October 21, 2014

Fox | 5 Month Update




Weight:
16.5 lbs (with home scale)

Height:
26 inches (measured at home)

Health:
He’s been great! No doctor visits this month, thank god! He did have some bad eczema on his head and he continued to scratch himself bloody, but with a lot of eczema cream and some mittens we got it under control.

Nicknames:
Big Honey, Honeys, Baby Honey, Bubba, Schatzi, Bubbles, Mr. Fox, Foxy, Stinky Butts, Pumpkin


Eating:
We’re still exclusively breastfeeding and decided to wait with solids until his half birthday next month. He seems very interested in food, so I’m excited to give him his first real food soon, on the other hand it will be a whole new ballgame and breastfeeding is just so easy (I wish someone would’ve told me that I would think this way the first four weeks of his life…ha!).
He eats every 2.5-3 hours during the day and I often think that he should go longer than that, but he barely makes it to three hours most days. At night, I usually feed him once around 2am.
These days, I only pump when I have to. He still takes a bottle without any issues, Katie’s mom had him for a few days this month and he would eat 4-6oz.

Sleeping:
A lot like last month. His bedtime is 7pm, some nights he barely makes it to 7 and we put him down at 6:30. He wakes up around 6:30am each morning, but sleeps longer on the weekend (which we are very grateful for!). The last few weekends he slept until 8am, we think it’s because it’s still quiet in our room, whereas during the week, we get ready in the bathroom next door and the blow dryer might wake him.
Naptimes are a nightmare, this kid hates to nap! He sleeps for 30-45min max, 2-3 times a day. I usually keep him up for three hours between naps, then it can take up to an hour to get him to sleep and it’s not even worth it, because he wakes up after half an hour. He will fuss and fuss in his crib and get MAD, and when we pick him up, he smiles real big…yes, he is outsmarting us (okay, mostly me…Katie figured this out a long time ago). I need to get better at being consistent and maybe let him cry for a little bit (which I can’t do when we’re at work) to get him down faster, but I have no idea how I can get him to nap longer! He usually jolts himself awake.
He still has night terrors, but I’m grateful that we survived the 4-month sleep regression last month.
It’s been a while since he last slept through the night, he fusses a lot in his sleep and I might pick him up and feed him too prematurely sometimes, which is easier for me than being up to listen to him fuss, but on the other hand not really helping in the sleeping through the night department.
Any advice?
His new thing is to lift both of his legs in his sleep and then SLAM them into the mattress, creating a loud “thump”. That can go on for a long time and has been keeping me awake this last week.


Diapers:
Size 2. I keep meaning to count how many diapers we go through a day, but I always forget. It’s a lot though, I’m thinking 7-10?

Clothing:
6-month clothes for onesies and some pants and 3-month in most T-Shirts and pants. He’s growing like a weed!

Social:
Pretty similar to last month!
Fox loves going to Music Class, Swim Class and having Play Dates with other babies.
He still thinks Katie is hilarious and will crack up for her all the time! His giggles are the cutest thing I’ve ever heard and Katie and I both race to his bed in the morning, because he gives us the biggest smile when he first wakes up and sees us. So sweet!
He really found his voice his month and “talks” and squeals ALL THE TIME, it’s hilarious.
He also likes to touch people’s faces (and then next thing you know, he yanks at your hair!:)).
The Stranger Danger from last month seems to have passed for now!


Likes:
Looking at himself in the mirror (he smiles at himself SO big!), chewing on his fingers, putting everything in his mouth, music and dancing, standing (he makes his body super stiff when you try to sit him down, just so he can stand), his pacifier, laying on his changing table to look at his mobile, his Aden and Anais blankets (he cuddles with them, tries to eat them, rubs them on his face – it’s the cutest thing!), swimming and music class, being outside, his big boy stroller, other babies, holding and “eating” his feet, when we make loud sounds that surprise him (like “boo”, sneezing, etc.), counting to three (he gets really excited in anticipation!), sleeping on his side, his jumperoo, Sophie (the giraffe), water bottles (he actually takes them out of my hand when I carry him and a bottle at the same time!), our dogs (especially Zuma), bath time, his activity table, Uncle Robert (he LOVES him…no one knows why, but everytime he sees him, he gets excited and smiles real big!), being carried around

Dislikes:
Naps, being in his car seat for long periods of time, tummy time


Mama:
This month was a big one for us! I had to leave him for three days (around 12 hours each day) with grandma, which was the first time that I’ve been away from him for such a long time. It was really hard on me, but once that first dreaded day was over, I was feeling so much better about it. Grandma made sure she texted us lots of pictures and updates and he seemed to have a great time!
Bringing him into the office has been more than challenging lately. I wish nothing more than that I could stay home with him full-time, but unfortunately, that’s not in the cards, which has been a sad realization for me. And since there is no one else that is able to do my job, I don’t have the choice to work part-time or even continue to work less hours like I have been these last couple of months. I started to work at 5am each morning, but it still isn’t enough to get my 8 hours in, and I realized that it’s not fair to him to drag him to the office each day.
I’m really heartbroken about it, but we started to look at daycares, at least part-time for now. I’m hoping that we find a place we’ll love and I hope that if I continue to get up at the butt crack of dawn to start work, that I can make it work, so he only has to go half days until he is 1.
I keep thinking about Germany and how the government pays you 60% of your salary for the first year of your child’s life, you also get around $230 a month per child until they finish their education AND your employer is required to keep your job for you for three years. UGH! It makes me sad, but it is what it is.
I love this boy so much and I can’t believe how fast he’s growing. I keep telling him to stay little forever, but he’s not listening (he’ also not listening when I tell him to take a nap…ha!)! :)
It makes me so happy to be his Mama!
I lost another pound this month and I’m still 6lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight. I don’t diet because I’m breastfeeding, so I just eat whatever I want (and justify it with the thought that I need the calories…ha!) and don’t work out either (who has time for that?).

Mommy:
As I mentioned before, Fox thinks Katie is hilarious and laughs and laughs with her all the time. It warms my heart to see them interact with each other. She’s been such a support to me this month when I was in tears for several days because I had to leave him for the first time, just reassuring me that Fox and I will be okay and listening to me. She also always makes sure I eat enough and that it’s healthy, either by cooking for us every night or picking up food.
She is such a great mom to Fox and partner to me, we’re lucky!


Fun things we did:
Swim and Music Class, Playdates, we went Antique Shopping and to our first Pumpkin Patch! We also went on our first trip, which was to Fox’s great grandma’s beach house in Mexico! We celebrated Mommy’s 30th birthday five times (she likes to call October her birthday month and the first week of it was nothing short of celebrations!) and spent a lot of time with all of his grandparents (he has four sets in the US and two in Germany…this kid is so loved…and spoiled:))!

Milestones:
He is sitting up pretty well and even stands by himself (holding onto something) for short amounts of time, he is so strong! He is getting a little better at tummy time, but still has a lot of work to do in that area! Katie taught him how to put his pacifier back into his mouth after he spits it out, which has been extremely helpful during car rides!
He squeals and “talks” all the time now, which is so fun!

What we’re looking forward to:
Cooler Weather (it’s still in the nineties here and miserable!), Halloween (we have two Halloween baby parties planned, one at our house and one at a friend’s house), starting solids and Grandpa visiting from Germany!


5 comments:

  1. Such a cutie. I am following your updates with great interest.

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  2. About the sleeping issue. You have to go through it. I would not force him to nap. Babys do know what they need. The legs banging on the matress sounds very familiar. It'll stop at some point. Well I cannot give you any advises but to patiently wait until it gets better. Is he teething maybe?
    Fox is super duper cute. You both are doing a great job!

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    1. Thank you! I don't think he's teething, he's been drooling for months and chewing on everything he can get his hands on, but that's about it. This kid just doesn't like to sleep! :) Great to hear, that E loves daycare, it's probably harder for me than for him!

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  3. oh, and day care is not bad at all. E has so many friends already and is really excited every morning when he is getting ready for the day.

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  4. It all sounds very familiar, I'll just copy & paste it onto my blog for Emilia's 5 months update ;-)

    I absolutely adore his little Halloween outfit, so cute!

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