Newborn Magic #1 - The Swaddle

As we near the end of the newborn phase once again, I wanted to create a list of all the things I love for this phase of life.  We didn't have too long between Amos and Silas' being newborns, but it will (hopefully) be a little longer before we have another and I don't want to forget.

THE NECESSITY OF THE SWADDLE:
Something that I consider ABSOLUTELY a necessity is a swaddle.  From day 1.  With Amos, I didn't know about the magic of the swaddle first hand, but I had read so many recommendations for it that I gave it a try.  And I'm so glad I did!  Once Amos was wrapped in that thing, he was good to go.  There were a few times we forgot the swaddle and it wasn't pretty.  With Silas, we knew we needed from the start.  In fact, I brought one to the hospital.

People that haven't seen the swaddle in action don't fully understand its magic.  It seems natural to think that a baby would hate it because we (as adults) would hate it.  However, we did not just spend 9 months in a tiny little space where we could not move.  For babies, the swaddle reminds them of the womb and relaxes them.  We also don't have crazy newborn reflexes.   The moro reflex is also known as the startle reflex.  It is triggered by loud noises, sudden movement or the sensation of falling.  Babies respond by flaying their arms and legs and normally hitting themselves in the face.   How would you like to hit yourself in the face several times during a deep sleep?  The swaddle doesn't stop the reflex, it just keeps baby from whacking themselves during deep sleep.

HOW TO SWADDLE:
There are so many videos on youtube about how to swaddle.  Just Google it and you will find one.  I will say though, it takes some practice to get good, but keep trying.

TYPES OF SWADDLES:
With Amos, we started with a receiving blanket.  That worked for about a week, and then he could bust out of the thing.  We tried all our different types of blankets and the ones with a little bit (but not too much) of stretch were the best.  Then I was given a gift of two SwaddleMe blankets from a great friend.  That night we tried them out and it was MAGIC.  They are so much easier to swaddle and so much tighter.  No more breakouts.  And later, while going through some clothes from my cousin, I came across 5 more hand-me-down SwaddleMe!  I didn't realize what a gift that was when I got them!

There are different types of premade Swaddles out there that work great!  We were just given the SwaddleMes, so that's all that we used.  They cost about $30 for two unless you can get a deal, but they are worth it.  Our swaddles have now been used on about 5 babies (not all mine) and are still going strong.

STAGES OF THE SWADDLE:
First stage (Birth - 1 or 2 weeks):  Baby isn't strong enough to break out of a swaddle, so you can use whatever you have on hand.  Also, this is a great time to learn how to swaddle well because they aren't strong enough or coordinated enough to break out.

Second stage (2 weeks - 6 weeks):  After baby figures out how to break the blanket swaddle, move on to an actual pre-made swaddle.  You can start there, and I would actually suggest that.  It makes middle of the night feedings and re-swaddlings so much easier and FASTER!  Velcro is our friend.

Third stage (6 weeks - 2 - 2 1/2 months):  Around 6 weeks, Silas was breaking out of every swaddle.  Part of this could be that the velcro is getting older, and not quite as a solid hold.  The velcro attaches in the front and became easy for him to work his arms and break the hold.  This led to swaddling him backwards in the swaddle.  That meant he was laying on the velcro and his body weight helped to keep it secure!  It's a little trickier to swaddle, but by this time, you're a pro and it's no problem.

4th stage:  (2 1/2 months - ?)  At this point, your baby is probably getting close to being too big for the swaddle.  The good news, they almost don't need it anymore.  We start testing the waters by leaving one arm out of the swaddle and seeing what happens.  This also helps with the size problem, because with one arm out, there's more smaller baby for the swaddle to fit around.  It may take a couple naps for the baby to adjust, but if they do, you're on the road to no more swaddle.  That's a good thing!  Because if you are like me, by this point you are tired of swaddling for every nap and bedtime!

One arm out and backwards.

5th stage: Every babies different, but at some point they will be ready to drop the swaddle completely, probably around 3-4 months.  You can drop it cold turkey, or ease them into it by swaddling one arm out, then both arms, then no swaddle.  If you absolutely don't think they are ready to drop the swaddle, you'll probably need to buy a bigger size and try again at a later date.  However, for most, just getting size SM/MD will work .

WHAT IF THE SWADDLE DOESN'T WORK FOR MY BABY:
Keep trying.  Our two guys loved the swaddle, so we didn't have to worry too much about this.  However, if we have future kiddos who fight the swaddle, my plan is to keep trying until it works.  If it keeps my baby FROM falling asleep instead of helping them fall asleep, then I would give it the boot.

It's magical.

Silas John - Week 11

And a new look to the blog.  No special reason.  I was just getting a little tired of the old look.

This past week started off with a bang!  Silas decided he needed to eat every 2 hours during the day and a shorter stretch at night.  Can you say GROWTH SPURT?  It was really frustrating me for two reasons.  The first was that it was my birthday week, and I kind of thought it would be nice of him to sleep longer for my birthday.  He decided just to be cute instead.

And secondly, this is the week Amos started sleeping 10 hours at night.  And he never stopped.  My mom reminded me that Silas is chubbier than Amos and may just need a little more food.  Here's to hoping the magic starts this week!

Jason was taking me out on Friday for my birthday so we tried all week to get Silas to take a bottle.  We had VERY little success.  I've now tried 4 different bottles.  Any suggestions?  I'm just going to continue to try once a day in hopes that he finally get it by Saturday because we have a out of town wedding to attend.

At Silas' Dr. appointment, we were told to try hydrocortisone on his cheeks.  It has been amazing.  And his cheeks are finally starting to clear up.  He's put on lots of pounds (5 of them) since birth so no problems with breast-feeding and he's in size 2 diapers now.  We're starting cloth very soon!

We're still swaddling for sleep, but he's getting really close to busting out so we may be ending that soon.  And to be honest, I look forward to it.  I know it helps so much with sleep now, but its pretty annoying to have to swaddle for every nap and night.  He's getting more accurate at hitting his toys in his bouncer and activity gym.  I hope that's a sign that he'll be ready for no swaddle soon!

Speaking of his toys, he loves to play with them.  He's so content anywhere, but he really likes to talk to toys that are hanging within his eye sight.

Amos also likes to play with his toys.  Silas just smiles and smiles at Amos.  He loves his big brother.

He looks at everything these days.  My mom says he's more social that Amos was.  I agree.  I'm getting pretty spoiled with all his smiles.

Double Ouchy...

We had both boys monthly check-ups today. This was Amos' 18 month check-up with shots, and Silas' 2 month check-up with shots.  I made Jason take off work to help.  They both did surprisingly well.  I'd been dreading Amos' because I knew he was old enough to be mad at us after they happened.  However, we were smart and brought cheese along with us.  Right after the nurse finished with the shots, we gave him the cheese and he was a happy camper.

And Silas barely cried.  We were expecting the newborn wails, but, thankfully, they never came.  He promptly went back to sleep and slept through most of our trip to Wal-mart.  

Both boys had grown.

Amos is now a whopping 33 1/4 inches tall - 75th percentile - and weighs 26.8 lbs - 60th percentile.

Silas is 24 1/4 inches tall - 90th percentile - and weights 13 lbs - 75th percentile.  He's bigger than Amos was at this age, but not much.  Amos has always been long and lean, but all muscle.  Silas is stocky with a little more chub.

I'm glad were done with shots for Amos until he's 5 years old.  That's seems a long ways off.  (Don't tell me it will be here before I know it.)

Vacuuming furniture means...

...pillow fort in the living room!

It also means there's no where to sit!

In other news, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!  I've been finding little birthday notes all over the house.  What a fun surprise.

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.

Amos Jack - 18 month Summary

Here we are at 1 1/2 years old. 

Here is was 1 year ago today.  What a difference a year makes.

EATING:

Eating is pretty much the same this month.  The only thing that may have change is the amount.  At times, he surprises me how much he wants to eat.  I think he almost ate a whole steak the other night at dinner.  Milk is still his drink of choice – whole milk, three times a day.  He also drinks a lot of water and some juice.  Raisins are a new favorite.  He got these in his stocking and hasn’t stopped eating them.

Icing cookies with Josie!

PLAYING:

Physical play has been more prevalent this month.  He wants to crawl up Dad’s legs, do somersaults, balance on whatever he can find, biking (he’s finally started riding it) or ride on our backs.  Anytime we are on the floor, he is on us.  The other night, he was trying to lie on Silas!  Luckily I was right there and averted him.

No, those two don't look anything alike!

As you can imagine, Amos got a lot of new toys this month.  They have all been a big success.  It was fun to clean out the old toys and replace them with new, more age appropriate things.  One fun thing about the new toys is that they require pretend play.  Amos gets to pretend he’s fire fighter when he is in his pop up fire engine tent, or he’s a racecar driver with his new tracks, or school bus driver with his bus and little people.  He actually uses his puppets to make sounds and kiss things.  It’s so fun to come into his room and see him “playing!”

Amos has become very interested in my cleaning tasks.  I let him help however he can.  I figure if he thinks it is fun, he may enjoy “helping” later too!  So far he takes the clothes out of the dryer, uses a rag to wipe things down, stirs stuff, hands me silverware, and pushes the vacuum.  This has also served to curb his fear of the vacuum.

He’s getting better at playing with Silas.  Which means, he now brings toys to Silas and shares the bumbo and activity gym!  He also loves to say “Hi” to Silas whenever he is up.

He had so much fun playing with his cousins again this month.  It has been such a blessing to spend extended time with both sides of the family!

PERSONALITY:

Amos started smiling on purpose this month.  He now cheeses for pictures and may even say “Cheese” when I get the camera out! (Where was this ability when we had family pictures taken?!?)  His cheesy smile cracks us up.  He can be such a goof ball on purpose.  If something makes us laugh, he repeats it.  He can be quite the entertainer.  Especially when the grandparents are around.

He’s a stubborn little guy.  Things need to be done his way.  He now tells us “no” if we are playing with his toys or doing something we are not suppose to.

COMMUNICATION:

There’s been lots and lots of talking this month – actual talking.  I think the more time he spends with other kids, the more talkative he gets.  He’s got so many words under his belt, but my favorite new ones are “surprise” (which came in very handy when opening presents), “WOW”, “pretty”, “please”, and “thank you.”  He also has a version of “I love you.”  And my heart melts.  He words continue to get clearer and clearer.  There’s not much guessing with what he is saying these days and most of the time he is saying something.  He now is included in our prayers.  He holds our hand and says "AMEN" at the end.  Praying is something he gets pretty excited about.

DISCIPLINE:

At the beginning of the month, Amos hit Josie a couple of times while she was over.  I was worried this was his new “trick.” Luckily a few spankings seemed to stop that for now.  We haven’t seen it any more this month.  However, his scream has taken off.  It even made an appearance at church one Sunday.  That’s when we decided he wasn’t just doing it because he was frustrated, he was doing it because he was mad and wanted our attention or just because he knew he wasn’t suppose to.  Screams in the car meant a hand swat. He has since started hitting his own hand when he does something he isn’t suppose to.  Do all kids do this?

LEARNING:

I decided to add a learning category because he learns so much each month.  This month, I made him a sensory tub, full of noodles, beans, measuring cups, tongs, little animals, etc.  He loves it.  In fact, if I leave the room, he picks it up and carries/drags it to follow me.  He can’t leave it alone if it is out.  For that reason, we only bring it out to play together.  He’s learning scoping, pouring and sorting with it.

We celebrated Advent as a family this month.  Last year I made an advent calendar that involved adding a piece of the Nativity each day the story was told.  He wasn’t interested in it then, but this year he has loved it.  I’ll find him standing under it and pretend reading the story.  It’ll be exciting to do this each year with the boys.

Also this month, we’ve practiced our ABC’s and putting on clothes.  I was just sure he had no idea how to put on his clothes the first time I asked him to do it.  However, he walked right over to his shirt, opened it up, stuck one arm in and then other, and tried to put it over his head.  The pants were a little different story, but he sure surprised me.  He has shown a little interest in his potty, but we aren’t pushing anything.  I just want to be ready when the time comes.

SLEEP:

Most of the time we takes one nap, but occasionally – especially with all the traveling, he took two this month.  With Silas’ schedule, its nice when he takes two, but a long one in the afternoon isn’t too bad either.

We have had a lot of trouble with night-time leaking.  A long time ago, we stopped using cloth at night because he would always leak through.  However, he’s been leaking through disposables for the last several months.  I didn’t know what to do, until I came across this blog post on wool diaper covers.  It, of course, grabbed my attention from the start.  After reading more about it, I was hooked!  Just using disposable diapers at night was adding up - I don’t know how people afford it.  With the wool cover, I can use cloth at night!  It’ll be worth the investment if we don’t have to use disposables anymore at night!

SPECIAL EVENTS:

Well, the molars are in!! Yay! That makes 12 teeth.  Now he’s beginning work on the incisors! Will it ever end?  Also, Amos got Pink Eye this month.  The first 6 days of the 7 day regimen of medicine involved a screaming child every time we put the drops in his eyes.  On day 7, he decided that it wasn’t too bad and actually asked us to put more in his eyes.  That kid!

Here’s some of the new things we did this month:

Christmas Parade

Icing Christmas cookies

Christmas Tree Hunting

Looking at lights

Traveling to see family

Opening presents

OUR SCHEDULE:

7:30 - Wake up, play with Silas and eat breakfast

8:15 – Read and Pray with Mommy

8:45 – Exercise with Mommy (Ha!)

9:45 – Independent Playtime

11:00 – Learning Activity/Table Time

11:30 – Lunch/Playtime

1:30 - Nap Time

4:30 – Snack/ Daddy Time

6:00 - Dinner

7:30 - Bedtime

Here's a few of Jason around the same age.  The resemblance is still astounding!

I don't have many of Amos crying, but this is exactly what he looks like!

Today

Even though a mother's work is never ending, when Dad's home, Mom gets a break too.  That's how it was for us this past two weeks.  And a wonderful two weeks it was.  However, the last day of vacation left me a little disappointed.  I was hoping for this great feeling of rest and readiness to re-enter the real world.  And I wasn't feeling it.

Regardless of my feelings, today came.  And I'm glad.  Silas let me sleep all night long.  After feeding him, I was able to spend time with Jesus before Amos awoke.  It was a sweet time!  I was reminded that Jesus "looking at me, loved me."

And then I got to spend they day with these cuties!