Will, so far

We just crossed the five-month celebration of sweet William making us a family of three and me a pink tiger.  They passed at quite a whirlwind and I am only reminded that yes, the hours are long and the days (much too!) short.

Will’s first month (0-4 weeks)

Oh, the squishy, magical newborn days.  I did not appreciate these as much as I should have, I now know.  He was so tiny and grew so fast.  Born at about seven and a half pounds, and ten by four weeks old!  Kid is a champion eater.  We worked so hard to get that internal clock set for him, and nights were pretty established a few weeks in.  He’d give us and a couple of great 3 hour chunks in a row by one-month old, and started getting a bottle of pumped milk on his first wake-up, sometime between 11 and 1 am.  After 3 am, he’d wake about every 90 minutes to two hours, and I already miss watching the sunrise from my bed with him snuggled close to me, cluster nursing every morning from about 7 AM to  10 AM.  I started to notice a pattern around three weeks old, and could rely on a pretty good 2 hour nap in the middle of the day – allowing me to leave the house with sleeping baby in tow and get lunch!  We’d get home in time for some more nursing, a smaller nap, and then a nice cluster feed before ‘bedtime’ around 8 PM.

From the beginning, he head and neck control was strong, and he was lifting his little head off our shoulders at twelve hours old.  He continued to work these muscles daily, and his little face become more alert every day.  He started to become reliably sleepy when we began the bedtime routine we began around two weeks old – bath, song, pajamas, bottle and swaddle/bed.

We missed Topher when he returned to work after two weeks, but my mom came to stay for a week right at the end of this first month, and I was grateful.  When she was with us, it became clear Will was suffering from above-average reflux and daily doses of Zantac became routine.

Will’s second month (4-9 weeks)

As the second month dawned, Will continued his daily routine of waking between 5 AM and 6 AM, nursing, and sleeping a bit more as Topher headed off to work. We began a nice routine of lots of nursing, tummy time, a book or two, and many naps in the pack ‘n’ play or car seat while out and about or on a walk around the neighborhood.  Lots of Mama and Will time, which I no longer feared and learned to love.

Will began to smile and respond to our faces and voices near the middle of his second month, and had a great time with his grandparents in North Carolina at six weeks old.  He had his first dip in the ocean!  It was cold to him, and he complained but took the best nap ever afterward.  He also slept for seven hours straight (twice!) for the first time on this trip! We were so grateful.

Will’s first set of shots on his two-month birthday ushered us out of his second month, and poor kid spent the day nursing, sleeping or shrieking in pain.  Luckily, mostly the first two with tiny bursts of the third in between.

As his second month came to a close, I faced my return to work.  It was so hard to leave him behind, as we had such a great rhythm to our day and he is my favorite part of everything now.

Will’s third month (9 – 13 weeks)

Will became incredibly vocal as his third month began, and really found the range of noises he could make. Lots of high-pitched coos and some consonant sounds, with the occasional shriek that has us seeing if somehow a dinosaur had made his way into present day, and thusly, our house.

Will thrived at daycare and under the eye and loving care of his great-grandmother and soon was chowing down on three 4-ounce bottles while I worked.  We still nursed right when I got home, and it seemed Will craved the reconnection just as much as I did.  He mastered accidentally rolling from his tummy to his back, and impressed everyone with some crazy good neck control.

Will’s fourth month (13 – 17 weeks)

A rhythm for the mornings and evenings began to be established during Will’s fourth month, and Topher and I both treasured the few hours each day we were with him.  He smiled as we came home each day, and showed signs of moving his bedtime a bit earlier.  The same bedtime routine we began weeks ago now started closer to 6:30 or 7 each night, which meant a little less time with our guy in the evenings, but a little more for the two of us, which was bittersweet.

Will became a bit hungrier during the day, and began taking five ounces in his bottle.  This correlated to better sleep at night, including whole nights of not needing Mama or Papa at all and we all slept well for a good two weeks.  And then, the dreaded first cold hit and we had quite setback.  We decided to transition out of the swaddle at this time too, and suck it up.  The week from hell regarding sleep, but we got back on track after about ten days.

At the very end of this month, as Will entered his sixteenth week, he decided he preferred the bottle and not the boob, and we have yet to return to any sort of regular nursing schedule.  He still grows like a weed and loves his milk though, so the most important parts are taken care of.

His four month appointment went swimmingly, and the kid showed signs of great growth, hitting the 80^th percentile for weight, height and head circumference.  He stood tall at nearly 27 inches and solid at 17 pounds 12 ounces. He loves to lift himself up to standing in our arms and hates being held in any way that doesn’t allow him to see and observe the world around him.

Will’s fifth month (17 – 22 weeks)

The holidays made up Will’s fourth month, and he loved December.  The lights on the tree especially enchanted him, and we made a habit of saying goodnight to the tree every evening before heading up to his bath and bed.

His vocalization continued, and he found that his fingers made a great, and soothing, snack.  He mastered neck control this month, and began to really love the Ergo even more as he could look either which way and really take in the sights.  He realized he has control over his hands and began to really intently focus on reaching for, grasping and exploring (with his mouth) anything he can. 

Will took his first plane rides to Houston and back this month and did incredibly well.  He had a weirdly fussy period for a few days, and we noticed that his eye-hand control got much better after that.

Will’s sleep became a bit more erratic, but he learned to fall asleep from awake/drowsy, which was a big win.  He also started showing much more interest in books, so we added a nightly book to the bedtime routine.  Around Christmas, he became increasingly fussy and sleeping poorly, and we learned his reflux med dosage needed to be increased a good deal.  Sleep got better, including a few nights of zero or one waking(s).

Finally, as Will edged closer to a full five months old, he learned to, with control, roll back to tummy.  Right on New Year’s Day – a great developmental leap to kick of the new year.  His sleep suffered a for a week or so as he adjusted to sleeping on his tummy, but he found a rhythm and soothing technique (rub that face back and forth on the mattress!) right as he transitioned to five months old, and into his sixth month.

Will’s sixth month (22 – 26 weeks)

We are about ten days into Will’s sixth month, and all I can say currently is that I hate colds – as soon as we are getting a good rhythm of sleep and seem to really master sleeping through the night – BAM. Illness.  At 23 weeks, Will had his worst night of sleep ever (which Topher managed alone as I took my first trip away from baby for the first time this weekend!), followed by another pretty terrible night of sleep.   A nurse at our pediatrician’s office chalked it up to a cold and the likely beginning of teething, so we all are eagerly anticipating what this sixth month will bring.

As I write this, I’m crossing fingers for Will to come out of the stuffy nose and cough fog soon, for his sake (and mine!) because Topher started a new job which includes overnight shifts…beginning tonight!

Send wishes for good sleep and healthy babies.  And lots of coffee for me.  Please and thank you!