4 Months

How is it already they 15th? And how have I not blogged in forever?

It was supposed to be fall break for me this last week, however, one of my professors quadrupled our normal homework load because, as she put it, we have "all this free time". So I've been busy studying and writing and trying to keep 2 small tornadoes I call my kids entertained.

Anyways, onto a little Deagan update! 

DJ is now 4 months old! (well, nearly 4 1/2 since its been a couple of weeks) Which means, we went to the doctors for his 4 month checkup. As always, he is right on track with all his developmental milestones. He started rolling from his front to his back last month, he grabs at everything, which means everything goes in his mouth, and he's a smiley little guy! He LOVES his jumper, and bounces like a mad man all day long. When he's not jumping in his jumper, he tries to jump while you hold him, which wears me out. He's turning into a chatterbox, and babbles continuously. And he is super ticklish. His laugh kills me because he will giggle while I'm tickling him, and then he eventually just starts yelling this silly yell. It's hilarious! 

He sleeps decently well. He's not a good nap-taker though. His naps only last about 20 minutes tops because he's a light sleeper and so he wakes up at the slightest noise. He goes down for the night around midnight or 1am. He will then sleep in his bassinet until 6:30, when the people downstairs get up. They are kind of noisy in the kitchen, which is right below our room, and it wakes him (and me) up, so I'll bring him in bed with me, nurse him until he falls back asleep, and I let him just sleep in my bed until we get up around 8:30-9:00ish. We hopefully will be painting Savannah's new room this week, and then get him moved into his own room next week (who am I kidding? I don't have time to do all that, do I???) and the hope is that it will be quieter in there and he will start sleeping completely through the night. Hopefully.

 

He adores Savannah still, and smiles whenever she enters the room. And she loves being the big sister and helps change his diapers, sings to him, and shares her toys.

His stats for 4 months are:

Weight: 13lbs 10oz (13th percentile)

Length: 24.5 inches (20th percentile)

Head circumference: 40.75cm (22nd percentile)

He is a whole lot smaller than I had thought he would be. I mean, he was 9lbs when he was born for crying out loud! The doctor wasn't worried, he said that he is still following his growth curve, which I guess means everything is ok. I asked about his spitting-up-every-ounce-of-food issue to see if maybe that was why he isn't very big, and he said that as long as he has consistently wet and dirty diapers, that it means he is getting enough food. He ruled out food allergy, because he's not throwing up any blood, or having any in his diapers. He also ruled out excess stomach acid because it doesn't seem to be hurting him when he does spit up. And he ruled out a problem with his GI tract because it's just spit-up and not bile.

I nurse him the majority of the time, but I do supplement with formula when I'm out and about and can't really sit down to nurse, or if I have someone babysitting him. He spits up whether I feed him or he's drinking formula, and so the doctor recommended formula that has added rice starch to it, or mixing a tiny bit of rice cereal in his regular formula. 

So far, he is doing a whole lot better. He still spits up quite a bit, but it's not nearly as much as he used too, and it's not after every meal like it was before. Hopefully, that will help him continue to grow now that he's keeping more of it down. I've noticed that he eats less often now too. He used to want to eat every hour to every 2 hours. Now, he will go quite a while without needing to nurse. Which definitely makes running errands a lot easier. Last week, I went down to the park for a bit, then Provo, went to lunch with Bryant and some friends, and got all the way home, and not ONCE did he get fussy and need to eat. This was like a 3 hour total outing, and I didn't have to worry about him!

The doctor also asked if he had been excessively fussy. When I said no, he pointed out that his gums were a little swollen, which meant he could be getting teeth a little early. It could still be another couple of months, but those teeth were getting ready to work their way up. 

The doctor also said he was impressed that his legs were really strong for a baby his age. As soon as he laid him on the table, Deagan kicked his legs and pushed himself backwards a bit. When he asked if there was anything we were doing to strengthen his legs so well, I just told him that he's a little obsessed with his jumper. 

Savannah thought going to the doctors was the best thing ever. Lately, when she's not Pirate Savy, she's Doctor Savannah. Can you guess what she will be getting for Christmas? Yup, a pretend doctor kit! Anyways, as soon as the doctor walked in, Savannah said "Oh, hi Doctor! My name is Sanna Peter Pan. Are you going to check Deagan's heart beeps with your stethoscope?" (I'll never understand why she can't say "Sa-VAN-ah", but she can say "stethoscope"...)

And she was directing the doctor on how to conduct the exam "Oh, Doctor, you check his eyes ok? And check his ears and his tummy. Then he needs a shot, but I don't want a shot ok?"

Smarty pants

So yeah, that was a little longer than I thought it would be. I guess I'm just stretching out these old blogging fingers since it's been a while.

Healthy, happy kids. What more could a mom ask for?

(This is the 4 month update I wrote about Savannah. It's fun to see the similarities!)