Silas John - Week 19

Our week was much smoother than last week.  I realized a couple of things in the course of the week.  The first is that Silas needs longer wake-time (the time between naps).  We've bumped him up to 1 1/2 hours between most of his naps.  This led to him napping longer too.  The second thing I learned was that Silas wasn't waking from naps because he was hungry, he was waking because he had too short of wake-time.  No wonder he acted so frustrated when I kept trying and trying to get him to take full feedings.  In actuality, he wasn't hungry enough for a full feeding!  He's now doing much better eating, and it's so fun to have him awake longer. Because, really, who can get enough of this face:

Our big news this week is that Silas ROLLED OVER onto his tummy!  Amos started by rolling onto his back, so I fully expected Silas to do the same.  To my delight, he learned his tummy first.  He still hasn't rolled onto his back yet, but I'm OK with that not happening anytime soon.  I dread the sleep disruptions that will be caused by that skill.

I thought that he was just going to be content to lay on his back and watch the world pass by him.  He changed my thinking this week.  He was pushing out of his bouncer, dancing in his exesaucer, rolling over, and wanting to sit on his own.  He's figuring out how to make his body work for him instead of against him by hitting himself in the face.

With this nice weather, he spent some time outside this week and doesn't appear to have the aversion to the sun that Amos had for the first half of his life (he's completely over it now).  And he sure makes a cute Teddy Bear.

SCHEDULE: I'm been meaning to put this on here for my sake, but keep forgetting.
7:00 -- wake up feeding
8:05 -- nap
10:30 -- feed
11:45 -- nap
1:30 -- feed
3:00 -- nap
4:30 -- feed
6:00 -- nap
7:00 -- bedtime feeding
This definitely still fluctuates, but it's the goal.

And here's Amos at the same age:

Silas John - Week 14

We've got some blurry hand action going on, but I couldn't pass up that smile!

We hit the 3 month mark this week, and magically his legs started working.  Silas had shown little, to no, interest in standing on his legs until this week.  Now, he's always pushing up on them.  So I brought out this big guy!

And he loves it!

Night time sleeping has been fantastic this week!  I'm starting to get used to 9 hours of glorious sleep again.  Even with a lingering cough, he hasn't woken in the night.  I normally do a dreamfeed around 9:30 and then he sleeps until almost 8!  However, naps have been a different story.  His first two naps of the day are pretty good ones, but the rest he normally wakes up before transitioning into deeper sleep.  I've been trying to wean him from the swaddle by leaving one arm out, so that might be the culprit.  We tried no swaddle one day and it was bad.  He's not ready to drop it yet.  I still fully swaddle him at night.

He'd been eating faster most of the week until these last two days.  Now he's seems to be slowly eating and wanting more even when were done.  He may be headed for or in a growth spurt.  We'll see.

Other than the exesaucer, he also spent some time in the bumbo and on his tummy.

Finger chewing has also started up.  I wish he would figure out the whole thumb-sucking thing.  He just can't keep them in while sleeping.

When he smiles, I feel like he thinks I'm the greatest person ever!  Pictures don't do it justice, so here is a quick movie clip.

Lastly, after cutting off Amos' hair this week, I think the boys' differences have become more pronounced.  Similar features, completely different layout!

Here's Amos at 14 weeks.  I think this was his chubbiest point.

Silas John - Week 13

We move from newborn to baby this week.  Can't believe it happened so fast.  And, I kind of fell off the bandwagon with pictures this week.  I promise to do better.

I've been saying for a while now that Silas has been congested.  It finally progressed enough last weekend (Silas would cry if he was awake and not eat well, not to mention a terrible sounding cough) that we took him to the doctor's office on Monday.  Luckily it wasn't a serious cough aka moved to his chest, and this week, he's be on the mend.  He's gone back to eating longer and sleeping better.  He's still coughing quite a bit, but it doesn't seem to bother him like it did.

Due to being sick, he's sleeping in his rock and play which keeps him in a more elevated position.   He's started doing this interesting thing where he just makes the sucking motion with his lips like he's sucking his thumb, but he's only sucking air.  It seems to soothe him back to sleep if he's woken from coughing.  Once he's not swaddled, he may take after his brother and be a thumb sucker.

Speaking of sleep, after waking up at 5 am one morning and then 4 am the next, I heard him at 3 am the following day, and knew we were starting a terrible trend.  I decided it was time for a little cry it out.  So I took my pillow out to the couch - in order not to wake up Jason - and listened to Silas cry.  To my surprise, he cried for 15 minutes, then whimpered for 15 more minutes, then fell asleep.  He slept for 5 more hours and woke up at 8 am!?!?!?  And he's been sleeping 10 1/2 hours since then!

We've given up on the bottle for the time being.  We don't have anything coming up where he has to take a bottle so I'm hoping a little bit of rest from it will help him be ready to take it again.  I've got a lot of milk stored up, so I hope so.

Also, if you missed it, we started cloth diapers this week!  I had been given so many diapers, that I was just putting it off, but all the disposable diaper explosions reminded me why I like cloth so much.  We haven't had one since.  Silas doesn't seem to mind the change at all.  And with him being the second child to use the diapers, it's like we're diapering for free!! And I love FREE!

His skin has really cleared up this week.  I don't know if its just due to the magical 3 month move from newborn to baby, or what.  But he had several dry patches on his arms and legs that are gone for now and I only occasionally have to put stuff on his face.  Also, his cradle cap seems to be gone.  Three months is really a game changer.

He's much more vocal this week.  He'll talk to his hands, hanging toys, Amos or anyone who's holding him.  I'll hear him and think he's getting fussy, but look and see him smiling really big, just carrying on. He makes an actually cooing noise when he talks too.  They are so precious.  I think he carries on more than Amos did at that age.  Amos was much more interested in all things physical - rolling, sitting or standing.  Silas could care less about mastering those at this point.

Amos loves Silas.  I know because Amos loves to give him kisses.  He loves to tell Silas bye when Silas goes down for naps, and he loves when Silas "waves" back.  He asks where Silas is when he wakes up from his naps.  He is more willing to share his toys with him.  He'll sing him a song or read him a book.  If I want to get Amos to do something, (i.e. jump) I'll ask him to show Silas how to jump and he's much more apt to do it then if he were just doing it for me.  He's already a good BIG brother!

Speaking of Amos, here he was at 13 weeks!

Silas John - Week 12

Well, this post is coming in a little late.  Somebody has been sick all week!  It's no fun to hear a 2 1/2 month old coughing.  And we're not talking about a small cough every now and again.  It's a full out rough cough and it happens a lot.  Less when he sleeps, which is nice.  He started the week with mild congestion and by Saturday refused to eat or be consoled.  Luckily, he still slept Saturday night.  Sunday night was a different story!

Speaking of sleep, even in the midst of all the sickness, Silas was officially sleeping through the night - 9+ hours.  However, last night that was not the case.  I'm hoping its only due to sickness.

We're still working the swaddle.  If he's not ready to drop it soon, we'll have to get a bigger size.  I'd rather be done with it.

Up until Saturday, you wouldn't have known Silas was sick.  He was still very happy during his wake time and sleeping very well.  He's got a pretty laid back disposition.  This week we had all kinds of smiles and Silas started noticing his own hands.

His face has cleared up all together.  I'm now only have to put cream on his face every other day or so and that's only a preventative measure!  He's got a nice bald ring around his head.  Lucky for him, his thick top hair is long enough to cover most of his baldness.  He remains our hairy little man.

No luck on the bottle front, so instead, Silas got to attend his first wedding.  Amos stayed home with Grandma, Grandpa and Granny, while Silas and I headed to Miami, OK for the marriage of Jon and Rachel Reed!  It was beautiful and he slept through almost the entire thing, reception included.

At the beginning of the week, Silas cut his eating time in half.  All of the sudden he no longer wanted to eat on both sides or for very long.  Now that I know he was getting sick, I wonder if he will go back to his longer eatings, or if he just got more efficient at eating and no longer needs to eat as long.  The shorter eating sessions have been nice.  It leaves more wake time for play!

We saw the doctor this morning.  It sure leaves peace of mind knowing that the cough isn't moving into his chest.  The doctor said to use saline drops every hour and use his eye medicine twice a day.  Also, keep him in an upright position.  He also prescribed an antibiotic incase he continues to get worse.  (He even wrote me a prescription because I think Silas gave his stuff to me) I love our doctor and nurses!

MEMORY LANE

Week 1

Week 2

 Week 3

Week 4 

Week 5 

Week 6 

Week 7 

Week 8 

Week 9 

Week 10 

Week 11

And here's Amos at 12 weeks old:

Silas John - Week 10

Silas busted out one of his new Christmas gifts this week too, the activity gym.  He loves that thing.

He's happy for his entire "wake" time on his stomach or on his back.  At the top, there's a mirror and he'll just smile and coo at himself.  Of course, Amos wants to be part of the action too.

Speaking of "wake" time, he's camping at about 50 minutes before he's ready for his next nap.  He's pretty content anywhere.  At first, we though he was not going to be a tummy time guy, but the more we put him on it, the better he is getting!  He's doing a great job holding up his head.

Something else he really enjoys is his bath.  Amos tolerated bath time, but Silas really appreciates it.  He relaxes completely in the water and coos up a storm while he's in his bath.  This differs from Amos who would hold his hands and feet out of the water as long as he could.

A couple of "firsts" this week:
1.  He's started to wake from some of his naps happy, instead of immediately demanding food.  He'll just lie in there "talking" for a short bit and then he demands food.

2.  He finally took a bottle.  I didn't have any reason to give him a bottle early, so I held off.  Amos had no problem adjusting to the bottle, so I guess I just didn't think about it.  However, my birthday is this week and we're going out on our first date.  Good thing I thought to try it out first, because the first time was a complete FAIL.  He's gotten better and better, and finally can drink the whole thing.

3.  He slept 10 1/2 hours one night.  This isn't consistent, but I usually get around 8 hrs, so I can't complain.

4.  He got his first cold and still has it.  Mid-week he started waking early from naps and wasn't sleeping as well at night.  At first, I thought it was a growth spurt, but was quickly followed by a congested cough and stopped up nose.  He's been coughing ever since.  Luckily, a fever hasn't accompanied it.  I hope it goes away soon.  If not, we're headed to the doctor on Wednesday for his two month check up.

He's got some pretty crazy hair staying around.  Anytime it's wet, it really curls up.  Plus he's got lots of new growth.  Check it out.

Here's the link to Amos at this age as well as his weekly picture below.

Week 2

Amos had his very first check up today!  The little piggie weighed in at 8 lbs 10.5 oz – almost a pound heavier than his birth weight!  The Doctor said that he must be a good eater.  I would say so! 

            His weekly picture says it all, but this week, we have been working on sleeping patterns.  The little guy put himself on a three-hour eating schedule, but has yet to figure out napping.  At night, he wakes to feed every three hours and goes right back to sleep.  During the day, he wakes, feeds, hangs out for a little while and then fights sleep tooth and nail.  I’ll go in and check on him and he will be holding his eyes open as wide as he can.  It’s almost like he is saying, “There is absolutely no way that I am going to sleep unless you are going to hold me in your arms.”  Then Jason and I remind each other that it is only week two and we are all still learning!

            Amos had lots of visitors this week.  Aunt Tylie came to visit from KC and Aunt Nyssa came over for hang out time.  He also got to meet his Great Grandma Hubbard for the first time!  We also had our first shopping and restaurant outing.  He slept through most of it.

I love this picture!  Gramps is holding Amos and Great Grandpa is in the background!

            Jason and I love the fact that he gets to stay home with us for another month as we figure out how to be parents.  However, Jason is working hard to get ready to teach 7^th Grade World History next year!  He’s excited about the change and eager to begin.  I’ve got some learning to do too, as I grow in supporting my husband with his work and nurturing my son! 

It’s going to be an exciting first year!  I just hope it doesn’t go by too fast!!!!

Notice any resemblance?  The top picture is Jason!

We have a major Mr. Frowny Face on our hands!

Love this one of Amos and Daddy!

GQ anyone?