Monday, September 21, 2009

toes and turning

Well, almost turning over. He's been working so diligently on rolling from his back to his belly for the past couple of weeks. Everyday I think "today is going to be the day" but not quite. Although he did roll from his back to his belly while we were laying on the bed today but in all fairness..there was an uneven surface which probably helped his momentum. It's just so stinking cute to watch him so determined and to watch him get closer and closer to being successful.

Toes. Yeah, he's found both sets now. Loves loves loves grabbing them and is working pretty hard at getting them in his mouth. I'm sure he would have rolled over by now if he wasn't splitting his time between working on toes in the mouth and the rolling. He likes to take on big tasks I guess.

He's working on sitting up too. Not doing so well. Usually when I put him in a seated tripod position he collapses forward pretty quickly. But there's time for that.

He still loves standing and seems to want to do it quite a bit. He's been tolerating his exersaucer now too. I think because he can stand in it. He seemed frustrated with it for a while. He keeps going after the stationary toys and seems to get upset when he can't get it in his mouth. Oh yeah. Also, he likes to put stuff in his mouth. Everything.

He's laughing and smiling and just overall super duper adorable. I can barely stand it!

Daddy hangs out with him 4 days a week now while I'm at work (boo!) and he is adjusting great! He is eating from a big boy (8oz) bottle now while with Daddy. I can totally see how bonded D is to his Daddy and it's amazing. I love both those boys so much! The 3 days a week I'm home he eats about 5-6 times, still from both sides. He has also been sleeping from about 9-6:30 or so which is good! Hope it keeps up!

The past couple of weeks I've noticed his head shaking while I'm nursing him. This is the same shaking that was happening which landed us in the ER a few weeks ago. It tends to be for a few seconds, usually when he's nursing on my left side. I talked to the doctor today and she assured me it's probably nothing to worry about but just his nervous system still developing. He isn't exhibiting any of the signs she listed off for seizures, so that's good. I just wish he would work that out already. It freaks me out. You know, nursing your kid and his head is shaking. Not so fun.

Pumping has gotten a little challenging. I'm having a hard time getting into a regular routine while at work due to the ever changing schedule. Consequently, my supply dropped last week. My plan is to add another pumping session and I hope to get the supply back up. I'm still determined to nurse him until a year.

That's all for now!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

5 months old

Little D is 5 months old now! Incredible how fast the time has gone. It's hard to remember when he was so small and first born and now he's probably around 16 pounds.

Tomorrow starts my regular work schedule, Wed-Sat 12-10pm. I finished up training on Friday and am so glad I am done. That commute was draining me and I felt like I never got to see the kid. It was very nice to know that he was home with Daddy all week. It really made the transition easier on me and I'm sure that it was great for father and son to get some bonding time.

I feel at a loss about what to write regarding his development and weekly stuff that I had been writing about. Since I'm obviously not with him as much I'm working with less material here :) But here we go anyway.

Sleeping continues to go well. Because he tends to get fussy around 7, we tried an earlier bedtime but he didn't end up falling asleep until 9:30 or 10 anyway, so I think we are embracing the 9 or 9:30 bedtime for now. He was used to me getting him up at 6:30 all last week so of course him sleeping until 7 or later is out the window. But the past couple of days have been closer to 7 so hopefully he'll get back into waking up a little later. Also Saturday morning he decided to wake up at 4:30 and required a feeding and then again at 6:30. Not sure what that was about. Hm. Glad he so far hasn't made it a habit. Naps are still sporadic. Although he seems to not be sleeping as long in the mornings now. Usually he would go right back to sleep after his morning feeding but lately he's been laying in there for an hour and a half and only sleeping 20-30 minutes. So I think I'm going to start taking him for walks in the morning and keeping him up a little longer and then trying a nap. I'm pretty sure I'm getting the hang of this parenting thing. It's called trial and error.

Anyway. Eating is also going well. When I'm home with him he's eating 5-6 times per day. When I'm gone I feed him in the morning before I leave and before bedtime. He is eating about 18 ounces during the day and I'm pumping about 20-22 ounces so feeling pretty good about my ability to provide food for my child. Getting a little nervous about the thought of starting solids. The doctor said 6 months is when we should start but other places I've read (like the AAP) say the middle of the first year is good..so that could be 7 months. We'll see. I want to just follow his lead. Apparently babies give signs that they are ready to eat. So I figure I should just hide the markers and paper and he'll never be able to tell us and then I can continue to feed him for free.

Developmentally he continues to work on those motor skills. He is grabbing for stuff and doing a better job of holding it now. Of course everything goes in the mouth. He still hasn't shown a preference for sucking his thumb or fingers. He doesn't discriminate and they all go in there. He is spending more time in the exersaucer although I think it frustrates him after a few minutes. It's been interesting to watch him play and see what his temperament is like. I think the gets frustrated when he can't get the toys from the saucer into his mouth. He also seems like he's pretty close to rolling from his back to his stomach. He spends a lot of time on the floor sort of spinning himself around and trying to launch himself. Usually when I go to get him in the morning he has turned himself some way either 90 or 180 degrees in his crib. Saturday when I went to get him he was 180 degrees and scrunched up right under his aquarium. Tummy time is still happening for short periods of time and he's working on his balance. He can shift his balance to one arm and grab stuff with the other. Just today he started to topple over and regained his balance on his tummy. Oh and the laughing. So cute! Not really lots of full on giggles yet but definite laughter. So freaking cute.

And earlier I didn't think I had a lot to write about. Hm.