Wesley's eight-month stats

Once again, a belated post, and I don't have official stats, but ...

Estimated weight: 22 pounds (!?!)

Current developments include sitting up and clapping. He went from no balance to nearly professional sitter in just a few days time. And he seriously started the clapping thing one weekend (right before he turned 8 months, actually) and spent an entire day clapping - he's hooked, and it's adorable.

On the eating front, he used up the remainder of my frozen milk supply this month ... going forward, he'll get all formula except nursing sessions in the morning and right before bed.

And seriously? He L-O-V-E-S food. Like, we're going to have to make him get a job to help with the grocery bill if his appetite continues inflating with age. It's amazing to see how much food he can put away, and Tim has repeatedly said he thinks we could just give him food continuously and he would just keep eating and eating. There was one night that he polished off an entire grilled cheese sandwich, a pear and some strawberries and still acted hungry. I wanted to have a chat with him and explain that he'd only been doing this solid food thing for two months and need not be eating the same amount (or more) food as Elle.

Funny, funny boy.

The reflux seemed to be getting no better until he'd been on the medication for almost exactly a month, and finally, we have seen a dramatic improvement and reduction in the amount of times and volume he's spitting up. It's hardly noticeable now, especially after how much he had been doing it before.

We officially ditched the infant seat and installed convertible seats in both cars for him. We scored a spectacular deal on the Chicco NextFit, so he's riding in rear-facing style sans bucket seat.

Bath time is fun time!

He officially dropped his third nap, although some times if he doesn't nap at daycare I get slammed with him trying to sneak a car nap on the way home, which doesn't end well for anyone.

He's firmly in 6-9 month clothing and sometimes decidedly more comfortable in 9-12 month sizes. (He's a big kid!) He just jumped up to size 4 disposable diapers.


He's babbling and making lots of fun noises these days, but the only recognizable word is really "dada," and so far he hasn't associated that with Tim. We've signed to him since birth, and he definitely understands them but hasn't signed anything back except "milk."

Current habits include nursing/taking a bottle 5-6 times a day, eating solids 2-3 times a day, napping 1-2 times a day, sleeping a solid stretch at night (usually sleeps 9-10 hours, then wakes to nurse, then sleeps for another hour or so).

Current loves include solid food (favorites include watermelon, sweet potato fries, mango, yogurt, chicken, cantaloupe and banana), sibling bath time, the cats (he has a radar for them and stares at/follows them whenever he sees them and makes an excited squeal when they're near him), clapping.

Current nicknames Bro, Hoots, Buppa.

Also of note: He met his second family member this month! Aunt Marti had a business trip to nearby Tampa, so she came down a few days early to spend some time with us. Wesley was puzzled at first but appreciated the extra attention. While Aunt Marti was here, we visited several area restaurants, headed to a favorite playground, spent a lovely afternoon at the beach and took in a spring training game (his second!), where he did fabulously, all things considered. 

Wesley's seven-month stats

Once again, a belated post, and this time I don't have stats to add - we don't have a well-baby visit scheduled until nine months, and I didn't even try to get a rough estimate on his height or weight.

Current developments include eating solid food! We're doing baby-led weaning again, and so far Wesley has been open to trying anything and everything. Tim and I are loving watching him eat and explore textures and tastes - he can be the most eager eater and also the most expressive.

On the eating front, we also started supplementing with formula after he turned six months old. I still nurse him in the morning and at the end of the day (either right after we get home or right before bed, depending on several factors but mostly determined by how much seems to be hunger and how much seems to be "in need of comfort) and pump once a day while at work (instead of twice). He usually gets one bottle of breast milk in the morning and then two bottles of formula at daycare, and if he needs a bottle in the evenings he gets formula.

Current developments also include being on his first prescription medication. At his six-month well baby visit, the doctor noted that his weight hadn't really followed an upward curve, but instead had kind of moved straight across the growth chart. Since he's a big kid anyway, she wasn't super concerned, but she did want me to watch his spit up, which had recently increased. Two weeks after the appointment, his spit up was definitely not improving and was worse on some days than it had been in months. Tim and I had both noticed it, and our daycare provider brought it up as well. It seemed like he was constantly erupting, and while he didn't appear to be in any discomfort, I decided to call the pediatrician as she had requested and update that things had not improved. She called in a prescription, and unfortunately it can take 2-4 weeks to kick in. It's also hard to know how much of the medication that he's actually ingesting because he spits up constantly. So hopefully we'll see improvement soon, and hopefully he'll only be on the medication for a few months.

He's also extremely mobile - it doesn't matter that he's not crawling, standing or walking yet, nothing is safe around this kid. He rolls like a cement mixer (which can't help the spit up issue, but you can't stop him, only hope to contain him) and reaches and manipulates himself to get whatever or wherever his little heart desires. I watch him with awe, horror, fear and annoyance.

Current habits include much of the same: nursing/taking a bottle 5-7 times a day, eating solids 1-2 times a day, napping 2-3 times a day (usually twice, and he's definitely not napping for long stretches on days that he goes to daycare, so his weekend naps can often be quite lengthy), sleeping a solid stretch at night (usually sleeps 9-10 hours, then wakes to nurse, then sleeps for another hour or so). He almost always goes to sleep on his own at night (I think he's just completely exhausted) but still sometimes needs help/fusses when put down for naps and often falls asleep in his car seat.

We're getting ready to transition him in to a convertible car seat and out of the convenient (but heavy) infant seat. He's nearing the height limit of 30 inches, and while I love the infant seat for many reasons, I look forward to not having to heave and store the infant seat in the condo.

Current loves include solid food (favorites include watermelon, sweet potato fries, mango and banana), sibling bath time, the cats (he has a radar for them and stares at/follows them whenever he sees them), rolling every where.

Current nicknames Bro, Hoots, Buppa, Deedee.

Wesley's six-month stats

Stats from four days after he turned six months, post from several weeks later because Mommy's blogging time/motivation is sorely lacking:

Completely uncooperative and destructive.

 Weight: 17 pounds, 12 ouces (60th percentile)

Height: 27 3/4 inches (90th percentile)

Head: 44cm (60th percentile)

Current developments include a tooth! Actually, two! The pediatrician had been checking out his gums at his 5-month appointment and we both saw that the bottom gums were swollen. Four days later his first tooth appeared. A week later, the second had made an appearance. He handled both well - definitely had a little more drool and some increased fussiness and was a little more clingy, but nothing too crazy. He had his two front (bottom) teeth for Christmas.

Permanent drool rash on his chin, yay.

He's also been trying to sit up. We had to retire the bouncy seat and swing because he was pulling himself forward and nearly bending in half/somersaulting out. He's rolling and rolling and rolling and gives "kisses" on demand.

Not sure if this is a development or not, but I figured I should note it: His eyes are definitely brown and his hair has lightened up a lot. Elle and Tim have dark, dark brown eyes. I think Wesley's eyes are going to be lighter, more hazel, like mine. His hair is so fine and light blond that it's hard to remember how dark it was when he was born. And it's so soft :)

Current habits include nursing/taking a bottle 5-7 times a day, napping 2-3 times a day, sleep a solid stretch at night (usually sleeps 9-10 hours, then wakes to nurse, then sleeps for another 2-3 hours. If we catch him at the right time and toss him in a sleep sack, he'll usually go to sleep on his own for naps at home and *sometimes* at night. Naps when we don't catch him at the magic time and daycare naps are an entirely different (and frustrating, for me) story.

He had been drinking four bottles while I was at work, but in the last few weeks he's started sleeping a little bit later, so he nurses a little bit later and then usually only needs three bottles while I'm away. This has helped make it slightly easier to keep up with the demand, but there are definitely days when I barely make it or have to dip in to my rather small freezer stash. 

Current loves include milk, talking, baths, pulling Mommy and Daddy's hair, watching his sister, trying to grab food from people/off plates, pulling things over his head/face.

Absolutely adores all things Elle Belle.

Current nicknames Bro, Hoots, Buppa, Deedee, Warthog, Vulture Baby (because he attacks anyone close to him like this).

Wesley's five-month stats

Aside from the craziness of the holidays and life in general, there's no real excuse for the delayed posting of this update (I'm working hard on getting back to regular blogging, because I really miss this outlet and love looking back at all of the memories I captured for Elle). I must say that he didn't do anything revolutionary or change dramatically from month four to month five, and I can tell you that the month six update is already started and includes some pretty big milestones and changes. But sorry, buddy, for the lack of substance in this one. The lack of words doesn't mean I love you any less! I will make it up to you and the world with a video post soon :)

So. Stats from four days before Wesley turned five months:

Weight: 17 pounds, 2 ounces (75th percentile)

Height: 27.25 inches (90th percentile)

Head: 43 cm (88th percentile)

Oh, the drool!

Not-so-lean, all shades of green, thumb-sucking machine.

Current developments include rolling - both ways, all the time, including in his sleep, soothing himself to sleep sometimes, lots of drool and shoving his fingers, hands, toys, etc. in his mouth. His eyes are also definitely a different color now - I think Elle and Tim are going to have the rich, dark brown eyes in the family, and Wesley and I are going to have the lighter brown, hazel eyes of the family. I've spent a lot of time over the last few months staring at his eyes trying to determine the color, so this is an exciting development for me.

We all know how I love photos of sleeping babies ...
side sleeping nap time with thumb sucking in check.

Current habits include nursing/taking a bottle 5-7 times a day, napping 2-3 times a day, sleeping a solid stretch of 8-9 hours at night, lots of new noises,"talking" and laughter.

Current loves include eating, baths, the activity mat, watching his sister.

Current nicknames Hoots, Buppa, Deedee, Wesley Warthog. Wesley Warthog was earned when he had a nasty bout of congestion - I think it stemmed from his first "real cold" (one that Elle shared) and also some teething-related congestion. It made him extra fussy and extra cuddly, and he seriously sounded like a warthog, especially when he tried to suck his thumb, suck a pacifier or nurse. I felt terrible for how stuffed up he sounded, but he handled it well and sounded hilarious, so every time he is congested, we reference Wesley Warthog.

Wesley's four-month stats

Our pediatrician's office is undergoing some changes, and in the midst of everything Wesley's 4-month appointment was cancelled and rescheduled. The original appointment was scheduled for 10 days after his "monthday," and today was actually the rescheduled date. Since he's practically five months old I'll just post his stats with that update. Here's what he's been up to, though:

Looking serious.

Current developments include rolling to his side, drooling a ton, spitting up less, sucking his thumb, sleeping swaddle-free as of 3.5 months old, sleeping in his crib in Elle's room at night (guess I should start calling it "the kids' room" and not Elle's room ...), finding his feet, talking a lot, trying to sit up. Officially busting out of almost all 3-month clothes and definitely fitting extremely well in 3-6 month clothes. This kid is getting more mobile by the day, too - although he hasn't rolled over in months, he scoots like it's his job. You put him in one place, whether it be on his back or stomach, and he's always in another place, often facing a different direction, just minutes later.

Current habits include nursing/taking a bottle 6-7 times a day, sleeping a solid stretch of 7-9 hours at night, lots of trying to sit up, mastering head control

It started to become a challenge to keep up with supply/demand on the breastfeeding front this month. After I was sick for a few days with a cold, my supply dropped a bit, and it seemed his demand simultaneously went up a bit. Add in a few precious ounces of breastmilk that were lost (due to leaking, spilling and an accidental wasting of thawed milk), and my supply was down and my freezer stash was rapidly depleting. I made sure I boosted my water intake, started taking fenugreek and feel like I'm in a better position now to keep up and try to get ahead of Chunky Monkey's milk needs.

I'm already trying to figure out what his first word will be and when it will be uttered ... I'm guessing that it will have something to do with Elle :)

Current loves include eating, baths, the activity mat, watching his sister.

Current nicknames Bro, Hoots, Chunky Monkey ... Elle went through a stage where she was naming everything with an "oots" sound. She was naming stuffed animals things like "Woots" and "Doots," and a few days later I was asking her if she thought we should name Wesley something else. She said "Yes. Hoots." I like it, and it has stuck so far!

Wesley's three-month stats

Wesley is 3.5 now, but we took photos and recorded his weight on his 3-month birthday so I could deliver this tardy post. (And I've already started his 4-month post, so as soon as we take a quick photo and have his 4-month appointment we'll be good to go!)

 Weight: 15.4 pounds.

Height: Still super long.

Head: Still pretty honkin' big.

Current developments include ... well, kid, in a good way, you were pretty boring this month. The biggest, most fun change is that you started to laugh. You've got quite a belly laugh/chuckle, and we all love to hear it. You also started to grab at toys, your night sleep stayed pretty steady (and great - thank you!) and you didn't do anything earth-shattering like talk or crawl or walk, which is OK - you've got time. You did make bedtime rather challenging several times, which wears on me since your dad is at work most nights.

Current habits include much of the same. Spitting up a lot, nursing/taking a bottle 4-6 times during the day and waking once or twice at night to eat (so he usually eats 6-8 times a day), sleeping in all kinds of places. There were many times when Wesley would sleep until 5 a.m. or so, sleeping from about 9 p.m. until 5 a.m., waking to nurse, then going back to sleep until 8 or 9 a.m. He basically doesn't wake up, which means I barely have to wake up. He's still exclusively breastfed, taking 3-4 four-ounce bottles a day while I'm at work. Most notable this month was a solid two-week stretch of green poop. Normal poop for breastfed babies is mustard-y yellow. Wesley's was spinach-y green at times. I don't think I changed my diet at all in a way that would result in the green poop, so the other possible culprit is that he was battling a virus. He seemed OK other than the poop ... a few days after his poop returned to normal, he had some congestion that lasted a little less than a week. We all battled a cold, but he was spared the worst of it, thankfully.

Wesley also has been anti-evening nap, which is no good for anyone. Basically he goes from when I pick them up from daycare until he crashes around 8:30 without sleep, and that's just not a good situation for him. If I can get him to sleep sometime between 6 and 7, he's a much more pleasant baby and stays up until about 9, but that just hasn't been happening very often.

He's in cloth diapers most of the time at home - officially out of the newborn prefolds and in to larger prefolds or BumGenius pocket diapers. Still in size 2 Huggies disposables.

Current loves include eating, baths, the activity mat, watching his sister.

Current nicknames Bro, Buddy, Chunky Monkey. 

Wesley's two-month stats

Wesley turned two months old about two weeks ago but had his two-month pediatrician appointment two days ago. I'm mega behind in things I want to blog about, but I went back to work last week, Tim started a 12-out-of-13-days working streak at the same time, and things have just been crazy in general. Right now I should be sleeping, but I wanted to get this post up before I forgot, so bring on the extra cup(s) of coffee tomorrow instead!

 Weight: 14 pounds, 5 ounces. He's officially off the charts.

Height: 24.5 inches (92nd percentile)

Head: Didn't get the measurement, but I know it is 60th percentile

Current developments include staying alert for longer stretches of time, rolling from belly to back, sleeping longer stretches at night, being less fussy in general (PRAISE GOD!).

I posted this on FB and Twitter after I realized how startling the comparison was *sobs*.

Current habits include spitting up a lot, nursing/taking a bottle 4-5 times during the day and waking once or twice at night to eat (so he usually eats 6-7 times a day), sleeping in all kinds of places. He sleeps for a decent chunk at night and then a few more hours in the morning until 8 or 9, when Tim and Elle get up, so that has worked out well. I'm pumping twice a day at work, and so far I'm keeping up with his intake while I'm away, and I try to pump once at night after he goes to bed to build a freezer stash. He's still exclusively breastfed, and I'm hoping to make it to at least six months before we introduce solids and (most likely) formula.

His naps are all still all over the place - right before I returned to work he seemed to be taking one long nap in the late morning, one long nap in the mid- to late-afternoon and then some cat naps in the very beginning and very end of the day. He tends to melt down quite easily at the end of the day, so I just go by his cues as to when bedtime is and time bath time and nursing around those.

He's transitioned rather well to daycare. I love that even when he's fussy, he smiles at me when he realizes who is there when I go to pick him up. He usually crashes for a while when we get home, which works out OK because I can make dinner for Elle and I and we can eat and play for a bit before he wakes up and we start the ever-challenging dual bath/bed routine.

I'm trying to give us all time to adjust to my return to work. I'd love to eventually work out in the mornings before work, but my inability to ever get to bed early plus the timing of his wake ups has made that not the best idea right now. He usually wakes up around 3 a.m. and then again around 6 a.m. There have been a handful of blessed times when he's skipped the 3 a.m. wake up and made it closer to 5 or 6 a.m. I'm not an idiot, though - I know that isn't necessarily the norm, so I'm grateful when it happens but totally prepared for the extra, earlier wake up. Some nights he goes right back to sleep, but typically if he's up at 3 a.m., he's up for at least an hour, which is less than desirable for Mama.

He definitely is a more pleasant baby when he's awake than he was the first few weeks. He's got a sweet smile and the cutest coos.

And the spit up? It's A LOT. But he's a happy spitter, and I talked to the doctor about it and it seems like his episodes/symptoms are all normal, so for now, we just deal with multiple wardrobe changes and lots of burp cloths in the laundry.

I'm hoping to transition those adorably chubby thighs to our pocket cloth diapers in the next week or so and pack away the prefolds he's currently wearing. At daycare, he's up to Size 2 Huggies.

Current loves include eating, baths, the activity mat, watching his sister.

Current nicknames Bro, Bud, Buddy, Squish, Geyser, Chubster, Chunky Monkey. 

Wesley's one-month stats

Wesley turned one month old on Thursday but had his one-month pediatrician appointment yesterday.

He's never really in the mood for these block photos ...

 Weight: 11 pounds, 2 ounces (85th percentile) ... his birth weight was 7 pounds, 14 ounces

Height (I don't think this is exact - I don't think lined up properly):
23 inches (95th percentile)

Head: 39 cm (50th percentile)

Current developments include gaining neck strength, wearing cloth diapers (we started at about 2.5 weeks, after his cord fell off - which happened at day 9 or 10, I think, which was MUCH earlier than Elle's - and we were out of newborn disposables), smiling, "laughing," and dishing out some colic. He's a sweet little boy and we love him to pieces, but I feel like he cries a lot more than Elle did. And for no reason, sometimes. I posted this photo to Instagram, and Tim agreed the caption is pretty much dead-on.

He's usually either really peaceful like this ... or really not. #letsfindthemiddlegroundkid

Current habits include sleeping a lot and nursing a lot. His daytime sleep is still hard to pin down - some days he's more alert/sleepy than others. But he typically sleeps in 1.5-3 hour stretches at night (usually the first stretch is the longest, then the rest are much shorter). He nurses about every 2 hours during the day (it's kind of scary how to-the-minute he usually is). At night, he'll go a little bit longer. We introduced the bottle when he was about three weeks old and he's had one most days since. The last few nights before he turned one month old he actually went 4-4.5 hours between feedings and therefore had some decent 3ish-hour stretches of sleep, too. I'm hoping that trend continues. His long stretch is usually right after I put Elle to bed, though, and so far I use part of that sleeping time to get stuff done around the house, so I'm not able to take full advantage of the longer stretch of sleep. I'm also always kind of holding my breath that he's about to wake up.) I'm hoping things naturally shift back a little so that he'll sleep that longer stretch a tiny bit later, like when my "normal" bedtime is, but I'm not holding my breath yet. (I haven't slept for more than 3.5 hours at a time in over a month - not fun to think about!)

But overall it could be much worse. And it's definitely getting better. The whole "I have no hunger cues because as soon as I wake up I'm hungry and screaming like a banshee" thing isn't exactly pleasant, but we're all learning to deal with it. 

My biggest issue currently is that he's not a fan of sleeping on his back. Which means he's not a fan of sleeping in the Pack N Play. Which means he sleeps mostly in the swing or bouncy seat. He doesn't like to be swaddled, but I've broken out the Miracle Blanket in the hopes that it works miracles and he'll sleep in the Pack N Play for at least a few hours at night. I'm not trying to reinvent the sleep pattern at one month old, but I'm definitely interested in tweaking it.

Current loves include eating. That's about it. Oh, and baths. He doesn't like diaper changes or being hungry.

Current nicknames Bro, Bud, Buddy, Squish. I don't think we're as generous with the nicknames this time around - Elle had like 30 in her first year.

We're kind of surprised at how much weight he gained. Tim and I both felt like he was more solid (and he'd lost his bony little butt!), and I thought he seemed longer, but it appears he filled out way more than either of us expected. At least I know that he's getting plenty to eat ...