Ryan is 4 Months Old

Ryan is 4 months old.

He’s getting so big now and is starting to develop his little personality. He changes every day, that’s for sure.

The month started off with me going back to work and Ryan starting daycare. I stayed home with David for almost 5 months, so going back after just 3  with Ryan really made me feel pretty guilty. But, ya know, kids cost money and all. We switched them both to a new in-home place and I think they are going to do really well there. So far, he’s doing well – sleeping and eating alright and David really likes having his baby brother there with him all day.

Unfortunately with daycare also comes the sicknesses. After his first week he caught what doctors tell me was a GI bug. He was having some real diaper issues there for a week or so. I’m still not totally convinced it’s all sickness, as he’s always had a pretty sensitive tummy. We’ve toyed with changing his formula again but we are giving it a little more time.  Then  last week he started having a cough and it just kept getting worse. Turns out he had RSV and his first ear infection. He was pretty miserable, poor little thing.  He ended up missing a couple days of daycare and we became frequent fliers at the pediatricians office. They had to suction his nose out twice. When they said they were going to suction it out, I figured they were just going to get the ol’ bulb sucker, so imagine my shock when they wheeled in this cart with what looked to be a generator with tubes and hoses and OMG it was horrible. The poor little guy just wailed. I almost couldn’t even watch. BUT he’s doing a lot better now and has been back to his happy self the past couple nights. 

He was sleeping through the night for one glorious week. He’d go down at 7 and I’d have to wake him up the next day to go to daycare at 6:30. Then once he got sick he started waking up multiple times a night. I honestly don’t even count  how many times I go in his room at night anymore. Mostly he just wants his binky back or needs a few cuddles. I’m hopeful that once he’s not so stuffy anymore he’ll go back to sleeping through the night. I have a feeling he’s going to be a binky baby. While he likes to chew his hands, he really calms down when he’s given his binky. We’ll see what happens.

He started laughing this month. It. Is. Adorable. It started when I’d wash his neck in the bathtub. He’d just giggle and giggle. Tiny little laughs. Then the past few days he’s started all out belly-laughing at David and the dog. Last night he was sitting on my lap during dinner and was laughing so hard at Missy – who was just sitting there, doing nothing. He’d laugh and kick his legs so crazy!! It is awesome!

He’s a little rolling pin too. He can finally go from belly to back after being able to go from back to belly for months. The other day he rolled all the way across the living room!!! He only goes one direction right now but I know it’s only a matter of time before he figures it all out. He is such a scooter! He gets all over in his crib and just wiggles, wiggles, wiggles! I keep saying he’s going to be crawling by 6  months. 

Feeding him is still the most challenging thing we have to deal with. Sometimes he eats every bottle, no problem. Other times it’s a struggle to get him to eat at all. He still spits up quite a bit and is on his reflux medicine. I’m not sure when he will grow out of it. Like I said earlier he seems to have a bit of a sensitive stomach, so while I’m really excited to start doing baby food and cereal, I’m also a little nervous. I think we’ll just take it super slow. He’s ready to eat though, you should see the way he eyes my food and smacks his lips during dinner!

He’s starting to spend time in his jumper thing. He loves sitting up like a big boy! He still doesn’t really grab at many toys, but is constantly gnawing on his fingers and hands. He likes his index and middle finger the most, just like David did/does, except he prefers the opposite hand. There’s lots and lots of drool but no signs of teeth yet. I’m looking forward to him engaging more with toys and I think big brother is too. He wants to play with him so bad!

In stats, he was 15 pounds 10 ounces at his last appointment, almost exactly the same weight David was at this time. I think he’d weigh more if he didn’t have so many eating issues and didn’t get sick. He’s also VERY long. He wears 6-9 month clothes and has long feet and fingers. His hair is still dark and falling out all on the sides and in the back, but it’s still really long on top and at the nape of his neck. It’s very hipster. His eyes really haven’t lightened up any since he was born so they are still dark blue. I’m pretty sure they will end up being green or hazel.

Overall he’s still a really laid back, happy little dude. It’s bittersweet as each month goes by. He’s most likely our last baby so passing milestones and packing up things he has grown out of is kind of a little sad for me. I’m VERY excited to get to the “fun baby” stage, but it all just goes so fast after that. I’m trying to soak it all up while I can. Even if that is at 3 am in the morning.

Ryan is Three Months Old!

 

It's funny how three months ago seems so far away and like it was yesterday all at the same time. Ryan is 3 months old now and I feel like the past few weeks have flown by. He's a happy little feller and it's hard to even remember life without him.

Most of the third month was filled with lots of Christmas preparations and then Holiday festivities. I'm not going to lie, I kind of wish my last two weeks at home with him weren't holiday madness, but what can you do? We ran lots of Christmas shopping errands and he always did so well, just snoozing in his car seat (which he's thankfully a little more fond of these days). He took lots of naps so I made lots of cookies and when he was up, he just hung out while I wrapped presents, decorated the house or just relaxed. 

At three months old he is still growing like a weed. At his "two month" appointment (which was a week into month three really) he was 13 lbs 7 ounces (80%) and 24.25" long (86%). I'm sure he's gained quite a bit because prior to that appointment he was spitting up a ton and not eating a lot. Luckily that seems to have calmed back down and he currently drinks 5 ounce bottles 6 times a day. 

His stork bites on his forehead and eyelids are seriously my most favorite part of him. The doctors tell me they will fade in the next couple years, and for his sake I hope they do, but right now they make him Ryan and I just love them so much. He also has a couple on the back of his head and his neck but those have already faded a lot. His hair is falling out too. It's all a lot shorter now but he still has that big ol' poof on the top, which is ridiculously adorable. I also suspect the dark hair is here to stay (yay!). I think his eyes are going to be dark too but I can't tell what color yet. (ps: that's a 9 month onesie!)

He's started rolling over quite a lot. Not tummy to back, like most babies do first, but instead he goes back to stomach. The doctor says it's probably just a reflex, but he does it constantly and definitely acts like he's trying to do it on purpose since he's happy as a clam during tummy time (what?!).  So, because of that we had to ditch the swaddle. I think he was done with it anyway because he'd spend most the night grunting and wiggling around in it which caused lots of spit ups and sheet changes multiple times a day. So, after lots of 3am googling and internet forum reading, I finally decided to bite the bullet and order the $40 Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit. The first few sleeps were "ok". He woke up a lot more often but seemed to sleep a lot more soundly when in it.  He's been sleeping in it for about three weeks now and we really like it. He's also found his fingers and I've caught him on the video monitor sucking on them to self-sooth back to sleep. Go baby!

Speaking of sleeping.... We had a bit of a regression where he was waking up a couple times a night, but I think he was hungry. Once we started getting him to eat more during the day he went back to waking up once a night, usually after 7 hours of sleeping and then he'd go back down (easily!) for another 3-4 hours. I honestly didn't mind it and kind of looked forward to our mid-night snuggles. Now, for the past week he's been pulling 8.5-10 hour stretches. Sleeping from about 8pm until 5 or 6am. I can't complain! I know the dreaded 4 month sleep regression is on the way (although it never really hit David). We shall see. 

Naps are another story. He typically takes 3 naps a day. Two are short at around 30 minutes to 45 minutes. Then he usually has one long 2+ hour nap. I'm hoping that once he gets into the swing of things at daycare he'll get into a 2 nap schedule and they'll both be long. 

Luckily, he's a pretty happy little dude when he's awake. He loves to hang out on his play mat or a blanket and watch David play. He is FASCINATED by David! When we eat dinner he'll sit in his little baby chair and hangs out, but I think we'll bring out the high chair soon. I think he'd love to be able to see us and ours reclines for babies so that's nice.  He's just a laid back, chill little guy. Such the opposite of David, that is for sure.

HOWEVER..... when he is mad... he is MAD! You can see it coming too. It usually happens when he swallows some milk wrong. He goes into complete hysterics. Nothing will calm him down. It's like a switch flips! He' just screams and screams and screams. There's nothing we can do except try to stay as calm as possible and walk him around. There is to be absolutely NO sitting in the rocking chair. Nope. You'll think he's calmed down, but the second you sit in the chair...screaming. Luckily he's drinking bottles better but we still hold our breath every time it's time to feed him.

My maternity leave is over this coming week. He starts daycare on Monday and I go back to work on Wednesday. We are moving them both to a new place that I think will be a much better fit. I will be SO SAD to leave him, but I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine and getting dressed, driving to work, speaking to adults and not eating lunch on the floor every day. I wish I could stay home with him a little bit longer like I did with David, but I know it's time to get back. It will make the weekends even more sweet, right? 

Till next time!