4 months old!

Wes is now 4 months old! I cannot believe how the time has flown and how much he has grown.  To be honest, I wish I could get those first 8-10 weeks back. I'm a much better mommy now then back then, I want to redo so much. Is this normal?

So what's happening with our little baby?

• Size/Weight: He has his doctor visit on the December 2nd, so we'll know all this then. But we're estimating he's at 15lbs and almost 26" long. (We'll see if we're right).

• Feeding: Wes is getting 6 feedings of 6oz per day. He seems happy with this and is definitely not overweight (he's still long and lean). We've decided to wait until January to introduce solids.

In case anyone is curious, I stopped breastfeeding at 10 weeks, when Wes started preferring his formula supplements to me. He would nurse, but then still be hungry and wouldn't nurse again but would take a bottle. I made the decision in haste one weekend and have regretted it ever since. Our lactation consultant told me I didn't need to supplement, but I refused the offer saying, "I'm happy." That was "post partum" Rosey talking -- one of the reasons I want to go back in time.  One of these days, I'll get over this decision but it still haunts me.  I keep telling myself that Baby #2 will have it better.

• Clothes: Wes has been in 6 month clothing since he was 2-1/2 months old. Anything with "feeties" (as I call them) don't last long because he's much longer than the average kid (I might start cutting the feet off some of his clothes so they last longer).

• Milestones: He smiles all the time. He does this with me and Matt all the time, but he's also started smiling at my mom & dad. You can tell he's recognizing certain people, and those he doesn't know as well he loves to study.  He loves sucking on his hands (found them for good last month), and has been staring at his feet a lot. When he "sits up" he'll grab for his feet. He also grabs my hair, my clothes, his burp cloth when it's near him, and his linky toys. He still HATES tummy time, but his neck strength is amazing. I can hold him upright without holding his head, and he can do tummy time on our arms and stomachs (just hates the floor, I guess he won't be crawling any time soon). He's started babbling - sometimes it seems like he's talking to us.

• Sleeping: At night, he's a solid 6-hour sleeper. He crept slowly from 2-3 hours (1-2 months) to 4-5 hours (3 months), and now to 6. Then he'll go back to sleep for another 3-4 hours. (He still gets 1 feeding per middle of the night).  He's also getting really consistent with his naps. We don't "schedule" him (instead doing baby-led feed/sleeps) but he always goes to sleep 1 hour after he gets up, again around 11-12, again around 3-4, and again around 6PM. The he's ready for bed around 830-9PM. He's creating his own schedule.  He still needs to be swaddled for sleeping (or will sleep in your arms, on your chest, in the baby carrier).

• Diapers: We're still cloth diapering and loving it.  We installed a diaper sprayer to our toilet (to spray the poo off) -- this is by far the worst part of cloth diapering, but it has to be done since formula poo is not water soluble (breastmilk poo is). He's graduated to the next size covers which should last him until potty training. Our 2 overnight pocket diapers with a 100% success rate (no leaks) have been Happy Heinys and One Size FuzziBunz. These just fit him the best.

Too much turkey?

After a long day of thanksgiving, Wes just pooped out in the car on the way home from my aunts. Here he is passed out on the changing table as I undress him for bed. I particularly love his hat that is over his face -- and his leg hanging off the table.
Anyway, this is what I am thankful for this Thanksgiving -- a beautiful new family. Thank you.

Thoughts on ironing

I ironed one of matt's shirts today.
I don't believe I've ironed a shirt since we've been married; the iron looked awfully new and shiny. Ironing is just one of those things I don't do. I cook, garden, now I watch the baby as a stay at home mom. I've been domesticated. But ironing is best left for the dry cleaners who wash, steam, and press matt's shirts and pants to a perfection never before seen.
I don't have an aversion to ironing, I just think it's the ultimate in house-wifery. An act I committed today. I can still remember my mom ironing all our clothes, including my dad's handkerchiefs. I repeat, handkerchiefs. Every time my dad complains about my mom shopping, I want to say, "She ironed your handkerchiefs, doesn't that make up for the credit card bill?"
So how did I happen to iron that shirt? Well, the baby took his morning nap on my chest as we snuggled on the chair & 1/2. Then I did laundry and when I removed the wrinkled shirt, a warm motherly feeling came over me and that said, the shirt was ironed.
Blame the baby.

Music class demonstration

Monday we went to our music class demo class. I was nervous because I had no idea how the baby would be - cranky, hungry... I always expect the worst.

When we got there, another class was just finishing up and I noticed that the youngest baby was at least 6-9 months old. But if we enroll for January, Wes will be almost 6 months by then.

Our demo class had 3 parents and 4 kids (a set of 9 month old twins who were about the size as Wes) and I got to see how fun this would be. We sing together, play instruments, and do fee dances -- all in 45 minutes. At first Wes was just wide eyed at it all (he's not used to other kids yet) and he couldn't keep his eyes off the twins. But after 2 songs, he got fussy and fell asleep on my shoulder...
And stayed asleep the rest of the class.

He slept during the free dance (I sat there and watched them dance). He slept during songs (I slept to him regardless). And he slept during instruments --much like the noise makers in the grinch (and here I am at home tip toeing around the house when he naps! Not anymore!)
Sent from my iPhone

Crack in the ceiling

Our living room doesn't normally look like this. Yes, the baby play things are a new addition but so is the scaffolding holding the ceiling up!
Our ceilings in this room have always sagged because of the trusses, but it wasn't until today that I looked up and saw a huge crack in the ceiling. Needless to say, I crapped my pants (sorry to be so blunt). My dad came over and hoisted the wall up, and Sunday the whole thing will get fixed (not just the crack, but the actual sagging ceiling.)
And just when you thought home improvement was done for a while...

Music class for babies

Am I ready for Playdates and Mommy & Me classes?

As the weather gets colder, and the walks in the stroller become few and far between (or non-existent), I have been researching things to do with a baby once the holidays are behind us.  I have this feeling that January - February - March will be these dreary, blistery days where I'm stuck in the house with a baby starving for conversation and Vitamin D.

I found some "Mommy" groups in my town, but I don't feel ready to go down that path...yet. And I don't want to "force" friendships with people just because they have a newborn.  So what should I do?

Music classes?  This seems to be the only thing my park district has for babies under 18 months old, so we've signed on.  We have a demo class tomorrow, 3 sing-a-long classes in December, and I plan on signing us up for the next session in January-March. They have a class especially for 0-9months that I hope I'm not too late in joining (I'm sure I'm not the only one dreading January.)

I hope tomorrow's demo class goes well and that Wes won't either be sleeping and/or cranky because he can't sleep...

Cutting a baby's nails (or "Trimming tiny moving daggers")

This is just one of the million things no one tells you about Baby Care. 

Sure, the books all say "cut their nails." And the lady at the hospital said, "Cut their nails."  But no one really tells you that cutting the nails of a 3 month old is like shooting at a bulls-eye blindfolded: you just clip clip clip and hope you get something resembling a nail and not a finger.  His little hands don't know how to stay still yet, or he's grabbing on to me while kicking me with his tiny doughy feet.  This small, somewhat trivial task, will eat up a whole morning.  No wonder I'm staying home, I have to cut my kid's nails.  And the only reason I'm cutting them is because he likes to grab my arm now and his tiny daggers almost punctured a vein.  Between his nails and the cats claws, I look like Gulliver after an attack by the Lilliputians. 

I could wait until he's ready to pass out for a nap, but my scarred arms are too busy rocking him to sleep. Maybe I'll enlist Matt's help... two gown ups holding tiny hands... could be comical.

It took me ten minutes to cut the baby's nails this morning.  I think I only succeeded at cutting 3 of them.  Only 7 more to go. That should occupy me until about 11AM.