Exersaucer Fun!

Hayes has finally gotten big enough to play in his exersaucer.  He really likes it!  We had tried putting him in it, but he kept falling over.  So one day when I went to pick him up at school, they had him in one and had just put a blanket in around his waist to keep him more upright.  His teacher said that he was haivng so much fun and enjoying the new view!

Big News!

Question:  What can get this reaction out of Kristi?

Answer:  A little something like this!

At lunch one Saturday, Erin surprised me and Kristi with fortune cookies and the fortune was for Hayes and Grayson!  They are going to have a new friend on October 25.  We couldn't be more thrilled for Erin and Dennis and can't wait to meet Tiny Terry! 

The Three Mamas!

Four Months!

I would say that Hayes's fourth month has been hard.  I've been back at work, he's had two ear infections, a respiratory virus, and has stopped being a good little sleeper.  But, he is still our sweet boy and we think he is the cutest kid on the planet!

A little bit about Hayes:

He still enjoys school, and he isn't the youngest one in his class anymore.

He still eat every 3 hours during the day

His bedtime has moved up to between 6:30 and 7 pm, which means that he is now waking up twice to eat - once around 10 or 11 pm and once sometime between 1 and 3 am.  The doctors told us at his 4 month checkup and at his appointment for his second ear infection that he is big enough to sleep through the night without eating, but they also told us that he's dropped a bit on the growth charts.  So, I've been trying to figure out how to balance those two things!  I figure he really is hungry because he really does eat when I feed him.  I'm going to try to start weaning him from the early morning feeding soon.

He has gotten in a bad little habit of waking up one or two other times between his nighttime feedings.  This started when he was sick, and we are working on sleep training to get him out of the habit.  Sleep training is not easy!
He still takes pretty good naps - usually one hour and a half or two hour nap in the middle of the day with shorter naps in the morning and afternoon.  But lately, he's been skipping the long middle of the day nap sometimes.  I don't like when this happens because he is ready for bed earlier and doesn't sleep as well.  

We've started trying to wean him from his swaddler blanket.  He is getting strong enough to almost break out of the velcro, and I worry that he might do it and then we'd have a loose blanket in his crib.  Right now, I put him down with one arm out, and next week, we'll start leaving both arms out.  I do think he likes this better.

He still likes his bouncy seat, Bumbo seat, ocean playmat, and swing.  He loves to look at the elephants that dangle from his swing and bouncy seat; he concentrates so hard on them!  Same thing with the toys that hang from his ocean playmat.

He has started liking his toys more - he likes rattles, books, and balls.
He still likes to lay on our bed and on the floor and look at ceiling fans.  He also kicks his head back in whatever direction the TV is.  He loves to watch TV, and we have to work really hard to keep him turned away from it.
He has noticed his feet.  He hasn't grabbed them yet or gotten them up to his mouth, but I can tell that he's thinking about it.

He loves to chew on his fingers.  He also loves his paci, but he can't get it into his mouth on his own yet.  So, if left to his own devices, he will go for the fingers!

He does not enjoy tummy time.  He can hold his head at a 90 degree angle, but he gets mad pretty quickly.  He gets so mad that he doesn't even try to turn over.  I think he is strong enough to do it though.

He can roll from his back to his side.  He hasn't figured out yet how to get on over to his tummy.
He had very good head control. 

He has started experimenting with his vocal volume.  He loves to yell.  We say that he is going to be a loudmouth like his Aunt Jen!
He has laughed out loud a few times. 

He appears to have a propensity for ear infections.  By four months, he had had two already!

He weighs 12 pounds 13 ounces and is 24 inches long.  He's right around the 15th percentile for height and weight.  At his appointment for his second ear infection two weeks before his four month well child visit, he weighed only 12 pounds 6 ounces, which is the 10th percentile.  This was down from the 25th percentile at his first ear infection appointment.  The doctor pointed this out and asked how my milk supply was holding up.  Even though he also said that the drop in weight gain could be due to his not feeling good, it made me feel like a bad mama!  But, at his 4 month checkup, the doctor said that he was growing really well and we didn't need to worry about anything! 
He is wearing size 3-6 month clothes and size 1-2 diapers. 

He is getting more and more fun everyday!  We can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Our Budding Artist

At Hayes's school, they do art with the kids.  They take off the kids' clothes and put paint on their feet and let them kick the paper with their feet.  Hayes's first art project was this rainbow.  Each kid did one stripe; Hayes did the smallest orange stripe because he was the youngest one in his class.

Next, they did flowers.  Each petal has a sweet little footprint on it.

Here is a closeup of Hayes's flower.  We laugh because Hayes has this very serious look on his face.  He does this almost everytime we take his picture.  I think he is trying to figure out what that thing is in front of your face.  We say that he's advanced because he's thinking it through and all of the other kids are just smiling away in their pictures and don't notice the weird black box in front of your face.

Last week, in honor of Earth Day, they painted the earth.  I'm actually really impressed by how good this project turned out.  Hayes's teacher told me that he really enjoys the art projects, so I'm thinking that I need to start doing it at home with him.

Ear Infection - Round 2

Easter night Hayes slept terribly!  He was up six times, I think, and we were exhausted!  Trent's mom had mentioned that she always knew Jarrett had an ear infection if he started waking up at night.  I decided that we should get Hayes's ears checked out again.  We made an appointment at the after hours clinic at our pediatrician's office, and sure enough, his right ear was infected!  The doctors said that on a scale of 1 to 5 of severity of infection, his ear was a 4!

Hayes enjoyed laying on the exam table and kicking (his favorite activity).  We left with ear drops for his pain, antibiotics, and anxiety about his weight (more on that later).  Nothing makes a mama feel better than a doctor asking how her milk supply is holding up!

Easter Sunday

On Easter, we went to the 8:00 service at church.  We figured that we were already up (since Hayes gets up at the crack of dawn!) and it would be good to miss the crowds!  Aunt Jen met us, which was very fun! 

Hayes in his Easter outfit!

We always eat Easter lunch with the Minors/Skarstens.  Miss Stella and Mr. Rhett will be such good friends to Hayes, and Stella is a hoot!  Her mama always has some good stories about the things that Stella has gotten into.  Hayes had a nice long nap that lasted all the way through lunch - it was his first time to nap in his crib at Mimi's house!  After his nap, he came downstairs and laid around on his blanket while everyone visited.  Here is a good picture that shows the detail of his cute little outfit that his Mimi and Aunt Jen got for him.

Hayes, Mama, and Daddy

Hayes liked the goodies the Easter Bunny brought him - a Peter Cottontail book and a cute shortall with a sailboat on it.

Easter in Fort Smith

We spent the Saturday before Easter in Fort Smith.  Trent played golf with his dad and Jarrett, and Hayes went with the girls to eat lunch and shop.  We ate at Cheddars, which was excellent!  I have never eaten there before, and I was seriously impressed.  I also got to run by Blessed Baby and got Hayes a few cute outfits.

Hayes met some important people on this trip to Fort Smith.  Jared grew up with Trent, and he hadn't gotten to meet Hayes yet.  Here are the three handsome boys!

Hayes also got to meet Aunt Ota.  This is Trent's great-great aunt, who kept him and Jarrett when they were really little.  Her mother's maiden name was Hayes, which was a plus when we were thinking of boy's names.  She fell and broke her hip right around the time that Hayes was born.  She is doing fabulously in her recovery, but she now has to live in an assisted living facility.  Pretty impressive that she has been on her own up until now - she is 99!  She was so excited to see Hayes!

We ate dinner at Nana and Papa's house.  Hayes's second cousins Parker and Jackson had a blast hunting for the treats and eggs the Easter Bunny left around the backyard while we were eating dinner.  Next year, Hayes will be able to join the fun!  But for this year, he at least got to put his toes in the grass.