Swaddle Free?

Well, we tried for an entire week to go without a swaddle. 

          Sleeping without his swaddle

The first night (Friday) he woke up 7-8 times. On the second night only 3-4 times. So naturally I thought we would be past the whole swaddling thing before the weekend was over. That's what I get for thinking. Last night (Thursday) he woke up EVERY hour. That was the second or third time this week he did that. So, along with going to work every day, I have also been waking up WAY to many times at night. This makes for a very cranky Mommy. Now, with the helpful advise of some of my mommy friends, I have decided my baby, despite what the doctor says, is just not ready to sleep unswaddled. Tonight, when Stephen got a little tired, I gave him a shower, Daddy got him dressed and played with him for a few minutes, then, I played with him for a few minutes, swaddled him and put him in bed. I did have to go in his room once to settle him (only having to pat his tummy). HE FELL RIGHT TO SLEEP!!!! I suffered for an entire week with nothing to show for it, except bags under my eyes! But we will be trying again in a couple of weeks. 

Well, it wasn't all for nothing. The second night without a swaddle he rolled over from his back to his tummy! 

   How I found him at midnight Saturday!

Since then, he has been rolling from back to tummy like crazy! What the heck?! He is getting so big! And mobile!! I know tomorrow he is just going to take off running! He was rolling from tummy to back a little before, but was having a hard time with it. He is still having a hard time rolling from tummy to back (that darn arm is always in the way). But rolling from back to tummy seems to be old news, and he's only really been doing it a day or two!!! 

            The many ways he sleeps.

                        (this week)

4 1/2 months

Stephen went in for his 4 month check. He's actually 4 1/2 months old but our Dr. appt got delayed a little. 

His stats:

Weight: 13lbs 13oz (18%ile)

Height: 26" long (77%ile)

Head: 16.5" around (30%ile)

Dr. Austin is not concerned about him being in the 18%ile in weight. He says he is growing at a good rate and there is nothing alarming him about his weight. 

We do have some things to work on. We are already working on the flat spot on his head. I believe some improvement has been made on it.

I have been working and getting it rounded out. Dr. Austin is ok keeping and eye on it right now and reevaluating it at the next appointment. He gave us some good tips on how to fix it, so hopefully we get it taken care of before he turns a year old. 

He also wants us to get away from the swaddle. We use it at night and it really helps him sleep through most of the night. We took to swaddle away Friday night. Let's just say it was a rough night! He normally wakes up at around 3am and then again at 5:30-6am. Friday night he woke up at least 6 times, but I think it was probably actually 7-8 times. Saturday evening was a little better. He woke up 4-5 times. So, hopefully tonight is back to normal. 

Dr. Austin wants us to wait until at least 6 months before introducing solid foods. I am okay with this, due to the fact that Daddy was so allergic to food as a baby. Stephen is beginning to get interested in us eating. He follows our spoon/fork to our mouth and even began mimicking me chewing today. 1 1/2 more months and he will get to start eating!! Yay!! 

After his checkup he had to get shot. Boo!! I don't like this part (like any mother does) He got 3 shots and 1 oral vaccine. He loves the oral. He also loves Infant Tylenol. He didn't so too bad with the shots. He cried a little and stopped. But, then saw the nurse and had a bit of a melt down. So, they let us go in a room and nurse. That helped a lot!! (Mommy and baby!!) 

After that, we went home and napped a little. 

         Snuggling after Stephen's Dr. 

                      appointment.

Sleeping without a swaddle for the first time!!

Our First Fever Rash

Poor Stephen got a little virus this week. He was sent home from daycare on Tuesday because he was running fever and tugging at his ears. Well we went to the doctor and they said his ears were perfect but his throat was a little red. So it was just a virus and it needed to run its course. Nana kept him on Wednesday since he couldn't go back to daycare until his fever broke for 24 hours. I got off work at noon and my mom met up with me so we could have lunch, I could get Stephen and keep addy for a little while. You can imagine my reaction when we stopped at a park to eat and took off his outfit to find him covered from head to toe (literally, the top of his head to the bottom of his feet!!) in little red dots!! I called and left the nurse a message and then called "Dr. Lydia". I call Lydia every time something happens to Stephen. When he coughs a little funny I can her. Anyway, she said this is pretty normal with a virus. And should go away in a few days. Whew!! My kid doesn't have measles!! The nurse later called back and confirmed when Lydia had said. 

              Little red dots..all over!!

     Poor guy!! It doesn't even seem to

                bother him though!!

                         All over!!

           Even on his little bottom!!

So, now they are almost all gone (YAY!!) and his fever has been gone for about 36 hours now! I think we finally kicked whatever he had!! 

4 months old

He is 4 months old! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by! He love standing up while holding your hands. We have not started solid foods yet. Maybe in a few weeks. He loves play time with Daddy, but still doesn't like to go to sleep for him. He is successfully sleeping in his own bed now. He wakes up between 1-2am and again at 5am. He is beginning to blow spit bubbles and is also becoming quite vocal! Peek-a-boo is very funny right now. He still lights up when Mommy picks him up from daycare! He fits in most 6 month outfits, but has a little room to grow. 

He has discovered his feet and is constantly trying to grab them or touch his face with them. 

             Asleep in his own bed!

We are loving getting to know this little mans personality! He astonishes us almost everyday with a new skill or noise! 

First Haircut!!

Well, his hair is getting kind of crazy! Some is short, some is long and some is just falling out!! So, I cut it all off. Well, I just cut all of it the same length. Which is a "3" with the clippers. It went pretty well. Stephen wasn't scared of the clippers or anything. He did wiggle a little, but I expected that! He is a mover!!! 

                            Before

              Look at that mess of hair!! 

     I think he may be unsure about this!

And then we got the trimmers after him.

                     Here we go!!

Look at all that hair!! I know grown people that don't lose that much hair when they get a haircut!! 

                 And now he is bald!!

It's really not as short as it looks here..

     I think he is happy with his at home

                Mommy-done haircut!

I think it looks much better! And now maybe it will start to grow more evenly!!

Sleep

Stephen is sleeping in his own bed! We tried this once before when he was about 2 months old. Let's just say it did not work out. He was just still waking up too often. Now he usually only wakes up once a night at about 2-3am. Sometimes I get lucky and he doesn't wake up until 4am. Then, he usually eats every 2-4 hours. So we are trying him in his own bed again. So far, tonight being the 4th night, he is doing pretty good. Last night he went to bed a little early and he woke up more than usual. But hopefully tonight is better and he sleeps all the way through. Fingers crossed!! Here are some pictures of him sleeping in his own bed for the first time, this time!! And some pictures from happy mornings!! :)

Cousin Ethan!!

We got to visit with Justin's cousin Elisabeth. She just had baby Ethan 4 weeks ago! (The pictures are from him at 3 weeks) He was almost the same size as Stephen at birth. He was born just a smidge early. If he had gone all the way I'm sure he would have been the same!! His name is Ethan Matthew Spann. He is a cutie!! We really enjoyed our visit! Thanks for having us over Miss Elisabeth and baby Ethan!

These two are two months apart! 

Baby Ethan