Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Four Months

Milestones:
-Started teething
-Rolls 3/4 of the way over
-First overnight trip
-First swim

I can't believe our little guy is four months already...time is seriously flying by! Our chunker is 15 lb 2 oz and 25.5" long. He's already in 6-12 clothes too and he still has my huge cheeks. :)

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We went on our first overnight trip as a family to Tahoe on a whim. There was a ton of snow but the weather was beautiful and sunny and we had a great time.

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Benjamin seems to be teething now and has random screaming episodes where all he wants to do is chew his hands or his burp cloth. It comes and goes though and otherwise he is still a happy baby. He isn't quite rolling over yet but he'll actually roll 3/4 of the way over and somehow roll all the way back the way he came! He's still nursing a ton at night and getting up every 2-3 hours, so I'm still a super tired mama. I had mentioned last month how happy I was that he was sleeping a 4-5 hour stretch and that was great for the one week that it lasted! After a week, he reverted back to usual and has been up every few hours since then. People have suggested all kinds of tips but nothing seems to work and no, I'm not letting him 'cry it out'. At least I am finally loving breastfeeding though, so that's a plus.

I start back at work on Monday and I have mixed feelings. I'm either going to love it or hate it! The good news is I'm only working 24 hours a week and I get to work from home, which is great. Benjamin absolutely refuses the bottle right now, so it should be interesting. I guess when he gets hungry enough, he'll eat, but hopefully there won't be too many tears. The hard part will be ignoring his cries while I'm in the office working and he's with the nanny. At least I can go spend lunch time with him and, of course, I can take breaks and pop out whenever I want to see his adorable face. :)

We visited with some friends from out of town and Benjamin went swimming for the first time ever! At first he didn't seem to know what to think, but I do think he liked it.

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We celebrated Easter at church and then had an awesome brunch with family and friends. Here's Benjamin looking all cute.

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6 comments:

  1. I love Ben's cheeks!! I am jealous you get to work from home!! Everything will be just fine. You'll have to tell me all about your nanny! Have a great weekend dear friend!!

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  2. He's beautiful, and you guys sure look like you are enjoying loving him. Teething note: motrin works much better than tylenol at night for his pain when/if you have a hard time in the future. First bottle note: do it soon and have someone else do it without you anywhere around, preferrably have your sitter take him outside where he will be a little distracted and will be more inclined to take the bottle. It will happen, and then he'll be able to feed either way, how fun for dad! As for waking up at night, start slowly cutting down his time for nursing in the night. Eventually, you'll only nurse him for such a short time that he'll realize it's not worth waking up for... or if you are willing it's even easier to do this with bottle feeds at night. Just slowly decrease the amount that he gets during each feed, until you are literally down to only one ounce per feed, then if he still wakes up just try patting him in the crib (don't pick him up) until he puts himself back to sleep. Loveys (little soft blankets with animal heads) are great for this process and any other process where he needs to substitute your arms, rocking, etc... to help him go to sleep. (Transitional items is what they are called). When you have gone through the whole process of giving him less and less at night to eat then try the lovey in his crib. When he awakens and cries, pat him and rub the soft lovey on his cheek and he'll slowly transition to that item and not you. It's a process and will take some time, but just stick with it. And, of course, don't use the lovey until he's able to have something like that in his crib with him (i.e. no longer a smothering hazard).
    OY... that's a lot to digest, huh? It worked really well with my twin boys, and it was such a relief to get them sleeping through the night for all of us. (Although, you'll be a little sad at first once you are a little more caught up on sleep, cause those times at night alone in the quiet of the house are pretty special).
    Okay, I'm done... hope any/some of that helps!
    It sounds like you guys are doing an amazing job, keep up the good work!!!
    Sharon in Manhattan Beach

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  3. Wow, that is one big boy!!! You all look wonderful.

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  4. Your trip looks like a blast and what a cute little guy. I'm due to have a little guy in a couple of weeks and at our 'birthing class' they suggested "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" By:
    Marc Weissbluth. I am a first time Mom but the nurse who taught our class swears by it. It has nothing to do with 'crying it out' either. I don't think I could do that! Best of luck!!

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  5. Hi Jenell
    I found your blog when I googled selenium and pregnancy. I want to congratulate you on you wonderful litle boy and thank you for putting your story out on the internet. You really have been through a lot.
    I´ve been through several IVF´s and got pregnant for the first time just to miscarry at week 8. I have thyroid antibodies and am afraid that it might have caused the miscarriage. I had been taking 200 mcg of selenium until about the 5th week then I got afraid that maybe it would harm the baby. What I would like to ask you is if you took 200 mcg of selenium through your whole pregnancy and what kind of selenium you took?
    I really want to get this right for the next time.
    Best regards, Hrund (from Iceland)

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  6. Hi Jenell
    I found your blog when I googled selenium and pregnancy. I want to congratulate you on you wonderful litle boy and thank you for putting your story out on the internet. You really have been through a lot.
    I´ve been through several IVF´s and got pregnant for the first time just to miscarry at week 8. I have thyroid antibodies and am afraid that it might have caused the miscarriage. I had been taking 200 mcg of selenium until about the 5th week then I got afraid that maybe it would harm the baby. What I would like to ask you is if you took 200 mcg of selenium through your whole pregnancy and what kind of selenium you took?
    I really want to get this right for the next time.
    Best regards, Hrund (from Iceland)

    ReplyDelete