Ear Infection Strikes Again!

Trent was out of town this weekend, and Aunt Jen stayed with me and Hayes.  His teacher said that he was extra emotional on Friday afternoon, and then he slept really badly on Friday night.  He was up at 10:30 for about an hour and then every two hours after that!  At 5:30, I finally got up and put him in his swing, hoping that we could all get some sleep.  During the night, I didn't put it together, but once I woke up, I decided that we had another ear infection on our hands.  I made an appointment for Hayes and sure enough, his left ear is infected!  The doctor said that he's not quite ready for tubes yet, but he is on track for them if he keeps this up.

He has just not felt good at all yesterday and today.  He has been extra crabby and not eating well.  I guess that he has to suck really hard to nurse and it hurts his little ear.  If I give him ear drops, he does better at eating.  Today, he took several little catnaps and a marthon two and a half hour nap this afternoon.

I'm hoping that he sleeps better tonight!

Here is a sweet picture of him sleeping on his daddy!

Shades

Hayes got some sunglasses for the beach!  I think he likes them; when I put them on him, he didn't even act like there was anything on his face or that it had suddenly gotten darker.

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!