Peanut Smiles

William 5 Months

July 25, 2015November 18, 2017 peanutsmiles

Dear William,

Five months old little buds! You are becoming such a fun and interactive little guy. Time is funny thing. In my mind, you’re still just a little baby. It blows my mind that you’re going to be six months next month and will start sitting up and eating food soon.

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Eating Nursing continues to go well. You nurse between 6 and 7 times a day; every 3 hours or so. I have no idea how much you eat each time, but my guess is between 4-5 ounces. You typically do much better in quiet environments with little distractions and rarely spit up or burp. If you do burp, it is usually 20-30 minutes later. You have started to show lots of interest in our food. You’re constantly reaching for my food or plate. I have given you little crumbs here and there and you spit them out. //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

Sleep

This month has been long and hard on the sleep front. You were sleeping great and even through the night about 50% of the time and then daycare started and you haven’t slept through the night since. Part of this it is from our swaddling inconsistency. We stopped swaddling at night to help transition to the lack of swaddle at daycare, but that didn’t go well, so we tried to swaddle at night. But, you got used to no swaddle and would try to break out of it while sleeping; which would wake yourself up. It felt like a lose lose situation. Then, you got sick and were waking up several times throughout the night and haven’t reverted back to your typical sleeping patterns of just waking up once or not at all. Hard times bud, hard times. Typically you go to bed between 8 and 9, wake up around midnight and 4:30. Naps very greatly between home and daycare. At home, you usually take a morning, afternoon and evening nap for 1-2 hours. At daycare, you usually only take a morning nap and we’re luck if you sleep for 30 minutes.

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Development

You discovered your toes this month. At the beginning of the month you would occasionally bring them up to your hands and by the end of the month, you were grabbing and rolling with them. When we change your diaper, you instantly bring those toes up and smile in pride that you’ve grasped them.

You haven’t figured out rolling over either way. You’re getting closer to doing so from back to tummy, but your arm still gets in the way. As a result, you often spin your body in circles all over the place. You really dislike tummy time. We are working on spending more time on your tummy but you just don’t like it. You have rolled many many times from tummy to back, but I still think it is a coincidence with the help of gravity as you never roll when you’re really ticked off.

You’re a master of reaching toys and grabbing them–particularly with your playmat and on your car seat. I love driving and hearing the little vibration from the frog that you’ve just pulled.

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You love to be held and carried around the house. I’ve tried holding you on my hip a couple times, but you’re not quite big enough and do much better being held outwards. Daddy is worried about you becoming a ‘hold-me-baby’; I like to think you’re just making up from not being with us in the day. You particularly like to be held during the witching hour, right when we get home each day, which is always challenging as I’m trying to get organized, make dinner and then get you and Lexi to bed. You wear size 3 diapers and 6 month and 9 month clothes. You still have your little bald spot on the back of your round noggin–but hair is starting to grow. Also, you hair is getting lighter by the month. Crazy to think you were born as a dark-haired little nugget. You recognize faces and light up in delight whenever you see me. You also respond to your name. When I call your name, you look up, lock eyes and smile. You’ve also started to vocalize a bit more. You love to coo and ‘talk’ to Mommy, Lexi and Daddy.

Daycare Oh William, you are adored at daycare. Mrs Laura and Mrs Heather just love your huge open-mouthed smiles. You are so good-natured and are getting more and more vocal. You need to work on your napping there though. When you do actually nap, it is usually in the swing or a bouncer and rarely transfer to the crib very well. For as a hard of a time as I had the first couple of days, I’m really loving you being there. I absolutely love being able to come down and nurse you, get in my cuddles and then not have to deal with some of the more challenging aspects like the poopy diaper blowouts and the crying. I really feel I have the best of both worlds and feel so blessed to have you in such good hands at work. On the flip side, you have pretty much been sick since you started. You caught your first cold 4 days in and it really hasn’t gone away. At the end of this month, you also got sick; had a stuffy nose, watery eyes, cough/sneeze and a fever for 3 days. //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

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You love to constantly move, smile, be held and have our attention. We love you to pieces William.

Love, Mama //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

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William, William Monthly Updates

William Month 4

June 25, 2015 peanutsmiles

William,

Oh sweet babes, this has been a very eventful month for our family. The two most notable events include your baptism and daddy’s new job, which means the beginning of daycare for you and Lexi. I have been a roller coaster of emotions, but know it is a really good thing for all of us; we just need to get through the transition. Although I’ve felt like this for a while, I feel you’re officially out of newborn stage and into fun baby stage. We’ve learned each other’s rhythms, you aren’t quite as fragile as you used to be, aren’t having blowouts multiple times per day, go longer stretches without eating and the biggest is pretty good head control. You’re still a little bobble head from time to time, but it makes such a difference when I can carry you around upright opposed to cradled in my arm.

Sleep

Pre-daycare sleep was going pretty good. You would sleep anywhere from 6-9 hours at night and take 3 naps that usually lasted between 1.5 -2 hours. At night you were swaddled in the sleep sack with the Velcro flaps and naps were with the muslin blanket. You loved to try and sneak those arms out, which usually resulted in shorter naps, but when we got you really tight or had you lay on your hands you would pull some 2+ hour naps. Heaven!

Once daycare started sleep went to the wayside. There are a lot of noises, distractions and they can’t swaddle and you wake when you flinch from a noise. You went from sleeping 4-6 hours a day in naps to about an 1.5 total You’ll often fall asleep in the swing or in Mrs. Heather or Mrs. Laura’s arms and then be put into your crib only to wake up 10-20 minutes later. You are so exhausted by night, you’ve been going to bed around 8:30. Length of sleep changes every night. Some nights you’ll sleep until 1 or 2 or all the way to 6. It is really different every night. Hoping this next month brings us some more consistency!

One positive benefit of the lack of sleep you’ve been getting is you’re turning into more of a snuggler. You love to rest your head on my shoulder and just snuggle. I can’t help but kiss and squeeze you 700 times, especially because you’ve been a pretty independent sleeper for the past 4 months.

//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.jsEating Nursing For the most part nursing is going really well. You very from these times but for the most part, you nurse at 6:30, 10:00, 1:30, 4:30, 8:30 and 2:00. You continue to be a mover while eating, especially those little hands. You give them all sorts of exercises, as they are moving all over the place. One of the best benefits of having you in the daycare center at my work is the ability to go down and nurse instead of pumping. Two built in excuses to give you extra snuggles and cuddles everyday and not feel like a milk machine. It is amazing. I have two times scheduled on my calendar everyday and if you’re hungry before, they’ll just send me a message to let me know you’re ready. Truly, no words to describe how wonderful that is to see you multiple times throughout the day and still be able to work. We are so blessed that this all worked out so well. //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.jsMilestones//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.jsNear the beginning of the month (June 5th) you were baptized at the same church as Lexi and where Mommy and Daddy got married. Lots of important moments and memories for our family here. I couldn’t have asked for a better celebration. You wore a family heirloom gown that is 60 years old and were the 30th baby baptized in it! You did an excellent job during the ceremony with a minor whimper and then snoozed in my arms for the rest of the service, which was all about love. Your grandparents and great grandparents, Godparents (Uncle Joe and Aunt Teresa) and Aunt Sheila were all there to help you celebrate and then came over to our house for dinner and cake.

The other major milestone that occurred this month was the beginning of daycare. Dada took a new job opportunity and when there was an opening at the daycare at work, we jumped on it. I had lots of anxiety about this transition as I knew it was going to be challenging and from my perspectives there were so many perks to him being home. But there were also a lot of challenges for him so we thought we would give it a shot. Two weeks in and you are doing great, which I had no doubts about. Mrs. Heather and Mrs. Laura adore you and love how you are just a happy little baby and can’t get enough of your big smiles. I have to agree. Your whole face lights up when you smile and your joy radiates. Truly, the best little guy! The biggest challenge for you has been sleep. You went from two 2-hour naps a day to three 20-minute naps. You have a hard time staying asleep as you flinch and wake yourself up. Fortunately, you do a pretty good job falling asleep. You are often put down in your crib awake and you’ll play and look around for 20 minutes or so, but eventually you’ll fall asleep on your own without a whole lot of whimpers or tears. You did also catch your first cold after week one. I took you to the Dr. to make sure you didn’t have an ear infection, but you looked very healthy aside from the cold. I fully anticipate a lot of sickness this year—but trying to recognize the positives of building up your immunity now verses later. And like I mentioned above, the ability to nurse and cuddle you several times throughout the day really makes me feel like I have the best of both of the stay at home mom and the working mom roles.

//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.jsDevelopment At the beginning of the month, you started reaching for toys and would successfully grab them about half of the time. By the end of the month you can grab toys at each attempt. You love to lay on your playmat and watch your star and play with toys on your car seat bar. In line with your fine motor skills, you love to take your nuk out. As soon as it goes in your little hands are up there and ready to take it out, which of course makes you upset. Learn to keep it in bud. You enjoy standing ( of course with help) You have great head control and do a good job in the Bumbo chair, but we have a feeling, you may start to squirm out of it pretty quickly You love to play peek-a-boo and it usually results in some good belly laughs. We need to do a better job of reading more books to you, but when we do, you really seem to like it You are able to roll both ways, however, I think they have been unintentional because there are a lot of instances where you are pretty upset, but don’t roll over. We also haven’t seen you roll from back to stomach, but there have been a few times where we put you on your back and come back to find you on your stomach. //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

Notes:

weight: 15 lbs 13.6 oz (58%)
height: 25 1/2″ (65%)
head circumference: 16 1/2″ (58%)
wear size 3 diapers and 6 month clothes with some 9 month PJs
You’re still battling some acne on each of your cheeks. Blemishes will come and go, but there never seems to be a point where there isn’t anything
Poops about once a day

We love you William!

Love,

Mama

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Lexi, William

First Day of Daycare

June 16, 2015 peanutsmiles

To my two little munchkins,

Today was your first day of daycare and you two blew away my expectations. To say I was nervous was a complete understatement. I was nervous about waking both of you up in the morning and how difficult it was going to be to get out the door. You both woke up super cheerful and were cooperative in getting ready and out the door. The drive in was a little long as there was some bad traffic due to an accident, but the carpool lane was A-Mazing and reduced our ride in by at least 15 minutes. I will gladly take that perk!

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Once we arrived to school, we dropped William off with his teachers and Lexi was very shy, just looking at the floor and hugging giraffee and not really talking, which is what made me so nervous.

Lexi, you are such a shy, sweet and timid little girl I was scared you were going to be terrified that I was leaving you alone, that you wouldn’t make any friends and would get plowed over by the more aggressive kids as I’ve seen happen at parks or with other kids. I was literally a blubbery mess all morning while dropping you off. You totally blew my socks off with how brave you were and how quickly you adjusted. Initially, you clung to my leg a little but you got comfortable really quick and were OK while I left to go check on William.

Little William, although you are my little baby, I was only worried a pinch about you. You are such a happy and content little dude, I knew the teachers would love listening to you talk and die over you huge and frequent smiles. I was a little nervous about how you would do with the sleeping as we have been swaddling you for the past 4 months and they aren’t allowed to swaddle at daycare and you can get pretty worked up if you’re over tired. Fortunately, you did great and will just need to slowly ease into the new sleeping arrangements. Also, I need to mention how awesome it is to get messages throughout the day letting me know what you’re doing and when you’re hungry and I can just come down and feed you and then head back. I’m really hoping you start to get on a more regular routine so I can block my calendar to come down and feed and not have to pump! When I came down to feed you the first time, you saw me and instantly lit up and gave me a huge smile and it was the best feeling ever. It was just the reassurance I needed after I had been a nervous and crying ball of emotions for the past 4 hours.

No exaggeration here. After I dropped you both off and went to my car, I sat and tried to make myself presentable but kept welling with tears at every thought of you two kiddos. I finally managed to walk into the office, only to well up 7 more times as I thought about you or someone asked how I was doing. Honestly, couldn’t even get words out. So I went downstairs, got a mint hot chocolate, my fav., and worked on this post until I was able to feed William.

After feeding William, I peeked on Lexi quick and she saw me and excitedly yelled, ‘MAMA!’ came over and gave me a big hug and was jumping up and down and telling me all the fun she was having, which again made me feel 1000 times better. After a quick hug, Lexi sat down for lunch waved goodbye and were as happy as could be.

Those were just the interactions and reassurance I needed to help relieve some of my anxiety and quit becoming a puddle of tears.

The end of the day was just as good. Lexi was overjoyed to see me and was bursting with energy for the rest of the evening talking about the fun things she did.

I pray that tomorrow and the next several days go as well as today did.

Love,

Mama

William, William Monthly Updates

William 3 Months

May 25, 2015 peanutsmiles

Mr. William,

Three whole months of life on this earth with us and you are a charmer. This month brought us laughter, more sleep, the beginning tendencies of a schedule and the return of work for mama.

Sleep

We’re still working on what ‘normal’ is for you as it will be similar for a couple of nights and then you’ll change it up. I lost my notes on how you were sleeping at the beginning of the month, so unfortunatly I don’t have anything to report there, but I have a feeling you really won’t care. Over the last two or weeks or so, I swaddle you, feed you and put you to bed around 11:30. You would typically wake up somewhere between 4:00 and 9:00–hows that for specific? For any of the 4-6:30 wake ups, you ate quick and went right back to bed. (We quit doing middle of the night diaper changes about a month ago). If you woke up anytime after 6:30, you would eat, change your diaper and then come downstairs and play for an hour or so and then be ready for another nap. For the past 5 nights or so, you’ve slept until 8 or 9 which has been heavenly. The 4:30 feedings were pretty difficult on work mornings, because that meant I was up for the day. One night, you even slept until 10:15 for daddy! 11 hours little bud, wahoo!

Similarly, you’re not consistent enough to have regular naps times yet. Most days you take your first nap about an hour or so after you wake up. You start to get winey and fussy and get very heavy eyed when you’re ready for a snooze. Once this happens, we typically take you upstairs swaddle you in an aden + anis muslin blanket lay you down, put your pacifier in, turn the sound machine on and close the door and you almost always fall asleep within in a minute or two. You also love to stare at your ceiling fan which helps you fall asleep. You’ll sleep somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour and 15 min or so. Occasionally, you’ll sleep for 2+ hours, which is amazing, but also very rare. You’re not a huge carseat sleeper. You will fall asleep in it, but only if it is close to your nap time and usually wake up within an hour or if we bring you in the house or change your environment (i.e. leave the car to go in a store). In addition to your morning nap you’ll also have one in the afternoon maybe around 2:00ish, another around 6:00ish and then again around 9:00ish. You almost always are put to sleep awake and are very happy when you wake. You’ll whimper a little but rarely do you have angry crys. There are occasions where you get overtired and are too fussy to be put to sleep awake, in which I’ll put a blanket around your face and then walk and bounce you, shush in your ear and hold your really tight and you’ll calm down and fall asleep within 2-5 minutes. You’re not a huge fan of the rocking chair and only fall asleep nursing before bed or middle of the night feedings. So crazy how kids are so different.

Eating

You are a fantastic eater little bud. So glad we got over that first month hump. I was honestly thinking I may not be able to breastfeed you. Before heading back to work, you ate every 2 hours on the dot–with the exception at night when you would sleep longer stretches. Upon returning to work, Daddy has been able to stretch you out to 3-4 hours between each feeding, with lots of help from sister. For bottle feedings you’re usually downing 4 to 5 ounces and take 2-3 bottles while I’m at work.

Each morning, I pump both sides before leaving and get 7-8 ounces on the right side and 2-4 ounces on the left, depending if you slept through the night or not. While at work I pump twice, once at 10:00 getting 3-4 ounces and again at 1:30 and get about 5 ounces. One thing to note is how much you move while eating. You’re constantly moving your hands and kicking and popping on and off, which makes it difficult to know if you’re done or just taking a break. You also dispise being burped. We try and burp half way through a feeding and you almost always cry and get upset that your precious food is being taken away from you.

Development and personality

You found your hands this month and love to suck on them or really anything. You continue to love your pacifier but often choose to spit it out and suck on your hands instead.

Tummytime can be a hit or miss. If you’re in a good happy mood (i.e. slept, fed and changed) you do great and love to push your self up and look around. About half of the time you’ll roll over onto your back. We’ve also started to hear little giggles escape from you. They are seriously the best! These sweet noises are usually an outcome of Lexi being in your face or us tickling you. And, oh my stars, are you ticklish, I love it! Specific spots include your belly, on your side right behind your arm, your feet, your neck and the chunky little rolls that are starting to develop on your legs. You also adore your star on your play mat and will happily just listen to the music and watch the light flash. While doing this you’ve started to reach for toys or you accidentally hit them with your reflexes–either way you’re discovering new things. On that note, daddy says you love music. You regularly listen to ‘rock in roll’ while he is working and it usually mellows you out and you just sit in your bouncer and enjoy.

Overall, you are just a happy little guy and such a good baby. Whenever you see mine or daddy’s face, you gleam in excitement and give us the biggest open-mouthed closed-eye smile. You’ll be whining and fussing and I’ll come over to check on you and give you your pacifier and you light up in delight the moment you see our face and just want to be played. Melts my heart sweet boy!

Other notes

You wear size 2 diapers and mostly 3-6 month clothes. Although, the length of the 3-6 month clothing is starting to get a little tight–especially outfits with footies.
Your name seems to be a topic of discussion among most people. We hear lots of positive remarks about what a good, strong and regal name it is, quickly followed by ‘What are you going to call him’? So far we are sticking to ‘William.’ It may change as you get older, but for now we’re calling you by your full name.
You do a great job in the bath. I’ve started to get in the bath with you as the little baby tub is just awkward. You love to lay back and float and kick your little legs.
You love your mama and seem to sense when I’m around or when I leave, and I secretly love that. You do fine with daddy and others, but I can calm you down better and faster than anyone.

Happy 3 months little guy! I miss you so much while I’m work but so happy your at home with Daddy having fun! Can’t wait to see what this next month brings us.

Love,

Mama

Day to Day, Uncategorized, William

Thoughts on the end of maternity leave round 2

May 13, 2015 peanutsmiles

Dear future self,

I have one day left before maternity leave ends and it hit me like a sack of potatoes today. Yesterday, I felt the wind up, but today I was hit. There is a part of me that is sad that these cute munchkins aren’t going to see my face in the morning, nor do I get to see theirs or smell their morning breath or hear William’s little cries or Lexi rattling our door open. I have truly adored our lazy relaxing mornings when we all snuggle in bed together and get a few more minutes to sleep while Lexi watches videos of herself. Which is followed by a leisurely breakfast and staying in pajamas until noon. And staying in pajamas until noon sounds cliche, but really, to get out of the house anytime before 11 was really challenging.

Most of what I feel is anxiety about what is too come. There is the fairly trivial questions racing through my mind at any given moment, What will our new schedule be like? Will I continue to leave the house before eyelids have lifted? Will Bill and I have 2 minutes of time for ourselves? But, a big part of that anxiety is fear. Being a working mom was challenging; how much harder is it going to be to have two? I fear the pressure to be more proactive about meal planning. I dread going back to grocery shopping with crowded aisles and picked over produce and running errands with the rest of the world on the weekends. I dread the pumping and the cleaning of the parts and the bottles and the mental checklist of making sure it is all ready for the following morning. As I type this all out and process what I’m really feeling, I guess what I fear is the constant rush of life that is about to ensue again. Evenings and weekends are consumed with prepping and planning to help make tomorrow a little bit smoother, I don’t get to just enjoy the time with Bill, Lexi and William the way I have for the past 6 weeks.

To me, it is fascinating to compare my thoughts on the end of this maternity leave from the first one. Overall, Lexi’s was fairly relaxing. She was sleeping great and because it was so cold, we spent a lot of time inside just relaxing. This time, I would describe it more as fun. That first month was rough for all, but once we got over that hump we were able to enjoy our time and do fun things. We went on lots of walks, went to MOA several times, got together with friends, played outside lots, went to parks and the zoo several times. At the end of Lexi’s leave, I was consumed by saddness and remember nearly refusing to put her down as I needed to soak up every last moment with her. I feel like I have grown so much from those days. Granted, lots of things have changed, including 3 different jobs since then. But for the first time, I feel like I have a job that I like enough that I’m kind of looking forward to going back. I’m curious to see what has happened (or hasn’t) while I’ve been out and get re-engaged into something that is bigger than contemplating the best time to make a Target run between feedings and naps.

To wrap up my thoughts, I am so grateful to be blessed with these two amazing and healthy little firecrackers that make me flutter in delight at a mere thought of them and the opportunity to even have a maternity leave. I give thanks that I have a job that pays well enough to give me this time and that I actually want to go back to. And a husband who works very unconventional and undesirable hours to watch said firecrackers, which makes me feel so much more comfortable and confident in going back to work. Lastly, as Lexi and I have been doing together every night, I prey for a smooth transition for the whole family as we embark on this next step. It is funny how I feel like I’m doing more nesting now than I did before William’s arrival. I’ve been making lists and crossing things off, ensuring the bathrooms have all been deep cleaned, everyone has clothes to wear for the next 3 months, meals are ready and available and projects are all wrapped up to make the evenings and nights as enjoyable as possible.

Cheers to my 12 week fairytale and our new reality.

Kristin

William, William Monthly Updates

William 2 Months

April 25, 2015 peanutsmiles

Dear William,

What a difference four weeks can make. This month has been so fun and much easier than your first month for all parties. You’re GI issues have gotten much better, you started smiling all of the time, sleeping for long stretches at night and are just more content. You have lost that newborn look and transitioned into a cute little baby! This has been a fun month, we celebrated Easter, went to Mall of America twice, took Lexi to the farm to see baby animals and went on many many walks.

Stats

Height: 24.5 ” 95%
Weight: 13 lbs 2.4 oz 65%
Clothes: Right around 6 weeks, 3 month outfits got too short–especially the sleepers with the feet. I still try and put you in a few 3 month outfits because they are just too cute and you only wore them once or twice, but the legs do scrunch up on you.
Diapers: We just used up our last Size 1 Diaper today, but could have easily transitioned into Size 2’s a week or two ago.

Sleep

The big kahuna of babyness and sanity for mama! Let’s tackle night time sleeping first. The first week and half of the month you would wake every 3 hours or so for a feeding and a diaper change. The longest you had ever gone was 5 hours. Then out of nowhere you slept through the night. Mind blown. But it didn’t continue… whah wha for mama. However, you did start sleeping for longer stretches, about 6 hours, every other night or so. By about 7 weeks or so, you were consistently sleeping at least 6 hours during the night for the first stretch. So depending on when I fed you last was contingent on whether you woke up during the night. Part of me liked having you fall asleep around 9 and waking up around 3 so I could go back to sleep and get a couple more hours before your sister woke up. If I fed you at midnight when Daddy and I usually went to sleep, you would wake up around 6 and by the time you were done eating, your sister was up; and those days felt long and exhausting. I digress. For the past several nights you have been going to sleep between 9 and 10 and waking up around 6:30. I’ll gladly take those 9 hours and just pray this is the new norm! I also pray in thanks for the amazing invention of swaddles. We swaddle you every night and wrap your little wiggly arms down tight like a snare drum, which I think is a huge factor in helping you sleep for long stretches at such a young age. For a couple weeks, I also had a beach towel under the terry cloth spit rag on your bed to help give you a little incline while sleeping. I’ve since removed it, but I think it helped make sleeping longer periods easier verses laying flay.

Nap time sleeping is a little more unpredictable. For about the first three weeks of the month, you would snooze between each feeding. Sometimes it was 15 minutes, other times it was an hour and a half, but on average, I would say it was about 45-50 minutes. When I read Lexi’s two month post, I was shocked to be reminded that we were putting her to sleep awake in her crib for naps. I didn’t think we started that for another two months. We have done that with you a couple of times, but most of your naps are taken in the rock-in-play. If I can, I try and put you in there when you are drowsy, turn on the vibrator, give you your pacifier and let you fall asleep by yourself. However, most of the time you fall asleep in my arms and then I put you in there to continue snoozing. You do not like to nap in our arms. I can count on one hand the amount of times you have slept in my arms for an entire nap. You’re constantly moving and trying to get comfortable; usually waking yourself up. You continue to love to be wrapped in your blanket with it touching your face to help fall asleep–and always have your pacifier. Praise the pacifier!

By the end of the month, you started to stretch out your awake time and have stayed awake for more than two hours–where you’ll actually have two feedings without sleeping between. Also, over the past couple of days, you have lengthened some of your nap times to 2+hours, which has been AMAZING as it has fallen during the same time as Lexi’s nap and given me some glorious computer time to shop, do some research on house projects, meal plan and work on this blog! I adore this time and truly feel refreshed to take on the craziness of the evening with you two hooligans, so thank you for that sweet little bud!

Eating

Eating has been going pretty darn good. It feels like you are always hungry. Rarely, in the day do you go more than 2 hours without eating. By the hour and a half mark, you start getting a little fussy and by two hours your are ravenous and refusing your pacifier. There have been several times where we are out and about and I have pushed your threshold in needing to eat. Sorry bud! You still do good with a bottle. I discovered that there were a couple of instances where I had given you a nipple with a medium flow, and that was just too fast for you. As long as you have a slow flow, you seem to do a good job taking it down. Admittedly, you do a much better job taking it from anyone but me.

Mama notes: You continue to eat off one side per feeding and seem satisfied. After letdown, you kind of pop on and off and do this silly thing where the boob is in your mouth but you move your head back and forth as if you can’t latch–it is slightly annoying, but at least you’re still eating. After a feeding, you usually give us one big burp and one small one, and about 50% of the time you’ll spit up a little milk. Exception: when you eat in the middle of the night or right before bedtime and you fall asleep nursing, you rarely burp, even though I try. This go around, I’m much more relaxed about pumping. Depending on how the night went, I may or may not pump in the morning. If I do, I’ll only pump one side and will usually get 5-6 ounces on the left side and 7-8 on the right, assuming you slept through the night. I also only pump once or twice a week in the evening before I go to bed. This mostly depends on how the day went and how full I feel. With Lexi, I pumped every night before bed for 7-8 months and don’t think I skipped one evening. Just too lazy this time around and feeling pretty good about my supply and the stash I’ve built up.

Development/Personality

Throughout the month, you’ve started smiling whenever you see faces and have the two cutest little dimples on each side. I just love how your smile is just a huge open mouth circle and your eyes nearly close. You’ve made a couple of cooing sounds here and there but so far seem to enjoy observing life. They rolling has ceased this month, which relieves me a little as it was kind of scary before. You do a great job on tummy time and have really strengthened your neck muscles and push yourself almost up to 90 degrees on a fairly regular bases. When we do tummy time, you usually last 3-5 minutes before fussing. Also, Lexi loves to do tummy time with you. She helps spread your blanket out and then goes and get hers and lays face to face with you and says ‘Good job buddy. You’re so cute,’ clearly repeating the phrases she’s heard me say.

You love your star. If you’r fussy and don’t need to eat or have your diaper changed, we’ll put you under it, which ironically is counter-intuitive to a fussy baby. Anyways, you just light up (no pun intended) and will stare at it and smile and kick and wave your hands (accidentally hitting all of the other toys hanging). One evening you were happy and content there for over a half an hour while I was making dinner. It was fabulous.

You continue to do will in your car seat, although you don’t seem to sleep in it as much as Lexi did. You usually wake up when we bring you in from the car. You still have a good amount of hair, but it is falling out–especially on top. You have a little case of cradle cap. It is mostly just little white dry patches on the top half of your head. You love the bath and are always smiling and do great when i poor water over your face. You haven’t been a huge fan of the swing. There have been a couple of instances where you’ve been content in it for more than 10 minutes, but usually, you start crying at the 5-10 minute mark.

You definitely recognize me. Daddy thinks you prefer me, I think I just do a better job at soothing you the way you prefer 🙂

You love to go for walks and often are awake for them. You also do really well in the Ergo. It is kind of ‘if all else fails, I know you’ll fall asleep and be content in the Ergo.’ This is really a life saver for me to keep you and Lexi happy at the same time–especially if I’m making dinner and you both need me.

Big Sister

Lexi loves you more and more everyday. She is doing a much better job of giving your your space and adjusting to the lack of attention she gets. She still continues to love to say ‘He’s wooking at you’ and is beam of sunshine when she sees you in the morning. I also just love how she repeats the phrases that I say and is all Mama Lexi to you. She’ll be eating breakfast in the morning and you’ll start to fuss on the monitor and she’ll yell up to you, as if you could hear her, ‘Buddy, it’s ok, mama will be right there.’ Mama is with Lexi right now’ Seriously is so sweet!

I have about 3.5 weeks left before I head back to work and the weather is supposed to be very nice so I’m looking forward to more fun activities and seeing more of your little personality shine.

Love,

Mama

Lexi

Big Sister

April 22, 2015 peanutsmiles

Little love bug,

Congratulations my sweet bug, you are a big sister! You’re just over a month into your new role and absolutely adore that little brother of yours (as we all do!). You love to give him kisses and hugs. The hugs are a little rough, but you just want to squeeze all your love into him so we try to remind you just to be gentle instead of yelling at you for being too rough.

You’re constantly asking, “Where’s buddy? What’s buddy doing?” and want to see him first thing in the morning. You’ll often go to his door before mama and dada’s. You also like to get right up in his face. Literally nose to nose and say ‘He’s wooking at you.’ You often ask for him to open his eyes if he is sleeping and like to beep his nose. For the first month, you were just about giving hugs and kisses and looking at him, but around 1 month, you started requesting to hold him.

Although you do know his name, you almost solely refer to him as ‘Buddy’ and will occasionally call him brother. When someone asks you his name you say Buddy. I’ll follow up and say, ‘What’s his other name?’ and you shyly respond, ‘William’.

You love to help mama take care of brother too. You received a ‘Big Sister’ book from Kelly and you love to read it and help me with things they mention in the book, like taking a bath, singing songs to William when he is crying (Twinkle Twinkle, Baa Baa Black Sheep and Rock-a-bye-Baby) and practicing tummy time. Upon completion of your task, you’ll tell me, ‘I help, just like Big Sister book’.

As you’ve watched Mama and Dada care for brother, you increased your nurturing tendencies tenfold. You’ve shown much more interest in your baby dolls and feeding them and naming them (Baby Molly), but most of the time you prefer to take care of Girafee. You love to put him into the swing, strap him into the carseat and often tell us you need to change him. You’ve even taken care of Mrs. Potato head. She fell off the table and you ran to get her, cradled her in your arms and said ‘It’s Ok ‘Tato. It’s Ok.’ as you slowly rocked her back and forth. My heart fell out of my chest when you did this. So sweet.

Through all your sweetness, you’ve also shown us some sass, stubbornness and independence. You’re struggling with the lack of attention that Dada and I are able to give you. You’ve had more potty accidents than normal, and just straight up don’t listen. It feels like the lack of listening happens most frequently when I can’t do anything to stop you. Example, I’ll be feeding William on the couch and you’ll climb up on the counter and open the cupboard doors to find yourself a snack. We tried to put you in time out, but you thought it was funny and laughed while you were there, you little stinker! You also love to steel William’s pacifier. I’ll be changing him, and it is sitting on the floor next to me, you’ll come and snatch it up, run away with it as I request to bring it back. It is slightly maddening you little one!

Thankfully, you haven’t made the connection that William is the reason that you have less attention and you haven’t taken your frustrations out on him in any way. Occasionally, you’ll tell me to put him down that he isn’t hungry or he doesn’t need to burp, but for the most part you just love him beyond words.

As a result of your frustrations, I decided to take you out for some special Mommy-Lexi time. We went to a little music class and then to an indoor play ground at the Learn and Play Cafe. You were devastated that William wasn’t coming with us and kept asking where he was.

Mommy is so proud of you sweet girl and how well you have adjusted (are adjusting) to this big transition. You are probably adjusting to this transition better then I am. I love watching your nurturing side come out and hearing you talk to your babies and toys as you take care of them. It is so sweet and just makes me a puddle of mush.

Love,

Mama

Lexi

Lexi-isms Round 2

April 9, 2015December 2, 2016 peanutsmiles

Lexi Lou,

I miss writing your monthly posts, but there just isn’t enough change happening on a monthly basis anymore, and they’re just too time consuming. But here are a few updates on things you’ve done or enjoy over the past few months.

You’ve gotten pretty good at singing songs. Mostly nursery rhymes, but it is still fun to listen to you put the string of words together. Songs come and go as favorites where you sing them 25 times a day, but here is a list of your favs: ABC, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Wheels on the Bus, Old McDonald, Rain Rain Go Away, Humpty Dumpty, Let it Go, Little Red Wagon, Twinkle Twinkle and Rock-a-bye-Baby. You’ve been counting past 10 for 6-9 months. Currently, you can consistently get to 16. We’re really working on the concept of counting and not just repeating the words. I think you’re starting to get it. Occasionally, when we ask you how many there are, you’ll get it right. Not sure if it is coincidence or not, but it feels like you get it. You’re also starting to look at a number and know that is the number ‘2’. Likewise, you can sing the ABC’s and have randomly identified some letters, but don’t get the sounds of letters yet.

You know all of your colors and love to color. Your crayons and coloring books pretty much stay out on your table all of the time and you’ll color 3-5 times everyday. One day you were at Great Grandma and Grandpa S’s house and you told Grandma a pink crayon was ‘sorta-red’ and she corrected you and said it was pink and you firmly responded back and said, ‘NO, it is sorta-red.’ Grandpa chimed in and said, ‘You know, she is right. Pink is sorta-red.’ We’ve also been drilling the concept that you only color on paper. While mama was having contractions, Dada put up the bookshelves in your room and was making marks on the wall where he was going to drill. Of course you were watching and then went to go get your crayons and colored green crayon all over the wall and said ‘Just like Dada’ Tuche little bug, Tuche! You also think coloring in the bathtub (with bath crayons) is the cat’s pajamas. One day I found you in the empty tub, with your clothes on just coloring on the walls.

You also have started to tell stories. When I come home from work, you tell me what you did that day or what happened with Thomas on your show. You’ll often follow up a story with the phrase, ‘You remember that?’ I’ll often say this phrase during bedtime when we talk about what we did that day or before we’re going somewhere to see people you haven’t seen for awhile.

You love to make deals. In line with your story telling, you’ll try and cut a deal with me. You say, I go potty, then eat ice cream and go to the park, OK mama, and wait for me to respond ‘OK’.

Favorite toys: Doctor Kit, Mrs. Potato Head, putting your plastic food in gift bags and telling us they are presents for people, taking care of Baby Molly, coloring (on paper and in the bathtub)

Love,
Mama

William

Sleeping through the night baby 2

April 4, 2015 peanutsmiles

Dear William,

Out of nowhere, you slept through the night for the first time last night. Jaw dropped! You just turned 5 weeks a two days ago. I’m sure it was a total fluke because you have come nowhere near sleeping through the night any other night. For the previous couple of nights you would eat between 8 and 9 pm sleep in the rock and play downstairs while Daddy and I watched TV and hung out. Around midnight, you eat and be changed again where we would then swaddle you and put you in your crib. You would wake up again between 3 and 4 am for a feeding and a change and then again around 7.

You can imagine my surprise when you slept from 10 pm (your feeding was at 9:30 pm) to 7:30! Ten glorious hours! Of course, I didn’t sleep through the night and was up a lot checking on you to make sure you were still breathing (thank goodness for monitors to hear your little grunts to know things were A-O-K) and some engorgement. Of course, this conveniently happened when Lexi was overnight with Grandma. I was looking forward to sleeping in and not having to worry about getting up early with her after I had been up all night with you. I’ll still have part of that, but here I am at 7:15 am capturing this milestone, waiting for you to get up, and thinking it will be any minute and it doesn’t make sense to go back to sleep (even though I’ve been waiting and sort of awake for the past 5 hours).

Again, I’m sure this was a complete fluke and won’t happen again for another 6 months, but at least I know it is possible 🙂

Love,

Mama

Lexi

Big Sister

April 3, 2015October 15, 2016 peanutsmiles

Little love bug,

It is been interesting you watch your reactions to him change over the the past 5 weeks. Your first visit to the hospital, you didn’t give two hoots about him and were much more interested in playing with the buttons on the hospital bed. Subsequent visits to the hospital showed a little more interest as you were asking ‘Who is that? What is she doing’ (you referred to him as a she for the first week 🙂 Then every week or so, you’ve shown more interest in him and now you just can’t get enough. Although you do know his name, you almost solely refer to him as ‘Buddy’ and will occasionally call him brother. When someone asks you his name you say Buddy. I’ll follow up and say, ‘What’s his other name?’ and you shyly respond, ‘William’.

Love,

Mama