baby rowan: 9 months

mr. baby is 9 months! he's as many months out as he was in (gave or take some weeks, i guess). he's 18lb8oz (10-25%) and 28 1/2" (55%), so shorter and heavier than finn at this age which makes him look a lot bigger in pictures. a lot changed for him this past month and it's happening so quickly! the biggest milestone has been crawling. i mentioned it in the last update and since he first started, he's turned into an expert! so quick to the cords, the tiny flecks of paper, rogue lego parts, and the dogs' food and water. but also quick to his toys, to his mama, to chase his brother.

he can now pull up on everything, so he entertains himself at his music table and busy box, jumps in his crib (now much lower), and attempts to scandalize me while i'm in pajama pants. he loves to get out of the house and experience busy places - he's so much happier when he's not inside our house! he's great at restaurants right now, loves going to the Y drop off center, and enjoys playtime with finn's friends.

he spends most of his time chewing on various objects, crying to be held, or eating. ro loves to eat! he's been branching out and pretty much eats everything but honey. i smash or blend up whatever we're having for dinner - spicy, flavorful foods, meats and sauces and soups - he eats it all. he still eats a lot of pureed veggies for lunch as well as plain and baby yogurt. i've been offering a lot of small bits of food like beans, cheese, bread, frozen fruits, bananas rolled in crumbs, and eggs. he still likes yogurt melts and freeze dried fruit bits, but he is pretty much over puffs and cheerios for the moment.

 

just this weekend (at 9 months and a week or so) he finally cut his first tooth. his poor gums have been swollen and red for weeks. he's been drooly, easily upset, fighting sleep, and pink cheeked, so we've been on tooth watch for what seems like months. the first was his lower right front tooth. the next looks to be the lower left and he's got the upper right front tooth just behind. i imagine by the end of the week all three will be showing. never again will i see him with no teeth! no more gummy baby smiles - which is great since he needs teeth, but sad for me because i just love toothless baby mouths.

we're currently working on sleep. as i've mentioned rowan is not a good sleeper. he struggles to settle himself (as in, he has never settled himself) and does not sleep for long periods - not naps, not at night. i have been increasingly frustrated over this as the lack of sleep affects my days, my mental clarity, my patience...just about everything that keeps me sane and healthy comes from getting sleep. so at our last pedi appointment 4 days ago, she saw how worn out i seem and suggested that i either continue down the path we are on, picking and choosing techniques to try and find something that works for all of us, or we could CIO. i'm going to jot down our experience in another post. it's not for everyone (we did it ever so briefly with finn, too), but neither is feeding a baby every hour an a half all night every night for 9 months, so... i can report that after 3 nights rowan slept straight through the night, 8:30 pm to 7 am without uttering a single cry. i'm hoping that the trend continues and that night wakings become infrequent. we'll all be so much happier!

baby rowan: 8 months

rowan turned 8 months but i've been so tired i almost forgot to blog it! today we found out he has another double ear infection (his third round in less than three months) so that explains some of his cranky behavior and inability to sleep soundly in the last week or so.

rowan continues to be a "spirited" baby. he seems worse than before but perhaps its just the months of sleep deprivation catching up with me. that's not to say that he is never happy. sometimes he is so excited and so happy that i know in there somewhere he's ok. he loves his brother so much and when he's delighted he lets us know. but more often than not, he is whimpering, whining, or full out screaming. i suppose it feels more frequent than it is because i have plenty of pictures of him smiling and content, but i also rarely take pictures of him angry.

he's eating solids all of the time now and if someone else is eating, he wants in on it. he can use his hands to grasp puffs, yogurt melts, and cheerios, holds mum mums and teething biscuits, and attempts to use a sippy on his own. his favorite food is probably yogurt but he'll eat pretty much anything as long as he isn't already angry. i've still been making the majority of his foods and feeding him plenty of whatever we're having for dinner.

he still nurses around the clock about as many times at night as during the day (every 3 hours on average). my supply seems to be dropping just as it did with finley around this time, when my first post partum period returned and baby becomes easily distracted and frustrated by the need to produce a letdown. still, he seems satisfied. we've been feeding him the last of the tub of formula we bought so it doesn't go to waste and honestly it has eased some of the pressure i have over pumping when my supply is low and i don't have a great freezer stash anymore. at this point i am so worn down that i need to take help where i can, even if it's a bottle of formula every few days.

last night (2/12/14) rowan crawled for the first time. he wouldn't sleep so he was up playing and somehow taught himself to crawl while wearing a sleep sack. this from the baby that hated tummy time and wouldn't even do it a week or so ago, doesn't roll from tummy to back, and has no interest in standing or walking. when he finally did go to sleep, he woke himself up every half hour or so by popping up into crawl mode.  i even found him in his crib sitting up, so i guess he's figured out how to go from laying on his back (how i place him to sleep) to sitting upright in one single night as well.

i'm anxious to see if he might pop a few teeth, get past the new crawler stage, and recover from this set of ear infections to come out on the other side a new, happier baby. i keep thinking there must be something that is bugging him and i'm planning to chat more about it with his pedi at his 9 mo visit. we're doing all we can think of to ease his pain and calm him down and just looking for those moments in between when he's smiling his big, gummy baby smile and loving on us like he can't get enough cuddles and attention.

parenting is such a test.  you know it's real, true love when no matter what you still get up every time, you still go to them again and again after hours of screaming, and you hold them close and kiss their soft baby hairs and fight through the madness with as much love as you can muster (at 2, 3, and 4 am this can be tough). and you do it day after day with no real end in sight (though of course all of this will pass and he will not be a little baby and i will mourn the loss of babyhood all the same).

baby rowan: 6 months

i don't know how i got here. how he got here. 6 months?! my SECOND child is six months old, halfway to a year? i'm so glad and so fortunate to watch him grow but man, slow.your.roll.

rowan at 6 months is like a whole new world. for one, he sits up. since being upright and facing forward to see everything is his favorite, this allows him to see what's going on and he is much happier. when he is happy, he is such a little ball of sunshine. he is starting to play by himself, holding toys and babbling and he really enjoys the jumperoo. everything he touches goes into his mouth and his chewing and drooling leads me to believe he might be teething, but no real signs of anything coming through yet.

we started solid foods and he seems to be getting the hang of it pretty quick. his first food was sweet potato and he's since had apple/pear/cinnamon sauce, avocado, peas, and banana. the only thing he pretty much refused was banana (?). i made all of finn's food and i'll do the same for rowan because i enjoy it. last time i was very strict about introducing foods one at a time but i've already mixed foods and overlapped new foods on a single day. on his third day of trying food he ate the sweet potato dish from thanksgiving (a puree with orange, sweet potato, spices and probably butter) like he'd been downing adult food his whole life.

sleep has been good and bad. naps have greatly improved and he now sleeps 1-2 hours at a time at least once a day and it starting to get a schedule of day time sleep. unfortunately, his night time is consistent...in that he wakes up every night at least 4 times. he goes to bed at about 8:45 and sleeps for about 3 hours. that's his long stretch. he's up every 1.5-2 hours until morning and he nurses every time. i guess the best thing about that is that he goes back to sleep each time and stays asleep. still, finley slept ALL night and i am not used to being this tired. (so. tired.) he's crying a lot less now, though, and i think better naps has helped his overall mood.

at his 6 month well baby we found out he has a double ear infection. i'm not surprised since i've been very sick for over three weeks and passed the cold portion of it over to him. i went in to make sure he was fine, got the all clear/viral, and 2 weeks later - ear infections! he was pretty miserable for a few days with sad, tired eyes and i felt so bad! we also got his stats. 17lb 2oz, 27" which is the same height as finn at this age but two pounds heavier! and as you can see they look almost nothing alike so while brothers, i imagine they will be very different boys.

baby rowan: 5 months

little tiny mr. baby is now 5 months (and some change). cue the dramatics because we're just a few weeks away from 6 months. half a year. how?? little baby is growing and changing and it really is so fun to watch all over again. i don't have any stats since we didn't visit the pedi this month, but he certainly looks older than last month to me. he's wearing 3-6, 6, and 9 month clothing comfortably but since we're trying to use finn's old stuff, he's been wearing lots of too big 6-12 month sleepers since finn wasn't that big until winter and closer to 9/10 months.

activity wise, ro is not a big mover. he does not roll either way and rarely participates in tummy time for any amount of time. he can hold his toes, kick and swat at toys and he easily spots, reaches for and often grabs objects he desires. he is just starting to sit up unassisted but can't be unattended as he easily topples. mostly, he is content being held and does enjoy bouncing in his jumperoo and occasionally playing on his play mat. he's pretty much over the swing and bouncer and so far hates the bumbo. 

he's super cute and it's a good thing because he could not be worse at sleeping. while he has gotten slightly better at napping some days (sometimes he will sleep 1-2 hours consecutively and i am SO thankful), he is unable to sleep for very long at night. he has a bed time routine and is usually nursing before sleep around 8:45pm. this is his long stretch of sleep...until midnight. then he is up every 1.5-2 hours all night. i feed him between 4 and 5 times a night every night because not much else calms him or puts him back to sleep. we have tried soothing, patting, rocking, pacifiers. he gets mad if my husband offers him a bottle (though he will eventually take one). occasionally we are all so tired we let him cry. and he just...cries. so, we are tired. his night time sleep is actually worse now than it was 2 months ago.

as for the breastfeeding, he's still doing well at that. unlike finn, rowan is a comfort nurser. if he had his way, he would nurse every hour. i know that works for some people but it doesn't work for me. this leads him to be sort of fussy quite frequently because i deny him what he wants. we're starting solids at 6 months just as we did with finn and i am hoping that other forms of food might interest him enough to let go of the strong desire to nurse. he is really into meal times and reaches for food so i think he'll be excited to try some purees.

and then there's this one, who looks about thirteen here. i know when he's actually thirteen i will look at photos from this age and think he looks so little, like a baby still, but he just seems SO grown up to me.

baby rowan: 4 months

this baby is 4 months! i don't have his measurements because he hasn't had his appointment yet, but he is bigger! so much chubbier than finn seemed, rounder with shorter legs.

if i could some up this past month in a word or two: please, sleep. i know parents battle with this ALL of the time. i know finn had his moments but we were so spoiled and we didn't know it. rowan does not sleep great. he cannot transition through sleep cycles and he is constantly waking up screaming. honestly, it is so annoying. he is tired and he needs more sleep, but i can't seem to figure out how to help him. we are still swaddling, still using a pacifier, using the swing, trying the crib, quiet, loud, noise machine, and so on... every few days he sleeps like a champ. hours upon hours of straight sleep. most days he cat naps and screams. not all day, but every time he wakes up. if i pick him up/nurse him he will go back to sleep, but he wants that each time, so, every 20 minutes? it's impossible.

he treated us to a few really long night sleeps (8:45pm to 4am one night) but he's now back to going down at about 9:30 pm (we start at 8:30 but it takes that long for him to settle, eat, resettle and fall asleep). he wakes between 1 and 2 am for a feed but goes right back to sleep. he wakes again between 4 and 5 and then again at about 7:30. again, i won't lie. getting up every two hours for a 4 month old is tough. since i know he can sleep for longer (since he has!) it is frustrating, but if i don't nurse him, he screams and wakes everyone up. i don't know what to do so i do the easiest thing. i moved him out of the bed and into his crib pretty easily and mostly i did it because he would prefer to comfort feed all night. i know that works for many people, but it doesn't work for me (and it certainly doesn't work for my husband who can't sleep through it if he makes noise and can't sleep around him if he doesn't..ie, pillows on his face).

to say that the lack of longer/scream-free naps while at home is difficult would be an understatement. and while i'm complaining and before i gush, i'll note that he haaates the car seat. screams as i lower him in, screams as he's buckled, screams through the car ride if we aren't moving (sometimes when we are). if/when he falls asleep it's not so bad, but as soon as we stop he's awake and screaming. there is no easing into it. he's up and he's practically vomiting through his sobs.

but. BUT. he laughs. he loves having his head and neck caressed and finds putting on clothing so hilarious. he is so interactive and expressive now. he found his hands a few days ago and can now grab and hold onto toys. everything goes into his mouth. his fingers, our fingers, all toys, all fabrics. he is a big thumb/finger/hand sucker and drools like crazy. he can spot us from across the room and tips his chin down while smiling coyly. he has been slightly better about playing/being independently and will permit us to set him down on his playmat, in his swing, or in his jumperoo for a few minutes at a time.

also adorable? he's finding his own feet. he can't grab at them yet, but he lifts them up and down and uses them to kick things on purpose (aimed at hanging toys, mostly). and he loves to look at them.

i hope he's the foot grabbing type. i love that!

baby rowan: 3 months

oooh.k. i am behind. here is a picture of rowan at 3 months. he was cute then, cuter now even! i'm working on my four month post, too, since this one is a MONTH behind.

baby rowan in month 3 was tough. he is still working out his sleep schedule, still figuring out how often he might want to eat, still demanding that someone hold him 97% of his day. but, he smiled a ton and learned to giggle so that pretty much makes being tired seem trivial. i'm just going to skip right over this month, really, and post in the 4 month one. oopsies!

baby rowan: 2 months

i figured i should post a 2 month update before mr. baby turns 3 months (already?! please no!). and don't you love his tough guy picture? he gets that little blond fuzz after every bath and is so great at sitting up. he prefers to be upright at all times and has just started leaning into a sit without falling when we put him on the couch or chairs. he does not prefer to lay down much, unless you are in his face making him smile. which he does now all the time! he becomes more expressive every day and loves to smile at mommy, daddy, and brother as well as his farm toys on the playmat.

at 10 weeks (our 2 month check up slightly late), rowan was 23 3/4in and 12lb 2 oz. i compared that to finley at 10 weeks and was amazed to see that he was almost exactly the same height and weight. rowan looks so much chunkier, but i think it's because his limbs are shorter and he has a rounder face (the cheeks?!). he's got these huge, adorable blue eyes and the pinkest skin. most of his baby acne is gone and he hasn't lost all of his hair (yet?).

he's still on the zantac for silent reflux and he seems to be doing better. he doesn't struggle to eat and rarely has back arching fits during or after nursing. he takes a bottle about once a week and i think he realizes it now, because he doesn't really prefer the bottle and fusses while eating. he still nurses every 2-3 hours, even at night and rarely stays asleep for more than 3 hours. in the last few days he has started to spit up more, but it seems painless and he doesn't really notice.

i'm planning to start cloth diapering as soon as we run out of the size 1 diapers we've got now. he's actually wearing his first cloth right now and i'm excited to get back into more eco friendly diapering (making use of finley's old diapers and saving some cash). not so much looking forward to what his poop-splosions will be like in those. rowan seems to store up 3-4 days worth of breastmilk and releases it in successive diapers over the course of about 2 hours. before this happens he is very fussy and he struggles to sleep or eat without crying and fidgeting. after it happens he typically needs a bath...

i'm struggling to manage my sleep schedule as he wakes up so frequently to eat and is very noisy between 4 am and 7 am, keeping me from getting much sleep. i'm pretty much struggling with getting most things done because rowan does not enjoy being put down that much, finley likes for someone to play with him, and i like to nap when i get the slightest chance (i'm not doing it now and i should be!). such is life with two!

baby rowan: 1 month

true to second kid form, i'm posting rowan's one month picture and stats just after he turned 8 weeks. oops! but he is one month in this photo!

at one month he was pretty much still a sleeping/eating machine. from his 1 week check up where he had regained to his birth weight of about 7 lbs, he weighed in at a whopping 9lb 11oz just three weeks later. he is my chubby baby, completely different than finley. and in just about any way you can compare babies, my boys could not be more different. they don't look alike and their tiny personalities have thus far been opposite. rowan is not a content baby, worse than i remember finley being. he did not like to be swaddled (i've forced it recently), doesn't sleep much, never stops moving, and makes so much noise. not little baby noise, but huge discontented grunts and groans. he always seems annoyed and possibly uncomfortable unless he is in a period of (limited) deep sleep or while he is eating (sometimes).

he was a great eater at first but quickly developed some sort of fussy arching and resisting to nurse despite rooting and searching for more food. after speaking with the pedi, we decided he was probably dealing with some reflux (perhaps silent as he really didn't spit up but was choking on and re-swallowing after every feed). he's been on a baby dose of zantac and it has helped with the choking/gurgling and some of the back arching. i'm planning to see a lactation consultant because he has become lazy (or resistant?) to maintaining a strong latch and will come on and off dozens of times during a single, one sided nursing session. it is messy and frustrating for both of us because he clearly isn't finished eating.

i love this boy dearly but he can be quite the handful, especially because obviously he's not the only child. he is most content when pressed against another body (preferably mine), sweating and sleeping. he wakes up upon being laid down and remains quite fussy throughout the day. not very much seems to make him happy and if you lay him down while he is awake, even for a second (say, to get dressed, make lunch, you know, stuff i need to do) he screams uncontrollably like you've left him somewhere without food for hours. parenting a preschooler (who has adjusted really, really wonderfully but is still 3) and trying to hold a crabby baby all day and then being up many times at night to nurse? it's a test of my parenting skills and my patience on a daily basis.

but i am acutely aware of the passing time and how fast things fly by so i am trying to accept the challenges as limited to this period in life and so fleeting. i know i spend more time just looking at rowan, trying to soak it all in before everything changes. sometimes i look at finley and he seems like a stranger. isn't he supposed to be this tiny, swaddled bundle, my baby? but he isn't my little baby anymore. i know him, i see him every day and yet...i don't know. i just try to figure out how it happened that he has imaginary friends, real friends in a new neighborhood, is fully potty trained all day, has long conversations that make sense....

so yeah. even at just 1 month in i found myself fretting over the days lost. no, they weren't really lost. i was there. but they were gone so quickly and even though they were hard, i already miss them.

2 months!

finley turned 8 weeks last friday and 2 months by date yesterday. what?! how is he that old? my tiny peanut baby of 5 and a half pounds is a big baby now. he's alert, smiling more and more (though only once directly at my face), and growing like crazy. his hair is most definitely reddish and his eyes are dark blue. he's got the cutest round belly and a perfect belly button. his biggest changes are the new rolls - creases in his wrists, an extra thigh meat, and two squishy chins. he's taken to breast milk like a fish to water, as baby should do, and it makes me happy to know he's getting chunky just from me.

my biggest (and really, only) complaint right now is the severe tendinitis i have from holding, carrying, and mainly, nursing finley. the way i hold him has caused some pretty bad pain that has been keeping me from getting good sleep and is basically agonizing as i try to lift and position finn. i'm working on getting some sort of treatment, because it's making me resent feedings for a whole different reason than i did before. plus, it's almost unsafe for me to carrying him certain ways and i don't want that!

aside from that pain, i am doing really well. i got sick last week but am looking forward to starting the 30 day shred as well as maintaining my (almost) daily walks as soon as it gets consistently nice out. i bought a new pair of jeans today two sizes up from pre-pregnancy and while that was difficult, i need to get out of maternity pants. still waiting for the magical breastfeeding meltaway people touted...

we started a bedtime routine and are hoping finn will adapt to it. i feed on demand, so this routine starts between 9:30 and 10:00 pm based on his last feeding. we do a bath, lotion massage, bedtime story, and rocking/nursing in the dark to lullabies from the ipod (mama doesn't sing...). last night the bath resulted in an epic crying fest, so we'll see how tonight goes. he typically loves his bath, but night time is fussy time in the h3b home. my goal is to have him down and asleep by 11:00 pm, with a feeding at 3 am and 7 am. we'll see!

1 month/due date

oh my, time flies! finley turned one month old today, on his original due date (3.26.10 - this posted late). i cannot imagine just giving birth or possibly being pregnant right now, still waiting for labor to begin. as much as i (still) miss being pregnant, i bet that ninth month is pretty tough ;) i'd take another month somewhere in the second trimester!

finn is growing like crazy. he is so chubby now, with round cheeks, an extra chin, and a huge belly. it's adorable and crazy at the same time - how can he gain so much from a liquid diet? and so fast? i bought pants for him last friday and they were too big on the waist. today they fit him! i'm proud of me for being able to feed him so well and pleased that he has done such a good job learning to breastfeed.

he has even more active/alert time now. his sweet little eyes search the room for exciting things. still ranking high on that list are: lamps, the blue walls, and the ceiling. but he really loves our faces. he is content to look into our eyes and study our features. i started reading to him and his face brightens as he listens to my voice and watches me talk. it melts my heart to connect with him like this - as a person who hears and sees and wonders. i love everything about him!

i've got plenty to post about postpartum recovery and my favorites baby items thus far, but for now, here are some pictures from his one month photo shoot today. i took these this afternoon and he was such a cooperative little baby!

the first and last pictures feature quilts my husband used as a baby. one was made by his mom and one by his great grandma. his mom brought them down so i could take pictures with finn using them.