It has been 3 months to the day since little JP’s grand arrival, and he’s a-changing every day. His baby blue eyes have turned to a handsome hazel and his cheeks seem plumper & droopier than ever, kind of reminiscent of a basset hound! His thighs have become quite meaty too, graduating him into size 2 pampers-that is when his cloth diapers are in the wash. I don’t know what he weighs but I know it is in the 13 + lb range. He has lost his monk-look, shedding that dark ring of hair all.over.the.house. He’s not bald though, as more and longer hair grows in everyday. James loves to purse those perfectly pillowly lips too…pretty cute, man! Marcus & I also seem to notice his ears growing outward, but we think it totally becomes him :)
He is not just getting more adorable by the minute, but happier too! With his reflux mostly under control {which is a miracle, considering he ALWAYS spits it out!} and breastfeeding improving, the gas pains are getting better too. You are allllllll smiles in the morning, complete with coos and yells and shrieks. Little man is still a sensitive guy, and will start at loud noises and prefers to be held by his mama or daddy or other very familiar face..we are discovering you are not much of a pass-around baby..yet! He belly laughs every single time you get the hiccups and anytime his Daddy is around. He belly laughs at me when I sing. I’m not sure what that says about my singing voice.
James is a very literary baby {or so I like to think} and has broadened his experiences with board books beyond Sandra Boyton and on to The Runaway Bunny and Mike Mulligan. I love reading to him and enjoy listening to Marcus’ ‘adaptations’ of the book even more. Tummy time is no match for this 3 month babe and he the way he gets to tilting, I don’t think it will be long before he is rolling onto his back. All the reading and tummy time is nice but James’ favorite pastime is kicking. This kid can kick till the cows come home..I get exhausted just watching him. In fact, when I am feeling energetic, I’ll lay down for some kicking too- a perfect postpartum workout in my opinion. His other favorite pastime would be drooling and blowing bubbles. His abilities in this department are equally messy AND impressive. And completely adorable. And sadly, he is outgrowing his cuddliness, he absolutely prefers to be facing outward when held, or when in a baby-carrier. He has to see everything. We have a very, very observant man on our hands, as he is constantly turning his head, following things/people and watching everything. Recently, he has been staying awake on our walks and just taking it all in.
In my trenchy-trench days, I really thought baby Croft did not like me. But now I know this kid looooves his mama. And it feels good, y’all. Our favorite time is in the morning, when we just pass the time smiling and being in awe of one another. Then going back to sleep until 9 :) But James’ doesn’t just have eyes for me..he is completely bonkers for his daddy. Marcus’ especially likes to rile him up at night when I am trying to get the baby to bed. James will get so punch-drunk giggly and smiley at his father’s antics that I am normally heard threatening "Do I need to separate you two?!” And James’ absolutely favorite place to nap is right in Marcus’ arms, after a tiring fire shift. Marcus will tell him all about his work day, baby listening intently all the while, then they will both drift off for a nap. Then I sneak away and blog….
Our bouncing baby boy has totally overactive arms..when he is not bopping himself in the head, or sucking on them in slobberly delight, he opens and closes them, grasping whatever is closest to him, or just the air. It looks pretty funny! Sometimes those crazy arms will keep him from falling asleep so he normally gets a nice tight swaddle for naps and bedtime. Speaking of sleep..this guy is still a tired little puppy. He takes a nap in between after each eat-play cycle and then normally goes to sleep around 9 or 9:30 for the night, not waking to eat until 2 or 3. He snacks again around 5 or 6 am then snoozes until 8 or 9.
“It gets easier..” There never was a truer statement. I use to have to get James to sleep before I could do any frivolous activity such as eating, drinking, showering, peeing, etc. But now he will sit in his bouncer for longer stretches, or just lay under his playmat happily. That, coupled with his happy attitude, better nursing, my leveling hormones and ability to do things with one hand, makes life so much more enjoyable and do-able. I feel like I am finding my mama-legs more and more everyday. He still is not a fan of the carseat, but gone are the days of crazy screaming when you are strapped in. {which resulted in me reaching back to put your pacifier in multiple times, which resulted in a painful back injury}
February has been a busy month. We watched the Superbowl with Company 8 and stopped in at Auntie Em’s and Uncle Brock’s as well. It has included another lactation consultant visit, another visit to the ENT, and a new set of baby friends at the breastfeeding support group. We got a visit from my older brother’s highschool/college girlfriend..who my family loved and we just loved meeting her and her little family. We celebrated Marcus’ birthday first as a little family then with all the Crofts and Danleys, went for more walks, hung out with my friend Sam’s little baby boy, picked out veggies at the Farmers’ Market and James got a nice little visit with my friend Angela. Me and the baby like to keep busy to try to distract ourselves from Marcus’ schedule and give him plenty of time for naps. We can most often be found at my mom’s {yup, we have sleepovers! James’ likes her big jacuzzi bathtub} or Mindy’s. They kindly feed me and entertain my baby. Oh, baby we are blessed!
And finally, these wouldn’t be accurate chronicles if I didn’t record a little of the ever up-and-down breasfeeding journey. Last time I wrote about it, I had contacted Chesapeake Early Intervention for an evaluation in hopes of receiving some suck training/therapy. Before I heard back from the therapist, James started to refuse to nurse, screaming when I tried. So, God bless my mom, we had another lactation consultant come out {Against my will initially, as I sat crying in the bathroom, dripping milk from a bottle into my screaming son’s mouth- I protested I had had enough of lactation consultants and was sure nobody could help me.} Well, after 3 lactation consultant fails, we finally hit the jackpot. She took one look at his mouth and immediately reported that he still had more tongue tie restriction. The tissue probably grew back after the initial clipping. Anyways, she told us to schedule a re-clipping and meet with a physical therapist for some cranial-sacrum therapy to release tension. {Apparently, tongue ties can be evidence of lots of tension/tightness, restriction in head movement, acid reflux, etc} So, we went back and got the tongue tie clipped. NOT FUN…but as James’ screamed, I remembered to thank God that this was the most of James’ ‘medical’ issues. We have been to the physical therapist twice and will probably go a couple more times. Despite all this, I still was not noticing a difference, as James’ gnawed instead of nursed, and gulped air easily with his non-existent latch. Just when I thought I was going to lose my mind, James’ seems to be sucking like a Hoover vacuum! And this is very recent news, as of about Sunday afternoon. The latch is not perfect, but he is definitely sucking. We are still planning to do a follow up lactation consult as well and maybe the eval. by the occupation therapist, but I am praying this not so fun chapter is almost over for us. I am pretty sure that second tongue clipping {and me showing him how to move his tongue..which he copies} is what really did the trick. Who knows!?
And that’s what is what with my smiley, drooly, happy 3 month bundle of joy!
No comments:
Post a Comment