20 weeks

Oh yes, my little boy is now 20 weeks old. A week and a half away from being 5 months old. Wowza!

No new milestones to report - unless finally fitting his toes into his mouth counts. He actually seems to have stopped rolling over. I think this is because he is now preoccupied with his feet again.

Oh, scratch that. He has slept through the night 3 out of the last 4 nights! I am glad that this new thing is coinciding with starting cereal again - because I worry that nursing 5 times a day isn't enough! He does seem to be moving towards a 4 hour schedule as well - which means only nursing 4 times a day!

On the sleep training front -- we are having difficulties with nap time. I decided to take Monday and Tuesday (today) as days to stay home and revisit the CIO for naptime. It has been a rough couple of days - he is screaming again when I put him down. I will update later this week how this all goes. It feels like we're starting over.

On the rice cereal front, we tried again yesterday and got this face for most of it:

And then tried again today, and by the end, I couldn't shovel it in his mouth fast enough - he was loving it!! I am so glad. Some people have mentioned it has a nasty taste -- but I tried it and it wasn't so bad!

Ok - that's all the updates for now!

19 weeks (and 1 day -- I had forgotten the day before!)

20 weeks

Overdue Update...

So it's been a week or so since our last update!

Henry Details:

~ Henry is so close to sitting up all by himself already! We barely have to support him - he has strong core muscles!

~ Henry now rolls from his back to his tummy, and does this more and more everyday. In fact - today I've found it frustrating because I usually lay him on his little gym while I'm running around getting stuff done, but now he keeps rolling to his tummy and then crying because he's uncomfortable there! But as soon as I roll him on his back - it's back to the stomach!

~ We gave rice cereal a go about a week ago. He opened his mouth for the spoon, but then just pushed it all back out. We're gonna give it another week or so and try again.

~ I am so proud of how he's doing being around different groups of people. Easter was great - he only had a few fuss moments, but overall he was the life of the party!

Sleep Training

Well, it's been an interesting week in this aspect. We had such a beautiful schedule down, and of course, now it's gone. Last Wednesday he cried through his whole morning nap - out of no where! Same thing Thursday. Then we've been gone and busy all weekend so nothing was done there.

Just based on today - I'm thinking he's extended his waketime by about 15 minutes. I also think because we've been on the go - he's not used to being put down in his crib. He's become accustomed to the car seat and swinging motions. So it's back to CIO we go!

I think that's about it for now! Enjoy these pics!

Before trying the cereal ... he was a happy duck!

Chillin' in the saucer!

4 Months - Dr Appt

Well - our boy is big and healthy! His four month stats are :

Weight = 16 lbs 5 oz - 78%
Height = 27 inches - above the 95%
Head = 16.75 inches - 58%

So he's slowing down on his weight -- but going crazy with his length!!
He did great again with his shots -- our nurses do so well at tag teaming to make it quick! He cried for a couple of minutes, then nursed himself back to happy :)

I'm still undecided on when I am going to start giving him some fruit/veggies - and exactly what method I want to use. I've been reading a lot about Baby-Led Weaning, which advocates not using baby food or even pureeing food. I know I really don't want to be buying cans of baby food though - so we'll see what I end up. We have decided to start him on some rice cereal - just a little bit once a day for a couple weeks, to get him used to the spoon and what not!

Here's Week 17's Watch Me Grow:

Easter Pictures!

Henry is 4 months old now! Wowza :)

We have his dr appt on Friday - so I'll post stats then - for now, enjoy some of his Easter Pictures, taken by my friend Mandy, who owns Memories by Mandy!

Sleep Training - Settling in to a routine...

I know I know ... I'm going to write a wonderful post about how wonderful our schedule is -- and then something is going to throw it off and we're going to start all over. But I must share my joy and the sense of peace I have right now with you!

Henry handled the time change like a champ. I - however - battling a cold - did not. Another story - another time.

He's doing better with Crying It Out (CIO) -- down to about 15 minutes per nap - sometimes real crying, sometimes just fussy moaning. I think he's the type of child who just needs to release that extra energy before he can relax and nap. Bedtime CIO is almost non existent - and he still usually falls asleep while nursing for that last evening feed.

Since I wrote last week about our Swing After Nap victory - I've been using this method every day. But not for every nap. I'm finding it works best in our schedule to only make sure the middle nap is longer. So, here's our sample schedule:

7:30 wake, nurse
9:00 nap
9:45 wake
10:30 nurse
11:15 nap
12:00 wake, straight into swing
12:30 sleep
2:00 wake (I usually have to stop the swing here to wake him up), nurse
3:30 nap
4:15 wake
4:45 nurse
7:00 nurse
7:15 prayers, swaddle, bed
12:30 wake, nurse, straight back to bed

Henry has been hit with the "wake and talk" syndrome that I've read is popular around this age. Sometime around 4-5am I hear him over the monitor just babbling away. Since there's no tears - I just let it soothe myself back to sleep! He ends up falling back asleep!

I don't mind getting up once a night for him to eat still -- I tried squeezing in another daytime feeding to combat this - but he's just not hungry enough then to take full feedings.

I do mind having to get up a couple times a night because of poop! This little boy often gets his days/nights mixed up when it comes to when he's supposed to do a bowel movement. Last night was the first night in a long time that there was no pooping - and I was a much happier mom because of it. Something about how he lays at night - he almost always poops out the back. This never happens with his big poops during the day, only at nighttime. Weird right? He's already in size 3 diapers - so I can't really go up a size for night time yet.

Here's his 16 week picture! I think he looks smaller than last week... probably due to frog placement, lighting, zoom, etc.


And from visiting the Butterfly Exhibit this weekend:


We're getting Easter pics done this weekend, too!

One small victory for Team Mom...

First Sink Bath = Big Mess

Oh, my cute little Henry - he's helped me with some self realizations this week.

I made myself a cleaning schedule. Now that I'm a stay at home mommy for the time being - I want to get more housework done. Within two days I was completely frustrated with Henry and his lack of long naps and fussing during his independent playtime when I couldn't get things done.

Then I realized -- I'm staying home to be and take care of him -- not to clean my house! Duh!! I just needed to take a step back, relax, and do what I can when I can, and leave the rest for tomorrow.

As for his sleeping habits, I never did try the dreamfeed. Every time I thought about it - I just was too worried about him waking up and then not going back to sleep. This week we have evened out with the sleeping though, so I think it was a growth spurt last week that caused the 2-a-night wakings. We've settled into a nice little 3-hour schedule, and it's been consistent each day this week, which is also something new for us. He's been eating at 7:30, 10:30, 1:30, 4:30, 7:00 and then wake sometime in between midnight and 4am to eat again, and right back to bed. Now that we're back on the 3 hour schedule, he's taking the full 15 minutes to nurse again. So - I'm okay with this almost sleeping through the night system - it's working well.

Naps are still a disaster. He cries and fusses for at least 10 minutes, sometimes 30 before falling asleep - and still only sleeps for 30-40 minutes. I have tried:

• Less waketime
• More waketime
• Swaddle
• Unswaddle
• Colder room
• Warmer room
• Wake-t0-Sleep

The only good try I've had was yesterday -- he woke after 45 minutes while I was still cleaning the bathrooms, so I just put him in his swing and let him cry it out there. After about 10 minutes he fell back asleep for another hour! Victory!! I'll let you know if this works more than once...
We've also officially dropped the 3rd nap. He didn't want to go down to sleep after 5pm - so now he's usually awake from about 3:30 until bedtime at 7 -- though he has fallen asleep on his own for a cat nap a couple of times in the middle there.

Henry is so close to rolling over -- Nick swears that he did the other day, but I missed it so it doesn't count. He's holding his head up and practically sitting up like a champ. He no longer enjoys laying down and cuddling - he wants to be sitting upright and had started lifting his head and body to do so!

He's already showing interest in food - so I'm thinking we'll give the rice cereal a go earlier than I anticipated. Grandma suggested maybe that will help with some naptime sleeping - he's a big boy and needs his food!

The boy is also starting to show his temper -- he wants so badly to chew on all his toys, but screams when he does. I can't tell if this is because his gums are sore and it's hurting him - or if he just gets frustrated that it doesn't fit in his mouth the way he wants. He definitely gets angry when the toys don't do what he wants them to do -- stubborn like his mommy :)

We're taking him to see the butterfly exhibit tomorrow - I'm sure he'll sleep through the whole thing!


Every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory. 1 John 5:4

Jesus said, "Go home to your friends and tell them what wonderful things the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been." Mark 5:19

One year ago today - we had our 4th IUI procedure (read the day after post here) - thinking about that day brings such joy to my heart. Let me take a moment to tell you what He has done for me, and what I am thankful for:

• My husband. I am so blessed to have a man of integrity and value who loves me and our family so much.
• Henry. I wanted a child so badly, my heart hurt everyday. My faith was tested, and my prayers are answered in this sweet little boy.
  
• My parents. They are my support system and our best friends.
  
• Our home. We have a spacious home with lots of land that Henry is going to love to explore!
• Health. For myself and my family.
• Finances. We may not be rich and glamorous - but we have been given more than we deserve.
• Young Marrieds. Our Sunday School class has been so influential and given us a great start with ways to keep our marriage a happy, healthy place.
• Friends. Whether I know you from work, church, high school, college, online etc ... you're in my life for a reason and I'm better because of it.
• Enemies. You remind me daily of how lucky I am to lead the life I've been given, and just as with my friends, you're in my life for a reason, and I'm better because of it.
  
• Forgiveness. The greatest gift that God has given us - and the most unexpected, beautiful thing we can give each other.
• My faith. My search for Truth is still growing in leaps and bounds everyday - but I am learning from His word and finding the peace and grace that comes with His forgiveness to be the glue that holds my soul together.
  

I had originally intended to add in some of the silly things I'm thankful for - like pizza and LOST - but the list took a different turn as I was typing. But you all should know -- they are very important to me as well :)

No I will not show you how much I've grown!!
Henry Mercer - 15 weeks

We love to take walks now that the weather is warmer!