Liam: Five Months

So I am going to be doing these a little different from now on.  Instead of doing it every 4 weeks (which should technically a month) I am going to write them on the 7th of every month (his birth day) so I might have more then 4 main pictures.

Likes: Being thrown up in the air, being naked, being held, sitting, standing, looking at the chickens, Curious George

Dislikes: Carseat (he really hates getting put in that thing), laying in his carrier (he tries to flip over in it)

Biggest Achievement of the Month: Having and sleeping in his own room

Biggest Challenge of the Month: Sleeping for mommy

Sleep: It has been so on and off.  Some night he will sleep all night and not wake up until Dad has to get him ready for the day and some nights he wakes up 3 or 4 times although the nights he gets up the most are my nights, which is just awesome for me.  In general he is a decent sleeper and normally gets up only once to eat.  We did put him in his crib in his own room a couple days ago and so far it has been good and bad.

The first night he got up 3 times, once to feed and then 2 times 15 minutes apart afterwards, apparently he just wanted mom in the room with him when he fell asleep but he slept until 8:15.  The second night wasn't as good, I went in there like 7 times because he did not want to sleep for me, and once it was around 6 I pulled him into bed with me like normal (I always do that on my days off so that he will sleep later) and he let me sleep until 9 and last night he woke up when I was getting ready for work so around 4. 

I think it has gone really well considering the horror stories I have heard about putting your kid in their own room.  

Temperment/Personality: He is starting to get more of a personality.  He is having bad days and good days.  There are days where all he wants to do is fuss unless he is being held and others where he is happy to play in his jumper and on his play mat all day.  He does have more good days then bad and his good days are so wonderful.  He does seem to be having more preferences about people as he is learning that not everyone is the same.  Nothing is better when I pick him up from the sitter and he sees it is me and just smiles at me.

Eating: He still loves the boobie and per my pediatricians orders we have started feeding him multigrain and rice cereal.  At first he really did not like it but I have been patient and used every trick I could think of (eating in front of him, having George playing, using the binky to help calm him down, giving him toys to play with during) and now he is eating really well.

We are trying to feed him twice a day and are using flavored cereals (Banana Apple Rice Cereal, and Sweet Potato Apple Multigrain Cereal)  We started at 2 tablespoons but he is still so hungry all of the time I have upped it to 3 to 4 tablespoons.  We mix it with breast milk but because that means we are using my supply that I pump (which isn't that large right now) I am going to try to switch to pear juice (which is the other option I was told I could mix it with) and see if he likes that.

The Superficial: He is still so pretty.  We get lots of compliments on how adorable he is.  At his last appointment he weighed 14 lbs and 3 oz so he has almost doubled in weight size since birth.  He is still in 0-3 month clothes but he is almost too big for them so I am sure within the next month we will put him in the 3 to 6 month.

He is starting to get hair and it is looking blonde so I am hoping that is the color it is going to be but we won't really know until it fills in more.  His eyes seem to be staying really blue so I am excited about that and they are so beautiful.  

Milestones & Firsts: He has done lots of things this month it feels like. He rolls over both ways now, which is fun (from back to front and from front to back).  He is also sitting up really well, for at least a couple minutes at a time but we still keep a really good eye on him just in case. He is also getting better at standing to the point that he has grabbed onto something when we were helping him stand and help himself up with it (we still had our hands on either side of him just in case)  He is also grabbing at everything including people.

He went swimming for the first time and loves it (we love it too because he is so sleepy after and because he looks so darn cute in his swim diaper) First time eating real food.  First time sleeping in a room without his parents (and once his room is decorated I will show pictures)  Oh and he found his feet.  I was really wanting him to do that and now that he has I have realized how annoying it is when I am trying to change him and he is trying to eat his feet.  

Favorite Baby Gear:

My new Solly Wrap.  I adore this thing, I got a Moby right after Liam was born and loved it but I wore it one day when it was warm out and I thought both him and me might die from overheating so I knew I had to get a more lightweight one.  After googling a bit I found the Solly wrap and it came in a cute striped patern and was made from bamboo cotton (same as my nursing cover) so I had to get it.

It is a little more stretchy then the moby so there was a learning curve again but I love it.  I can go out in the Southern UT heat and not worry that my kid is going to die.

I saw the OBall on another blog I read and thought that Liam might like it so I went to Target and bought it (it was only $4, why not) and he loves it.  He grips the sides and tries to eat it but since there is no way it can fit in his mouth, he just has an open mouth held against it as he keeps trying.  It is the funniest thing to watch.

Now this item I knew I needed but could just not bring myself to spend the money on it.  A Bumbo.  It lets him sit up by himself and I can feed him in it.  So I was at a friends house and they have a daughter and I thought I had seen her in it once upon a time, so I asked if I could try it and see if I could convince myself and hubby to spend the $40 to buy our own.  So they let me use it and then offered to let us borrow it since their daughter is too old for it and their new one is too small for it.

So I was at a kids consignment store in town (Caroseul Kids) and saw Baby Einsteins Musical Motion Activiry Jumper for half the price that it is in stores and I had to get it.  Liam is a little small for it (his feet barely touch the ground) but he still loves it and it gives him a chance to stand by himself.

Liam: Four Months

Likes: Standing, smiling, water, cuddling, his toys (finally), his fist (loves to suck on it)

Dislikes: Sunscreen (it was bad), sitting in his carrier (he keeps trying to scoot out of it)

Biggest Achievement of the Month: Grabbing 

Sleep: Doing alright.  There was a couple nights that I put him down with me at 9 (I work at 5am so I have to go to sleep early) and he decided that he was going to be awake at 5 and make dad be awake too, he was thrilled so we have been putting him down a little later (like 10ish which I know is really late for a baby but it seems to work) and he has been getting up at 6, 6:30 with his dad like he is supposed to.  He does normal get up once during the night to feed but that isn't too bad I figure.  Also he has decided that he no longer like swaddling so we just tuck his blanket around him kind of loosely so that he doesn't get cold.

Temperment/Personality: He is just so happy all of the time.  He smiles so much, and loves to coo and gurgle at us.  He still gets cranky when he gets hungry or gets really tired but once we feed or put him down to sleep he is normally all better.  He is becoming so aware now of everything around him and he loves to just stare at whatever new item or person he sees.

Eating: Still loves the boob. But we have his 4 month appointment on the 17th and I will talk to the doctor about starting to eat real food or see if I can hold off for a bit more

The Superficial: He is getting so big.  Compared to what he was when he was born he is huge now.  We want to say somewhere around 14 lbs so almost twice what he was when he was born.  I tried to have a glass of milk this month too to see if I could and nope, not yet.  Within a day or two his baby acne magically came back but I haven't drank any since so it has gone away now.  He is starting to get some peach fuzz hair and there is debate about what color it is but what I think is it is going to be a strawberry blonde. He is still very chunky and I love it, every roll makes me smile.

Milestones & Firsts: He can hold his head up really well now.  He loves to stand and we are pretty much his balance because he has none of that yet. He coos at us and will have "conversations".  He is grabbing at his toys and hanging on to them now, which makes him so much more fun to play with. He is also trying to sit up and according to one of his sitters he has gotten really close to sitting up by himself but I haven't seen it that much yet.

He had his first decently long car trip (45 minutes) and went to another town besides the one that he lives in.  He also wore his fist pair of shoes (I know he doesn't need them, this was done by my husband who just thought that they were adorable)  He had his first time playing with another animal (the chickens in the pictures and my parents dog he grabbed at a little.)

Favorite Baby Gear:
My new nursing cover which is amazing.  It is made from bamboo cotton so it is really soft and lightweight so Liam will actually eat underneath it.

My hands free pumping bra.  I can't believe I waited so long to get one of these, it is the most amazing thing ever to be able to pump and do other things at the same time. (it won't let me steal a picture)

His sleeper suit.  He had outgrown his first one and it was really warm on him (it was like fleece or something) so I went to Target and found another one that is more lightweight since it is getting warmer, actually fits him and has velcro so that it makes it harder for him to get out of it. (the picture is not the exact one, I can't find the right one of their website so I just chose one that is the same brand and looks kind of similar but now that I look at it this one looks like it is fleece and our isn't, it is just normal cotton)

Liam: Three Months

So obviously I am a bit behind with these and I am writing the 3 month one late so it probably won't be as descriptive as it could be because I can't really remember what he was doing then verses what he is doing now but I am going to do my best.

Likes: Baths, standing, being held, naked time, tummy time

Dislikes: Being put down, being sick, getting out of baths

Biggest Achievement of the Month: Getting healthy again

Biggest Challenge of the Month: Being sick :(

Sleep: Getting much better.  He still likes to wake up a couple times when I am on baby duty but he sleeps almost completely through or only wakes up once for Cody.

Temperment/Personality: It was bad this month.  He was sick for about 2 weeks and although it wasn't anything serious (thank goodness) he was just uncomfortable and therefore cranky.  So we spent lots of time holding him because that was the only way we could get him to relax during the day.  Near the end of the month I could tell he was feeling better because he went back to being his normal happy self and pretty much only cries when he is hungry or really tired but doesn't want to sleep (yeah it is tons of fun when he does that)

Eating: Eats like a champ, I was worried with him not feeling well that he might eat less (I was told that was something to watch for) but he never wavered   I got a new nursing cover that works amazing and he will actually eat under it (verses my old method of just putting a blanket over him, making him very warm and then he doesn't want to eat) so that is awesome.

 The Superficial: All of the skin issues have gone away!!!  He is all clear now except when I don't notice his nails have gotten long and he scratches himself.  He is getting big, I want to say a minimum of 12 lbs now (but he is probably bigger) and he is officially in the 0-3 month clothes now.

Milestones & Firsts: So the chart that I was using from Baby Center has disappeared   It has the link and when I click on it, it goes to like an article (which is so not easy to just skim like an actual chart is) and it doesn't even hit every month. So I was googling to find a new milestone chart and it is back at Baby Center they just updated the look of it so we are all good now.

He is rolling over now and does what the site calls a mini push up (which is where he lifts up his head and shoulders during tummy time).  He smiles so much which is so much fun. He holds his head up really well and loves to try and stand which he can do, we just hold him because he has no balance yet.

As for firsts he had his first sickness which was hard but he was so great during it even though we know he was unhappy about it.

(Because I am writing this post when he is almost 4 months old it isn't as thorough as it could have been but I also have realized I need to make notes of things that he does so that by the end of the month I know what cool things have happened and I don't just write about the things that happened at the end of the month)

Liam: Two Months

Likes: Eating, being held, getting played with, naked baby time, tummy time

Dislikes: Getting put in his carseat, rolling over (he pretty much cries whenever he is doing it), getting water on his face (my bad on that one but it made him scream), getting his head oiled down

Biggest Achievement of the Month: Rolling over

Biggest Challenge of the Month: Not going to sleep until late

Sleep: He seems to like sleeping for hubby, but not for me.  When hubby puts him to bed he sleeps normally until 4 or 5 when he wants to eat.  When I do it, he stays up half the night and wants to be fed at 3. And during the day he seems to be awake a lot more, so he isn't sleeping as much but when he does, he can still sleep through anything.  I wonder when he stops being able to do that and we have to be quiet when he sleeps.

Temperament/Personality: He is still very sweet and happy although when he does get upset he can really scream.  He was having some problems with his nightly feeding where he would be just so upset that the boob couldn't soothe him and hubby would have to give him a bottle to get him to calm down but he seems to have stopped that.  Other then that he spends lots of time cooing and smiling, which I love.  He is still very expressive and so fun to watch.

Eating: He eats quite a bit but he has developed a fun habit where in the evening he gets so tired and cranky that I can't get him to latch and then hubby has to give him a bottle.  Other then that he is a great eater.

The Superficial: So this has been a bad month for his skin.  He was still struggling with baby acne, and he got a case of cradle cap which meant I got to oil him down for a couple days to get rid of it (it wasn't a bad case of it though).  Then we noticed that he seemed to be getting a rash, so of course like any normal person I googled and after talking to my sister in laws, thought he might be having an allergic reaction (it was only on his torso and arms though so we knew it wasn't from his clothes because it would have been on his legs too).  Apparently one of the most common things to be allergic to is mom drinking milk.  So I have stopped eating dairy temporarily and the rash disappeared   Its very sad because I love milk but I should be able to slowly reintroduce it into my diet and he will get used to it. 

He is getting bigger and from me weighing him myself he is about 12 lbs. He also is officially out of his newborn clothes and into his 0-3 month clothes, which is fun and sad at the same time, because he is not my tiny little baby anymore.

He has the most beautiful eyelashes and his fingernails seem to always be claws, no matter how much I file them.  He is getting all fat too, he has back rolls, and leg rolls and I have to make sure I get in all of the folds when bathing him.

No Milestones or Baby Gear this month because apparently I forgot to finish writing this post, the chart that I was using for milestones has disappeared and I can't remember what he has done so I kind of suck this time.