Wes- 3 Months

Wes

3 Months Old: November 25, 2012
Length: 24 inches (measured at home)
Weight:  13 pounds, 3 oz.
Head Circumference: 15.5 inches (66%) -thats from your 2 month check up.
Diapers: Size 2
Clothes: 3-6 months and some just 6 months. Totally depends on the brand. Some 3 M stuff is too short.. but most 6 M stuff is too big around your waist. You are still long and lean. You have a few little rolls on your upper thighs.. but your tummy has no rolls because of your length!
Likes:
*ceiling fans.. you love watching it go around.. and you love to "talk" to it.
*your hands..you normally either have your hands in your mouth, your paci, or now you also will suck your bottom lip.
*mommy and daddy- you love to look at us and "talk" to us. You also love for us to coo to you or sing to you.. you give us the BIGGEST smiles
*you still LOVE your bath and massage. I have no doubt it is your favorite time of the day!
*Nursing.. you love to eat.
*Baby Einstein... if you are upset.. turn this on and its like magic. You coo and talk to it and move all around.
*your jumper
New Things: 
*You can roll over both ways, but you tend to do tummy to back more. 
*You enjoy tummy time! Now that you can lift your arms up you like it
*you are talking even more, we have full "cooing" conversations with you.
*Your Jumper: We got it from your cousins (Rich and Bella) a few weeks ago, you love to jump and look and touch the toys.
*You reach for things.. you love to hold your paci but unfortunately can't put it in your mouthDislikes:  
*You fight your naps, once I have you calmed down and relaxed you enjoy it but you fight me to get relaxed a lot of times.. we've been all over the place changing your wake time to defeat this.. but I have come to the conclusion you LOVE night sleep.. and DISLIKE nap sleeps. Oh well! 
*You still HATE when you are in your car seat and the car is not moving.
*You hate when I am about to feed you and set you down to do something.. you start this pitiful cry to let me know I hurt your feelings. (still do this from month 2)
*You do not like loud noises that startle you. This is the most upset you get.. if something happens and you weren't expecting it you get this look.. and then scream and have BIG tears. It just really scares you I guess.
Sleep:  Like I said earlier.. you love nighttime sleep... not so much daytime. You have 3-4 naps a day. I try to do 4 but sometimes you won't ever fall asleep for the last one. Just look around in your crib or swing. One great thing is you are very content being alone in your crib or swing... sometimes it just takes you so long to get yourself to sleep that you get frustrated and over tired.. so when that happens I will rock you. You go to bed at 7pm (bath at 6:30, asleep by 7) and you wake up once, sometimes twice, to eat. You sleep until 7:15 or so. You normally only have one "good nap" (which to Mommy is 2 hours) all the other ones are around 1 hour.. sometimes just 45 minutes. I have tried everything to help you nap longer but you really aren't fussy...so I am over trying! 

Crying: You are pretty content these days. If you are cryings it is almost always because you are over tired... which has gotten much better lately. Luckily you get a lot of good sleep at night so this keeps you happy even with not so good naps. 

Eating: You eat every 3 to 3.5 hours during the day. This month you got a lot more "efficient" with your nursing and only eat for around 15 minutes total, where it used to be 25. You also pull off a lot and "talk" to me or look around. 

Pictures from this month:

Your first Halloween, you were the cutest Moose ever! We didn't do much of a costume because all you did was take a picture with the neighbor kids.. then you went to bed!

You are smiling all the time now.. especially in the morning or after a nap!

Your little personality is starting to show, it is so cute to watch the faces you make and to watch you look around all the time trying to figure things out.

You are FINALLY enjoying tummy time! 

This was the picture we used on the slideshow at your dedication at church.

Right before your dedication. This was a special time because it is letting the church family know you are our son and that we want to be challenged to raise you to know Christ.

You love to hold on to your "lovie" while you nap. I don't give it to you at night because I can't watch you... but it really helps you fall asleep during naps you "rub" its arms or ears. 

November 14 was your sister Lucy's birthday! She sure loves to watch you play, give you kisses, and sniff your diaper. 

Your Aunt Sara gave us Bella's Jumparoo! You are finally figuring out you can move yourself around and are starting to reach out for some of the toys. Although your favorite thing to do is suck on the seat cover! 

We took a trip to Bulverde to see Aunt Laura and Uncle Micah's new house. It is BEAUTIFUL! You did such a great job in the car and you also were a really good baby and slept well in a new place.

Your daddy LOVES mornings when he doesn't have to work and he can snuggle with you. Your eyes are so similar to your daddy's!

For Thanksgiving Grammy, Pa, Rich, Bella, Aunt Sara and Uncle Chad ALL came to stay with us! It was so much fun :) 

Your monthly diaper picture. This month you realized you could take the sticker off and chew on it.

Your first Thanskgiving. You were all smiles! We hosted the Pennywell bunch at our house, and then went to Galveston for Kathy and Rusty's. You did really well since that day was very much off our schedule.

Grammy has bought you MANY santa outfits. You look so cute in them!

You are now "talking" so much more. Certainly when you are eating. You love to stop and tell me several things and then just start eating again. Thankfully, you only do this during day time feedings.. not at night!

You are taking quite a while to fall asleep for your naps.. and I am hoping you get better at this! Here you are deciding to perfect the art of rolling over during your nap the other day!

Wes Patrick,

Your daddy and I can't believe how much you have changed this month. You are so expressive and we can just sit and listen to your little noises for hours. I think all 3 of us love bath time the most. Daddy is home, and we get to watch your face light up as daddy brings you in the bathroom. He undresses you and talks to you about your day and tries to get you to laugh. Mommy gives your bath and lately, we've been singing christmas songs. (I think your favorite is Rudolph) Then, Daddy dries you off, gives you a massage and gets you dressed for bed. I love this time together and I know your daddy does to. We can't wait to spend Christmas with you this year, the Holidays are even more special with you around. You are such a blessing to us and we thank God for allowing us to be your parents and pray that we always go to Him to help us be the best parents we can be. 

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Dear Wes- 2 Months

Wes

2 Months Old: October 25, 2012
Length: 23.5 inches (79%)
Weight: 11 lbs 7 oz (36%)
Head Circumference: 15.5 inches (66%)
Diapers: You are wearing size 1 and can fit in size 2. I usually put you in size 2 at night.
Clothes: 3-6 months. I can no longer fit you in your 0-3 month things. Some of your 3-6 months are a little big. We got you some cute little jeans and they fit but are kind of big.. you are just long and lean so most pants slide right off of you.
Likes:
*being swaddled (this is new.. you used to hate it for the first 10 minutes or so, now when you see me get the blanket out and I start wrapping you.. you get happy!) I use the Miracle Swaddle Blanket and I swear by it.. that thing is amazing and has helped me to get a lot of sleep- woohoo!
*ceiling fans.. you love watching it go around.. and you love to "talk" to it.
*your hands.. you have recently discovered that your fist can go in your mouth.. and you are constantly doing it.
*your paci- you are now taking a NUK paci, sometimes you still prefer the soothie but Grammy is happy you are liking the Nuk because it is better for your teeth (which will come later!)
*mommy and daddy- you love to look at us and "talk" to us.
*your MamaRoo, if you wake up at night I move you from your crib to the Mamaroo and you stay asleep.. you also take a lot of your naps in it still.
*you still LOVE your bath and massage. I have no doubt it is your favorite time of the day!
*Nursing.. you love to eat.
New Things:
*You turn your head in the direction of our voices
*You "talk"to us, mostly in the morning and during/after your bath
*You have discovered your hands and keep putting them in your mouth. I notice you always use your right hand. You also prefer to lay out head to the right.
*You are holding your head up.. you only do it for a minute or two though.. we are working on it!
*Sometimes now when we hold you up you put weight on your legs.
*You are so much more alert, constantly staring at things and taking it all in. This has also caused you to get over stimulated much easier than last month.
*You roll over from your tummy to your back- technically this was after 2 months, you did it today (October 30)
Dislikes:  Well.. you must have been a bit more indecisive in month 1 but now you know what you like and don't like.. you are pretty particular..
*You are particular about your naps.. you really prefer to be at home, and in your swaddle blanket. Sometimes you will nap in the car and when mommy is running errands.. but if you are over tired you let me know you want to be home. This is the #1 reason you get upset.. I guess you just get over stimulated really easily. So we try to stay home a lot and I plan errands during your wake time.
*You still HATE when you are in your car seat and the car is not moving.
*You hate when I am about to feed you and set you down to do something.. you start this pitiful cry to let me know I hurt your feelings.
*We learned today that you hate shots! Whew... after you got them you screamed for a few minutes and turned red.. Daddy was holding you after and you would calm down.. then I guess you would get a   Flashback or something because you would start screaming again. I nursed you and you calmed down and went to sleep.. very thankful for that because that screaming broke my heart.
*You don't like sitting in the same spot for too long... you are good about being on your own but often start fussing and if I move you to a new spot (to look at something new) you are usually content.

Sleep:  You take 4 naps a day.. most of them are about 1-1.5 hours but the last one is usually only 45 minutes. You go down fairly easy for most of your naps except the 4th one.. you always take that one in the mamaroo and I often have to come put your paci back in for you to stay asleep. You sleep 5-6 hours at night (on Monday night you slept 7, that was great!) then after the 6 hour stretch you do a 4 hour stretch. Mommy has learned so much about looking for your "nap cues" to let me know its time to go down. You are normally awake for about an hour when you start to yawn. We try to put you in your crib before you are asleep. If you start to cry we give you 10 minutes and then do the "shh" pat that we learned from the book "The Baby Whisper" you seem to be doing well with that. I love rocking you but I also really want you to be able to put yourself to sleep... I think that is very important!
*We have been having sleep issues since your shots on Thursday--- you are waking every 3.5 hours at night-- not very fun :( I am praying it ends soon and trying to be patient with you but am really missing those 5 and 6 hour stretches of sleep. I am very thankful I am staying home with you though and can nap during the day when you nap.

Crying: Like I said earlier.. you've gotten pretty particular about what you like. You mostly only cry for 2 reasons 1. hungry and 2. over-stimulated. The hungry cry can be solved quickly.. the over tired cry sounds more like a scream and I have to work to calm you down--so we really try to not get to that point! Most days now you are napping so well you don't get over tired, and it's been great! If I am out to long and you get off your schedule then it's obvious by your mood. You really like your schedule and knowing what is coming next.

Eating: You eat every 3 to 3.5 hours during the day and I do a dreamfeed around 9/10pm and then you wake up around 3/4 am for your nightfeed. Sometimes you wake up again at 6.. and sometimes at 7. We are working towards making it 7 all of the time because Mommy likes that a lot more! :)

Pictures from this month:

You now hold your head up and can sit in the front part of your stroller! I think you like it more because you can look around and see more things.

You can now sit in your Bumbo! Not for very long though.. your neck gets tired from holding up that big head! 

Future Aggie

Before your bath on October 29 you kept making noises and holding up your head. Every time we laid you down you would get frustrated, then once we sat you up you would hold up your head and look around. It is like you knew you were doing something new! So precious :)

Morning Smiles.. you smile throughout the day but we get the most smiles out of you right after your morning feed and at night during bath time.

You are starting to show your little personality and we LOVE it. 

After you got your shots on Oct. 25 you had a little reaction. You were fine until about 4 hours after the shots.. you were SCREAMING (not crying) and would not stop. We think you were really achy from the shots. We could not even put a diaper on you because you would get so upset. So we wrapped you in a towel and eventually your extra dose of Tylenol kicked in (pediatrician told us to) and you fell asleep. It broke my heart to see you so upset.. it was a very emotional day.

We finally got some cold weather in Houston! You snuggled in bed with daddy and looked like such a big boy

Grammy came to visit again! She was here a few days before and a few days after a trip to Mexico with Kathy.  

You took your first trip to Holliday this month. We stopped in Burleson at Chad and Sara's on the way there and back to split up the drive. This was you at a pumpkin patch with your cousins. Bella loves to touch your face and look at you. Rich loves to talk to you, talk about you, and look at you.  It melts my heart to see how sweet he is to you. I love watching y'all together and can't wait to make so many memories growing up together.

My two babies. Your sister is getting even more interested in you and really seems to like you ;)

2 months old- growing so fast!

Holding his head up!

In the process of rolling over, from tummy to back.


Wes Patrick,

Your daddy and I can't believe you are 2 months old already. You have changed a lot in the past month.. we are really starting to see your little personality.  You are kind of dramatic when you are ready to eat or sleep.. and I will admit you probably get that from your mommy :) You have changed our lives so much and it is amazing how much time your daddy and I can spend laying in bed staring at you take in all that is around you.  In some ways I want time to slow down.. and in other ways I am ready to see you change and do so many more things. With the Holidays approaching I can't help but think how next year at this time you will be walking around- wow! For now I will cherish being able to hold you in my arms so easily, and watching you give me those HUGE grins as you drift off to sleep.  The toughest moment this month was after your shots.. you were SO upset and screaming for over an hour and daddy and I could not seem to help you to feel better. My heart was broken and I would have done anything to take that pain away from you.  Once you finally calmed down I was so thankful to see you smile again.  It is amazing how much we love you and at the same time how much I feel my love for you has grown since last month. I can't wait to see the changes month 3 brings. We love you so much sweet boy. 

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Wes: 1 Month Old!

Wes

1 Month Old: September 25, 2012

Length: 23 inches

Weight: Last week you were 9.4 lbs, so probably a bit more than that!

Diapers: You can squeeze into our leftover newborns if I know you will be getting changed soon, other then that you are in size 1

Clothes: 0-3 months, you can't fit in any of your newborn stuff because you are too long.  Some of the 3 month stuff is a bit big, mostly because you are so skinny. You are long and lean :)

Likes: riding in the MOVING car (not a fan of stop lights), sitting outside, going on walks, looking at yourself in the mirror, laying on mommy or daddy's chest, eating, your paci,  you LOVE bath time and when Daddy gives you a massage after your bath!

New Things: You are focusing so much more on our faces, you follow an object with your eyes, you suck your thumb occasionally, you are starting to coo a lot, especially when you look in your mirror on your play mat :)

Dislikes: You sometimes get overly stimulated and tired around 7 pm, it is your "witching hour" and mommy really tries to get you to sleep before 7. Sometimes you fight it and then you get so upset because you are so tired. This is the only time you are fussy and it normally is avoidable so we are thankful for that! If you are awake you like to be able to see us, you are fine in your swing or bouncer as long as you can see what we are doing.

Sleep: Wes you are a wonderful sleeper.. I am thankful for this everyday and also know it could go away at any point. (please don't change this!) you nap in 2 and 3 hour stretches during the day. When you are awake I aim for about 50 minutes tops and then get you back to sleep.  You sleep in 3 and 4 hour stretches at night and sometimes even a 5 hour stretch! Since you love a paci so much if you wake up before the 3 hours I try to just give you that and most of the time you fall back asleep.

Crying: other then the "witching hour" we don't hear you cry very much. Of course you give a soft cry to let me know you are hungry or tired.. but as soon as Mommy gives you what you need you are quiet. Every now and then when we are at a stop light in the car you will scream for a minute or two but you calm yourself down.

Eating: You eat every 3 hours during the day and everything 3-5 hours at night, depending on how long you sleep. I didn't have to work really to get you on a schedule, you kind of did it naturally. I think you really like your schedule and that you can predict what is going to happen in your day. I notice if we are out and things change significantly you are more fussy that evening.

Pictures from this month:

You took your first car trip. We went to Burleson for Rich's 3rd Birthday Party.  Rich LOVES you.  He loves to look at you and gets the biggest grin as he says "Thats my little cousin, baby W!" (Rich says "w-les" so we taught him to call you Baby W. He tells you that he is going to teach you to play baseball and ride on the tractor with Pa- boy you are gonna have fun with him!!

We go on a walk after your morning feed, around 8 am.  I was worried how Lucy would do with the jogging stroller but she actually does really well.  Most of the time you stay awake and look around, but some days you take a little nap.

You have a wake time around noon where you really like to play on your play mat. You are in such a good mood you even happily have a few minutes of tummy time. Lucy loves to smell your diaper to see if your clean when you are laying on your play mat.

You LOVE your bath. We take a bath every night around 6:30. Daddy turns on the heater and warms up the bathroom, then you and mommy get in the bathtub. After you are finished Daddy gives you a massage with lotion and puts your PJ's on. You enjoy this process so much and Daddy really enjoys this time with you after work.

You look so cute in your hooded towels. Mommy and Daddy love how happy you are at bath time!

Last Tuesday we started going to a Mommy's group at the hospital. It is a breastfeeding group. You looked SO big compared to some of the other newborns..you are growing SO fast! You weighed 9 lbs 4 oz. We didn't get to go this week because you had a stuffy nose.

Daddy went on a Men's Retreat at the church last weekend. Grammy came and stayed with me and you! Before he left I pumped a bottle so Daddy could feed you, you loved it!

Just about every time you get in your car seat you fall asleep. I am thankful for this and hope it lasts! 

1 month old!

Today when we were on your playmat you kept talking to yourself as you looked in the mirror. It was so cute. I would put my head down in the mirror to and you would smile, it melted my heart.

Wes Patrick,

Your daddy and I cannot believe that you are ONE month old!  In ways.. the past month has gone by so fast.. in other ways it seems long because it is hard to imagine life before you!  We are so amazed at how fast you are changing and growing.  We are so thankful for God for blessing us with such a sweet, happy little boy.  We are so excited to watch you change and grow and cherish each moment. You are one LOVED little boy!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Wes' first 2 weeks

So I am going to do monthly updates for Wes.. but wanted to go ahead and do one for the first 2 weeks. He has changed so much already and I don't want to forget the beginning.

Wes Patrick,

It is so hard to believe that a little over 2 weeks ago you were still in my tummy. Our world has changed so much and your daddy and I can't imagine life without you.  We came home from the hospital on Monday August 27.  

In your car seat on the way home from the hospital... you slept the whole way!

Once we got home you hung out in your bassinet on your pack n play. It's in mommy and daddy's room and it's where you'll sleep your first few weeks.

You are very alert around 9-10 every morning and 6-7 every evening.

You are a smiler!! Every time I am rocking you, you get the biggest grins as you start to fall asleep. We showed the pediatrician this  picture and she couldn't believe you were smiling so big at 4 days old.

For your one week birthday daddy bought cupcakes. Your daddy is so in love with you! 

Taking your first nap in your crib.  You don't sleep in in that great at the moment because you wiggle around (in your swaddle sack) and wake yourself up.

Nicole came over and took your newborn pictures last Tuesday. You were a pro and we had so much fun taking them!

Your sister Lucy is already protective of you. When you cry in your sleep at night she whines at me to go and pick you up.  She loves to smell you.

You LOVE to take a paci.  This is a wubbanub. It is your favorite Mommy loves it because it helps the paci to stay in your mouth. The soothie pacifiers are the only ones you will take.

Your Daddy went back to work on Monday.  He has come home everyday for lunch and can't wait to hold you when he gets home.  I love watching his face light up when he has you.. there is nothing sweeter.  


I can only imagine how much more you will change in the next 2 weeks.  You are growing SO much already and I am already putting you in size 1 diapers at night.  At your 2 week check up you weighed 8 lbs 2 ozs and were 22 inches long.  You are nursing really well but sometimes are a bit fussy afterwards, I have learned I really have to work hard to get some good burps out of you- you are quite the gassy little boy!  You are a GREAT sleeper and sleep in 3 and 4 hour stretches each night-- sometimes you even give mommy a 5 hour stretch which is just heavenly!  You LOVE your bath and we give it to you around 7 pm each night. After that you have a bit of a "witching hour" as mommy feeds you before bed. You normally don't fall asleep until close to 9:30 but once you are asleep you stay asleep so that is good!  We love you so much Wes and can't imagine our world without you.