It's been a great month for Charlie! He is super happy and content and in heaven just watching Mellany and Johnny play and roam the house. He has become quite interested in anything you are doing or holding in your hands and loves to play in the jumper, on the floor mat, in the bouncy seat, swing or any place that has toys he can grab at.
It is truly a night and day difference from where he was and we are so thankful that we are past the colic/milk protein/reflux/vomiting stage that made him so uncomfortable.
Here's a little bit about Charlie this month:
- Charlie still really loves watching Mellany and Johnny and I feel like he is more content when they are in the house making noise than when they are both gone and everything is quiet. Mellany is always talking to him, singing to him and showing him ballet. Johnny tells him he's so handsome, "pets" him on the head and loves helping me make his bottles. Both of them are always willing to help if I ask them (except for when I ask if they wanna help change diapers!) and will always let me know when he is crying. :)
- He is wearing size 2 diapers and 6 month, 6-9 month, 9 month and 9-12 month clothes. His thighs are so chunky and he is really long!
- He has such a love for music!
- When he is hungry, he still screams immediately and wants the bottle right away.
- He loves to snuggle with a blanket
- He's very interested in dinner time. There have been a few times where he started getting fussy while we were eating and as soon as I put him in my lap he was completely content watching us eat.
- He loves chewing on anything! And he is drooling like crazy.....I am pretty sure he is teething....John thinks I'm crazy but I think those pearly whites are working their way out!
- He's not a big fan of the binky. Occasionally he wants it when he's going to sleep, but most of the time he just spits it right back out and does totally fine without it.
- Recently he has started sitting in the Baby Einstein jumper and our walker and he loves it. I really feel like he loves sitting up like a big boy and being able to play with some toys that way.
- He will smile for anyone and anything....and it just makes you melt!
- He is very ticklish on his thighs and you can almost always get him to laugh by poking at his thighs.
- While drinking his bottle, he likes to hold on to your fingers
- Because his chin is so chubby, I am constantly having to wipe his neck off....milk, spit up, lint, etc. etc. get caught up in it so easily.
Sleeping:
He's sleeping very well. Sometimes he sleeps too well during the day and I will have to wake him. On most days he will eat and play for an hour and a half and then sleep for an hour and a half then start the cycle over. His favorite place to sleep is still in the swing or on your chest but he also does very well in his crib and in the car seat. Yep...you read that right, he is now sleeping in his own room in his crib!! We made the transition when we came back from Christmas in KC and it's been great for everyone.
I was really hoping he would be sleeping through the night at this point but he is still waking up twice to eat. The timing has spread out from 3 to 4 hours but that's about the only change. Crossing our fingers we reach a full nights sleep very soon! (I will say, that even though he is waking up to eat twice in the night, he drinks his bottle pretty quickly and then goes right back to sleep.)
Eating Habits/New Foods:
Still eating every 3 hours. He most consistently drinks 4 ounces but has occasionally drank up to 6. He is getting 2T of oatmeal cereal in his formula for the reflux which seems to still be helping. He is drinking his bottles much quicker and only takes about 10-15 minutes.
He is spitting up constantly...sometimes in large volumes, sometimes in smaller amounts. Sometimes he is spitting up clear/reflux type liquid and other times I feel like there's no way he kept any of his bottle down. Needless to say we are still changing his outfits/bibs all throughout the day and we're still changing our clothes pretty often too! (And man, there's nothing like the smell of alimentum....it's terrible!)
New Discoveries:
TV! I think he loves watching the movements and colors of the tv. His favorite right now (or the one cartoon I have caught him watching the most) is Mickey Mouse.
Accomplishments:
Rolling from belly to back. It came right out of the blue. I literally decided one day that we should try tummy time (his spitting up was pretty minimal that day) and almost as soon as I laid him on his belly, he rolled to his back. I couldn't believe my eyes. So, I tried it again and he rolled right over. I went to try a third time so I could get it on video and he started spitting up all over the place...of course.
Places:
Mellany & Johnny's preschool, preschool Christmas program, Mellany's ballet, Mellany's holiday ballet show, church, Meijer, Kids club at the gym, doctor's office and he took his first trip to Kansas City for Christmas!!
Special Memories:
-Meeting his Aunts and Uncles for the first time!
-Charlie's first Christmas!! He won't remember any of it, but we sure will! Meeting many of his family members for the first time, sitting on Santa's lap and the extra 2 hours of driving each way to and from KC.....it will be a trip we won't forget! He was such a good baby and just took everything in stride--even for it being such a whirlwind; it really couldn't have gone any better!
Length: 25"
Weight: 13# 15oz
Head Circumference: 44.5cm
On this visit we saw the nurse practitioner. She was very pleased with Charlie's numbers and even "resolved" the poor weight gain health problem in his chart!!!! Hallelujah!!!! It really doesn't seem like much to others I'm sure, but to us, this is huge! We're so happy that he is growing as he should!
We discussed starting some food (banana, avocado...something along those lines) so I think we may try that pretty soon, just to see if he likes it. He may not be quite ready for it yet but it's worth a shot. My hope is that it may help with the reflux and spitting up.
After his physical exam, the nurse came in for the shots. Mellany was at this visit with us and she was so nervous about the shots for Charlie that she covered herself up with her coat and closed her ears pretty much the entire time the nurse was in the room. He took his "drink" medicine like a champ, even holding her hands while he drank it and wanting more! The shots he also took great; he cried for about a minute and that's about it. Of course giving him the bottle because it was time for him to eat and he was getting hungry prior to the shots also helped.
After that, I got him dressed and in the car seat and Mellany and I took him to Once Upon a Child for some bigger footed pajamas. :)
His next appointment is in March for his 6 month exam.
