Elias: 5 Month Update

Age: 5 Months

Stats:
Weight: Not really sure, but probably around 15-16 pounds. Little tank. He's just SOLID.
Diaper Size: 2's with 3 overnight diapers at night
Clothing Size: 3-6 month

Sleep: I always put him down wide awake and he generally does great at going to sleep with minimal, if any, fussing. Naps are pretty great. Night, however, is another story. He's generally down from 7pm-12am, with the DF. But, starting around 12am, he wakes several times needing me to go re-paci him or pat and shush him. I only feed him once, around 2am. Then, starting around 4:45am til DWT is a constant battle of re-paci's. It's exhausting and frustrating. I'm hoping now that I'm really working on the day time schedule and we're going to introduce solids, he'll cut that on his own. But, something tells me I'm going to need to do some very intentional and not so fun sleep training. Ugh. I'm giving him til 6 months.

Schedule: Right at about the 5 month mark, we began working pretty hard to get a better and set schedule. It's not easy and it's not fun. It's sacrificing going out and doing things during the day which can make me go a bit stir crazy, but it'll be worth it in the long run... I hope. His current schedule is (ideally):

6:30am: DWT and nurse, then play

8:30-10am: Nap

10am: Nurse and play (no nap, or at most a quick cat nap on our way home from somewhere)

12pm: Nurse and play

1-3pm: Nap

3:30pm: Nurse then play

4:30-5pm: Catnap

5-6:30pm: Play

6:30pm: Nurse, then bedtime routine

7pm: Bed

10:30pm: Dream Feed bottle

~2am: MOTN feed

Nurse/Eating: The same. We're nursing exclusively, with 2 bottles of pumped milk a day-- at about 3pm because my supply just seems to dip then and again at about 10:30pm from the Hubs while I'm asleep. I still stare longingly at the formula every time I'm at the store. I know formula would be easier, but I also know nursing important to me. So, after I stare for a few minutes I walk away empty handed. I don't know if we'll make it a whole year nursing, but I'm trying.

General: Still working through the colic. It's definitely not been easy. He's a high maintenance baby through and through. But, I do think he's getting easier and less fussy everyday. It's a slow process, but I think we're getting through it.

He LOVES to stand on his legs and to kick like crazy when he's laying down. He's got some super strong legs. Maybe a future soccer star!

Likes: Still super into the play mat. He also loves his bouncer thing.

Oh, and me. He's a total and complete mama's boy.

He loves watching his big sister which is just the cutest thing in the world.

He likes bath time until he gets out and then it's meltdown city. And, being outside. He'll be totally content for his longest stretches as long as he's in the fresh air.

Of course, with this being March in Michigan, the days we can get outside right now are limited, but we make sure to take full advantage of the nice days.  

Dislike: Losing his paci, getting into the carseat, and keeping socks on his feet. Kid is always barefoot.

Special Moments: More smiles and giggles. First St. Patrick's Day!

Little man is definitely a handful and keeps me busy. Those checks make me want to do nothing but kiss them all day! He is so very loved.  

Elias: 3 & 4 Month Recap

Poor second kid. I totally meant to get the 3 month recap up and I just never got to it. Blah. I suck. But, whatever. Here's a few 3 month pics!

Now, let's dive straight into a 4 month recap!


Age:4 Months

 

Stats:
Weight: 14lb
Length: 24.5 in
Head:16.5 in
Diaper Size: Moved from 1 to 2 right after he turned 4 months
Clothing Size: Some 0-3 month stuff still fits, but moving to 3-6 month stuff

Sleep: Blaaaaaah. I mean, he's not a terrible sleeper, I suppose. But he most certainly isn't a great sleeper. At night, he's up anywhere from 2-10 times needed just to be paci-ed and once around 3 to eat.

I feel like the needing to be re-paci-ed issue is a mess. I don't know if I should just say screw it and force him to drop it altogether with some oh so fun CIO or if I should just sorta stick it out til he can pick it up and put it back in himself (not that he even could right now b/c he's still swaddled). Ugh. I don't really remember B needed me to stick it back in sooooo often in the MOTN, but maybe that's just been blocked out. I'm not sure. Hopefully he gets the hang of it soon, dammit.

Schedule: Welp. Turns out it's SUPER hard to keep a good schedule with kid 2. Like, really hard. Or at least it's super hard for me. He's LOOSELY on the following schedule:

6:30-7:30/45am: DWT. Nurse, play

7:30/45-9:30am: Nap 1. Always in crib. This is generally his best nap.

9:30am-12:30pm: A totally cluster. He eats and then its just a mess of play and sleep and play and sleep. We're always out and about during this time, so it's just a mess. It's never in his crib. It's almost always in his car seat or being held. It's just a freaking mess. Ugh. And it's all my fault because we're go-go-go.

12:30pm-1:30pm: Nurse, play. Sometimes it's only til 1 if he had a really short nap for nap 2.

1:30-3:30pm: Nap 3. Almost always in crib. Generally this one is pretty good.

3:30-5:30pm: Nurse, play, catnap. Ideally, it'd be 3:30-4:45 as wake time, and then 4:45-5:30 as a cat nap, but this really just varies because we're often at the gym during this time and sometimes he naps there and sometimes not. Again, totally my fault.

5:30-7pm: Nurse and play

7pm: Nurse and bed

10:30pm: Matt gives DF bottle (~4oz)

3am: MOTN feed

I know in order to get him on a good schedule, he need consistency. And I know to get consistency he needs me to sit down and not leave the house for weeks. And I just can't. And I just won't. So, I really don't know. We'll see how this pans out. I'm going to really try to focus on DWT being the same, getting the times of the feeds at the right times, and getting at least 1/2 solid naps a day and hope the rest sorta play themselves out.

One way to pretty much ensure he naps is to move him to the RNP. I'm trying hard not to move him there every time because I know he can't be in there forever even though it's the magic bullet for now. It's a last resort and I try not to crack too too often.

Nurse/Eating: The same-- it's going. I genuinely do not enjoy nursing this time. I feel awful saying that, but it is what it is. I'm committed to it and I'm sticking with it. It's important to me, but I'm counting down the moments til we're done. 8 months and counting... :)

And I'm still pumping 2-3 times a day. Matt's consistently giving him a DF bottle. He generally takes a bottle great, but has had a few weird spurts where he COMPLETELY refuses to take the bottle for some reason. He's such a weirdo kid. What works one day seems to not work the next for no reason.

General: Ugh. Have I mentioned Eli has colic? Because he does. And it's the absolute worst. Every time I think he's growing out of it, we have bad days. There's just sooooo much crying. All the time. Sometimes no matter what. We have good days and moments too, but sometimes he just will not stop crying. And it's soul crushing. But, we're moving through it. Slowly. I think we're slowly getting through it. SLOWLY. Or at least I hope.

Likes: The playmat! He LOVES looking into the mirror and now he bats at the toys and grabs onto them. We also started putting him into the jumper sometimes now. It's hit or miss, but I can tell he's going to love putting the pieces into his mouth any day now. He's slowly starting to get interested in toys. He's still a total mamas boy.

Dislike: Getting into the car seat. He haaates it. Once we're moving he's generally happy, but the second the car stops (even at stoplights), he hates it. He's better than Bailey but still not a happy car baby. Beyond that, who knows. Like I mentioned, some days he HATES the bottle, some days not. Some days he likes being held one way, and some days he screams his head off.

Special Moments: Much more smiles! Which is so great. It makes the screaming moments much easier to handle. We've even got a couple little chuckles which is great and we're getting more coo's and sweet noises. He's started to notice his hands and more things and people around him. We had our first time where he smiled at strangers at a restaurant and they just loved him, so that was fun. He's sorta starting to wake up and starting to become more baby and less infant. We're not there just yet, but we're getting closer.