Riley--3 Months (April 19-May 18)

Why hello Sweets!

 

You are the epitome of a happy baby. Now…you like to be held a little too much and we’re going to have to work on that, but if you have someone’s attention, you are a happy little dude!

 

Growth
•You’ve now moved up to Size 2 diapers—you need more room for those thighs!
•Officially in 3 month clothing, although we have random 0-3 pieces that still fit.
•Not sure height/weight because we had no dr. visit, but you’re growing!

Eating

• This month you ranged from 5-5.5 ounces per feeding.  Daycare really wears you out, so sometimes you don’t finish a bottle—something we know nothing about in comparison to your brother!
• You’re still eating every 2.5 to 3.5 hours—depending on the situation.  I try to keep it at 3, but some days that just doesn’t work!

Sleeping

• You slept great the entire first month at daycare.  Then they made some changes….and our life hasn’t been the same since!  Not really sure if it was the changes in workers at daycare, or something else going on in life (we found out you were teething right before you hit 4 months!), but you now wake up once or twice every night.
• You were sleeping 10 hours at night.  We knew that was too much and we were too lucky, and now, since you’re sleeping 4-5 hours a stretch, we miss it!  We know you’ll get there again though!
• On the weekends you catch up on sleep because you’re so exhausted from daycare.  It’s normal for you to take a 2 hour nap in the morning and several others during the day—and at daycare you barely sleep 1.5 hours total!

Mommy was tired after a long night...so were you!

Personality

• Oh my!  Smiley Riley is a great nickname for you!  You are just as happy as can be—and everyone says so!
• Your hands are your favorite new toy!  Your thumb is a perfect chew toy and sometimes you just pass out with it in your mouth!
• The amount of drool you have already is unbelievable! (Guess that should’ve clued us in to the teething…)
• Laughs are the cutest from you!  You give us this big gummy grin and just chuckle at random things we do!  We’ll do anything for a Riley laugh!
• You’ve started moving from side to side---how long will it be until the first roll???  Your thighs might hinder this…for your brother it was his belly!  (We love our chunky boys!)

Bennett--Week 7 (Sept 19-25)

A new category to discuss will be added this week. Are you ready for the thrill of this???

GROWING!!! Bennett changes SO much each week that I wanted to make sure that while I'm off on maternity leave, I document as much as possible. Hopefully I can keep this up when I go back to work b/c I want to be able to go back and look at this later on and feel I haven't missed anything (yes, I know I will, but still...). So here it goes:

Growing

• Neck strength--Well B, I didn't realize that babies can start tummy time from Day 1, but once I read about it in one of my "Your Baby at Week ___" emails, you've had it most days. Sometimes you like it, sometimes you don't. Sometimes it's for 2 minutes, sometimes 10-15. You have lifted up your head from week one, which shocked both daddy and me, and you continue to work on it during tummy time! I think we see the most neck movement when we're trying to burp you! You really hold your head up then and move your head around A LOT! (this goes with the squirminess I've mentioned in other posts!)
• Eyes--About 2-3 weeks ago (right around the time you turned 1 month old) you started having a few eye changes. Your eyes would get really big at times, which worried me. Turns out, it was just your eyes learning to work and adjust to changes in light/closeness to something/etc. Whew! Now, I notice that your eyes do this when we go from a dark spot to a brighter spot. A few days before your 1 month checkup, your daddy and I noticed you going cross-eyed at times. We knew this was normal, but of course asked the Dr. and he said you might do this up until you were 3 months old. Good to know! This week, I got some art cards in the mail from Similac (thanks to all the emails I've signed up for!), that have black/white images on them. We may make a mobile out of them for you! What I thought was interesting was the pamphlet that came with it: it had pics of what things look like to you at this stage in your life. Very interesting to see that! You also are loving looking at the lights/fans in the house--they keep you very calm!
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• Not sure if you had a growth spurt this week, but I think you did based on your days. Starting Tuesday afternoon and all day Wednesday, you cried after a bottle (not sure if it was extra gas or what...), but it made for an exhausted mommy (especially since I couldn't put myself back to sleep after getting up early Weds. morning with you--my fault...not yours!)

Sleep

• I'm sure this will change as soon as I get it typed, but for the past 5 or so days, you have slept for about 5 hours at a time. It may be a few minutes more or less, but it's the norm for the moment!

Eating

• You are still eating a solid 4.5 ounces at most meals--unless you fall asleep on us!
• You have not been burping like the champion you are, and we're hoping this is a phase too because now that you're not burping as much, you're spitting up more!

Personality

• SMILES galore! I actually caught one on camera this week and it is absolutely precious!

What I LOVE: giving you kisses when I've put you up on my shoulder to burp you. You lean in to them and give an open-mouthed smile that is to die for!

What I HATE: changing the sheets in your crib (yes, I'm doing it for the 1st time this week...don't judge (you're only in it for the night-time sleep!). Who the heck designed cribs, bumpers, sheets, etc. to fit together the way they do? Must've not been a parent!

Bennett--Week 6 (Sept 12-18)

Hi! My name is Bennett and I'm quite possibly the cutest thing my parents have ever seen! (This entry deserved to start out with this sweet pic!)

Mommy does exist! I wanted a picture with B where I looked at least somewhat decent!

Bennett meets BOB (Big 'Ol Bear). He is not exactly fond of him yet.

But after a little rearranging and a paci, he didn't mind him so much! BOB is a great help to keep Bennett sitting up after I've fed him and am looking for a new outfit, cleaning out something, etc.

One day I got tired of changing you and went the "white trash" way of just putting you in a blanket! You are truly a mini version of your father and I love it! I could stare at this face ALL day! This was "Manicure Day" and you passed out while I was trimming your nails! My precious angel!

Your 1 month checkup was a week late since the dr. was out on vacation. You weighed 10 pounds exactly! I'd like to say "Wow! What are you eating?"....but I already know that answer! We're so excited that you're doing well and growing like a weed! You are now 22.5 inches long--you've grown 2.5 inches since you were born! He told us that as long as you're eating at least every 3-4 hours, it doesn't matter how many ounces you're eating, which helped us out a lot since we could never agree/find what we were looking for online!

You got to meet your Uncle Evan this week. He's got lots of practice with little boys!

Personality

• Pouty Lip Appearance! All of a sudden, your bottom lip decided to show up and roll on out! It does happen when you're not happy, but to me it's so funny because you're so young! I wish I could get it on camera, but it happens so fast. One day I'll learn how to work the video camera and get you in action!
• SMILES have arrived for real--not just the "Oh, it's involuntary" ones! I got my first one on Wednesday and your daddy got his first one on Thursday and now we absolutely cannot get enough of them! You're becoming so much more interactive when we talk to you and we can't wait to see what's next!
• Holding the bottle. Yes, we know you're not really holding it, but you put your hands up next to it and sometimes you actually can hold it for a few seconds. What a treat for us--especially when we have an itch somewhere!
• Bath time is getting better! Out of 4 baths this week, you only screamed for 2 of them! The first time you liked your bath, you were VERY interested in that little boy in the mirror! (Too bad mommy was home alone and didn't have the camera! She'll be ready next time!)
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You are now mesmerized by the mobile on your swing! (This also means that mommy needs to find one for your crib....and the search begins!)

Eating

• You are now eating 4 ounces at almost every feeding. Sometimes you go 4.5-5 and sometimes you only eat 3.
• You are quite possibly the squirmiest little worm we've ever seen when it comes to eating if we've waited too long. You gulp and then gasp for air because you're so thrilled to be eating!
• You are NOT a fan of burping! This is especially true when we have to remove the bottle to burp you and you're wanting food! You cry to let us know what you think of our parenting techniques!

Sleeping

• We're still getting 4 hours most nights--and we'll still take them!
• Sadly, we do turn the volume on the monitor off at night because you grunt so much while you're going to sleep and then again while you're waking up that we can't sleep. Then, when we finally hear you from upstairs, usually you're REALLY not happy--
  -so I'm sorry that we do this! We definitely don't mean to make you frustrated!
• You've found that Gram is a pretty good sleep partner too! This is what happens when mommy lets her feed you!
  
  
  
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