Friday, June 25, 2010

Cereal!

We were given the go ahead at Drake's four month appointment to start cereals, veggies, and fruits. But, I didn't felt the need to rush anything since she said that it's really just for him to practice eating from a spoon, he wasn't hitting the maximum number of ounces a day, and he was sleeping great!

It's been a couple weeks, and his schedule has been varying. When Drake is at daycare, he tends to go 4 hours between feedings because he is napping 2-3 hours at a time, but he hasn't been doing that consistently at home. Because of this, I have had a hard time trying to figure out how much formula to give him! It was usually between 6-7 ounces, but that means that he's eating anywhere from 26-30 ounces a day in formula.

All this to say that we tried cereal last night!

He loved it!!

I think this was the perfect time to start. He didn't spit any of it out and was very interested in it. Now, I need to do some reading on how to progress! Our doctor suggested that we try all of the cereals then move to veggies (orange ones first due to easier digestion) and then fruits so that's probably the route we'll go. I also know you should try one for 3-4 days before switching to something else. I just am not sure when you start going to more than once a day?

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Father's Day

From the moment we found out we were finally expecting Drake, Jason has been the best father!

He attended all of my pre-natal appointments until week 20.

He answered all of my phone calls right away (even in the middle of work meetings) when I was pregnant...just in case I needed something or it was time for Drake's arrival.

He helped pick out everything for our registry, Drake's furniture, and even read all of the weekly update emails from babycenter.com.
The morning of Drake's arrival, when I wasn't sure if we should go to the hospital or not, he suggested we go. I'm so glad he did!

He was amazing support during the labor and delivery (even if that meant that he couldn't talk to me :-)) and was so excited to watch his son enter the world.

He slept on a rock hard "bed" for two nights at the hospital just so he could be with me and Drake.

He gets up to put Drake's paci in or soothe him if he wakes too early in the morning, plays with him, feeds him, changes diapers, and just loves him!


Thank you, Jason, for being an amazing earthly father to our son!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

4 Month Dr. Appointment

Drake was SO good yesterday! He slept 12 hours Sunday night until I got him up at 7am. He went down for a 2 hour nap at 9am, ate at 11am, and went down for a nap at 1pm. Unfortunately, I had to wake him up a little after 2pm to make his doctor's appointment.

We saw the nurse practitioner because we couldn't get in to the doctor, but I really liked her! His stats:

Weight - 12lbs 9.5oz (8th percentile) --- gained 2lbs exactly
Length - 24.25 inches (22nd percentile) - grew 1.75 inches

The NP said he was meeting all the developmental milestones and even saw him roll from his back to belly. And, he rolled from his belly to back for the first time on the exam table!

This was the first time I really had quite a few questions.

Formula/multi-vitamin - Drake has just transitioned to all formula so I wasn't sure if we needed to continue the multi-vitamin. We don't, so that's one less thing we need to remember. I was also curious about using the Sam's Club brand formula. She basically said it's up to us. Yea! We'll probably continue with Similac with the coupons we have and then switch to Sam's Club. It's SO much cheaper!!

Starting cereal/solids
- She said we can start whenever we are ready and definitely once he is consistently taking 32 ounces of formula every day. He's getting between 26 and 30 ounces right now. I'm not quite ready, and I don't think Drake needs it yet, so we'll be waiting a little longer.

Sunscreen
- Since we have a pool, I wanted to check with her on the use of sunscreen (even though we'll be keeping him covered as much as possible). She said that we shouldn't cover him head-to-toe in sunscreen until after 6 months old. And, I thought that the reasoning was interesting...it's mainly because they still can't control their temperature as well so they can overheat with too much sunscreen. She said we could put a little on his legs and arms if we wanted to. We have a hat and rash guard to match his swim trunks so I'm not too worried about the rest of his body. :-)

He had one oral vaccine and three shots again this time. This nurse wasn't quite as fast as the last one, but I was ready with his bottle right after the shots were given so he settled down quickly.
He took a short catnap when he got home and then his normal nightly routine - bath, bottle, and bed. He woke up at 1am to eat, but I think that was because he hadn't gotten his full ounces during the day. He's back at the sitter today so we'll see how he does. I can't wait to get home and snuggle this little guy!!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Bucket List



I saw this on this on Kasey's blog and thought it was pretty neat. It's been one of the things on my "bucket list" to visit all 50 states and this is a great visual!

States left (15): Oregon, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Virginia, Conneticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Hawaii!

I'm really hoping to visit Hawaii next year and hopefully a trip to see friends in Nebraska!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Dedication Day!

Our church doesn't do infant baptism's. Instead, we have a baby dedication where the parents vow to raise their child(ren) in a Christian home and church allowing them to make the decision to follow God once they understand what that means. At our church, it happens to be done quarterly and is a short program following the regular church service. Today was the first one since Drake was born and the day we dedicated him.

They also do something else that I think is pretty cool. We have a letter that tells Drake about his dedication day, and we are supposed to give it to him when he chooses to be baptized! Hopefully it is something that we won't forget about when the times comes. :-)

We were so blessed to have my parents, my sister and her family, Jason's sister and her son, Jason's aunt, and a few friends with us. Afterwards, we grilled out lunch at our house and had cake!
All the families with the children they dedicated!
with our Senior Pastor, Mike Baker

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Four Months!

Dear Drake,

You have had so many amazing changes in the past month!

You have turned into a GREAT sleeper!! It all started on May 4th when you slept 10.5 hours. On May 16th, you slept over 11 hours and on May 20th, you slept 12 hours for the first time. Now, you are consistently sleeping 12 hours each night - 7pm-7am! I love going in your room in the morning to wake you up. You give the biggest smiles and are so excited to see your momma! You're naps aren't consistent yet, but you usually have at least one two hour nap. There have been days when you had 2-2hour naps at Miss Alicia's.

You have also learned to roll over! The first time you were on your belly was the morning of Mother's Day. You were swaddled and in your crib when daddy found you on your belly. On May 13th, you rolled from your back to your belly over your left side. On June 2nd, you rolled from your back to your belly over your right side. You are getting really good at holding your head up while on your belly so I'm sure you'll be rolling from your belly to your back in no time!
You continue to drool like crazy! We often find you with your fist, fingers, or thumb in your mouth if your paci isn't there. You will pull the paci out of your mouth and once in a while, you'll even be able to put it back in your mouth. :-)
You have found your feet!
You get really excited when we head upstairs at night for bath time!! Daddy usually gets you ready including making you laugh by doing raspberries on your belly and then momma gives you your bath.
You love looking in the mirror!
You LOVE to sit up like a big boy! And, unfortunately, you are really liking the TV right now. Hopefully it's just the flashing lights although your momma loves a little TV herself. :-) We're excited for your Aunt Michelle to bring the Bumbo this weekend for you to use.We set up the jumperoo for you to try on Friday (5/28). You weren't too sure about it the first time, but we've tried again and you seem to like it a little better. We have to put a pillow under your feet since you can't reach the ground yet.
You have been at Miss Alicia's a whole month now. You took between 3 and 4 ounces the first two weeks with Alicia, and now you are taking 5 ounces out of a bottle consistently. You just transitioned to all formula today. We moved you to the Level 2 nipple on 5/16, and you are doing great! :-) You've been putting your hand to your bottle, and on Monday, you were actually holding it!
Your daddy and I left you overnight for the first time while we went to Chicago to celebrate our 7th anniversary. I was a little sad leaving you and missed you like crazy, but you were in good hands...Grammy Williams was home with you!

You are still wearing size 1 diapers and 0-3 months clothes. I've washed all your 3-6 month clothes though because I have a feeling we'll be moving into them very quickly. We'll also be moving to size 2 diapers when we run out of these size ones. Thanks to such generous friends, we haven't had to buy diapers yet!

You have another well baby visit coming up next week. I'm not excited about the shots you'll be getting, but I can't wait to see how much you have grown since your appointment at 2 months. I'm guessing you'll be close to 13 pounds.

Drake, you are getting so big so fast! Everyone has always said time flies, but I can't believe how quickly it's going. I truly feel like you were just born. You are such a precious gift to us, and we love you very much!!
Happy 4 month birthday!

Love,
Momma