4 months Update for Tommy T

Hey hey, here we are again for another monthly update on Tommy T (as you can see from the title the nickname is sticking in our family, not sure how I feel about it).  Anyway it is not a huge month to report on, a lot of the same as last month, just some added alertness and trying to do new things.

-He is currently 15 lbs

-Still 100% breast fed.  Some days are good, some days are hard.  He wiggles and squirms so much while eating, and he eats super fast.  So my nursing sessions are not relaxing and cuddly.  But he is gaining weight well, and is perfectly heatlhy so we will continue on our nursing journey.

- His routine is finally starting to spread out and he is eating closer to every 3 hours.  I still don't watch the clock, we just go with the Eat Activity Sleep cycle.  But his activity time is longer which leads to longer time between feeds. 

-Naps still SUCK.  I can't wait (please please please) for this to change.  They are still 30 minute cat naps every time.  Last week we were traveling and visiting friends so I just let him sleep wherever we were.  But since we have been home I am starting to "nap train".  Every nap is in his room, blinds closed, pre-nap routine... anything to start moving towards a true nap time and hopefully a longer nap.  Both he and I will be happier when this happens. 

-Night time sleep also SUCKS right now.  Its hard to get him to actually fall asleep.  Up to an hour of going up and down the stairs to help get him settled.  Then his wake ups vary every night- could be 11:30pm, or midnight, or 2:30, or 4 or 5 or all of the above.  I never know what I am going to get.  And sometimes he goes right back to sleep after a quick feed, and sometimes he is up and fussy for 30-45 minutes after.  He seems to be very inconsistent and its making mommy tired!

-Last month he found his hands, this month he found his feet!  He also really wants to be able to sit up.  If he is in the laying down position, he will try to pull himself up to sitting. 

-Still no rolling, and he doesn't really try.  Occasionally you see him roll to his side, but quickly gives up.  The other boys were both early rollers, so this is new to me.

-This month he also started to laugh.  It doesn't happen often, and when he does laugh it kind of scares him, Like what the heck was that noise.  But the smiles are all day every day. 

-We went to visit our NC friends last week, so it was his first plane ride.  He did great.  A few tears at take off but otherwise slept most of the time.  And in general he was super happy with all of our traveling around while down there.  It was super easy to travel with only one baby!  Mark that in the category of things that are easy now that I have three kids that would have been so sary and hard with my first.  I would never ever have flown with Ryan at 4 months old, and if I had to it would have been super stressful.  With Thomas it seemed like a relaxing vacation to only be taking care of one baby.


That's about it for our little stinky man.  Time sure is flying by!  We love him to pieces and so do the boys! 

3 months old!

Late again, same old story... but here are the notes I made about Thomas at the 3 month mark.

Month 2-3 was a great month.  Thomas became very smiley and very happy!  I loved this turn around in him.  Basically he only cries if he is hungry or tired, and just gets a bit fussy if he is overwhelmed or bored.  But know matter what I am able to help him and he is back to happy again.  I do believe he is my happiest baby.

-Thing he likes: baths, diaper changes, flirting, being help upright, trying to sit

-Car rides are getting better, finally!

-He is also starting to like tummy time in short increments.  No rolling yet, but he will push up and look around.

-We moved him to his crib right after 2 months.  It wasn't a super hard transition.  I elevated the head of his crib for his reflux, and made a little nest under his sheet to help him feel cozy and it was pretty smooth.  He is normally in his crib from 7:30pm-4-5am, if he wakes up after 4 am its hard to get him back into his crib and he ends up sleeping with me or in the rock n play next to our bed. 

-His sleep is very inconsistent.  Some nights he goes right to sleep between 7-7:30 and other nights it takes me an hour to get him to really sleep.  Some  nights he sleeps til 4am without waking up, and other nights he is up at 11:30pm, 2am, 4am, etc.  When I go to bed I never know what I am going to get.  I am having a hard time getting over these wake ups, and everytime I think things are going well, he will change it up again.

We also stopped swaddling him about half way through the month.  Out of no where he was miserable at bed time, and would cry even if I tried to nurse him or rock him.  So one night out of frustration I took off the swaddle, put him in a Zipaddee sack and that was that.  I think he was trying to tell me he didn't like the swaddle anymore and he likes his hands by his face.

-Naps are pretty terrible.  30 minutes, exactly, almost every nap, no matter where he is sleeping.  Car, swing, baby wearing, stroller, crib... 30 minutes his eyes pop open.  I totally know that this is a brain sleep wave thing, and that if he could get past that 30 minute mark he would probably sleep longer, but its really hard to nap train with our schedules.  One day he is with me, one day a babysitter, one day my inlaws, running around at sports on the weekends... it all makes nap training difficult.  I am going to just go with it until he hits about 4 months.  At that stage our schedules let up a little, and he is a little bit older to get into a routine, and then we will see if I can help him get better naps.

-Even though naps are short, we are at least falling into a better Eat, Activity, Sleep routine.  The routine is quick- he really only goes 2 hours between feeds most days, but its a routine and I can predict what he will need next.

-In the beginning of the month, he had the tongue tie procedure done.  It was super simple and much easier than I anticipated.  The goal is to help his tongue move better, so he can nurse more efficiently, and help make sure I have a strong supply.  So far so good.  I think I will have a better idea if it made a big impact as he gets older (like 6-8 months).  That is when I really started to struggle with the big boys and I couldn't keep up. 

-Pumping is going much better this time around.  When I pump I actually get what I am leaving him in bottles.  If I miss a feeding I always pump at the same time he is getting a bottle.  And then I also pump every night around 9:45 before I go to bed.  by doing this I have a great freezer stash of over 60oz right now and it is gradually increasing.  Having that stash makes going to work and appointments so much easier.  I really really really hope to be successful and make it to his 1st birthday still nursing !

- He found his voice and loves his hands this month.  I feel like he tries to talk to me, and repeat sounds I am making.  He also is starting to reach out and grab things.  I love all of these little mile stones. 

-He was Baptized on September 24.  He pooped through his white outfit and cried through the whole service, but otherwise all went well haha.  His God Father is Mike's brother Matt and his God Mother is my cousin Lauryn.  We had everyone back for lunch after the church. Other than it being 90 degrees and humid, it was a nice day.

-Lastly, Thomas loves to be sung to as a way of calming down or falling asleep.  He is my first baby that likes that.  If he is getting fussy or squirming a lot, I just sing "Hush Little Baby" and he immediately calms down.  I guess he likes my beautiful voice.

So life is good.  He is a trooper being dragged around town to soccer practice, baseball games, school pick up and drop offs, meetings with Mommy... you  name it and he tags along. They say 3rd babies are easy for this reason, and as of right now it is true for him.  He is just going along with our madness.