Long time, no post - April 2, 2010

Alexander was 16 weeks on Wednesday. For all of you that don't think in weeks, that's 4 months. He weighed 10 pounds at his last appointment 2 weeks ago. Sometimes he'll sleep for 4 hours straight. We had family photos taken yesterday. He's getting better at holding up his head. He kicks his legs a lot. He's grasping and grabbing things now. Especially your hair or a piece of fabric. He can track items and people. He will stare right at you and smile the most beautiful smile you have ever seen. He can truly see you now. He's taking it all in. He prefers to sleep on his stomach. He burps better if you place him on your belly or over your shoulder. He eats 120 cc's (4 ounces) of formula every 3-4 hours. He nurses 2-3 times a day as a snack (mostly at night or on the weekends). He eats Nutramigen Lipil - $20 for a 12 oz can! A 12 ounce can lasts for 4 days of eating. Fortunately, our pediatrician has been giving us free samples. We have only had to buy 2 cans on our own thus far. He sleeps in his own room, in his crib. He has the overhead fan on medium, the lamp with a 40 watt bulb and a sound machine on high. His bedtime is between 8 & 9pm and if he's still asleep in the morning, he gets woken up between 6:45 and 7:15 by being picked up, kissed, sang to, changed and the overhead light on and NPR on the radio. Daddy drops him off at Aunt Leisa's in the morning before work (about 8am) and mommy picks him up in the evening after work (about 5pm). He gets 2 baths a week, Wednesdays and Sundays. He doesn't always sleep in the car seat, but can usually soothe himself if he's awake. He likes to hold my right first finger with his hand while I'm driving. He tries to swat at greenie the frog in his car seat. He cluster feeds from 5-8pm almost daily. Sometimes he wakes up at 5:30 in the morning and doesn't go back to sleep until Aunt Leisa's around 9am. He likes to sit and sometimes sleep in his vibrating chair. He goes weeks without apnea issues and then a week ago had 2 apnea episodes (one in the middle of the day at Aunt Leisa's and once at home in the middle of the night) but came out of them completely on his own. He can stand if you hold his hands. He behaves like he'll start walking before he crawls. He likes to be sang to when you're changing his diaper, changing his clothes, getting him into his car seat, or just hanging out with him. I make up nonsensical songs all the time. One of them is about the amount of waste he creates even though he's so small. He laughs when I sing this one, as if he knows what I'm saying. Known songs include, the wheels on the bus, she'll be coming 'round the mountain, the itsy bitsy spider, my favorite things and que sera sera. I've been singing the last one since he was 2 weeks old. This is a goodie to sing to calm him down. Nursing will calm him down instantly. He usually nurses 5 minutes on each side and then eats his entire bottle afterwards. I am weaning us off of nursing now. I was never his sole provider of food. It is now an act of comfort and not nutrition. I will miss it when we no longer have this bonding, but know that we will have other ways to bond. I have been sticking my tongue out at him since he was 2 weeks old to see if he could mimic me. He's quite good at it now and seems to stick out his tongue a lot! Oops. Daddy says we're no longer raising a goat (his premature grunting noises) but rather a reptile (the sticking out of the tongue). Hopefully he'll outgrow this bad habit I have started and continue to perpetuate.