Obviously, I’ve stopped the weekly Kye updates as changes have been less often I feel it can be summed up once a month in one LONG post! So here goes nothing!
Here are the changes Kye has been going through this past month as he now is FOUR months old:
Sleep Issues
Oh I thought I had it all solved…it turns out when you fix one issue there will always be another one coming up right behind it. He’s still sleeping like an angel through the night and we’ve moved his bedtime up from 9 to 8:30 and plan to eventually, most likely, make it more like 8 but it’s tough to get it all done by then! His naps, however, have gone back to being not-so-great. He’ll sleep perfectly the first half of the nap then not at all the second half. I’m not joking when I say that the child wakes up EXACTLY 45 min (to the actual min) into his nap. It’s such a pain and I get stuck spending the last hour and 15 min of his nap in and out of his room trying to solve the issue.
I’ve been hoping the issue was the swaddle..maybe he’s done with it? But that’s not it. He will not sleep AT ALL without it so I have to continue it at least for now. I swaddle him, he pushes out of it, over and over throughout the second half of the nap. The paci falls out all the time too and that adds to the disaster. I really don’t know how to make his second half more consistent. I’m hoping that maybe it’s partially a teething issue and will work itself out but I’ll keep trying different things and update once I figure out how to make it work!
(we left him with arms out and he did finally fall asleep but then of course it was time to wake him up…doesn’t he look hilarious?)
(One nap was so bad I couldn’t get him to go down at the BEGINNING of his nap! I ended up using the swing and it worked wonderfully…for 45 min at least)
Same Toys, New Games
Kye has always adored his bouncer. As a newborn he just layed and stared. Then he would reach out for the toys and finally was able to bat at them. Now he’s figured out that the middle toy, the owl, can come off and that’s his goal as he plays with it. Of course I took a video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W_ZSeVwodg
Our Songs
As everyone knows I don’t do anything in order to put Kye to sleep. No rocking etc and that includes no song. We do, however, have songs that we sing to him. I sing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” a lot because he loves the little hand motions I do with it. If he’s really fussy I will sing “Lean on Me.” I know that’s a random song but I can actually sing it and that’s what counts! Zach sings “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley all the time and while I hate that song it’s so cute when Zach sings it! Kye just lights up! I think he finds it funny to hear his manly daddy sing so high pitched!
Here’s a video of how much Kye enjoys “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3uYcTscOUc
Thumb
While in his bouncer one day as I was getting ready I heard a funny sucking sound and I looked over and Kye found his thumb! I know it’s kinda bad but I was pretty excited about it! I’d rather him suck on his hands or fingers than that dang paci so I’m hoping maybe he’ll just fall in love with it so we can get rid of Mr. Paci (but I don’t expect that it’ll happen). Isn’t this cuter than a stinkin‘ paci in his mouth?
Eating
We go to the dr. for his 4 month check up next week (yes, they have us almost 1/2 a month off schedule, oh well) and I plan to discuss solid food with them. I truly feel he’s ready for it. All the books I read say that the signs include: eating 8 oz at each feeding (he can down even more sometimes!), sitting with support, shows interest in food when you’re eating, and doesn’t have the sucking reflex anymore. I think he’s ready as he meets all the criteria but I don’t want to do anything without talking to the dr. first.
I have, however, stopped eating while he’s napping (at least for lunch) and have started including him in my meal. He sits in his chair and I eat and talk to him about what I’m eating. He really is very interested in it and I also let him hold a baby spoon during this time. I’ve read that playing with a spoon, while supervised of course, helps them to be able to feed themselves sooner. So why not let him play with it?
(He looks like he wants to share)
(and realizes that’s NOT where the spoon goes!)
Vocalizing
Kye has become even MORE vocal, pretty much making some kind of sound all the time now! I have 3 videos that show this stage he’s going through.
1. Here is Kye reading with me! It’s super cute but can be super annoying too so a lot of the times I just stop reading and let him do it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uPjT62GE4I
2. This is my favorite thing about my child right now! He laughs SO much and is SO ticklish! And it’s so neat because he’s ticklish exactly the same places I am (under neck and under arms but not under feet) and gets giggly like I do. Once you start tickling him he will laugh if you just touch him! It’s really the first thing I can tell we have in common and so I spend a LOT of our time together tickling this child! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPKNCUabAkU
3. This is a not-so-favorite thing he’s started doing. He actually started it the day he turned 4 months old! It’s like he said, “I’m older time to be annoying!” He makes this cute little squeal sound that really is adorable, for like five seconds. Then it gets louder and louder until it becomes piercing! Let’s just say I’ve had several migraines this week thanks to this new phase! He does it virtually non-stop!!! It is the first thing Kye has done that needs correcting, but he’s still too young to understand so I put my finger to his lips and say “shh inside voice” very softly. I’m hoping he’ll figure it out eventually…I can see this boy being a typical loud Parker!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj9MJoQNJB4
Infant Seat
I, so far am pretty proud at how well I did in picking out the items we bought for Kye. I did a lot of research and have enjoyed everything he owns. That is, until it came to his infant seat. I thought they were all the same and got one that had toys and such on it. I totally regret this! It’s bulky, looks uncomfortable, is a pain to get him in and out of, and he doesn’t enjoy it. I started hunting around and learned about the Bumbo seat and how it’s medically proven to help babies back muscles develop so they can sit on their own. I’m all about that! I’ve borrowed Mrs. Charlotte’s for now and have ordered one for myself on Ebay. So far it’s awesome! It’s so lightweight, can go anywhere, easy to put him in and out (aside from his big legs that barely fit already in the leg holes) and he enjoys it MUCH more than the other one! My first seat will be for sale on Ebay if there are any takers haha
Reaching with Meaning
It’s so cute now that Kye can see something he wants and will reach for it…what’s even better is when that something is me! He especially loves to reach for both mine and Zach’s hair as well as for the dogs (especially Levi). I’m starting to show him how to pet “gentle” when it comes to my hair and the dogs (Zach likes playing rough with him though haha). It’s fun to hold a toy out and see how hard he will reach for it until he can get it. I haven’t had him cry and reach out for me yet but I know that day will come soon!
It’s neat to see him with his play mat as he used to not be able to get the toys and now he enjoys picking one to put in his mouth all on his own!
Me
At this point I’m very used to my daily routine. Feed him at 7, play a little in my lap, go on a walk as a family, play some more, nap at 9, I eat breakfast and get things done, feed at 11, play in lap, eat lunch together, nap at 1, I lay out until 1:40ish, do crunches, shower, get things done if he’s not bawling, feed him at 3, play in my lap, watch your baby can read, nap at 5, cook dinner (or eat early dinner), feed at 7, get him ready for bed, bed by 9, have time to myself or with Zach and eat a snack together before bed around 10:30-11. Being used to a routine is great but now I’m at the point where I basically avoid going places during the day! I don’t really run many errands anymore with the baby and I know I need to get back to that at some point. I just hate to have to change things up..is that bad? Zach picks up anything I may need on his way home from work and if we do make plans we always do stuff in the evenings. I know it’s important for Kye to know how to behave in public so my goal is to get back to running more errands and such!
On the postpartum side (which I can’t BELIEVE I’m still having symptoms of this!) I’m losing a TON of hair. It took awhile for this to start up but if I just run my fingers through it a bunch falls out! A pain to clean up but at least I know it’s a normal part of my body going back to normal!
I’m really enjoying my body being pretty much back to how it used to be and I feel a million times better about myself. I didn’t realize how awful I looked until I now look back at it! I feel like I’m ME and that’s a good feeling. Typically now when I look in the mirror I like what I see instead of being super grossed out by myself. I know I still have more to go but I am confident it’ll come off soon and it makes me feel good about having 3 more babies. I know I’ll be able to lose the weight with all of them and not end up being a mom who you can tell just let herself go 🙂
This month I’d like to reach my goal weight, continue with walking and doing crunches, and start scrapbooking! We’ll see how I do!
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Also, buy the bumbo play tray. Someone gave it to me recently and it helps A LOT!! He probably can't now, bu macy arhes her back and can almost get out of it, but with the tray she stays put. She also doesn't lose toys as easy and she drips baby food on the tray which I rinse off easily instead of the entire seat!
Sounds like he is right on track! My little girl wakes after 45 minutes as well and only sometimes goes back to sleep. Arrr!