - so sweet and vain at the same time. J My favorite new development has been conversing with you. I will sit in front of you to talk to you and you get so excited and “baby talk” back. I always talk to you about school and explain what I am doing (making dinner, cleaning/prepping bottles, etc). I love it.


Likes:
Mommy Milk
Playing on the play mat
Chatting

Dislikes:
Dirty Diapers
Diaper Changes
Gas


All About Mom:
- Joined a gym. I have no idea when I have time to even attempt to work out, but it’s there when I can.
- Went back to work.