Dear Reece,
In the several weeks since I have provided an update, you have been through numerous new life experiences: 2 international flights, meeting your grandparents and aunts and uncles, your first Christmas, making the switch from the breast to the bottle, and starting to interact with your environment. You have even learned to take naps and sleep in your crib at night.
One nice thing about you traveling so young is that you really didn't suffer from jet lag. And, as it turned out jet lag worked in our favor when you were up every hour or two adjusting to sleep in your crib rather than in our room. Now that we're two weeks in, you have had one night where you slept 8-5,and a few 7-3 stretches but you typically fuss a couple of times a night and then wake up to eat around 4 am. Now that your dad is back to work the fact that you won't nurse makes my nights a lot longer. I usually pump at 3 am and then wait for you to wake up at 4 am. I don't get back to sleep until 5, and then I am up for the day at 6 am. The things we do for you!
On the up side, you have more awake time during the day (only about an hour at a time, though), and you are very interactive during that time. It takes you about 15 minutes to down a 4 or 5 oz bottle, and then you sit on my lap and talk to me while I burp you. You are pretty smiley the whole hour that you're awake, but I think you reserve the talking for just those 15 minutes after you've eaten. Sometimes, I have to pump during the last 15 minutes before I put you down for a nap, and neither one of us really likes that, but you do enjoy laying on your activity mat and exercising your legs!
You've gone to the doctor twice in the last month, which was no fun for anyone. Going to the doctor is one of those joyous cultural experiences. Everyone expects you to know what to do, but you have no idea what they're trying to communicate. There are about 5 different places that we have to go, and I don't always remember the proper order. It also seems impossible for me to change your diaper there, as the nurse has chased me out of the doctor's office diaper in hand and the only changing table is in the men's bathroom. Strange.
As you are now approaching the 3 month mark, you are a content baby and you no longer cry without reason. In fact, you really only cry when you're overly tired or when you can't get back to sleep. I do feel that I spend an inordinate amount of time putting you to sleep, though. You take four naps a day and then go to bed for the night. Three of those four naps you need to sleep for about an hour and a half, but you don't make it through the first 45 minute cycle, so I usually spend about 30 minutes trying to get your cranky self back to sleep again. By then, it's time for you to eat. This is getting easier, though, and I know that one day you will manage longer naps.
The fact that you are happy and smiling the rest of the day makes it easier to stomach the tough nap times. You even laughed for the first time last week! I couldn't believe it! Of course, you haven't repeated the performance, but we're all watching and waiting impatiently for it.
The last time you nursed really successfully was Christmas day. You nursed all day long without much fuss and with no bottles. Then, you continued nursing at night for the remainder of the trip. I've already mentioned that you only nursed a couple of times on our trip home, and that was pretty much the end. Because we moved you into your room when we got home, you stopped nursing in the middle of the night. By the time I got to you, you were too worked up. Shortly after, I developed thrush, so I stopped trying. It wasn't worth the battle, and I didn't want you to get the infection, either.
I have tried a couple of times in the past week, and you're still not having it. You nursed for five minutes the other day, but then drank a 4 oz bottle. The bottle is clearly your preferred method! You have started to put on weight now, too. At your 2 month appointment, you were 10.5 pounds and 22 inches long. Your cheeks are filling out, as is your belly.
Your sister is still a big helper. She loves to feed you a bottle whenever she can. She'll even change your (wet) diapers. She would change your clothes, too, if I let her. Her favorite job is laying on the floor with you while you're laying on your activity mat. That's your favorite place to be, too! You last about 10 minutes in your little chair, but you could lay on that mat kicking your legs and looking at yourself in the mirror for an hour!
All this to say, that we are all really enjoying you at this stage, Reece. And, I'm sorry for saying you were a fussy baby in your first six weeks. Those are the days that every good parent erases from his/her memory--that's what allows us to keep having babies! And, while you are still pretty needy these days, what with the eating every three hours and such, we think you're pretty cute, too. We can hardly wait to see what comes next for you!
Love,
Mom
In the several weeks since I have provided an update, you have been through numerous new life experiences: 2 international flights, meeting your grandparents and aunts and uncles, your first Christmas, making the switch from the breast to the bottle, and starting to interact with your environment. You have even learned to take naps and sleep in your crib at night.
One nice thing about you traveling so young is that you really didn't suffer from jet lag. And, as it turned out jet lag worked in our favor when you were up every hour or two adjusting to sleep in your crib rather than in our room. Now that we're two weeks in, you have had one night where you slept 8-5,and a few 7-3 stretches but you typically fuss a couple of times a night and then wake up to eat around 4 am. Now that your dad is back to work the fact that you won't nurse makes my nights a lot longer. I usually pump at 3 am and then wait for you to wake up at 4 am. I don't get back to sleep until 5, and then I am up for the day at 6 am. The things we do for you!
On the up side, you have more awake time during the day (only about an hour at a time, though), and you are very interactive during that time. It takes you about 15 minutes to down a 4 or 5 oz bottle, and then you sit on my lap and talk to me while I burp you. You are pretty smiley the whole hour that you're awake, but I think you reserve the talking for just those 15 minutes after you've eaten. Sometimes, I have to pump during the last 15 minutes before I put you down for a nap, and neither one of us really likes that, but you do enjoy laying on your activity mat and exercising your legs!
You've gone to the doctor twice in the last month, which was no fun for anyone. Going to the doctor is one of those joyous cultural experiences. Everyone expects you to know what to do, but you have no idea what they're trying to communicate. There are about 5 different places that we have to go, and I don't always remember the proper order. It also seems impossible for me to change your diaper there, as the nurse has chased me out of the doctor's office diaper in hand and the only changing table is in the men's bathroom. Strange.
As you are now approaching the 3 month mark, you are a content baby and you no longer cry without reason. In fact, you really only cry when you're overly tired or when you can't get back to sleep. I do feel that I spend an inordinate amount of time putting you to sleep, though. You take four naps a day and then go to bed for the night. Three of those four naps you need to sleep for about an hour and a half, but you don't make it through the first 45 minute cycle, so I usually spend about 30 minutes trying to get your cranky self back to sleep again. By then, it's time for you to eat. This is getting easier, though, and I know that one day you will manage longer naps.
The fact that you are happy and smiling the rest of the day makes it easier to stomach the tough nap times. You even laughed for the first time last week! I couldn't believe it! Of course, you haven't repeated the performance, but we're all watching and waiting impatiently for it.
The last time you nursed really successfully was Christmas day. You nursed all day long without much fuss and with no bottles. Then, you continued nursing at night for the remainder of the trip. I've already mentioned that you only nursed a couple of times on our trip home, and that was pretty much the end. Because we moved you into your room when we got home, you stopped nursing in the middle of the night. By the time I got to you, you were too worked up. Shortly after, I developed thrush, so I stopped trying. It wasn't worth the battle, and I didn't want you to get the infection, either.
I have tried a couple of times in the past week, and you're still not having it. You nursed for five minutes the other day, but then drank a 4 oz bottle. The bottle is clearly your preferred method! You have started to put on weight now, too. At your 2 month appointment, you were 10.5 pounds and 22 inches long. Your cheeks are filling out, as is your belly.
Your sister is still a big helper. She loves to feed you a bottle whenever she can. She'll even change your (wet) diapers. She would change your clothes, too, if I let her. Her favorite job is laying on the floor with you while you're laying on your activity mat. That's your favorite place to be, too! You last about 10 minutes in your little chair, but you could lay on that mat kicking your legs and looking at yourself in the mirror for an hour!
Love,
Mom
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