7 months [babywise]

7 months [babywise]

I say the same thing every month.
There's no way Rogue is 7 months already??
My baby grew up so much this month.
He's reaching milestones months ahead of Solis.
First he started sitting up.

 We were really enjoying the "just sitting" stage.
But only for like .5 seconds.  (Thanks, kid.)
Because Mr. Over Achiever decided to start crawling a week before his 7 month birthday.
Big sis didn't crawl till 10 1/2 months.

And then he pulled this fast one on us.

Rogue thoroughly enjoys crawling towards cords, the Christmas tree, stairs, and anything he shouldn't be near.  Our kids are so different.  We never baby proofed with Solis b/c she stayed by my side and hardly ever tried to get into anything she shouldn't.  And at 3 years old, she's still stuck to me like glue.  Rogue is going to be our wild child for sure.  And 2 other random things, he started saying da da and had to get his hair cut for the 2nd time!

And now onto the Babywise stuff.....

Eating: Rogue dropped a feeding and now only gets 4 bottles a day (yea!!).  He is a big fan of all veggies (orange and green) and bananas.  We started giving him puffs but he's not quite coordinated to get them to his mouth yet.

Naps: On days when we're home, Rogue takes a 2 hour morning nap, 2 hour afternoon nap, and a 30 minute catnap around dinner.  I never, ever skip one of the first 2 naps.  The first one is usually short b/c we're out doing something but he just sleeps longer in the afternoon.  If there's one thing I firmly believe from Babywise, it's sleep begets sleep.

Night Sleep: He's hitting the sack around 8:20, after his last bottle.  And once again, this kid is amazing and sleeps till 8 in the morning.  He did have one night this month when he woke up 3 times.  But he was just talking, no crying.  I went in the first time and he just started laughing at me.  It was pretty funny until he did it 2 more times that night.  What a stinker. 

Schedule: If you know anything about Babywise, you know how exciting it is when your baby goes to the 4 hour schedule!

8am 6oz, solids

9:45-12 nap #1

noon 6oz, solids

1:45-3:45 nap #2

4pm 6oz

5:30-6:15 nap #3

6:30 solids

8pm 6oz then bed

Solis: She loves her brother so much.  She loves helping him, playing with him, entertaining him.  But now that Rogue is on the move, she can be possessive of her things.  One day I suggested that if she doesn't like it, give him a toy that he can play with.  She now dumps out ALL of Rogue's toys anytime he's up and is getting used to the idea of sharing her things.  Maybe not all her things but baby steps.  She loves calling him buddy and he literally sparkles when she talks to him.

Happy 7 months, Rogue!  You may be wild and active but you are ever so sweet and smile constantly.  You get so excited and bounce up and down on your hands and toes when you see us.  You are such a happy baby and that makes me one happy mommy :)

6 months [babywise]

6 months [babywise]

I can't believe I'm even writing this post.  

My baby boy celebrated his half birthday.

That happened so quick and now that his reflux is better, I want time to s-l-o-w down.  

Rogue is so happy, so easy, and so stink'in loveable.
He hardly cries (which makes loving him even easier, if that's possible).
Our 3 year old cries more than him.

We jokingly call him fat boy b/c he's 18 lbs now....a weight Solis didn't hit till well after a year.

Eating: He gets a bottle 5x a day.  Still on prevacid and I'm happy to report that his spitting up has slowed down.  We started solids this month.  I've made him butternut squash, sweet potatoes, bananas, and pears and he has loved them all.  Tried avocado-not a fan.  I don't have a set schedule when I feed him....basically it's whenever we're home and have time.  I try to do it twice a day.  At this age, it's more for practice than nutrition.  I always reference {this} site when making his food.

 Waketime: Rogue is moving so much now.  He never wants to play on his back.  Always flips over and rocks back and forth on his knees.  But he gets so frustrated when he only goes backwards so we are all hoping he learns to crawl soon.

He LOVES his jumparoo.  Solis never jumped in it.  But he goes nuts in it!  And Rogue loves our walks and sits so contently in the stroller.  Such an easy baby.

 Naps: Rogue FINALLY dropped his 4th nap.  He takes 3 naps a day everyday without fail.  Talks for a few minutes and then falls asleep on his own.  He loves to sleep on his belly and hates to sleep anywhere but his crib.

Night Sleep: Still a champ.  Didn't wake up once this past month.  We put him down around 8:20-8:30 and he'll sleep all the way till morning.  Occasionally, I'll hear him talking in the early morning but he always puts himself back to sleep.

Schedule: Everyday is slightly different based on our day's activities but here is a rough schedule.

8:15am wake him, 6oz

9:45 nap #1

noon 6oz

1:30pm nap #2

3:15 6 oz

4:45 nap #3

6:15 5 oz

8:00 5 oz

Solis: Everyday she is encouraging him to crawl.  She's on the ground motivating him with a toy.  And when he goes backwards, she'll grab his arms and yank him forward to a face plant.

And no one can make him laugh more than Solis.  Shaun and I do silly things to try and get laughter and she'll just walk by and he laughs uncontrollably.  They have the cutest relationship (right now ;))

 And look at those teeth!  His 2nd tooth popped up and I just can't get enough.

 We all love you, Roguey!  So so much.  You have brought an insane amount of joy and love into our lives.  Happy half birthday, sweet one.

5 months [babywise]

5 months [babywise]

Rogue turned 5 months on October 9.  The beginning of September wasn't easy.  Reflux reared its ugly head.  But we were expecting this b/c reflux tends to peak at 4 months and we've been through it with Solis.  We *think* he is over the hump.  He still spits up insane amounts but the screaming in pain has stopped!

 This past month, Rogue picked up the skill of scooting backwards.  He's lifting his body up (like a baby push up) and is getting stronger everyday.  He is hitting milestones way quicker than Solis.  And he got his first tooth!

Eating: 5x a day like clockwork.  Eats well, spits up like crazy afterwards.  He's still on Prevacid 2x a day.  Going to start solids next month.  Rogue weighs around 16 1/2 pounds now.

Waketime: Same as last month.  Around 90 minutes.  Playing on the floor is his favorite activity.  He is so stink'in busy, flipping on his belly and getting to work scooting places.  The only downside is that he spits up everywhere.  All over our hardwood (easy cleanup) and carpet (pain in the butt).

Naps: Same as last month, 4 naps a day.  He takes them all in his crib and he'll fall asleep on his own within 5 minutes.  So easy!  He is really close to dropping the last nap.  Some nights he can hang, other nights he is beyond fussy and needs that last catnap.  Last month, Rogue was rolling in his sleep and it kept waking him up.  So my husband put 2 pool noodles underneath his crib sheet to form a wedge.  It was a great temporary fix until he learned to sleep contently on his tummy.

Night Sleep: Sleeps solid from 9-8!  He was a rockstar this past month, never woke once during the night.

Schedule: This is what it looks like on Solis's preschool days.

8am wake him, 6oz

9:30 nap #1

11:00 wake him, pick Solis up from school

11:30 6oz

12:45 nap #2

3:00/3:15 6 oz

4:45 nap #3

6:15 5 oz

7:45 super short catnap

8:30 5 oz

 Solis: She cannot get enough of Rogue.  When he fusses (she says he's being cranky), she'll run to him and tell him "It's ok, Rogue, it's ok!" and give him a toy.  When he's rolling over, she's his biggest cheerleader, "He did it, mommy, he did it!"  And she gets a big kick out of making him laugh.  He certainly doesn't hurt her ego.

My people.  Love them so much.

Since turning 5 months, Rogue's reflux is so much better and he's getting more mobile each day.  He is my sunshine on stressful days and melts me with every smile.  I feel so blessed to call him mine!

thirty4

thirty4

Friday was my birthday.  In my 20's, I would celebrate my birthday all month long with celebrations.  But ever since having kids, I think less of myself and just want to spend the day with my family.  And my sweet hubs made sure of that.  It was the perfect day filled with so much love.

I woke up at 6:45 like any other day and went to take a shower.  But these were waiting for me in the shower with a note telling me I should get dressed for a run b/c Shaun took off for the day!  He totally surprised me.

 

When I got back, Solis was waking up and gave me a present (a Fitbit band!) and this adorable donut card.  She decorated it with sprinkles and colored the inside.

 Then of course we had our favorite homemade donuts from the farmer's market!

 After breakfast we packed the kids up and headed to a local pumpkin patch.

My picture perfect kids.  Seriously, could they look any more miserable?

For lunch I downed a homemade chocolate peanut butter whoopie pie from the orchard.  I forgot to take a picture....it was consumed that fast.  After naps (by 3 of us), I got ready for another surprise.  Dinner out ALONE with Shaun!  He got my parents to babysit and off we went to a BYOB hibachi/sushi restaurant.  Any parent of small kids knows what a treat that was.

To finish off the night, he surprised me again with my favorite cake.  An oreo, midnight truffle blizzard ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.  I pretty much ate my allotted amount of calories for the week in just one day but that's what birthdays are for!

 Last year on my birthday, I was 12 weeks pregnant and had a blood clot in my uterus that kept growing.  We thought we might lose the baby and I wasn't allowed to run or doing anything strenuous.  I was so miserable with the thought of losing my baby but God saved that little one and now he's in my arms for this birthday.  I couldn't feel more blessed and happy and I owe it all to our Heavenly Father.  So thankful for 34 healthy years.  Cheers to many more!

my glamorous life

my glamorous life

In the past week, I've had two mom friends tell me that I always seem to have it together. (insert laughter)  Although I do enjoy a good compliment, that couldn't be further from the truth.  So here's a glimpse inside a recent day with Solis and Rogue. 

6:45am Alarm goes off and I hop in the shower.

7:39am "Mommy I'm awake!  Mommyyyyyyy!" (she's usually an 8am riser but not today.)

7:45am Go into Solis's room to discover she has peed through her diaper.  So much pee that there's a big wet spot on her bed.  Awesome.  B/c there's nothing I like more than changing sheets.  Sidenote-Solis has been potty trained since 25 months but we are letting nature take its course for night training.

7:55am It's a preschool morning so I wake Rogue up and change him.

8:05am I give Rogue a bottle in my bed while Solis brings her entire library collection up on my bed to read to him.

8:07am First burp out of Rogue and he misses the burp cloth.  (Why I even bother with one of those, I don't know.)  He spits up on my sheets and I'm thinking, great, I just changed my sheets yesterday so maybe I won't mind sleeping on dry spit up....don't judge ;)

8:11am Another burp, no spit up!  I go to turn him back towards to the bottle and YUP here it comes....spit up all over me.  

8:15am I change my clothes (somehow Rogue is clean, well played my boy) and we head downstairs for breakfast.

8:20am Solis has a scrambled egg and strawberries for breakfast.  She sneezes.  While chewing her egg.  Egg bits all over the floor and counter.  Luckily I call Naysa our dog over to clean the ones off the floor. (don't worry, I didn't leave Rogue alone on the countertop while in the bumbo....the pink bumbo.)

8:30am Back upstairs to change Solis for school and try to do something with her crazy hair.

8:43am Start to pack the kids in the car for preschool.  Rogue spits up for the 3rd time on the playroom floor.  I'm cleaning it up and Solis is screaming she has to pee.  Of course she does.

8:50am Finally pull out of the driveway and get Solis to school on time (thank goodness we live 4 minutes away).  And I am one of those moms in yoga pants and a tee shirt.  B/c when your baby spits up on you multiple times a day, why put on nice clothes?  Those are saved for very special trips to Target, by myself. 

9:25am Back at home, I start to put Rogue down for his nap.  One last burp before putting him down and yes, he spits up all over his floor, thank goodness for hardwood.  And if you're counting that's 4 times from just 1 feeding.

9:30-11am I get to put my feet up and relax!  Ha I dream.  Instead I'm doing laundry, changing Solis's sheets from the pee episode, cutting up veggies and meat for dinner, washing dishes, swiffering the floor (which must happen often b/c of his spit ups), and woofing down some egg whites and yogurt while working.  

11am Wake Rogue up and put him in the car to pick Solis up.

11:15am After picking Solis up, I drive to the park so she can play and I feed Rogue bottle #2.

11:22am Literally as soon as I sit down on a bench, Solis goes down a slide and lands herself in a big wet puddle on the bottom on the slide.  (drama ensues from wet leggings and mega pretend crying.)  I convince her to run in the sunshine to dry them off but she's not buying it.

Someone looks thrilled to have wet pants.  And really, I can't blame her.

11:35am Solis starts screaming she has to pee.  Seriously?  Not a bathroom in sight, not that I would use one of those port-a-pottys anyways.  Since I can't have her pee her pants, I tell her to squat behind a bush.  And wouldn't you know a big wind gust goes by as soon as she drops them?  Her pee goes everywhere, including inside her shoes and me.  She is now soaked from the slide and her pee so I strip her.

11:40am Solis is only wearing a shirt and waddles her way to the car.  I'm hoping no one I know drives by.  Meanwhile, I'm holding Rogue who misses the grass with his spit up and lands on my arm.  More awesomeness. 

"Mommy, take a picture of my nakedy butt for daddy!"....as if that's something to be proud of, Solis.

12:00pm I put Solis in front of Dora for lunch.  I don't do that often but on days like this, it's absolutely necessary.

12:35pm Get both kids naked b/c I just now realized how gross their clothes are.  They have to some play time before naps.  Rogue continues to spit up (always happens on his belly) and our carpet is officially saturated with spit up in 50 different spots.

1pm Put Rogue down for his nap (more spit ups but I'm getting tired of counting them all) and Solis goes down shortly after him.

1:30pm Do I really have a minute to myself?  I do, so I take a catnap before doing more housework.  As I lay down to close my eyes, I feel a crusty spot in my hair.  Niiiice, dried spit up!

3pm I wake Rogue up and give him bottle #3.  Within minutes of sitting down to feed him, Solis starts screaming that she's up.  She normally stays quiet till 4 but not today.  Of course not today.

3:30pm Solis is downstairs playing for not even 7 minutes and she has a mess everywhere.

 And, yes, she put all that stuff away later that night.  Only took 45 minutes.

3:45pm Daddy comes home from work (yea for teacher's schedules!) and I literally run out of the door for my run. 

So that's my day with the kids.  It's only 9 hours long but on days like this, it feels much longer.  Thankfully, these type of messy days don't happen that often.  Well except for Rogue's spit ups, that's everyday.  My life is perfectly summed up with this phrase from MOPS last year: a beautiful mess!  Love these 2 kiddos :)

4 months [babywise]

4 months [babywise]

 

Another month has quickly flown by and our sweet little Rogue is 4 months!  He turned 4 months on the 9th and once again, time has gotten the better of me and I'm just now posting his update.  This past month has been relatively easy.  He ate well.  He slept great.  He happily played.  At his 4 month check up, he weighed in at 15.13 lbs & 25.75 inches long and took his shots like a champ.

 I love this little ball of sunshine so much.  His giggles light up my world.  His smile melts my heart.  His hair...that hair still makes me laugh.  I get this question several times a week-do you do anything to get it to stick up like that?  Answer is no!

Rogue picked up some super fab skills this past month....grabbing at objects, rolling over both ways, and finding his feet.  He continues to laugh at all of us and loves to stand (with help of course.)

 If Rogue didn't have reflux, he'd be the easiest baby.  He hardly cries and when he does, I know it's a reflux cry b/c he needs to burp to get some junk out.  However, Rogue does cry for babysitters.  Other people just don't know how to deal with a reflux baby like we do.  I feel like I burp him for an hour straight after eating.  It takes a lot of work and you have to know your baby to pick up on those cues.  It's not easy to take a reflux baby out in public b/c he'll spit up everywhere.  I'm not kidding, if we're at a restaurant, Shaun will take Rogue outside to burp him (several times).  I'll be so happy once this spit up/reflux issue is resolved.  Trying to stay positive b/c I know reflux is something he'll outgrow and there are a million other worse things to happen to your baby.  (But watching my friends peacefully nurse with ZERO spit ups doesn't help! :))

Ok...enough of my reflux rant....here's his 4 month summary:

Eating: He eats 5x a day like clockwork.  He is on spit up formula (you can read about the switch HERE).  He takes in 5-6oz a feeding.  After he eats, we work on getting his endless burps and spit ups out.  I wash 5-10 burp cloths, blankets, onesies, and my clothes a day.  He's on prevacid and we are praying that the doctors are right when they say 4 months is usually the peak of reflux.  Rogue is gaining weight really well despite half of it coming out of him!

Waketime: At 4 months, Rogue's waketime lengths are around 90 minutes.  We feel like he made the jump from 60 to 90 minutes just like that.  It's really fun to have him awake longer.  It's so nice to have more time to do things and he's way more flexible now than when he was an infant.  Around 12 weeks, he started being super vocal and cooing a ton.  At 3.5 months, he started rolling from back to belly.  (Uuumm Solis didn't do that till 5 months!)  His waketimes this month were so happy and he loved his play mat, exosaucer, and watching Solis's killer dance moves :)  

Naps: After putting in a lot of work the first 3 months, naps are easy peasy now.  He takes 4 naps a day and I put him down wide awake.  He falls asleep within 5 minutes with no crying.  His first 2 naps are around 2 hours, the 3rd nap is around 1.5 hours, and then one short catnap.

*Update* Once he started rolling from back to belly, Rogue wakes up crying.  Before if he woke early from a nap, he would just lay awake in his crib till I got him.  Now he screams b/c he's on his belly.  He used to roll from belly to back and it's like he forgot how to do it all of a sudden.  Hopefully he'll remember how to do it again and get over this phase!

Dreamfeed: I was super nervous to drop it b/c it meant Rogue going from 6 to 5 feedings a day.  Would he be able to sleep 11 hours instead of 9?  Before starting, I used the advice from this post (dropping the dreamfeed).  We made sure Rogue was consistently waking at our DWT (designated wake time) of 8am for a few weeks before even dropping it.  I know some moms will nurse just one side (or give less in a bottle) and slowly wean their baby off the dreamfeed but we did it cold turkey.  And just like that, Rogue went from going to bed at 11 after the dreamfeed to 9pm without any trouble.

Night Sleep: Since dropping the dreamfeed at 3 months, Rogue sleeps 9-8!  And he wakes up EVERY morning happy.  The only time he woke in the middle of the night this month was when he rolled onto his belly and cried for help.  We flipped him a few times that night but hasn't done it during night sleep since.

Schedule: At 4 months, Rogue's schedule looks like this:
8am-6oz bottle
9:30-put down for morning nap
11:30-6oz bottle
1pm-put down for afternoon nap (Solis's nap too)
3:00-6oz bottle
4:30-put down for late afternoon nap
6:00-5oz bottle
7:30-one last catnap
8:30-5oz bottle
9:00-down for the night

I hope in the next month Rogue can drop that last catnap and drink his last bottle at 8.  We tried doing that a few nights but he was way too fussy to stay up for 2 hours so it's obviously not time to drop the 4th nap yet.

Solis: Solis is still loving on her Roguey!  She is always wanting to help feed him, bathe him, see his poopy diapers, read him books, and tell him everything there is to know under the sun.  Now that he is starting to play with toys, she is always showing him a new one and trying to get him to hold it.  And likewise, Rogue is seriously smitten with her.  I love that he can be entertained by her antics.  Even when she picks her nose and dresses him up like a girl ;)

Happy 4 months, Rogue!  We love you to pieces baby boy!