3 Months Old (10/14/11)

Dear Lucas,

     You are THREE months old today

Stats:
Height -unknown since we don't go to the Dr. for another month
Weight -11 lbs

Food:
     I have just gone back to work (1 week ago) which means that I had to let someone else feed you. As tough as this was, there simply was no other option. Luckily, you take to the bottle pretty well which has made this transition a bit less painful (but not much). As of right now, I get to nurse you twice/ day (once before I go to work and once when I get home, right before you go to bed) and then you get three bottles of breastmilk each day. I am fortunate to be good at “making milk” as I usually only have to pump twice while at work in order to provide enough milk for you for the following day (12 oz). After the first 3 days of taking bottles, you seemed to have a really upset tummy which we attributed to taking in too much air. I decided to switch your bottles from Medela to Tommee Tippee and so far you seem quite a bit happier.

Clothes:
     You have definitely grown out of your newborn onesies, so they have been packed away. You are now fully wearing size 0-3 months and I expect you will be in them for a bit longer, but you are no doubt growing quickly. At night I have been putting you in feety pajamas which you seem to really like. As of last night I have started to put you in a grobag (sleeping bag) whenever you sleep which keeps you warm and prevents us from having to use a lose blanket in your crib. And last night it looked like it may have kept you from flipping over on your back when you first resisted being put in your crib for bedtime.

Diapers:
You are in size 1 diapers full time

Milestones:
     You have grown so very much in the past month. It seems that once you turned two months old your features started to really change from a newborn to a baby. You have become so much more alert and aware of your surroundings. It is so much fun to watch you fix your eyes on an object and just watch it. I realized that it was time to get a mobile for your crib and you love it . I can lay you in your crib and you just love laying there watching and "talking" to it. 

      You have found your feet. I was holding you one morning at the kitchen counter and you suddenly started to kick your dad's lunch bag. Once you realized that you could touch it and make it move, you kept doing it with great intensity which was pretty cute. I found a set of toys that attaches to your car seat to try and keep you entertained (because you don't really like your car seat) and you found that you can touch one of the toys with your feet so you love to try and kick it.

      You have now mastered rolling over from your tummy to your back. This is pretty neat except that it can cause problems when putting you down to sleep. When you fight this process you continually push with your feet and flip yourself over which sometimes makes you even more angry. Your dad and I have to keep flipping you over on your tummy otherwise you won't go to sleep.

      Interestingly, you LOVE your changing table. I don't know if it is because your know you will be getting cleaned with a new diaper or if you like that angle to be able to talk to us. Either way, you could be screaming, but once we lay you down to change you, you usually stop crying and start smiling and start talking.

 
Sleeping:
      At first you were taking pretty good naps (2 1hr naps and 1 2-3 hr nap), but suddenly as soon as I went back to work you started cutting back on the length of your naps. In the last week or 2 you have only had 1 or 2 long naps. Not to mention that it has started to get more difficult to get you to go to sleep. There is a book called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child that your aunt Meg recommended to me which I have started reading. It focuses on setting routines (which I have been doing for a while) and getting you to sleep before you are overtired. This is tough especially now that I am back at work. But when we get you down before you reach that point of being overtired, you do go to sleep a bit easier without much, if any crying. In order to do this in the evenings, we start the bedtime routine as soon as i get home. This is tough since I don't get to spend much time with you, but it is worth every penny to get you down early and have you sleep all night. I will bathe, massage, dress you, and feed you. Then if your dad is home in time, he will rock and soothe you and put you down to sleep. This allows both of us to get a little quality time with you.

      I cannot believe you have been in our lives now for 13 weeks. The past few months have flown by. Your dad and I have been so blessed to have you in our lives we just couldn't imagine it any other way. We can't wait to see what the future holds

2 Months (09/14/11)

Lucas,

     You are two months old today

Stats:

Height - 22 inches (25th percentile)

Weight - 9 lbs 9.5 oz (10th percentile)

Head Circumference -14.5

Food:

Nursing exclusively. We have given you a bottle once or twice. As great as it would be for dad to share in the joy of feeding you, I am feeding you all the time and loving every minute of it. I am pumping daily b/c over the next few weeks, we will start to give you bottles every so often as I prepare to return to work. Based on the bottles Dad has given you thus far, it  seems like you will have no problem. You are just a great eater.

Clothes:

It looks like you are starting to grow out of your newborn clothes. I'm sure it will be time to pack them up within the next week or so. You are growing up so quickly

Diapers:

You have been in size 0 newborn diapers, but it looks like it may be about time to move you up to size 1. Over the past week I have had to put you in size 1's at night because the newborn diapers just weren't enough as you started waking up soaking wet every morning. I can't believe you are getting so big so quickly, but it just means that you are a very healthy baby

Milestones:

You are smiling more frequently which always brightens my day. You are becoming a happier baby in the evening which means smiles for dad when he gets home which makes him melt. You are such a strong baby and since you sleep on your tummy you have started scooting quite a bit in the crib. I always find you on the opposite side of the crib/co-sleeper when you wake up in the morning or from a nap. In fact once I put you on your play mat and you were so upset that the added energy helped you to flip over to your back which surprised us both. You are still eating every 3 hrs. Instead of waking you up from your naps, I now let you sleep and simply feed you once you wake-up. This seems to have helped us with the evening as you are now allowing us to put you down earlier in the evenings (between 9-11). I'm guessing you were so tired that you couldn't sleep

You still love to be held. Once you hit 8 lbs, I was finally able to start using the Baby Bjorn. This is great for shopping trips as you still are not a fan of the car seat. I still love the K'Tan as it keeps you close and snuggled against me (I think you really like it too b/c it always relaxes you) but it doesn't truly allow me to be hands free as it does not provide the best head support. I do always hold you in the K'Tan at Mass b/c you are less likely to cry and more easily soothed which always warms my heart (although I know Gran would prefer to be holding you:)

Sleeping:
You are ready for a nap 1 1/2 hrs after waking up from the previous nap. At that moment, you start to whimper and start to bury your head in my chest. All it takes is for me to cradle you and give you a paci and you are usually asleep within minutes. You typically take 2 1 hr naps (8:30,11:30) and a longer 2-3 hr nap later in the afternoon (3:30).

The past two months have flown by. Your dad and I have been so blessed to have you in our lives we just couldn't imagine it any other way. We can't wait to see what the future holds.


Love,


Mom and Dad