Month Five

A short post b/c we are busy, busy, busy these days!

At 5 months, Will:

• Is probably teething! He's been especially drooley (Niagra Falls has nothing on this kid!), he's got to have something to naw on at all times, his cheeks have been redder, his nose a little runny, he's been a little fussier than usual and he's been sleeping less during the day. He's not miserable, he's just not himself the last few days. We just started trying the Hylands tablets and Tylenol at night and that seems to work wonders (he slept 8-5 last pm!).
• Can sit unsupported sometimes for up to 20 seconds!
• Is now interested in toys - anything musical or that shakes. A friend let me borrow her exersaucer and he loves it! We do too...
• Has gotten a touch of stranger anxiety. If someone he doesn't know holds him and he can't see me or Bill he cries.
• We think he may be favoring his left hand. Bill is a lefty so this too could be something he inherited from his daddy.
• No longer hates baths! I had to master what I like to call the 3 Minute Bath b/c he just couldn't handle it but now we're actually starting to play in the tub!
• Is still exclusively breast fed. We decided to just go with it until he's 6 months. What the hell, right? If I'm going to do it I may as well go all the way. Besides, makes me feel a little less guilty about early weaning...
• His Zantac dose has been cut by 1/3 of what it was last month with success! And I have been eating about 2 servings/day of dairy for the past couple weeks, also with success!
• Not only coos and gurgles but now he squeals, blows spit bubbles, and we swear, sometimes it sounds like he's saying, 'Hi.'
• Loves it when we take him out to eat with us, our Saturday ritual. We go places that have a booth and sit him in his Bumbo on top of the table. Believe it or not we can go through the entire meal without having to entertain or console him or anything b/c he's so busy studying all the people and surroundings. It's like one on one time for Bill and me which is def a bonus. 
• Is still so sweet and loving. My mom calls him a Lover Boy and she's totally right. We're so lucky to have such a sweet baby.

Summer days are here to stay

This thing is a life saver sometimes

Just another day at the office

Playing outside. We'll miss you Spring...

The water fountain at North Park was a hit!

                                                                    

Father's Day

I think Bill's Father's Day was as special as my Mother's Day. We celebrated the night before with a movie date, just the two of us. It was the first time we'd been to the movies since Will was born. It was great to be alone together but I had a hard time being away from Will this time. I've been away from him a handful of times while my mom baby sat, so I have never had to worry about him while we're apart, but now that I work full-time I have some serious mommy guilt about any time we don't spend together when I'm off. That and I just really miss him. Our time together is precious to me since we're apart so much. But like I said, it was nice to have alone time together for a bit. Then on Father's Day we had my dad and his partner Pat over, David and his gf Raine and my best friend Stephanie and her gf Kait for dinner. Bill made brisket (it's what he's famous for!) and I made Bill and Dad homemade candy bars. Bill & I renamed them Crack Bars b/c that's how ridiculously good they were.

So we had a wonderful time celebrating our family and the added joy that Will has brought to our lives. I celebrate my dad every year b/c he's a wonderful father and I cannot imagine life without him; he's truly one of the most wonderful people I know. He makes me so proud. Every one that meets him instantly likes him. I have friends and acquaintances that have only met him once, like years ago at our wedding, and they still ask me how he's doing. But this year I got to celebrate the second best dad that I know, none other than my own husband.

Top 10 Reasons Why Bill Is Such a Great Dad:

10. His favorite part of every day is getting to be there in the morning when Will wakes up. His words, not mine.
9. He is often Will's voice. He instinctively can read his son with what some times seems like telepathic ability. It's awesome.
8. He's mastered the art of administrating liquid medication to Will. He manages to do it without ever eliciting so much as a squirm. Skills.
7. He can make Will smile, coo and giggle through tears and fits. Will will even stop nursing to smile at Bill when he walks into the room.
6. Bill bought a speaker with an amp for his car and before I even had to say it he said, don't worry, I won't play it loud while Will is in the car.
5. The minute Bill sees I'm getting frustrated, impatient or stressed with Will he immediately jumps in to help out or even take over whatever it is I'm trying (unsuccessfully) to do. He's done this since Day 1. I joke that Bill would breast feed him if he could.
4. Will is always safe when he is with Bill. Bill is very conscientious about that stuff. I think it's natural that most men wouldn't have those protective instincts but Bill is different in that way. He likes being the protector and it's something I've always loved about him. It just complements his caring nature.
3. Bill wears a dozen different hats every day and he does it without ever complaining. He takes care of me. He takes care of the animals. He takes care of the house. He takes care of the lawn. He takes care of the important stuff like making sure bills are paid so that I don't have to worry about trying to keep up. And no, he's not a SAHD. You may be asking what exactly I do! I'm starting to feel like Bob in 'Office Space'...
2. The love and pride in his voice when he calls Will 'son' is undeniable. He loves taking him everywhere, showing him off to all his friends, coworkers and neighbors. He calls Will his little buddy.
1. There is nothing Bill wouldn't do for his son. He'll stay up with him every morning from 4-7 am and then work a full 8 hour day for 6 weeks solid. He'll sacrifice watching fights at Buffalo Wild Wings with his friends for QT with his family. He'll take conference calls in his car with a screaming baby all the way to my mom's house and he'll still tell me he's having a great morning. He started Will's college fund the day he was born. I hear him say to Will all the time, even when he thinks no one is listening, Daddy loves you.

So maybe that's more than 10 things, and I could still keep going on and on, but I think you get the picture.

Month Four

Four months already! Phew! Here's where we're at:

Will had his check up and he's now 12 lbs 11 oz, 23 3/4" long. He's in the 10th percentile for length and weight; his head circumference is in the 25th (he has Bill's head :)  So he's still a little guy! But his pedi says his growth is healthy and she had no concerns. We were able to check off all the milestones - smiling, talking, rolling, grasping, sitting with support, weight bearing legs with support, total head support and control.

At four months Will:

• Loves to talk! He wakes up talking most mornings now. He talks in the car. He talks to us and to my mom. He's just got a lot to say! It's really cute now because he makes trilling sounds and some of his babble sounds very close to words. He makes vowel-like sounds.
• Loves to sit up. He loves sitting in the Bumbo our neighbors let us borrow. When he's in a reclined position he strains to sit up right. Maybe he'll be sitting sooner than later...
• Doesn't cry when we take him grocery shopping anymore! He either sleeps through it now or is content to just watch what's going on around him. He loves being out in public places and people watching. And he loves all the attention he gets everywhere he goes.
• Is still waking up 1 - 2 times at night but he's back on his schedule after that weird week of no sleep. Maybe he was going through a growth spurt or something. But thankfully he's sleeping more predictably and peacefully (for now). Bill found an article about a recent research study that was just published about infant sleep. The conclusion of that study is that infant sleep patterns, especially nighttime sleep, is dictated by genetic factors rather than environment. It went to explain that their sleep patterns may not be manageable much before 18 months of age. Naps could still be more environmental influenced than genetic, but whether and when they start sleeping through the night is just something they're wired with. I would like to disclose that I entirely blame Bill for Will's not sleeping though the night. I was a perfect sleeper (still am!), but according to my MIL, Bill never slept through the night. And to this day he needs a pretty minimal amount to function (unlike me where I am a zombie with any less than 7 hours/night), and he goes through periods where he has a lot of night waking. Oh well, at least I know it's not something I am or am not doing!

Will is still exclusively breastfed so we talked about the transition to formula which will happen sooner than later. His appetite keeps increasing (my mom says he's taking up to 6 oz bottles now), so I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep up. During the work week I pump 5x/day to keep my supply and our stash up but both of those seem to be starting to dwindle. I think that's just par for the course when you can only nurse 3-4x/day. My plan has always been to nurse through six months and then start the weaning process. I know that's somewhat of an early wean but there are some things I had to consider in the way of future plans. So with two months and counting left of breast feeding I've considered starting him on rice cereal. For years and years four months was always the standard. Apparently the APA recently modified it to six months. That seems a little late to me. Most of my friends started rice, some even pureed baby food, at four months, but our pedi recommended six months. The issue is that in the evenings after work he's pretty hungry and there's only so much I can do after pumping all day. I've started giving him a little bottle of expressed milk but that's just less milk for him during the day. So I've started to consider trying cereal in the evenings. We'll probably start him on formula in July or August, unless my supply drops too much between now and then, since my plan is to start weaning in August. So that's one of my dilemmas - cereal or no cereal before six months? Is it really even that big of a deal?

My second dilemma comes from the pedi recommending we start weaning him off Zantac. AHH! This makes me nervous. Let me take you back to those two insufferable weeks before he went on it. He was pretty close to being colicky. He cried when we laid him down. He cried when I tried nursing him or when Bill tried to feed him a bottle. He cried when we burped him. He would wake up screaming. He didn't sleep for sometimes more than an hour, two at most. He cried. And cried. And cried. I cried! It was very stressful. But within days of starting him on Zantac he was a different baby. I understand that he shouldn't be on medicine any longer than he has to be, and I understand that being on it for too long could have some repercussions but I always thought we'd start weaning him off it closer to six months, when he starts on solids or maybe when he is able to sit up on his own. All of those things supposedly indicate more mature digestive systems and might mean the end of reflux. The pedi said his current dosage needs to be cut down by 2 mL/day, and I'm ok with trying that, but I just don't think he's ready to come off of it completely. He still has his bad days where he spits up a lot and seems uncomfortable. I've also been dairy free for 3 months now, since he went on Zantac, which has helped him I think, but I had planned to slowly start trying to reintroduce dairy into my diet this month and next to see how he does. The pedi thought he could have Similac Sensitive which is a dairy-based formula. So I thought it might be a good idea to start eating a little dairy again before he starts on formula since that'll be a pretty big change for his system. We'll see how that goes. The whole thing makes me nervous. We've gotten him over all those digestive issue humps, I just fear what formula and weaning, or even just tapering down, from his medicine will do.

So these next few months will be met with more transitions (an ongoing theme when you have babies/toddlers/little kids I guess), but we'll just roll with it like we always do. I feel very proud of us. We're keeping up despite a hectic schedule. Here's what our days entail:

5:30 am - Wake up for work, nurse.
6:00 am - Will goes back to sleep, I get ready for work.
7:00 am - Leave for work. Bill gets up at about 6:30 to help me get out the door on time. If it weren't for him who knows what time I'd roll in!
8:00 - 8:30 am - Will wakes up. Bill gives him his medicine, changes his diaper, gets him dressed and over to my mom's.
5:00 pm - Bill picks up Will from my moms.
6:15 pm - I am home from work. I nurse Will as soon as I get home and give him a little bottle. Bill makes dinner while I do this (if it weren't Bill I'd probably live off cereal and sandwiches!).
6:45 pm - Dinner
7:00 - 8:00 pm - Play time with Will, make lunches, wash pump parts, go for a family walk
8:00 - 8:30 pm - Bed time routine (bath, story, songs)
8:30 - 9:00 pm - Nurse
9:00 - Will is in bed. I finish getting my stuff together for the next work day before crashing myself.

And the week-ends aren't any slower. I wake up at 6 or 6:30 to nurse Will, then I start on my chores when he's back in bed so I can have the majority done when he's ready to start the day. That way if his naps are short I'm not too worried about not getting anything done. I try and stick to his nap schedule he's on at my mom's during the week because that really helps him (and us). Will is definitely a baby that needs a pretty rigid schedule. One of the hardest things about working full time is just having hardly any time to myself. If I'm lucky Will will take a long nap so I can do things like write this blog, or watch tv, read a magazine, catch up on some phone calls.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade my life for anything. I feel more fulfilled and I'm very happy with everything I've ever prayed for, but life is a whirlwind! Time flies. Sometimes I just want to slow it down. I was around one of my sorority sisters over the holiday whose son is now 7 years old. It seems just yesterday he was a baby! And I'm not ready for Will to be a little boy. I'm perfectly ok with him taking his time to grow up, although I know that won't happen. If it's one thing I'm learning it's to not take a day for granted. Even the grueling, so tired I can't keep my eyes open, wanna curl up in a ball and sleep for 9 uninterrupted hours kind of days, I'm finding myself realizing how someday I will miss these days after Will is too big to hold, when he doesn't want us to smother him with kisses, when he doesn't want to cuddle anymore or light up every time he sees our faces. These are the days I will cherish my whole life through.