Childs Tracks

Yes, Aaron turned 3 in November, but his well child appointment was this week, so I’m updating now.

Weight: 38 lbs
Height: 40″

Big boy!

Lots has happened in the last few months! First, he is finally TALKING!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And we can understand him probably 85% of the time, which is awesome. He still has some articulation issues, but I’m working on them one by one. Tonight he said “sippy” instead of “beebee”, so I’m thrilled with his progress! Every day, he says something that makes me think “Wow, I understood that!”

The second thing that’s happened is that we discovered the cause of his chronic diarrhea, and it’s no longer chronic. Turns out that he has Fructose Malabsorption, which is a type of fructose intolerance. With some minor changes to his diet (which really haven’t been that difficult), the diarrhea issue has been completely turned around. Another woohoo! The hardest part is that he loves apples and can’t have them now. But he can still have several fruits, such as bananas, strawberries, blueberries, etc. Fruits that have equal glucose to fructose are ok. Fruits that have more fructose than glucose are not ok. And we have to limit the fruits in general so he doesn’t get too much overall fructose. We also have to avoid whole wheat, as wheat contains fructans and is related to this fructose issue. White bread is ok, whole wheat bread is not. Even whole grain goldfish are out, much to his dismay. I haven’t tried regular goldfish. It’s a bit counterintuitive, as I had been trying to give the kids whole grain cereals and snacks, but there are way worse food intolerances/allergies out there. And thankfully, dairy is ok! Phew!

Aaron is learning new things… I’ve been somewhat casually working on preschool type stuff with him. We’re learning letters, numbers, some vocabulary words (like “calf”), etc. He’s enjoyed this. He can count to three and knows a handful of letters and colors. He’s about a year behind Joshua in this department, but I think his fine motor skills and coloring skills are better than Joshua’s. So it evens out!

He is helpful around the house, putting dishes in the dishwasher, picking up toys and putting them where they belong, etc. His behavior has been noticeably better since we changed his diet, and he’s turned into a very sweet little boy. He loves his baby brother and says “TeeTee KISS!” at night, wanting a kiss from the baby. I taught him how to use a computer this week, starting with starfall.com and also playing Potato Guy on Linux. He’s getting very good with the mouse!

Well, that’s the 3 year update.. just 3 months late.

Whoops… Kept meaning to update every month, and well… Here’s the summary.

4 Months
Weight: 15 lbs 9 oz
Height: 25 1/4″
Head Circumference: 16.5″

At this point, he was rolling front to back, then getting very upset that he was on his back. He sleeps on his tummy.

6 Months
Weight: 18 lbs 6 oz
Height: 27.5″
Head Circumference: 17 1/4″

He got his first tooth Thanksgiving weekend. I gave him his first solid food Thanksgiving Day – let him gnaw on a banana so I could eat my waffle. He really wasn’t interested in solid food much at this point though. The other boys took off quickly with the food, and Timothy was kind of like “Eh… I don’t need it.” So I just offered it now and then, and mostly he spit it out.

At his well baby appointment, as the doctor was leaving the exam room, she waved bye to Timothy. He waved back! She stopped and said “Did he just wave at me?”, and she waved again. He did it again! So she counted that as his first wave. He did it again for the receptionists on the way out. Flirt!

8 Months

No stats yet (next doctor appointment is at 9 months), but he’s HEAVY. He now sits up unassisted really well, though can’t quite get himself there. He’s working on it. He ends up at about a 45 degree angle, looking like he’s doing some abdominal exercises on his side. He started scooching forward and also getting on hands and knees and rocking at 6.5 months after watching a baby 1 day older than him crawling at a mom’s group. Thankfully, he hasn’t gone quite as fast as her, as she was cruising last time we saw her! Timothy’s not pulling up yet, and I think that might be a while, though he can stand up if you place him there holding onto something. Right now, he’s still working on a real crawl, but he’s getting around. He can go from the living room to the dining room to the kitchen. He is especially motivated by “big boy toys” and Warlock. Warlock is slowly learning to move when the baby grabs him.

Sleep is going ok. We’ve had 6 teeth come in! So he was awake a LOT. This week, he’s been going longer stretches, so I’m hoping it’s becoming a pattern. He even slept all night one night! I couldn’t believe it! Since then, he’s still been waking up once 1-2 hours after he goes to bed, then maybe another time around 4am or so.

Baby sounds include “buh”, “guh”, “vuh” or “fuh” (while sucking on his bottom lip). He may have had a “duh” in there too. He laughs when I say “Ma… ma”

Timothy is still a very laid back baby. He is pretty happy as long as he’s fed, has a clean diaper, and has had his sleep. He’s easily entertained by his brothers, especially Joshua. Both boys have been great big brothers.

He’s finally eating for real now, though it’s still small amounts. A couple weeks ago, a friend gave me 5 cups of pureed butternut squash. I was thrilled when the baby actually ate it and liked it! It was the first food he really truly liked and wanted more of. He still ate a pretty small amount, but last week he decided he really wants to eat food now. So we’ve gone from a tsp every 1-2 days to 1oz twice a day. He also likes Cheerios and Rice Chex. He prefers to feed himself, but he can’t really handle too much yet. Still gags fairly easily.

All in all, things are going great with Timothy. He still has his blonde hair and blue eyes, and his hair is now in a mohawk that I cannot for the life of me get to lay down. Oh well. Gives him character, right? Hopefully I’ll remember to update next month with his weight/height stats!

Timothy is 3 months old! His last weigh-in a couple weeks ago was 13.6 lbs, so he’s likely in the 14-14.5 lb range now. All I can say is he’s HEAVY.

Timothy loves to smile and talk to inanimate objects. Flowers seem to be funny to him. He’s starting to get a little bit of a happy squeal. No belly laughs yet, but he’s working on it.

He’s starting to grab for things a tiny bit. Sometimes it’s not necessarily on purpose, but he can purposely bring a burp cloth to his mouth to chew on. And on that note… Teething has begun. He’s very drooly, and he is gnawing on things when given a chance. I can see the two little white bumps that will one day be teeth. I think it will be a couple months before they come through, but the process has started.

Timothy is sleeping about 9ish hours each night now, so two nights ago I moved him up to his room for the whole night. Previously, I was putting him to bed in the pack-n-play in our room, and then putting him in his crib after his one middle-of-the-night feed. So now he’s in his room all night. Still gets fed once, but it’s usually around 5am. He still takes good naps during the day. There isn’t really a set schedule, as we’re still getting used to school time. But I usually manage to get him and Aaron doing a long nap at the same time.

He’s still wearing 3-6 month clothes now, but will probably need 6-9 month very soon. Some of his 3-6 month onesies are getting a little tight. He’s also still wearing size small diapers, and I seem to have enough of them made that he can wear fitteds all day. He’s in a premium prefold at night just because it holds everything and surprisingly isn’t horribly bulky. I really need to start the medium stash *soon*. The smalls fit right now, but the rise is starting to get toward the short side. I have a bit of time, but knowing how long it takes me to get 10+ diapers made, I really need to start like a month ago.

Timothy is not rolling yet, but he has thought about trying recently. I put him down on his tummy, and he lifted his chest off the bed and tried to rotate those hips to roll to his back. He’s not even halfway there yet, but he’s thinking about it. Maybe next month’s update will have a roll in there. His head control is very good, and he likes to sit up a lot with help.

The older boys still love him. Aaron likes to point out his body parts, and also likes to give hugs and kisses. Joshua likes to entertain him while I’m busy doing something, and he also likes to rub the top of his head.

*sniff* *sniff* My baby starts Kindergarten on Monday! Last night was orientation. A handful of pics are in the photo gallery (click on the pic in this post). I think Joshua is going to have a great time in Kindergarten. It’s a party all the time!

We’ll see how Mommy handles not having her big helper around all day. Time to teach Aaron to be a good slave!

Timothy is 2 months old! As of his appt on the 24th, his stats were:

Weight: 11 lbs 15 oz
Height: 23 1/4″

So he’s a bit smaller than Aaron was now. Guess he’s not following Aaron’s growth pattern afterall.

We officially have a smiley, happy baby! In the last week, he’s started to really smile at things/people. He’s also added some new cooing sounds, and likes to talk to the wall and the microwave stand. Don’t know where he’d get that from…

Night time is going well… usually sleeping about 6-7 hours in the first stretch. Still doing plenty of nap time as well, but has some long wakey times too.

Still wearing 3-6 month clothes. I hate how wide most of them are. Oh well. He’s also still wearing size small cloth diapers, but can also wear some of his newborn diapers as well. They just don’t have the absorbency of the smalls. I’ve added some more diapers to the stash, as I slowly finish sewing them. We’re up to 9 small diapers, and I’ve got one more on the cutting table ready for snaps and elastic.

The older boys are enjoying Timothy more now that he is smiley. Joshua loves to make him smile.

Joshua turned 5 on June 27. Yes, I’m late updating. Part of that is because his 5 year well check was July 7, and I wanted to have stats to post. Being a week later than that? Well, I’ve got a newborn. That’s my excuse.

Weight: 44 lbs (72%)
Height: 45″ (86%)

Joshua starts Kindergarten in just a few weeks. He’s excited.

What he’s learned to do recently… READ. He’s reading everything now. He can pick up a book and read it to me. He reads signs while out shopping, he reads my computer over my shoulder, he reads whatever he can find to read! He loves his new found reading skill.

He’s also learned to buckle his own car seat harness (helpful for the pickup line at school!), put on his own shirt and socks, and refill Aaron’s sippy for me. Oh, and he’s a Master Fly Killer. He can take a fly swatter and kill 3-4 flies in a day. It’s just amazing.

Joshua likes to play with Aaron and comes up with all kinds of games. Many of the games involve hockey, of course. He also likes to do myths, a la Mythbusters. And he and Aaron love playing church, leading songs. Joshua finally knows the words to a lot of songs and can lead real songs when playing church. It’s nice to hear.

We are enjoying our big 5 year old, and look forward to a wonderful school year, complete with following teacher announcements via Twitter! Wow, we really are in the 21st century!

Timothy was 7 weeks on Monday! He’s getting big. He’s in 3-6 month clothes now, but still fits some of the bigger 0-3 month onesies. We’ve also been making the switch to size small cloth diapers, but I’m still in the process of making them! Oops! Thankfully, he still fits in his newborn size diapers, and they work for short periods of time. We also have plenty of prefolds that work great. I just prefer fitted diapers. I’m slowly working on the size small stash. When I’m done, it will likely be time to work on mediums!

We’re having longer wakey periods now, sometimes up to 2 hours. He enjoys sitting in his bouncy chair and playing by flailing about. He gets a happy look on his face. Not quite smiling at people yet, but I think he’s close. He lifts his head very well and is starting to get some control with it. He loves to look at whatever is behind me. He also has shown great interest in the quilt hanging on our bedroom wall – my sister made it for us for our wedding 9 years ago.

The older boys are doing great with Timothy, especially Joshua. He’s a huge help! If I need to go deal with Aaron or the dogs for a few minutes, I can leave Joshua in charge of watching Timothy, and he’ll try to keep him entertained, or at least make sure he has his pacifier. Aaron tries to help, but at 2.5 years old, is bordering on dangerous sometimes. But he’s been very gentle with the baby so far. Maybe Timothy will escape some of the injuries Joshua inflicted upon Aaron as a baby.

We go back to the doctor at the end of next week, so I’ll have new stats then. I have been able to stop the Zantac after only a few days of use. I finally, after 3 kids, discovered that I have an oversupply and overactive letdown. By working on that issue, we’ve managed to be not so bad off in the reflux department. Phew! He still has his fussy moments, especially when overtired! But we haven’t been dealing with the 2 hour long colicky periods in the middle of the night. So much improvement there!

Timothy had his first visit to the doctor today, at 1 month old.

Weight: 10 lbs 1 oz

Height: 21″

Ignore the 10 lb weight of the last post… my bathroom scale was not very accurate. It said 10 lbs one day and 5.5 lbs another day! But at 3 weeks old, he was 9 lbs 8 oz. Still an excellent weight gain!

Things are going well overall. Reflux pain has kicked in, so he’s not been too happy the last few days especially, but we got Zantac today, so hopefully that will get better soon! Otherwise, he’s nice and healthy. He nurses great, sleeps plenty, has some nice alert wakey times, and makes Daddy proud with some of his burps.

Tuesday, June 16, I brought Bosco and Kira inside in the evening. About 30 minutes later, Bosco started vomiting white foam. He was bloating. I sent Doug to the emergency vet with him, and at first the vet thought he’d be fine, but then x-rays showed that his intestines had twisted up on themselves. We had him try surgery, but his stomach and intestines were already dying. Bosco was put to sleep. He was a our honeymooon puppy… our first baby. He taught us a lot about parenting. He was a beast in his puppy days, but grew up to be a wonderful adult dog, and we deeply miss him.

A couple days after Bosco left us, we realized that we needed another dog. Kira was needing a friend, and so was the rest of the family. Doug looked online at the GSRCA website and found just the right dog for us at this point in time… His name was Kelly. We’ve changed his name to Dax. Saturday morning, we loaded up the kids and Kira into the van, plus an empty crate for Dax, and headed down to Montgomery – about 3 hours away. We all barely fit, Aaron had to prop his feet up on Kira’s crate, and you had to turn Kira’s crate to get her in and out, and you had to lift Dax’s crate completely out of the van to get him in and out.  We met Dax and let Kira get to know him. They got along great and we liked him too, so we brought him home.

Dax is doing really well in his new home. He and Kira complement each other well. She’s calmed down a bit with his influence (although she still counter surfs and gets into the trash!), and he enjoys playing a bit with her. The kids like Dax as well. He’s a very laid back dog, making him easier to fit into the chaos that is young children.

Timothy was 7 lbs 8 oz at birth, 7 lbs 10 oz at 3 days old (didn’t lose weight), 8.5 lbs at 10 days, and now is 10 lbs even at 2.5 weeks!!! Apparently, the BBQ Doug has fed me the last couple weeks has done a lot of good!

Things are going well with baby. He’s obviously eating well. He sleeps well too. He pretty much sleeps most of the day, waking up now and then to eat, and then he’ll have a couple awake periods at some point, sometimes lasting 45 minutes or longer. At night, he’s sleeping about 2-3 hours at a time.

He has a very strong neck. He likes to hold his head up, but of course it’s still at the wobbly stage. When on his tummy, he can lift his head and turn it from side to side.

He hates diaper changes still, and screams his head off the entire time. Loads of fun. But I have to change his diaper in order to get him to eat, because he’s a finicky nurser! He has to be completely awake and not having any gas issues in order to nurse at all. But once he starts nursing, he’s incredibly efficient. He’s done pretty quick, and doesn’t comfort nurse (very similar to Aaron in that regard).

Life with 3 is going fine. Aaron is learning that I can still catch him even if I’m holding the baby. Aaron also wants me to hold his hand more when walking somewhere (even within the house), but that’s fine. Joshua’s been a GREAT help… especially getting me diapers when tons of poop is coming out and I have run out of diapers to catch it with. Timothy has great aim, and has peed on his own face once, peed on the boppy twice, pooped on my lap twice, and of course peed randomly during diaper changes a million times. You would think I’d be good at covering them up during a diaper change when it’s my third boy!

So all in all, things are going well. We see the midwife again on Monday at 3 weeks old.