4 Months!

As of March 25 (5 days shy of his 4 month milestone), Nicholas weighs 14 lb 8 oz and is 24" long!  He continues to love interacting with Mommy, Daddy and his big brother.  This week he must be going through a growth spurt since he is eating more frequently during the day AND at night.  He has been cat napping during the day---typically falling asleep while nursing.  As soon as I go to put him down those big eyes OPEN wide and we've lost our chance for a nap.  He does sleep well in the swing during the day (starting with it on and then when he falls asleep I turn it off).  Last night he woke up about an hour after I put him down to sleep and he was able to find his thumb and get back to sleep on his own without crying!  Huge! (Thank goodness for the video monitor to let us be the "fly on the wall"!)

N is trying so hard to roll over but no success yet.  Depending on the surface, he can roll from his belly to his back.  Nicholas will tolerate tummy time briefly and then gets very mad!  I try to give him a break and start over but he gets himself all worked up.  We do this a few times throughout the day.  Mikey is a motivating factor for distracting him and getting him to hold his head up high!  Nicholas is mouthing toys and our hands frequently---often chomping away.  He is very, very drooly and spits up frequently because of the excess saliva.  We always need a burp cloth handy!  I am wondering if we can wait until he is 6 months for solid foods since he is VERY interested in what we are eating and drinking!  I am looking forward to making all of his baby food like I did for Mikey.

Happy 4 month birthday, buddy!  xo

First Weekend Trip

We made our first weekend road trip to Queensbury to meet up with Mimi, Papa Fred and Uncle Timmy for Palm Sunday.  Mikey had a great time playing with Caden (their next door neighbor) as well as all of the toys Daddy and his brothers played with when they were kids.  On Sunday we went to see Uncle Timmy at work with Mimi's brother, Mark and his girlfriend, Erin.

Nicholas did a great job sleeping (slept through the night both nights!).  On the car ride up, Nicholas did great for the first two hours and was irritable for the last hour.  We survived by singing Bon Jovi songs and playing with his rainmaker toy.  For our drive back home, however,  it was a tad more stressful.  We were about 45 minutes into the trip when we stopped.  I took off some layers thinking he was hot since it was not time to eat.  When he started crying again we stopped at another rest stop where I changed and fed him.  He began crying as we were getting back on road again which resulted in me sitting between the boys on the floor (unsafe, yes but it was better than hearing my baby scream for the last hour and a half!).  All he wanted was to see me.  I held his hand and he stopped crying immediately.

All in all, it was a successful trip.  We just won't be traveling any further than three hours for a few more weeks until SOMEONE can tolerate a longer car ride.....

"Mikey, Snowman, and Caden"--per Mikey

Erin, Pam, me

Daddy, Mikey, Nicholas and Papa Fred

The backseat!

Hot Feet?!?!?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today we spent the morning snuggling in bed and the afternoon in Brookline at a preschool fundraiser. Mikey celebrated with green milk and Nicholas sported his "Sham Rock" guitar t-shirt from Auntie!  No corned beef and cabbage dinner for us this year with Mommy nursing Nicholas....maybe next year!

Happy Birthday, Papa Fred!

Happy Birthday to you!  We hope you have a great day and we are looking forward to celebrating with you next weekend!

xo

Mikey & Nicholas

"Is he breathing?"

Tuesday night was a hectic one for me since Mike had a meeting and wasn't getting home until after bedtime.  We followed the same routine coming home from Eva's---eating, bathtime and getting ready for bed.  Poor Nicholas is just along for the ride.  He is such a trooper.  Mikey was in bed by 8:15 (success!) and as we came down the stairs Nicholas was rubbing his eyes so I put him in the pack n' play.  He would be due to eat again around 9 so I held off on changing into his pj's.  He found his thumb (!) and fell asleep.

The rest of the night went like this:

9pm:  Mike comes home.

10:00 pm: I decide to pump since N is quiet and ask that Mike give him the bottle when he wakes up so I can get some sleep.  I left his pj's out, too.

2:00 am:  I wake up when Mike comes into bed.  I jump up as I don't see N on the video monitor.  Mike informs me that N is still sleeping.  He put the bottle in the fridge and came upstairs to sleep---since "waiting" for N to wake up and sleeping on the couch wasn't that comfortable.  I couldn't believe he was still sleeping. I asked Mike "Is he still breathing?".  He replied "Yes" but became nervous after me asking that question.

3:00am: I go downstairs and check on N.  Sleeping with thumb in mouth.  (I placed my finger under his nose to feel him breathing!)

6:00am:  Go back downstairs.  Still sleeping with thumb in mouth. (Again I checked the nose.)

(I had woken up frequently between 3 and 6 and just layed in bed listening for crying.  Not a peep.)

7:30am:  I go downstairs again.  Still sleeping.  I was nervous ("There must be something wrong with him") and I was uncomfortable (one word: engorged). At this point I wake him up.  (No need to check the nose.)   He cried, then smiled and happily ate.  I actually contemplated calling the doctor but "my son slept for 11 hours straight through the night!" is hardly a "bad" symptom.  I told myself it must have been a fluke and the next night we would be quickly back to our every three hour feedings at 12, 3 and 6.

The next night Nicholas slept from 10pm-8am.

The following night 8am-7am.

I don't want to jinx anything but hopefully we are on the verge of an established routine.....

What a difference it is when you wake up refreshed (and more patience to deal with the big brother!) when you get so many consecutive hours of sleep.  Way to go, Nicholas!

Snow

We sure have had a lot of the white stuff this winter.  Luckily most of it has come over the weekend so it hasn't impacted our weekly routine at all.  Unfortunately Nicholas is a bit small to enjoy it, but Mikey has had a blast making snow angels, snow balls and snowmen.  As much as I dislike winter and anything that accompanies it, I will admit that it is fun to play in the snow with my son :)

(Clearly I need to work on my snowman making skills)