Learning Scripture - Hebrews 13:8

My sweet boy learned a new Bible verse!

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. -Hebrews 13:8

Please ignore the other "I'm 2" things he does, like say no to everything. :-p

Baby Miller - Seven Months

Birth: 6lbs 8oz, 19 3/4 in long

1 Month: 8lbs 10oz, 21 in long

2 Months: 10lbs 12oz, 23 in long

3 Months: 11lbs 10oz, 23.75 in long

4 Months: 12lbs 7oz, 25 in long

5 Months: 13lbs 12oz, 25.5 in long

6 Months: 14lbs 14oz, 26 in long

7 Months: _____, ______

 

CLOTHES & DIAPERS

• Miller is in mostly 9 month clothes now! And as it's getting a little cooler, he is able to wear more hand-me-downs from his big brother, since Jack was wearing 9 month clothes in Feb/March. 
• Still giving myself grace about not using cloth right now. I think I'm ready to start doing it, and then I... just don't. Lame excuse? Yes. Truth? Yes. (size 2 disposables)

EATING

• Miller has been on formula for about 3 months now, and I'm still not regretting this decision for our family. He is still on Nutramigen, but I'm going to ask if we can try another kind and see how he does soon. (The big container of our current formula is $36, and makes around 20 bottles, so if we could switch to a cheaper formula, that would be awesome.)
• He's eating about every 3-4 hours, and takes about 5-6 ounces each time which ends up being somewhere between 24-30 ounces a day. 
• As of his 6 mo checkup, we have been adding a couple teaspoons of rice cereal to every bottle. I don't know if it has helped with him "chunkin' up" but he's gotten pretty used to the consistency.
• As for "real food", I am TERRIBLE in this department! I couldn't wait to feed Jack real food, and I have just been very inconsistent with Miller. Now that he's 7.5 months, he is a champ at being spoon fed, and has started picking up puffs too. (They rarely make it into his mouth, but...) He eats anything I feed him, but especially likes bananas and peas. 
• He's still getting Axid twice a day for reflux. I should probably test and determine if he still needs to be on it, but I'm kinda of the camp that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

SLEEPING

• Miller typically goes to bed about 7:30/8pm, sleeps for 3-4 hours, wake to eat, and then typically sleep until 7:30am. We are pretty much down to 1 feeding at night, so I can't complain!! 
• The best thing in the ENTIRE world is this sweet boy's nap schedule. Mornings are kinda all over the place... He'll wake up around 7:30ish and then be ready for a nap around 9:30 or so. If we are home, this one is usually about 1.5 hr. Then BOTH of my boys go down for naps around 1:30/2pm and glory hallelujah - they sleep for 2+ hours!!! 

AND...

• He started officially crawling this month! As of Monday, October 8th, he used hands and knees to move around the living room rug.
• He's doing a lot better sitting up by himself, but still isn't ready to be 100% "unassisted" yet. 
• Miller loves to laugh!! He is a very sweet, happy natured baby.
• He still has no teeth (Jack's 1st tooth was at 7.5 months).
• Jack has been better about actually playing with him. He talks to him a lot "Yook at dis, brudder!" or notices things that Miller is doing "He's playing the music!" (on the exersaucer). I love watching them interact, because every time Jack notices him, Miller lights up. :)

Here's a video of Miller for his seven month mirthday:

And here's a side-by-side of my boys at seven months:

Big Brother Jack at Seven Months

Have you checked out the new page on the boys? 

Look at the side-by-side progression at the bottom!

Baby Miller - Six Months

Birth: 6lbs 8oz, 19 3/4 in long

1 Month: 8lbs 10oz, 21 in long

2 Months: 10lbs 12oz, 23 in long

3 Months: 11lbs 10oz, 23.75 in long

4 Months: 12lbs 7oz, 25 in long

5 Months: 13lbs 12oz, 25.5 in long

6 Months: 14lbs 14oz, 26 in long

Oh, this boy. I am IN LOVE.

CLOTHES & DIAPERS

• Miller is in 6 months or 6-9 month clothes now. Sometimes even 9 month onesies too! 
• Yeah... little miss cloth diapers over here is having a hard time sticking with it right now... :) Giving myself some grace and maybe we'll be full-timing again soon! (size 2 disposables)

EATING

• Miller has been on formula for a little over a month. And can I just say that life is so good? I have not regretted this decision at all. God truly guided me with making the choice and has given me nothing but peace about it. Miller is happy and so we are all happy. 
• He's still eating about every 2-3 hours, and takes about 4.5-5 ounces each time which ends up being somewhere between 24-30 ounces a day. (Nutramigen formula, in case you were wondering.)
• He's still getting Axid twice a day for reflux. We tried about 5 days without it, and I just feel like he still needs it. He was spitting up A LOT and seemed to fuss in the evenings more than normal.

SLEEPING

• Oh, this last month was ROUGH in the sleeping department. I was just looking at last month's and thinking HA! Yeah, I WISH he was sleeping that well now! :) More often than not, he will go to bed about 7:30/8pm, sleep for 3-4 hours, wake to eat, sleep 3-4 more hours, wake to eat, then sleep until 7:30/8am. 2 feedings a night isn't terrible, but it's still really exhausting to get such broken sleep.
• The big change this last month is that we moved him to his crib completely - naps and nighttime. I also have been trying to have him go to sleep at night without his pacifier. Yiiiikes. It's tough, but if he can learn to fall asleep without it, I think he will be a much better sleeper. And so I'LL be a much better sleeper.
• Oh, and we're not swaddling anymore. This kid has had some big changes lately. :)

AND...

• He's rolling over (front to back and back to front) all over our new living room rug (hence, why we got the rug - hardwood ain't good for babies). 
• He's doing a lot better sitting up by himself, but isn't ready to be 100% "unassisted" yet. 
• He LOVES to stand up! I feel like I could almost let him stand by himself easier than sit by himself! (Don't worry, I won't.) 
• His laugh is getting more adorable! Once he gets going though, he always starts squealing like a crazy person.
• He has really been noticing his hands and feet, and his coordination with his hands is getting better. He loooves to put everything in his mouth, and he's drooling a lot, but still no teeth (Jack's 1st tooth was at 7.5 months).
• Also he has been taking your face into both of his hands. It. Is. Precious.

Here's a video of Miller for his six month mirthday:

Here's a side-by-side of my boys at six months:

Big Brother Jack at 6 Months

Have you checked out the new page on the boys? 

Look at the side-by-side progression at the bottom!

Jack's Actual Birthday - 2 years old

I told you in this post that Jack, Cara, and I made a cake for Jack's birthday, but I never posted this video of us singing to him! What a sweetie!

Jack's 2nd Birthday Party!!

Jack celebrated his SECOND BIRTHDAY at the Miller's new pool on August 4th! It was SO MUCH FUN!!! My sweet boy was truly excited about every single person that was there - all 27 of them (including babies)! He never got overwhelmed, he was just happy! 

I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Our big present for him was a play kitchen that my mom's grandfather made for her! She had it as a child, then passed it to me, and now it's Jacks! He is CRAZY about it. His favorite thing to "make" is ice cream. Some pretty gross flavors (onion, tomato, etc), but definitely yummy! :)

I went for a pool party theme and got lots of different kinds of Goldfish. Did you even know that there are multiple kinds of Goldfish? We got smores and pretzels! And of course, original with a blue swimming pool (onion dip). And mom painted a rainbow fish for the table that is now on Jack's shelf at home!

Sweet babies! John Luke and Miller at 5 1/2 months.

Swimming!!!

Mmmm... pizza.

These cousins got tuckered out.

Just kidding - I'm awake!!

Here's a few videos from the day. 

"Jack, how old are you?"

Opening some presents:

Happy Birthday! But we couldn't keep the candle lit!!

It was a wonderful day with our whole family. Great weather, yummy food, and sweet fellowship!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Jack!!!!!

Baby Miller - Five Months

Birth: 6lbs 8oz, 19 3/4 in long

1 Month: 8lbs 10oz, 21 in long

2 Months: 10lbs 12oz, 23 in long

3 Months: 11lbs 10oz, 23.75 in long

4 Months: 12lbs 7oz, 25 in long

5 Months: 13lbs 12oz, 25.5 in long

those blue eyes...

CLOTHES & DIAPERS

• He's in some 3-6mo clothes but mostly 6 months now.
• We took disposables again to the beach, and so he's about 50/50 right now. Okay, 75/25. :) (size 2 disposables)

EATING

• Okay I feel like this all deserves it's own post, but for now, I will just say it here. Miller is 100% on formula now. After a loooong and exhausting 2 weeks of finding out Miller was underweight and then him throwing up a bunch, we made the executive decision to put him exclusively on Nutramigen (dairy and soy free formula).
• He's been doing really well on it, eating about every 2 hours - doctor's orders. He takes about 4 ounces every two hours, which ends up being somewhere between 24-30 ounces a day. 
• He's still getting Axid twice a day for reflux.
• So the fun part of this 100% formula news is that I get to eat whatever I want!! I was dairy free for almost 3 months, and it really wasn't TERRIBLE, just something I had to think about a lot. Well, when we took Miller to the doctor before we started formula, the doctor we went to (and then our doctor too) said that they wanted me to eliminate soy too... This was like 2 days before we went to Destin and it's hard enough to eat allergy free at chain restaurants where their menus are posted online, but to go to non-chain restaurants and try to eat dairy and soy free? I would have been a stress ball. And guess what? I was already losing my mind... so we switched to formula.
• I think I'll write one more bullet point about all of this. It was such an incredibly hard decision for me to make. I cried a LOT about it. I stressed a LOT about it. I had an actual anxiety attack in the midst of it all. Since I started bottle feeding him (I am 99% sure it was an overactive supply issue that was causing him to throw up, not what he was being fed; since I had started feeding him on demand, I think it threw my supply out of whack); anyway, since I started bottle feeding him, I have been so much less stressed. I know he's eating, I know how much he's eating, and I'm able to eat without thinking about it. It has been nice. But still bittersweet. I love nursing. I never anticipated to be done at 5 months. But this is what's best for us, and I'm glad God gave me the strength to make this decision.

SLEEPING

• Miller has been doing pretty good at night! On our vacation, he usually only woke up once around 2am or so, but then the little stinker would be awake for the day at like 6am. Since we've been home, he's slept about 5-6 hour stretches at the beginning of the night and then 3-4hrs after that. Can't complain! (even though I totally do...)
• He still sleeps in the Nap Nanny (swaddled) at night, and either sleeps in the carseat (on the go) or in his crib (at home) for naps. I think keeping him unswaddled during the day and then swaddling him at night, helps him recognize more that it's nighttime. 

AND...

• He's constantly smiling and laughing now! Daddy loves to kiss on his neck and make him laugh like crazy!
• He's been rolling over from his belly to his back, and loving tummy time! He's always moved around somewhere else if I leave the room and come back.

Here's a video of Miller for his five month mirthday:

Here's a side-by-side of my boys at five months:

Big Brother Jack at 5 months

Big Giggles from Miller-Man

Baby Miller - Four Months

Birth: 6lbs 8oz, 19 3/4 in long

1 Month: 8lbs 10oz, 21 in long

2 Months: 10lbs 12oz, 23 in long

3 Months: 11lbs 10oz, 23.75 in long

4 Months: 12lbs 7oz, 25 in long

CLOTHES & DIAPERS

• He's in 3mo or 3-6mo clothes now, and just yesterday I found a TON of Jack's 3 month clothes that I had put "somewhere obvious", and didn't know where they were! Whew! I feel like I went shopping! :)
• We took disposables to the beach for both boys, and I stripped all the cloth ones when I got home, so we're now back in cloth MOST of the time. Still using disposables at night. 

EATING

• He's still a great eater, eating about every 3 hours (just one side each time, now for only 6-7 minutes). Most days I've got him on a predictable schedule for eating: 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 7pm & 8pm then bed. BUT we got majorly off schedule at the beach. Just now getting back to normal around here. 
• He's still getting Axid twice a day for reflux.
• I have been dairy free since 1 month, and egg free for several weeks now. He had some sort of crazed reaction last weekend and I think it was due to a coffee-heavy drink I had that morning. We also noticed that at the beach - I'm not a big coffee person but I had it a few mornings and he tended to be REALLY fussy on those days. No. More. Coffee. 
• His colic is GONE!! Whoop whoop!! 

SLEEPING

• Miller was doing really great at night - until the beach!! With all 4 of us in the same room, every little whimper was heard, and tended to so he wouldn't wake up the whole world. We're just now getting back to 5 hours or so at the beginning, then 3 hours and 3 hours.
• He still sleeps in the Nap Nanny (swaddled) at night, and either sleeps in the carseat (on the go) or in his crib (at home) for naps. I think keeping him unswaddled during the day and then swaddling him at night, helps him recognize more that it's nighttime. 

AND...

• He's been doing the "running man!"  (looks like he's riding an imaginary bike) So funny!
• He's been laughing and smiling a LOT lately! He just gets more and more fun every day!

Here's a video of Miller for his four month mirthday:

Here's a side-by-side of my boys at four months:

Big Brother Jack at 4 months