9 months!

I know I didn't write an 8-month post, but it's been unreal how much Soren has learned to do and develop over the last 1-2 months! It's crazy!

Eating: Soren eats 3 'meals' a day now, and has 3 bottles during the day, then nurses at night. His meals usually consist of a a combo of fruit, veggie, protein, and/or carb. The pediatrician said he can eat normal food now except for ice cream and nut products. He LOVES vanilla yogurt, and will often have that with a fruit for breakfast. For lunch we've recently been doing deli meat or chicken breast, a carb (rice, brown rice, potatoes, oatmeal), and a veggie. For dinner, he'll have protein (yogurt/meat), fruit, and a veggie. Soren's pediatrician recommended we let him essentially 'play' with his food so he gets used to feeling and tasting different textures; she said that the more textures he's exposed to now, the better eater he'll be as he grows up. He's a great eater and will take pretty much anything you give him. However, since he's been teething, he hasn't been eating the best. He only eats 4 oz. bottles during the day normally, and when he's teething he'll do 3 oz. or less. He is mostly holding his own bottle now, but often gets lazy and has us hold it.

Sleeping: Oh jeez, still not great. We FINALLY were getting him to sleep 7 hours at a time consistently but then daylight savings and teething hit, and he now sleeps 5 hours, then is up every 1.5-2 hours. It's also getting difficult to get him down for his naps, he doesn't like rocking, and when we put him in his crib, he sits, then pulls up to the standing position which really wakes him up and keeps him stimulated. The last couple days, we've literally held him down with his paci in his mouth and rubbed his back and he was out in a minute or two. When he wakes up, he is instantly awake, bright eyed, crawling around, it's the weirdest thing and I'm slightly jealous ;-). So far he takes a morning nap and 2 afternoon naps. Over the last week or so, his naps have lengthened so he's sleeping for more than 30 mins. at a time. Sometimes we get 2-hour naps out of him, and it's glorious! We are beginning to do some crying it out with him, but we do go rub his back while he's crying and try to keep him in a laying down position in regular increments. He has no self-soothing skills yet and doesn't really have an attachment object to assist him in helping him fall back asleep, except for the paci. He doesn't know yet to look for the paci when he wakes up and put it back in his mouth. He wants to eat to fall back asleep and we are working on breaking that. It's hard at 2am to not just give in and nurse, but for now we're starting to take him off feed-to-sleeps at bedtime and naps. One day we'll get there, right?

Time for bed

What he *thinks* is a good idea instead of sleeping

Development: Soren has made leaps and bounds in the past month. I swear he learned to sit, crawl, crawl-to-sit, and pull to stand in 1.5-2 months time! I'm guessing he will likely be walking in the next month or two. He's developing some object permanence now and when we play peek-a-boo, he looks for us where we were hiding. He unfortunately does not stop for even a second when we say 'no', so that has been a real challenge, he'll just keep doing what he's doing, and sometimes he giggles. He is a pretty social little guy and has not yet developed stranger and separation anxiety, except with my brother's girlfriend (silly silly boy). His pincer grasp is starting to get better, he's also beginning to be able to get ger.ber puffs from the highchair tray to his mouth with some concentration and effort. Soren is also 'clapping' now and beginning to wave (though not yet consistently, and not to say 'goodbye'). He is also babbling alot and just started using the consonant 'm'. His first two words have been 'mum' and 'yum'...both when he's eating foods :-). He also babbles alot in the car if the radio is playing, I'd like to think he's singing, as he makes many different pitches and volumes. Overall, we are mostly forgetting that he was 1 month early and he seems to be caught up now.





Likes: Bath time, swimming, food, electrical cords, cat food and water bowls, our kitties, my parent's doggies, touching daddy's beard, playing tickle games, newpaper or any kinds of paper on the floor


Dislikes: Getting his diaper changed, clothes, being restrained, not being able to roll over, not being able to have things he wants, going out to eat (man, will family dinners in restaurants be put on the backburner for awhile!), teething

Soren weighs 18.5 lbs (25%) and is 29 inches long (75%)...he's a long-and-lean boy and pediatrician says he's perfect, especially considering he fell off the growth chart a while back. He's transitioning to 12-month clothes. The elasticized waist pants don't actually fit around his waist and he sports the 'pants on the ground' look often. Length-wise for pjs and pants, he's needing 12 month pants though.

Reflux update- we will SLOWLY be weaning Soren off the Prev.acid soon. We can either start now and have him weaned by 12 months or wait until his 12-month appt. then start. It will be a very slow weaning, because cutting cold turkey will make his reflux terrible, and for that, we are in no hurry! His spit-up is finally getting better, most likely due to him starting to eat more solids. He still does spit-up, but not too much in frequency or volume.

Soren's hair is really coming in now and is a bleach blonde color, sometimes strawberry blonde in natural lighting. We will likely need to get his hair trimmed soon. His eyes are very interesting, they're gray on the ouside with brown on the inside like bicycle spokes...very dark and beautiful! He now has 2 teeth (the first one came in on March 24th, the second came in a week later on April 1st) , and I imagine more are on their way!

Daddy has been a stay-at-home dad and both Soren and daddy are developing a strong attachment and liking to one another! The other day Brian was holding him and I tried to take him, and Soren turned and nuzzled his head into Brian! It's so fun for me to watch my husband as a fun-loving, caring, involved daddy! He really is the light of our lives and brings so much love and joy!

7 months!

Eating: Soren continues to do well with eating solids. We currently rotate peas, green beans, yams, butternut squash, carrots, apples, bananas, and avocados. He now eats after his second nap in the afternoon. He's wanting to eat around 2 oz. of food and 2 oz. of oatmeal cereal now, and I'm noticing he's wanting bottles less frequently. My guess is that he's taking in between 20-25 oz. in bottles a day. He's taking in Breastmilk and Formula about 50/50. He does still nurse at night, so he's getting more then too. We have also started giving him some teething biscuits and Gerber 'puffs' and Baby Mum-Mums...he likes the Earth's Best organic wheat teething biscuits the most.

Sleeping: Just when I think his sleep is starting to regulate, it changes again. However, on our *good* nights, he sleeps from 8pm-4ish, then is up either once or twice after that. He is starting to regularly get an 8-hour stretch at night, which is nice. We are definitely seeing some improvements. He usually gets a bottle/nurses before naps, then we put him down in his crib in a tired state, and he can put himself to sleep. If we try to rock him to sleep, he fights it, so we're just laying him down in his crib now. I've found that if I lay him on his side, and place my hands on his front and back, it helps him to relax and get sleepy... I think it's our new 'trick'. If he wakes up before 3am, I will put his paci back in his mouth, but I will not nurse him. At his 4ish awake time, I do nurse him, thought it's only for about 3-5 mins. before he falls back asleep. His naps still only last for 45 mins., but I think that's just how he is.

Development: Soren sits like a rock-star, is even beginning to go from a sitting position down onto his tummy! He also barrel rolls now and can make some distance. Just the other day I found him very close to putting a pen cap into his mouth...gahhh we need to baby proof! Soren's fine motor is continuing to develop well, he's working on his pincer grasp right now, but I imagine it might be a little bit before he masters this skill. Soren continues to be a very social baby, and we really haven't had any stranger anxiety yet. I work hard on taking him many different places and allowing others to hold him often, so I think this has helped. He loves smiling, giggling, and 'jumping' when you hold him. He also is becoming quite the squirmer during diaper changes. He's a very busy little guy! Soren still does not have any teeth, but during his aspirating test, xrays showed 8 teeth near the surface...I think we're in for some big trouble here soon! Soren has also moved up to a convertible car seat, and I think he much prefers this as he can see more around him. It doesn't look as comfortable to sleep in, but he's managing.

Likes: Soren loves playing 'tickle time', and really any kind of one-on-one interactions. His favorite toy is probably a set of plastic toy 'keys'. Soren loves food, pretty much any kind of food you give him. Soren loves being active, rolling, jumping, 'flying' (laying on his stomach and putting his arms out and his legs up off ground), and bath time. Soren also likes stuffed animals and tries to eat them. He LOVES playing with his feet and also tries to eat them ;-). Soren wakes up so happy and we can hear him cooing and squealing, and when we go get him out of his crib he gives us the BIGGEST smile ever, melts.my.heart!

Dislikes: Getting his diaper changed (there's too much to look at and do!), getting strapped into his car seat, and stopping in the middle of a feeding. He is a great baby, there's not much that bothers him.

Medical update: Soren had a re-check for his aspiration and reflux this week...it was pretty traumatic for both of us. The first test he was put in a car seat type thing, then they fed him a barium solution and took x-rays while he was swallowing to check to see if it was going down his airways... Soren didn't like the taste of the barium and wouldn't drink it so results were inconclusive on that. The second test they had to strap him a board and put a tube down his nose, then put barium down the tube to check his upper anatomy and reflux. The test showed no reflux, however after the test, he spit up a ton, which the tech. responded 'well there's the reflux we were looking for'. So yeah...probably still has it. He is growing normally now and *knock on wood* has not gotten sick, so we are very thankful of that! The plan is to keep him on his Prevacid solu-tabs and Pulmicort nebulizer until the Summer once cold season has gone away. (Side note: Apparently the makers of the generic Prevacid solu-tabs are discontinuing production, so the only option for solu-tabs are the actual Prevacid. Target stores are having difficulty keeping them in stock, but we were able to get ours at Wal-mart).

6 Months!

At his 6-month well child check, Soren weighed 16 lbs. even, and was 26.5 inches long. We're very excited that Soren has moved up from 10% to 25% for weight, and still remains at 50% for length. Soren is now starting to wear his 9month/6-9month clothes. I *think* Soren's eyes are turning Hazel, neither Brian nor I have Hazel, but we'll see (yes, I know it's possible). He also has strawberry-blonde wavy hair. He got his first 'haircut' the day after Christmas when we were down in IA, just the little front piece snipped because it was getting close to going in his eyes.

Eating: Soren's been eating about every 2-3 hours by nursing/taking a bottle. After his 10:30 nap, he will get spoon-fed some oatmeal cereal mixed with formula, and either a fruit or veggie. We've sometimes done a dinner too, but it's hard to keep this consistent at the moment. So far Soren has had carrots (like), sweet potatoes (like), peaches (unsure of), bananas (like), avocado (really like), and butternut squash (dislike). We have been doing some store-bought baby food, but I plan to make mostly everything from here-on-out. We have peas and green beans in the freezer that I made a few months ago, but they didn't get pureed thin enough so I'm holding off on those. This week I made butternut squash and carrots, and still need to do yams, blueberries, apples, and a re-do on beans and peas. He is SUCH a great eater, except for the butternut squash today...hopefully he'll come around. Our pediatrician has recommended we start off with yellow veggies, then green veggies (mixing with yellow if he doesn't like them), so that's what we're doing at the moment. She also said to do both cereal and a fruit/veggies at a feeding, so he's getting both carbs. and vitamins. Sometimes we'll add in fruits since he can tolerate them. I'm finding the easisest way to make most of our foods is to buy a bag of steamer veggies, pop them in the microwave for a bit longer than the directions say, then throw them in the blender. Then I just spoon into ice cube trays for nice 1 oz. portions, then once frozen, I'll pop the cubes out and store them in freezer ziplocs. One bag of veggies cost us $0.99 and yields about 14 oz oz. of food, so basically for the price of the cheap store-bought stuff (not organic either), I'm getting three times as much for making our own, plus no preservatives, score!

Sleeping: Oh jeez, I'm gonna hold off on this and write a whole separate post on sleeping soon.

Development: Soren rolls consistently from tummy to back and back to tummy. He's also beginning to army-crawl, and can move about 5 feet in less than 5 minutes(I think it's time to baby-proof this place!). He's beginning to roll onto his tummy to sleep. He's not yet sitting, but we're working on this quite a bit with him. When placed in a semi-reclined position, he will often do a sit-up. Soren can hold things with both hands, and I watched him switch a toy from one hand to the other today. He is beginning to 'hold' his bottle with both hands and I can let go. Soren does not have a tooth yet but boy, it better come soon! He is chewing on his hands and everything that comes near his mouth! He is a very social baby, and loves to 'talk'. Mostly he likes to yell and squeal, he's one loud baby! He's beginning to make consonant sounds, including 'ma' which I guess is advanced for his age (according to pediatrician). We talk alot with him, and I may or may not be working on the word 'mom' extra-hard with him ;-). He's a very happy baby, really only cries if he becomes bored or is tired. We're pretty blessed to have such a great baby!

Likes: Soren enjoys sucking on his fist and fingers or anything that comes close to his mouth. He loves to jump in his jumperoo now, and also enjoys watching "Blue's Clues" or "Baby Einstein" while doing so (mommy and daddy love this time too!). He enjoys looking around and being upright. He still loves Sophie the giraffe. We really enjoy tickle time now too, he's pretty ticklish in his armpits and hip area, and we will lift him above our heads and 'tickle' him with our hair. Soren likes to touch faces and will pull at hair, necklaces, glasses, etc. We're working on getting him attached to an elephant lovie to aid in his sleep-training...he's kinda 'ehhh' about it right now.

Dislikes: Sleep-training and getting into his carseat (we may be moving him up to a convertible carseat soon, I think he likes to be able to look around, and in his infant seat, he can't see much).

Medical update: I *THINK* his reflux is pretty much gone. He still spits up, but I think the amount and frequency are pretty normal now. He is still on medication for it, but even a month ago it was still bad. His increase from 10% to 25% for weight is also indicative that it's getting better. Pretty soon we will be steam-cleaning our carpet and furniture ;-).

Now that we're starting to have a more consistent afternoon routine, here's what his day looks like:

8-9am eat, wake up
9-10:30 play
10:30- nebulizer, book, bottle/nurse, naptime
11:30- 'lunch'
noon- 1:30 play
1:30 bottle/nurse, nap
2:30-6ish play and eat
6- nurse/bottle, nap
7-8:30 play
8:30-9:30- bath, get dressed, bottle, book, bedtime

His nighttime is all screwed up due to working on sleep-training, but hopefully by next month's update we'll have a good routine down!

5 Months!

I can't believe Soren is 5 months already! That just seems so crazy to me! Last week, Soren weighed 14 lbs. 2 oz., and was 25 inches long.

Eating: Soren has been an on-demand feeder, and as of lately, there's no rhyme or reason to when he wants to eat. When he wants to eat, he eats. It generally is every 2 hours but I've been noticing my milk supply has been running low again (*bangs head on table*) and so he's not getting much, then wants to eat every hour sometimes. We visited the Lactation Consultant last week, and he only took in 2 oz. before I ran dry. Unfortunately he's been receiving more formula bottles lately. Once I go back to work Monday, I imagine he'll fall back into a routine feeding schedule. Trying to boost my supply and meet his needs is going to be tough. I just need to remind myself that any little bit helps. He is also becoming curious about food and will look at my food while eating, sometimes following it up to my mouth. He's grabbed for my food once, but not consistently yet. We are waiting to feed him solids until we get the pediatrician okay in January, though he has had a lick of stuff here and there.

Sleeping: Soren goes to sleep between 9:30-10 and wakes up between 4-6am. Last night he slept from 9:30-5:30 (8 hours), which was awesome! I'm slowly starting to move back his bedtime, so tonight he went to bed at 8:45 and he seemed to do great! As long as we follow our routine, I think he knows it's nighty-night. One thing that I have discovered is that the poor little guy has night terrors. He cries in his sleep, pouty-lip and big sniffle breaths and all, but he's still sleeping. The other morning he was doing this and I tried to wake him up and it only served to make him cry in big ways...the cry that I know means he's really hurting or scared. I'm going to talk to his pediatrician about it at his 6 month appt. but from what I know, trying to wake him up only exacerbates it. It's hard to imagine what could be so terrifying at 5 months old, but it definitely is the saddest thing I've ever seen :-( . Most times when he wakes up though, he gets a HUGE smile on his face and squeals when he sees me. He'll even do this after I have just rocked him to sleep and lay him in his crib. Soren is somewhat of a high-maintenance sleeper. He almost always rubs his eyes when he is tired. He doesn't take a nap for longer than an hour during the day, most times it's about 15-30 mins. He needs it to be quiet, he likes to nurse/eat a bottle when falling asleep, and he likes movement. Usually I'll rock him, but sometimes that doesn't cut it and I end up pacing and bouncing him. We have an air purifier in his room that we use as white noise that I believe drowns out little noises that could wake him up. It's pretty easy to rock him to sleep in his own room for naps when I turn the air purifier on.

Development: Soren rolls from tummy to back great now, and rolled from back to tummy the other day. When placed in a sitting position, he will fall, but I think his little abs are getting ready, and one of these days he will be able to. He also enjoys being a standing position, and going from a laying-to-standing position. His little legs are pretty strong! Soren is becoming much more interested in toys, and manipulates ring toys and spinners on his jumperoo. He can now touch the floor in his jumperoo but he doesn't jump yet as any sudden movement still startles him. Soren is becoming very social now and enjoys making many different sounds and facial expressions. He enjoys squealing quite loudly ;-). When I leave the room, he will sometimes visually follow me and start to cry if I run out to the garage to bring something in...as soon as he sees me, he's fine. If a 'stranger' (to him) holds him, he will look at me and look for safety and re-assurance that he's okay... it's pretty cool to see the attachment process at work within my own self and my child. Soren also has little nubs on his gums and is drooling quite a bit and chewing on everything he can. I have a feeling a little tooth is going to pop out soon.

Likes: Soren enjoys sucking on his fist and fingers, squealing and 'talking', interactive games between him and Brian or myself, bath time, eating, Sophie the giraffe, watching youtube videos on daddy's lap, t.v., music, shopping :-)

Dislikes: Within the last week, I've noticed Soren has begun to dislike car rides. He's good for a little while, but anything over 15 mins. and he starts to fuss. Today I had fed him before we left our friends, and within 5 mins. he was fussing. We pulled into a gas station so I could nurse him some more and as soon as I took him out of the carseat he went from instant fussing to instant squealing and laughing...little stinker! When he cries in the car, it breaks my heart when I can't console him right away. There's been way too many times that we've been stuck in traffic or almost home and he screams in such a cry of desperation. Not gonna lie, I get teary when he does it.

Soren also still dislikes getting his clothes changed. Whatever arm we try putting in the sleeve, is always the hand he tries to suck on. He also hates when I interrupt his feeding to burp him or switch sides...he has a very distinct fuss for that, it kinda makes me laugh :-). Other than that, he's a pretty happy boy.

4 Months Old!

Soren turned 4 months old this past weekend, and he is beginning to look like such a little boy!

Today at his 4 month appt., he weighed 13lbs. even and was 24.5 inches long. He is still in the 10th% for weight, but the pediatrician is very happy with his numbers as he is staying on his growth curve.

Soren's eating schedule is not so consistent anymore. He's starting to use nursing as a soother, so sometimes he wants to nurse at 30 min. increments for just a short time, and other times he can go a long time without nursing. It's frustrating, but at the same time, I am his safety and security, and there's nothing wrong with that. He also is starting to want to nurse to fall asleep. This last week we went to a nursing mother's group and the lactation consultant reminded us that babies nurse for many different reasons, not just for eating. That made me feel better about his nursing habits as of lately. I just wish there wasn't such a stigma attached to nursing.

I have started giving Soren a 4 oz. thickened formula bottle at bedtime to help keep his medicine down and also keep his belly full for a longer night stretch. He seems to be tolerating it much better now and it doesn't seem to be backing up his bowels like it did before. Sometimes giving a formula bottle is more convenient (in the car, at a restaurant), but I really need to start nipping this in the butt. I have plenty of breast milk, that's what he needs to be eating. It will just take a little bit more planning on my part. I think I need to buy a car bottle warmer, and also another bottle warmer to have at my parent's house.

A few weeks ago, Soren began sleeping for 5-6 hour stretches at night in his crib, and it was glorious! Then we went down to visit family in IA, and his whole routine got thrown off and when we came back, he was up every. 2. hours, just like a newborn. That's when I decided to try the thickened bottles. Since then, he has been back to sleeping for a 4-6 hour stretch at night. Once he wakes up, I bring him to our bed and nurse him off and on for the remainder of the night. Co-sleeping is beginning to get more difficult as I wake up with an achy, sore back from not moving at all out of fear of rolling on him. He is also getting heavier too, so when he lays on my arm I also often wake with a numb arm. I'm not sure where we will go from here, whether I will try to nurse him in his room then put him back in his crib or what we will do. I do know that our morning cuddles are precious and I love them. Soren is also now starting to be able to fall asleep in his crib on his own. I do rock him a bit before laying him in there, but then he will just fall back to sleep on his own. He's doing great in the sleep department, and I think it's because we followed his lead. We will continue to try new things as I feel that he is ready, but if he's not, that's okay.

Soren's reflux is still a PIA. I sure love this baby stage, but I will NOT miss the constant spitting up. I think the Prevacid helps to make him feel more comfortable, but it does not decrease the frequency or volume of his spit-up. I have even tried cutting out caffeine but it doesn't seem to consistently be helping. When I spoke with his pediatrician today, she said caffeine in moderation is fine, but lots of caffeine can worsen it. Most days I drank caffeine in moderation, so who knows. I'm just starting to get really irritated about it, especially when he does it out in public, and it gets all over the floor, furniture, etc. It's exhausting. His pediatrician said it will also get worse now since he is scrunching, rolling, sitting, etc. which all can put pressure on his stomach. Once he begins standing and walking more, it should get better.

Soren is now standing straight when you hold his hands which seems to enjoy. He also can sit up straight when you put him in a sitting position, but he's not quite ready to sit on his own. When laying on his tummy, he pushes his head and chest up using his arms, can hold the position for quite some time! He's beginning to try rolling from his back to his side. Just this last week we put him in his jumperoo, and he started reaching for the toys and tries to manipulate them. His hands are still in a semi-clutched position when he does this, but he loves feeling them now. Soren is also getting very 'grabby' with his hands. Yesterday he grabbed my friend's necklace, and he is often grabbing our hands tries bringing them to his mouth. His hands are in his mouth constantly now, and he is starting to drool, indicating 'teething behavior' as the pediatrician calls it. Usually he will put 2-3 fingers in his mouth and go to town. He also loves sucking on my knuckles and sides of my fingers. He's not-so-much a fan of putting toys in his mouth yet, but I'm sure that is just around the corner.

Soren is becoming more fearful of strangers and loud noises. I am able to comfort him if he becomes scared, which feels pretty special for me. He is also doing alot of sad-laughing lately where he laughs and coos, but also starts to pout...it's kinda funny actually. He used to love his car seat, but since this weekend, he's not liking getting put in his car seat... I wonder if it's because he is getting more curious about his environment and feels trapped in it. He does still do well on car rides though, so that helps considering the many trips to IA we take. Soren is 'talking' much more now, using many different sounds and pitches. On occasion he will even match our pitches we give him. He is beginning to squeal and giggle now too.

Soren is wearing 3-6 month clothes, and I have officially packed away all of his 0-3 month clothes :-(. It's so hard to pack them away, not knowing if we will ever use them again (another blog post for another day), and also knowing he will never wear them again. We are needing to go and buy more 3-6 and 6-9 month clothing because he doesn't have enough...especially when we're averaging 5 outfits a day from the reflux. His precious newborn bear hat is starting to get too small on him, so I'm thinking about ordering another to have for the Winter. He is also still wearing his one-size (fits all) cloth diapers, and fuzzibunz perfect size smalls. We just received a free itti bitti d'lish in a medium and that seems to fit him very well too.

We've been pretty busy this month visiting grandma & grandpa Johnson for 4 days, and also this past weekend we visited my friends for the weekend. We also just signed up for a YMCA membership, so hopefully we'll start getting him into the pool and used to the water. At 6 months we can start him in parent-child swim lessons.

I have to say, I really love this age. I love the interactions we get to have with him, and I love all the new things he's learning.

I'll try and post videos later.

3 Months Old!

Soren was 3 months old on Wednesday! A week ago he weighed 10 lbs. 12 oz. at the lactation consultant's office, and a few weeks ago he was 24 inches long. He's really starting to fill out now, and has gained thigh, arm, and wrist baby fat rolls...they're too cute for words! This last month Soren has changed quite a bit in his development and characteristics, I really love this age!

Soren is still eating every 2 hours during the day. He almost always nurses, but usually once a day he'll receive a bottle and will take 4 oz. At night he'll usually do a 5 hour stretch, then will eat every 2 hours.

Soren's reflux seems to be improving a bit, we're having less projectile activity which is nice. We're definitely still dealing with lots of spit-up but based on his great weight gain, we just wait until he'll outgrow it. He is still taking Prevacid solu-tabs once a night and doing the Pulmicort nebulizer to keep his airways calm in hopes of reducing his chance of getting sick. Soren's pediatrician has been working hard on getting him qualified for the Synagis RSV vaccine, and he's been approved! A children's home health care nurse will come out to our home once a month from November-March and administer the Intramuscular vaccine. I pray that we can keep him out of the hospital and healthy this Winter...it breaks my heart just thinking about the possibility :-(.

This last month has been a little bit more low-key for us. Soren, my mom, and I went camping for a weekend mid-September, and had a great time! Soren was also baptized this last Sunday, and we had a great celebration with family and friends! I will include more details in a separate post. I have also been working hard at applying for social work jobs, hopefully I'll be able to find one soon.

One big thing we've been working on lately is starting to get him used to his crib. I'm not ready to have him sleep in there all night yet, but I do want him to start getting used to it for when the time comes to transition him. We've started to incorporate crib time into our nightly routine. Currently, around 9pm, I'll give Soren a bath, get him dressed, sit in the glider in his room and give him his meds., do his nebulizer, and read him a book. I try laying him down in his crib and cross my fingers that he'll fall asleep/stay asleep but that has only happened once so far. What HAS been working is holding him in the living room after his routine, and wait until he's in a deep sleep, then put him in his crib. One night this week he went 3 hours without waking up, but usually he'll go an hour in his crib before waking up. I try to go back in there and put his paci in his mouth, but he doesn't fall back to sleep... it's almost like he needs to be held or in his swing to fall asleep. I'm not sure how to break this, he's been like this since the day he was born. I'm definitely not one to let him cry it out, so hopefully when he gets older he'll be able to just fall asleep on his own.

Soren is becoming much more vocal and alert now. He squeals, coos, and today he made a 'ma' sound for the first time...momma secretly hopes his first word is 'mama' ;-). He has also learned how to make a pouty face, curled bottom lip and all! Soren is becoming more content under his playmat as he enjoys looking at all the colors and toys. Also, we have mirrors in our cars so we can see him in our rearview mirrors, and he loves looking at himself in his mirror. He's not a smiley baby all the time, he likes to do things on his own terms ;-). He does have more alert, happy periods during the day when he will interact with us a lot.

Soren is often sucking on his fist now, I'm pretty sure he'll be a thumb-sucker once he figures out how to get it in there. His fists are still mostly clenched, but occasionally he'll open up his hands and grasp my finger. He does not hold onto toys yet, but I have a feeling that's just around the corner. Also, Soren can tolerate tummy time for just a bit longer now, but he still hates it. He kicks his legs a bunch so he will kinda move around but has yet to roll over (except that one fluke time when he was 6 weeks). Because his reflux seems to be improving, he enjoys laying on his back more, and will kick his feet non-stop.When holding Soren, I can usually sit him upright on my lap, bracing him with one hand on his tummy and one on his back (or side-to-side), and he will sit up straight and balance his head. Today I bought a jumperoo for him, which he's still too little for, but he did okay just sitting back in it without tipping.

This week I have started to read to him at bedtime, and he really seems to enjoy it. Also, him and daddy have lots of fun time together talking, singing, and playing on the playmat. When I (finally) get him to sleep at night, Soren will instantly wake up when he hears daddy's voice when he gets home from work. It is kinda sweet, not gonna lie :-).

Soren is just starting to grow out of his 0-3 month clothes, and is starting to wear some of his 3-6 month clothes. He is wearing one-size and Fuzzibunz perfect size small cloth diapers. Currently, our favorite cloth diapers are Fuzzibunz Perfect size smalls and Softbums. At night we add a Hemp babies doubler to his diapers because he pees a lot! We sure do love cloth-diapering, let me know if you have any questions about them!

Well, that's all I can remember for now, toota-lou

2 Months!

At Soren's 2-month check up approximately 2 weeks ago, he weight 8 lbs. 6 oz. and was 22 inches long; he is not currently on the charts for his age, and is on the very low end for his gestational age. I'm definitely noticing that he's beginning to feel heavier, I'm guess he weighs around 9 lbs. now.

Like clockwork, Soren eats every 2 hours during the day. He eats at 7:30am or so, then 10:30, then every 2 hours. At his 10:30 feeding he receives a bottle of breastmilk with his Zantac in it, because he HATES the taste of it alone...it smells nasty, I don't blame him. When he gets a bottle, he usually eats 3 oz., sometimes more. It's hard to remember his eating times at night, usually I think he eats every 3-4 hours. Since he has better head control, we have almost mastered nursing while laying down in bed which makes things alot easier for me as I can doze off. His reflux seems to be less worse at night too, maybe due to the slower milk flow while laying down. Nursing is going fantastic, and I have trippled my milk output when pumping, thanks to the Motherlove More Milk Special Blend capsules. Before I could *maybe* pump 2 oz. at each pump session, now I am pumping 5-6 oz. This helps tremendously so that I can start storing milk once I return to the working world. The recommended dosage for me was 2 pills 3 times daily, however I only take it twice daily and it is plenty, I may even back off a little bit as I become engorged and worry about getting a plugged duct.

Soren sleeps very soundly when cuddled up next to me, however if he is in his rock n' play sleeper or anywhere else he grunts, moans, and sighs often and doesn't seem to be in a deep sleep. He is a light sleeper (just like me), and is having more difficulty falling asleep in unfamiliar places if he's not being held; he's becoming more aware and interested in his environment, so there's too many cool things to look at.

He eats right around 11:00pm, so before his feeding I always do a bath, get him dressed, give him his Prevacid tablet, nurse him, then do his nebulizer. If he seems tired (more often than not), I will rock him in the rocking chair in his room, then place him in his bouncer which is in his crib once he's asleep. After this, I usually wash all the bottles, breastshields, etc. for the day, then enjoy some peace and quiet on my computer and my husband's company as he gets home from work around 11:30 :-)

This month Soren is becoming a bit more fussy than last month, and more vocal when he's upset. If I try and burp him during a nursing/bottle feeding, he will go from 0 to 100 and scream because he wants to keep eating; as soon as I get him in position to eat again, he instantly stops. Not gonna lie, he's kinda dramatic (like daddy ;-). He is also now getting fussy when he's tired and usually requires some consoling and snuggles to fall asleep. I'm pretty good at figuring out when he's hungry or tired, so that always helps.

Soren has just now grown out of his newborn clothes, and is starting to wear his 0-3 month clothes. Sadly, most of our 0-3 month clothes are Summer clothes (would have been fine if he grew normally), so we are having to go out and buy a bunch of warmer clothes...shopping for my little man...shucks ;-). He has also outgrown his newborn cloth diapers, and can now fit in his one-size diapers that will last him through potty-training! This was a fun milestone as we get to start using all of our cute 'cadillac' diapers as I like to call them.

Soren has been developing so quickly, it's so much fun to wake up every morning and wonder if he's going to do something new that day. He is now great at visually focusing on objects and following them with his eyes. His hands are starting to come out of the fist stage and are opening and more relaxed. The best part this month is that he is now smiling and cooing! He will coo with daddy or I and if we coo in response, he will coo back! Soren's head control is phenomenal, it won't be long before we can put him in his Bumbo. He is a very strong boy, and can push his body with his feet as if he were standing up when you're holding him upright... he usually only does this when he's mad though ;-).

It appears that his eyes are turning brown, and from any angle but straight on, they look brown. His hair is growing and appears to be strawberry-blonde and curly, like me. He has very long reddish eyelashes and blonde eyebrows, also like me. He's starting to get baby fat rolls on his wrists, elbows, and thighs, and it's just too cute for words! Because he has been growing, I had to move his carseat straps up to the next hole.

Soren now seems to like taking baths with mommy so he can be immersed in the water. He also is now really liking his swing and floor mat as he is more interested in his surroundings. He has a tendency to stare for hours at any kind of light. He still loves being swaddled, especially with the Aden & Anais Muslin swaddle blankets. He also seems to really like his car seat and car rides, usually falling asleep, and will stay asleep even after the car rides. Soren really likes to eat, he doesn't care if it comes from the booby or the bottle, formula or breastmilk, he just likes to eat. Unfortunately, I often need to cut him off otherwise he would spit-up much more because his stomach would get upset. He also still LOVES his paci; we would be S.O.L. if we ever left the house without it! One thing I'd like to remember about him is he always does fun things with his hands when he's sleeping. I'll post more pictures later, but check this out:


Soren continues to HATE getting his diaper and/or clothes changed, but will instantly calm down once picked up and cuddled. He does not like it when you take food away shortly into eating to burp him. He does not like it when his reflux gets bad after eating and he can feel it gurgle up; he grunts and then wails with tears as it seems to hurt him. He also does not like his Vitamin D or Zantac drops...they smell nasty. He also does not like laying on his back or his tummy, and if he tolerates it, it's not for long. I believe it worsens his reflux and gets uncomfortable for him.

This last month we have been very busy attending a wedding, going camping, visiting friends, and going over to MorMor & Papa's house several evenings during the week. Luckily, he's pretty chill letting whomever hold him (for now anyways), so lots of people have gotten to experience the preciousness of Soren. Unfortunately, this will be short-lived as we soon head into RSV season and need to protect him.

I think that's it that my fuzzy momma brain can remember. Without further ado, here are some of his 2 month pictures I took: