Long Time No Blog!

David's first Father's Day!! John Harrison is about 15 weeks old in this picture.

15 weeks old...thanks Caldwells for my cute shortalls!!

16 weeks old....trying very hard to crawl. "Worm" is his favorite toy.

Almost 17 weeks old!

John Harrison will be four months old on Monday!! Our little boy is growing quickly and is around 16 pounds. He is grasping objects, trying desperately to crawl (and gets very frustrated when he doesn't go anywhere), is showing signs of teething, saying "mmm" sounds ("ma," "mo," "muh," etc.), and without fail, has a 9 or 10 am nap in his daily routine. He mostly wears 3-6 mo. clothes, but can still fit into some 0-3 month clothing (especially pants/shorts). John Harrison loves riding around forward-facing in the Baby Bjorn infant carrier!

John Harrison is at the age where babies mimic sounds you make so David worked with him for a few days to get him to make "mmm" sounds---although he says words that sound like "mom," I don't think there is any way he knows what he is saying or that I am "mom." I tried to get John Harrison to say "d" sounds so he would say "da" in addition to "ma" but so far to no avail.

John Harrison wakes up every day around 8, eats, and then like clockwork after about 2 hours, is in desperate need of a nap. He usually sleeps anywhere from 45 mins to 2 hours during his first nap. Generally, he goes about 3 1/2 hours between feedings and has a "nap--wake up---eat---"play"---nap---wake up---eat---"play", etc." routine during the day. He takes three naps a day and usually, the naps seem to get progressively shorter during the day, but that varies each day. He is usually in bed by 7:30 to 8 each evening. Then comes the age old question that you all may be wondering (and as I am asked frequently): Does your baby sleep through the night yet?? I have to be careful not to let this question (and my response) make me feel like a failure as a mom. The short answer is that John Harrison is still waking up several times each night to eat (about 3 times on average). As I write this post, John Harrison has been asleep for almost 4 hours. When I become frustrated on the number of night feedings, I have to remind myself how far we have come over the past 4 months. If you are interested in hearing more of the sleep (and other) challenges we have overcome over the past 4 months, keep reading. Know that I am not writing to complain or vent, but really to reflect and rejoice on how far we have come!! We have gone from a baby who often required an hour or more of soothing (feeding, rocking, swinging, bouncing, etc.) just to go down for the first time at night (and often 3-5 tries until he would stay asleep for any length of time...and who would wake up crying inconsolably multiple times a night and have a hard time going back to sleep after feedings) to a baby who is now programmed to go to bed at a similar time each night and who usually goes down on the first try and who goes back to sleep easily after each feeding. During the day, we have gone from a baby who wouldn't nap and who would scream each time he was placed on his back in the crib to one who takes 3 pretty good naps each day. That is what I call progress:). I have made some huge dietary changes that I believe have helped considerably. I have cut out all soy and dairy products as well as most gassy foods, spicy foods, and highly acidic foods. I have read quite a bit about how a breastfeeding mother's diet affects her baby. Many "experts" are skeptical that much of a connection exists between foods a mother takes in and tummy problems in her baby. All I can say is that my dietary changes have made a world of difference in my baby. I believe that John Harrison is extremely sensitive to proteins in soy and dairy products and that these proteins can trigger and worsen his reflux and make his tummy hurt. I have been on the modified diet about 5 weeks now. Before, I had cut out dairy products and that made some difference, but the key seemed to be cutting out both soy and dairy products. This week, I ate something without checking the label (a first for me since modifying my diet) and of course, it contained soy flour and soy protein isolate. Each day out from the forbidden soy-containing tortillas has been getting a bit better in terms of John Harrison's fussiness, but this week has been a bit rough due to my oversight. My mom asked me recently, "What do you eat???"---I ask myself that same question every time I look in the fridge!!! This diet isn't easy, and dining out is nearly impossible, but it is so worth it being able to continue to breastfeed and have a baby who is much happier. Well, hopefully more posts to come...sooner rather than later. Happy 4th of July!