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.
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