Cameron, Five Month (6/14/2014)

Five Month (6/14/2014)

Dear Cameron,

It’s officially summer!  School ended after Memorial Day and now everyone is home full time every day.  You have been going with the flow – to the park, to swim lessons, to soccer practice, to the grocery store.  I am very grateful that we now have a play structure in our backyard thanks to Daddy!  The older kids can run out there to play while I take care of things inside or while you nap.  I spend a lot of time wearing you in the Ergo carrier to give me more freedom of movement and especially to free up my hands.  I am a serious pro at grocery shopping with all three of you kiddos!

Daily Activities and Playing

When you are awake you are generally pretty happy, but if you get sad for any reason (usually related to needing sleep) you are difficult to soothe.  You prefer to be bounced up and down while vertical… it is a great opportunity for me to do calf raises and mini squats.  You rolled over again (from front to back) at 4.5 months and 5 months.  You occasionally try to roll from back to front but haven’t had any success yet.  I am not sure if you are not able or don’t have enough opportunities, but you just don’t seem interested in rolling at this point.  You have been rolling onto your side and sometimes fall asleep best on your side with someone patting your back.  You are trying to sit up in the bouncer and bathtub, so your days of reclining like an infant are limited.

   

Sibling

Ian and Ellen are still very much in love with you.  We will see how long it lasts when you start taking their toys!  You give the biggest smiles and laughs to your brother and sister.  Their faces light up when they realize they were the ones who made you so happy.  Both are constantly bringing you toys and talking to us.  Ellen is sometimes a little torn and decides to play with your teddy bear instead of bring it to you.  However, if you are ever crying she is quick to look for a toy or pacifier to bring you comfort.

Eating
At 4.5 months you went back to sleeping through the night fairly consistently and nursing 4 times per day every 4 hours. This month has continued to see a fluctuation of 4-6 feedings per day.  If we are spending a lot of time outside in the heat, you nurse more frequently.  I will also go ahead and nurse you after 3 or 3.5 hours if you wake up from a nap early and can’t get back to sleep. You started sitting at the table with us right around five months.  Although you haven’t started eating any food yet, I can tell that your interest is growing.  Every time we are eating and drinking you stare with fascination.  Even though solid food can be a pain to deal with, I am looking forward to that next milestone in the coming months. 

Sleeping

You have been sleeping about 13-14 hours per day, going to bed for the night between 8 and 9 and waking at 6:30 or 7.  Some days you go back to sleep for a few hours after that first morning feeding, especially if it is earlier than usual.  You are still having trouble staying asleep for a full nap most days so I usually have to spend time getting you back to sleep.  There are some days where you just want to be held during nap time.  Sometimes I use that downtime as my own rest time and others I put you in the Ergo and try to get some things done!  In general, your naps get interrupted by the sibling school or activity schedule and you have to sleep on the go instead of in your crib.

We finally decided to ditch the swaddle as you completely bust out of it every time.  Instead of swaddling your arms, we give you several stuffed animals to snuggle. You seem to like having something in your arms and it usually keeps you from ripping the pacifier out of your mouth.  The most surefire way of getting you to sleep is while vertical on my chest, either in the ergo or just holding you. I would put you to sleep on your tummy but since you still aren't loving tummy time when awake I am afraid you would wake up and be angry instead of quietly put yourself back to sleep.

Special Events
The weekend you turned five months, we went back to Tyler State Park to go camping with some friends.  There were a ton of kids (six including the kids in our family) and everyone had a lot of fun!  We hiked two miles on Saturday and one on Sunday.  You did better at night than during the previous trip, but it was very hot and humid during the day!  You got a little overheated from being held so closely during the day and would get pretty fussy.  I am hoping that we can go somewhere/sometime a little cooler next time.

Please enjoy this edition of weekly photos... we seem to be featuring Cameron's tongue and tonsils this month as he displays an array of hugely open mouthed smiles.

Cameron 18 weeks

Cameron 18 weeks
{Furiously Happy, apparently}

Cameron 19 weeks

Cameron 19 weeks
{Strike a Pose}

Cameron 19 weeks
{MY ENTHUSIASM CANNOT BE CONTAINED}

Cameron 20 weeks

Cameron 20 weeks

Cameron 20 weeks

Cameron 21 weeks

Cameron 21 weeks

Cameron 21 weeks
{GASP}

Cameron 21 weeks
{So I says to the guy, it's your wombat, your problem!}

Cameron 22 weeks

Cameron 22 weeks
{Bust a Move}

Cameron 22 weeks
{All done}

Cameron 22 weeks
{H A M}

Cameron, Four Month (5/14/2014)

Four Month (5/14/2014)

Dear Cameron,

My favorite thing about you right now is what I call a full body smile.  When you see someone you like you smile with your mouth and eyes and then the joy just spreads.  You throw your hands up in the air and kind of arch your back.  I love it!  I think you look a lot like Ian and especially so when you smile or in profile.  Your birth hair fell out and seems to be growing back in black.  I predict you will have Daddy’s hair color, but only time will tell!

Weight - 15 lbs, 8 oz

Length - 26.25"

Daily Activities and Playing
Routine is unchanged; we still have success with the wake-eat-play-sleep model.  You are playing and interacting more with things and people around you.  One new development is that you found your toes!  You like to grab at them sometimes during diaper changes and when playing on your back in general.  Besides gripping dangling toys with great ferocity, you like to gaze at ceiling fans while lying on your back.  You are still not rolling over anymore after just a few successes at three months.  You tolerate tummy time only for a short period of time before you get grunty.

Sibling
No real changes here… Ian and Ellen are both still in school so I am savoring the alone time with you!  At the end of May school will end and everyone will be home full time all summer.  It will be a nice change of pace and we have a lot of fun times in store.

Eating
You continue to nurse on demand at a predictable rate (every 3.5 to 4 hours) but you are not consistent in the number of feedings per day.  Around 3.5 months you went from always nursing four times per day to increasing to either five or six feedings.  I suspect you were either going through a growth spurt and needed to increase my milk supply, or a stuffy nose just made you nurse poorly.  I don’t know if it was a cold or allergies, but it seemed to make you pretty unhappy.  In general nursing is an efficient affair as you only spend 5 minutes on each side (maybe 10 if it is the first feeding of the day). You burp like a champ and still spit up some at each feeding but I can tell the problem is improving.  You still aren't interested in bottle feeding.

Sleeping
After magically starting to sleep through the night, you just as suddenly stopped sleeping through the night.  The routine has shifted so that you nurse a last time around 8 or 8:30 p.m. and go to bed shortly after, then sleep for a 6-8 hour stretch before waking again to eat in the early morning hours.  The good news is that you aren't up to play at all – you just eat and go right back to sleep.  You still take a nap consistently about 1.5 to 2 hours after waking to eat, but you often wake 45 minutes to an hour after going down for your nap.  You have difficulty settling down, particularly in the late afternoon/early evening.  The swing, and car seat are all tolerated if you aren’t tired at all or already asleep, but neither the swing or car rides soothe you.  You are too big for any of the swaddle sacks but still seem to need your arms pinned down to help you settle down, so we use one of the muslin swaddle blankets to wrap your arms and just skip the leg part of the swaddle.  As a last resort if you cannot fall asleep you will usually settle down if I carry you in the Ergo.

Special Events
I started running again!  I am using the single stroller with the car seat adapter for now.  You are fairly unaffected but the motion does seem to get you to go to sleep.  I can’t figure out why that motion would put you to sleep but a car ride won’t.  I am looking forward to you getting a little older so I can ditch the heavy and off balance car seat.

Cameron @ 14 weeks

Cameron @ 14 weeks
{HI-YA!}

Cameron @ 15 weeks
{Traffic Cop on Beach Towel}

Cameron @ 15 weeks

Cameron @ 15 weeks

Cameron @ 15 weeks

Cameron @ 15 weeks
{Suspicious Baby is Suspicious}

Cameron @ 16 weeks
{Happier and Happier}

Cameron @ 16 weeks

Cameron @ 17 weeks (4 months exactly)

Cameron @ 17 weeks
{Goofy Grin}

Cameron @ 17 weeks (4 months exactly)

Cameron @ 17 weeks
{ANGRY YAWN}

Cameron @ 17 weeks (4 months exactly)

Cameron @ 17 weeks (4 months exactly)

Cameron, Three Month (4/14/2014)

Three Month (4/14/2014)

Dear Cameron,

How am I already getting behind on these updates?? You are almost four months old and I am just now getting around to typing up your three month summary.  I do keep detailed notes throughout the month, but I just don’t seem to be able to sit down at the computer as much as I used to in the past.  As your schedule evens out and you get older, I anticipate being able to have more consistent computer time in the evenings as needed.

Daily Activities and Playing
Your routine is the same as before (wake, eat, play, sleep).  Wake time is extending so that you are awake 1.5 to 2 hours at each cycle.  More awake time leads to more play time!  I try to give you as much floor time as possible if you are awake while at home.  When you are on your tummy you really love looking in the mirror at yourself.  However, you only tolerate the tummy time for a short time before you complain and want to switch to your back.  Your favorite thing to do is lay on your back, batting and grabbing at dangling toys.  Your grip is getting quite strong.  Luckily, your interest in toys allows for better car rides while you are awake.  At 12 weeks you turned over from tummy to back, rolling from both the left and the right.  There haven’t been a lot of repeat performances and you haven’t yet rolled from back to tummy.  Overall you are a happy baby and still babble up a storm when you have face to face time with someone.

Sibling
It is such a joy to see the sibling relationship develop between you and your brother and sister!  You light up when Ian or Ellen talks to you and you love to “talk” back.  Sometimes I have to tell Ian to stop talking to you in the backseat of the car because it should be your nap time, but Ian has a hard time not talking to and smiling at you.  Both of them constantly report on what you are doing and Ellen is especially proud of you when you are “working on your muscles” (tummy time).  Ellen continues to be insistent on ensuring you have certain loveys – a Teddy Bear and a Bunny Blanket.

Eating
I still nurse you on demand, but your feeding routine is very predictable.  You have been tapering down from 5 to 4 feedings per day and consistently eat every 4 hours.  You will occasionally wake late at night or very early in the morning to eat, but it isn’t a regular occurrence.  You spit up a bit at every feeding.  I am not concerned about any medical issues like reflux, but it does create quite a bit of extra laundry!  We attempted bottle feeding when I went back to work at the end of March, but you were not interested at all.  You nursed in the morning before I left and refused to eat from a bottle all day while home with Daddy.  You napped and played as normal but just refused to eat until I got home!  We plan to start intermittent bottle feeding again soon so that you could stay with someone else briefly as needed.

Sleeping
Your night time sleep has been getting longer and longer.  I had very little success with a “dream feed” but since you started sleeping through the night all of a sudden at 10.5 weeks, I didn’t have a need to continue it.  Once you started sleeping through the night you would sleep in 7-9 hour stretches each night and by 3 months you had extended to 9-10 hour sleep stretches.  You would go to sleep around 6 or 7 p.m. and wake at 5 or 6 a.m.  Napping often occurs on the road due to errands or the schedule of older siblings.  While at home you have been sleeping in the swing/bouncer.  You sleep fine in your crib at night but tend to wake up mid nap in daytime if you aren’t in the swing.  I am still swaddling you at almost every nap time and each evening and that seems to help you settle down to sleep very quickly. 

Special Events
We went on a family camping trip to Tyler State Park the first weekend in April.  It was colder than I had anticipated and rained significantly on Saturday night/Sunday morning.  I wore you in the Ergo carrier almost the whole weekend and you slept almost the whole time.  Overall we had a great time!  The most challenging part was trying to nurse you in the dark tent.  During our next adventure in June, I plan to have a better lighting set up in case you wake up before sunrise. 

Cameron @ 10 weeks

Cameron @ 10 weeks

Cameron @ 11 weeks

Cameron @ 11 weeks

Cameron @ 11 weeks

Cameron @ 11 weeks

Cameron @ 12 weeks

Cameron @ 12 weeks
{Thppppth}

Cameron @ 12 weeks

Cameron @ 12 weeks

Cameron @ 12 weeks

Cameron @ 13 weeks

Cameron @ 13 weeks
{Hiya!}

Cameron @ 13 weeks

Cameron @ 13 weeks
{Are you done taking pictures yet?}

Cameron, Two Month (3/14/2014)

Two Month (3/14/2014)

Dear Cameron,

You are 1/6^th of the way through your first year.  Admittedly, you still don’t do very much, but it is exciting to watch you grow and change.  I think having a better preview of the developmental steps before us allows me to better savor your current self, not wishing so hard for the next steps.  For now I am enjoying the baby snuggles and calm before the storm, so to speak.

Weight - 13 lbs, 5 oz

Length - 24.5"

Daily Activities and Playing

Your “routine” is very predictable and continues as before (wake, eat, play, sleep).  Wake time tends to be limited to 30-45 minutes after you finish eating, so you don’t have much time to do very much during each play session.  Your neck and back strength is improving and you enjoy limited tummy time on a blanket or in your crib.  Tummy time is considerably more enjoyable for you when you are on someone’s chest.  Since your first smile at 5 weeks, you use tummy time to also practice smiling, making eye contact, and “talking” to either me or Daddy.

Sibling

Ian and Ellen still love you, of course.  Ian has even told me that he misses you while he is at school during the week.  They are both very proud and want to bring pictures of you to school so that they can show their friends.  Both are getting more helpful.  I am so grateful to have Ian sitting in the back seat right next to you.  He helps adjust your blanket or sun shade, gives you toys, talks to you, and makes sure you have your pacifier when you need it.  There are two new stuffed animals that have been specifically determined to be yours and Ellen is constantly making sure that you have them.

Eating

You are consistently nursing 5 times per day, every 4 hours, skipping one late night feeding each day.  You tend to get very fussy if you have a bubble in your tummy but calm down significantly once you burp.  You are also spitting up somewhat at each feeding.  Overall nursing is going very well!  We don’t give you very many bottles but try to feed you one occasionally so that you get used to it.

Sleeping

Your night time sleep has slowly stretched from 4-5 hours at 4 weeks to 6.5-7 hours at 6 weeks.  You are currently going to sleep between 7 and 8 pm each night and then waking around 3 AM. I have had mixed success with a “dream feed” in which I wake you up to eat around 11 PM in an attempt to change your wake up time from 3 am to 6 or 7 am.  I will likely continue the dream feed for some time and see if I can get consistent success.  You have started sleeping in your crib at night since you don’t wake up as often before.  We don’t use a baby monitor because with both of our doors open we can hear you just fine at night.  Naps are still in a variety of places – your crib, the pack and play set up in the living room, the bouncer, the swing, or the car seat/stroller when we are out and about!  You usually nap around 2 to 2.5 hours at a time.  You are increasingly better at getting to sleep on your own when I put you down while still awake.  I still spend some time rocking/holding you, but not as much as before.  I swaddle you for both naps and night time sleep, and it seems to help cue you to sleep.

Special Events

We were using some little cloth diapers on loan and finally got our own stash!  Our diaper drawer includes a combination of pre-folds with covers (Rumparooz), Blueberry Simplex (all in one), and BumGenius Freestyle (all in one).  Everything is one size so we can use them on both you and big sister (for now).  I am loving them so far and experience far fewer “blowouts” and leaks than we did with disposables on the first two children.

Cameron @ 8 weeks

Cameron @ 8 weeks

Cameron @ 8 weeks

Cameron @ 8 weeks

Cameron @ 9 weeks

Cameron @ 9 weeks

Cameron @ 9 weeks