Our Sweet Baby Boy Is 5 Months Already!

Weight:  16lbs 6.4oz

Height: 26.75 inches (he was blowing Alethea's numbers away, but the gap has narrowed to only being .25 inches taller than she was at 5 months)

Clothing: He is still wearing 3-6 month clothing and it seems like he is wearing more and more 6-9 month and 9 month clothing every day.

Who needs clothes anyway when you look this cute, lol!

Diapers: He is still rockin’ his cloth diapers.  He is getting close to needing to move up a rise, but not quite and we are beginning to have to change a bit more often because he is wetting heavier.

Gotta love a baby in a diaper :-)

Eating: He is nursing 5 or 6 times a day depending on if he sleeps completely through the night.  He is typically eating every 3-4 hours depending on how well he is napping and often times his last two feedings of the day are closer together.

Friendships: He still spends most of his time with family and is always a big fan of his sister.  In general he lights up around people.  He is a very smiley little guy.

Watching TV with Papaw

Big sis rocking him in the rocking chair. :-)

She provides him with some pretty awesome entertainment!

Mobility: He is rolling all over the place.  He also began sitting independently around 4.5 months.  The only time he tips over tends to be when he tries to look at something/someone behind him and loses balance.  He still can purposefully transfer from sitting to lying down, but he does it without hurting himself most of the time. 

My big boy sitting on his own

And doing a bit of toe grabbing. :-)

Sleeping:  I have to keep reminding myself that he is not going to be the same type of sleeper his sister was.  Once she started sleeping through the night, she just did, and she rarely even made noise at night.  He is very streaky with his nighttime sleep though and his sleeping through the night is rarely as glorious as the 12 to 13 hours she always used to do.  I guess it just proves how you can do the same training, but end up with different results because each child is different.  Declan typically nurses to sleep around 7:15pm and 8pm most nights (typically closer to 7:30pm) and then most every night he sleeps until at least 5:30am.  That is where the streakiness happens.  Many days he will wake up at 5:30ish to nurse and then go back to sleep until 7ish, but then other nights he will wake up anywhere from 6am to 7:15 and be up for the day.  He is so unpredictable!  Plus he tends to be a random night crier.  Most of the time he is only making noise for a few minutes and goes right back to sleep but it still disturbs my sleep. :-/  He is also crazy sporadic with his naps. Some days he takes 3-4 30-45 minute naps and other days he will take 2 1-2hour naps with the occasional 30 minute nap to tide him over til bedtime.  So basically we don’t really plan around naps anymore; we just do what we need to and make sure there is a place for him to sleep if needed.

Sleeping like Alethea always loved to....this hasn't been a repeat performance though :-)

Playtime: We retired his playmat by the end of the month.  He would rather sit up and play or have the freedom to roll around without bars in the way. J  His independent play has gotten so much better.  We have a ninja turtle reading pillow that we put behind him and he will sit and play with toys for quite some time by himself.  This makes for perfect opportunity to play with Alethea or get something done.  Alethea and Declan also do a ton of playing together.  She very much enjoys dressing him up or bringing him toys and, most of the time, he enjoys it too. J  He still loves the jumperoo as well and especially loves to chew on the firefly toy attached to it.  He has officially discovered his love for chewing on his socks/toes and at diaper changing time that is about all he wants to do, lol.  He is starting to really enjoy looking at books.  I have had a chance to read a little bit to him by himself, but many times he just sits in my lap while I read to him and Alethea.  Sometimes it can be quite the task to keep him from trying to eat the pages though, which she isn’t so much a fan of, lol.

He loves this learn and groove!

Playing in his low chair ;-)

Jumping it out while Mommy lifts weights :-)

Communication:  He is very quick to change moods.  He goes from happy to ticked off in a matter of seconds and then back down often times just as quick.  Thankfully many times just a simple smile or goofy dance can bring him back to a happy mood.  He loves to watch people and does a ton of cooing to respond to their interactions.  He has started a bit of growling and throaty coos this month.  He still has his sweet purr-like cooing too which I love.

Showing off his communication skills while playing with a ribbon.

Teeth: Still no teeth, still a chewer, and still plenty of drool to go around. 

Random: He celebrated his first Halloween and went along for trick or treating with his sister.  We just had him wear a cute sleeper that said “my first Halloween” and had a pumpkin hat to go with it.  He slept in his real crib for the first time this month on November 15^th, the day we finally moved into our new home.  He also sat in a high chair for the first time this month and he loved it!  I can’t believe he will be eating in a high chair in about a month.  He will definitely be ready because he is super interested in our food already!

My little pumpkin

It says boo on his feet. :-)

Gotta love that sister!

Love this!

And one last dose of cuteness eating the faucet at our new house. :-)

4 months old!

Weight: 15lbs 8oz

Height: 26.5inches

Clothing: All of his 0-3 month clothing has officially been packed away.  Even the two piece clothing won’t fit on him. He is now wearing all 3-6 month clothing with the occasional 6-9mos or 6-12 month shirts. We have to roll up long sleeves a bit, not because they are long, simply because he wants ends up with the cloth in the way of chewing on his hands when he sleeps, lol.

playing and wearing the last 0-3 month outfit to get packed away

Diapers: He is still in cloth all the time….no disposables since the diapers from the hospital. J  He had his first diaper rash this month because unfortunately he pooped in his sleep at night and woke up with a bit of a burn-like rash.  Thankfully it was nothing CJs Butt Butter couldn’t handle.

:-)

Eating: He is still nursing 5-7 times a day depending on if he sleeps through the night as well as how well he naps throughout the day.  He is eating every 2.5 to 4 hours during the day and his longest stretch is anywhere from 9 to 12.5hrs at night.

eating his hand is fun as well

and blankets too :-)

Friendships: He loves his big sister and thankfully the feeling is still mutual.  He lights up every time he sees her and very often giggles at whatever she is doing.

running buddies

swinging together for the first time

she said she was wrapping him up as a present, lol

She is his on the road entertainment

Mobility: He is officially a rolly polly. He rolled from back to belly for the first time 10/13/13. Now we can hardly keep him on his back since he is a big fan of his belly.   He has also starting traversing his crib at night even to the point of playing on his back for a while happily awake in the middle of the night (not so much fun for Mommy).  He is quite the scooter and I don’t think it will be long before he is army crawling.

He is a fan of this position

Sleeping: He has been pretty streaky this month with his nighttime sleep.  He has slept through the night for two non-consecutive week streaks.  I am not really holding my expectations high for sleep until we have a bit more consistency in our lives.  He has been sleeping in two different houses which means two different beds.  Plus when we are at my grandparents, he is sleeping in the same room as my parents.  He will sleep through the night regularly eventually. J  And really waking up at 5 or 6am and then going back to sleep is pretty darn good as far as I am concerned!  He has declined in his napping unfortunately.  We are getting very sporadic long naps and can no longer count on his long afternoon nap.  Many days we are seeing three or four 30 min naps and that is it.  He isn’t cranky as a result (most of the time), but it can make for a long day.  One nice thing is that he is putting himself to sleep pretty much all of the time, which seems to be his preference because it takes him a lot less time to fall asleep.  During the day he is averaging 1.5 to 2 hours of awake time between naps except in the evenings it tends to be more like 2-3 hours before bed.

He still occasionally sleeps on someone, but it's rare

After a 360 turn, he came face to face with the camera one night 

so now it is officially mounted on the wall

Playtime: He still loves to “chat” with people whenever he can.  He loves to be tickled and to play “eat your feet” (meaning his toes go to his mouth).  He really enjoys his time in his jumperoo and is to the point where his feet finally touch the ground without a pillow underneath.  He still continues to enjoy his playmat quite a lot and he very much intentionally grasps and/or bats at the toys hanging from it.  He has begun to grab the toys and attempt to chew on them.  He loves reading books as well as eating his cloth books.  Alethea has even been “reading” to him.  Pretty much anything cloth (towels, blankets, etc) he loves to chew on. 

Alethea reading to Declan

Communication:  He definitely communicates what he wants now.  He can go from calm to mad very quickly if he gets hurt or doesn’t like what is going on.  He still coos and screeches a lot as well as makes a sound that almost seems reptile-like, lol.  It is pretty funny when he makes some of the sounds because they must tickle his throat and make him cough.  He is still super smiley and giggles a ton as well so we get plenty of happy communication too.

Love this smiley boy

                                            

He loves to screech, lol

Teeth: No teeth yet, but he chews on everything and is a drooling machine so I would imagine he has at least some pre-teething going on. 

He loves the monkey just like his sister did

Random: He went in a swing at the park for the first time this month and he absolutely loves it.  We still mostly just have him sit and barely move the swing much, but he loves it nonetheless.  He also sat briefly in a high chair at a restaurant just for fun for the first time this month.  We just did it to see if he could actually sit up in it yet.  It we had a blanket to prop him, I think he would have been quite happy to sit in it.  Just like his sister, he loves to be sitting up and looking at his surroundings.  I can already see the evidence that he is taking it all in!

Just a swinging! 

He loves it :-)

                                         

Swinging!

September Update

Wow! The month of September flew by!  It was full of so many new things and lots of inconsistency.  No routines for us pretty much, lol.  I guess that is what happens when you are living between two locations and traveling 1.5 hours every four days or so.  All month long we have spent most Mondays through Wednesdays in Louisville and then Thursday through Sunday at my parents’ lake house in Rough River.  I am pretty much burnt out on all the traveling so, even though I love the low stimulation that the lake house provides for the kids and I, I am going to do a lot less back and forth next month.

Reading with Mamaw at the lake

Eating s'mores at the lake

fire!

House in progress...the reason we are living out of suitcases right now :-)

Ben officially started his new job this month on the 9^th.  The majority of the month was training in the office and getting acquainted with what he would be doing, but by the end of the month he was able to get out to the power plants some.  He has really enjoyed it so far and is looking forward to the challenge of growing in this career.  It has been an adjustment for all of us since he tends to work much longer hours than we were used to with the Navy.  We were a bit spoiled in his last few months with the Navy because of some really short hours so having him not get home until 6pm some days is pretty crazy.  I know it’s not that unusual for the normal work force, but it will just take us some time to adjust to our new normal.

It has been  a month of adjusting to change for me.  I am not a person who likes change a lot and especially not last minute changes.  To make a long story short, we have had a lot of changes, many of which have been last minute changes and that has been pretty stressful for me.  Thankfully, as long as my parents are in town, they have been able to help watch the kiddos so I can still get my exercising in to destress, but it has still be hard for me.  I love all the time we are able to spend with family and the extra help they provide, but I am very much looking forward to moving into our new home and truly being able to start our life here in this new city…and to finally have a bit of consistency and schedule.  I have been able to do a lot of help with the cooking, especially for big family dinners with my brothers and sister- in-law, which I have really enjoyed. 

Reading with Grandaddy

Snuggles with Granpeg

Swinging with Papaw

Reading with Papaw

The kiddos have been doing great, especially in light of all the traveling and changes this month.  Alethea definitely still does not really understand what is going on yet…at least we don’t think she does.  She talks a lot about going to church and seeing her friends.  (We haven’t been going to church this month because we have been spending the weekends in Rough River, just our family of 4.)  She frequently tells us she is going to see her friends and loves her friends.  She talks about Molly, Eli, Laura, Abigail and Elise a lot and doesn’t quite get why we can’t go see them.  Unfortunately, given our circumstances, she has not had any contact with kids her own age which we are hoping will change next month as we start visiting churches and searching for opportunities for her to socialize.   I think that is the hardest part of the whole moving process is watching her come to grips with not being able to see her friends.  It definitely breaks my heart, and often brings a tear to my eyes, to hear her talk about her friends in such a sweet way.

Gardening at Granpeg and Grandaddy's

She caged herself in Apollo's cage, lol

Helping pick watermelon

Sitting in Grandaddy's recliner

Eating on the deck at the lake

A house divided...but not really :-)

Running is good for all of us :-)

In other news, she is continuing to grow like a weed.  Just when I think she is going to slow down her growth some, she has another growth spurt, lol.  At 31 months she was 39.75inches tall and 34lbs which makes her off the charts for height still and average in weight.  This makes for crazy clothes shopping for her especially due to the fact that she seems to have a long torso in proportion to her legs and she has no butt to keep pants up.  So, as a result, she wears 4T and 5T shirts, 3T and 4T dresses, and then 3T and 4T pants (and still 2T in shorts and skirts).  I am so glad, I stopped buying clothes ahead of time a long time ago because I never would have guessed she would be 2.5, but in sizes almost twice her age, lol!

"Take a picture of me!"

Such a big girl!

She can ride a tricycle on her own :-)

This month has also brought a lot of typical two year old issues.  Plus I am sure some of the behavior issues are linked to her dealing with all the changes and emotions associated with those changes, the best way a two year old can.  The first issue we have been struggling with is the fact that she has really been fighting naps.  We shifted the nap back to 2pm and had success with her napping better for the first part of the month, but that last week or so she only took 2 naps the whole time.  She can be yawning like crazy, but just throws a party in her bed come nap time, lol.  It can get a bit frustrating at times, but I am just hoping this phase passes soon.  My prayer is that, once we move into our new house and there is much less stimuli, she will nap better.  The other issue we have been dealing with is typical curiosity of a 2 year old in a house that has 4 levels for her to get into.  It can be a bit much at times to keep up with her and keep her out of trouble.  I am not enjoying the increased about of disciplining and getting on her case I have had to do. L  As a result of all the craziness I have been much more impatient with her and I have been struggling with a bit of Mommy guilt about my attitude towards her this past month.  I have really been trying to work on my attitude and responding more lovingly, even amidst disciplining her.

Oh, just reading in the drawer of her play baby bed :-)

Snuggles with my babies 

She has continued to amaze us with her grasp of language and concepts.  It has been fun to see her pick up on different phrases that she has heard and make connections to come up with her own phrases.  The other day one of my grandparents friends came to the house and my brother invited them in, but they were reluctant to come in.  So Alethea decided to say, “Well you could at least come inside and say hi to the puppies!”, lol.  Another funny one was when my dad used his nickname for me which is “sis” and Alethea mimicked the phrase my dad used putting her own twist on it and she said “isn’t that right sissy poo”.   The “sissy poo” part was her own adaptation that I believe she took from me jokingly saying “sissy poo” while pretending Declan is talking to Alethea. J  Those are just a few of the funny things that come out of our sweet little girl.  She always keeps us on our toes and often keeps us laughing out loud!

Such a good big sister

Getting messy at the playground

Building in the sand at the park

Swinging at the park

Making "soup" at the park

One month of waiting down, a little over one to go!  Thankfully we have definitely learned that God blesses the waiting and we are looking forward to seeing what He has in store for October.