A Word from Mommy

posted by mommy

i meant to write all of this with everett's 5-month picture, but just didn't have time right then. i wanted to give you more of an update regarding where we are with our chubbers. just like with owen, i can't believe 5 short months ago, ev was a tiny, 8-pound newborn who slept all the time and loved being swaddled. now, he's rolling over, learning to sit up, chewing on everything he can, and still having sleep "issues". and still growing sooooo big!!!

as you can tell by his pictures, he continues to grow (50% for height and 90% for weight!) and loves to nurse. he rarely lasts longer than three hours during the day between nursings and continues to wake 2-3 times a night. he did go about a week only waking once during his 12-hour nighttime sleep, but then decided he "needed" more than that! i figure who am i to say what he needs and what he doesn't. he'll let us all know when he's ready to go all night (which i'm assuming is still a long way off if his brother's sleep pattern at the same ages is any indication). in favor of better sleep, though, we did begin having ev sleep on his tummy pretty early on (around 2.5-3 months?) and moved him to his own room and crib in early january (after transitioning o to his "big boy bed"). ev still sleeps in our bed from time to time, but generally does much better on his own.

naps are still not super dependable either. generally, he wakes each day around 8:30 ready for the day, takes his first nap around 10 (sleeps anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours), takes another nap around 1:30 (depending on length of earlier nap, and sleeps anywhere from 1-2 hours), then takes a cat nap around 5-5:30 for 30-45 minutes. remember, i said "generally". still nothing to count on. so basically, we are bound to home at this point as there seems to always be someone sleeping (owen takes a nap from about 1:30-3:30).

ev is growing stronger every day and able to sit on his own for longer periods. we spend time each day in his bebepod, sitting on a quilt propped by the boppy, or "standing" in the exersaucer to help him develop a good strong core. he only enjoys each of these activities for 10 minutes or so before he yells at us to pick him up or move him on to something else! he is definitely not as chill of a baby as owen was.

but i'm glad to report he finally seems to be warming up to his car seat and being in the car. whether it's because of being tucked in with the luxuriously fuzzy blanket he got from umma and uppa for christmas, or just because he's getting older and more aware of what's going on, he has seemed to settle a bit in this area. it's been a while since i've had to drive panic-stricken because my infant is screaming his lungs out in the back seat!!

we're not sure about teeth yet. the way he drools and is chewing on everything would seem to indicate the impending appearance of a tooth, but we still don't see the telltale white beneath the gums yet. he does, however, love to suck his fingers/hand/sleeve/arm - whatever he can get into his mouth. he dropped the pacifier a while ago in favor of his own fingers which we are glad for as it means we don't have to keep getting up to give him the dropped paci at night and he will be great with soothing himself just like his brother (i know, i know, we'll have a harder time dealing with how to "take it away", but we'll deal with that when the time comes!).