Poor Miller

So remember my post about Miller needing to gain weight? Well, I started him on cereal mixed with formula and he really loved it! At least for a while. Then on July 3rd about 5:30pm, he threw up everywhere... Poor buddy! So no big deal, change our clothes and move on. Then in the middle of the night, he threw up again! 

So we called the doctor the next day and luckily (since it was July 4th), our doctor was the one on-call! By that point he had thrown up 3-4 times, so she called in an anti-nasuea medicine for him and told us to hold off on anymore cereal. 

He ended up throwing up a total of 5 times :'( but after a few doses of the nausea medicine, he was able to keep his food down. Come on, little buddy - you're supposed to be GAINING WEIGHT not puking! 

He's all better now, but I still brace myself every time he burps... assuming I'm about to get puked on again.

Being Out of Words & Mommy Guilt

I was listening to a podcast earlier by another blogger who said that she hadn't been blogging as much lately (she has 3 boys - 4, 2, and 6 months) because she uses so many words during the day that she just doesn't have any more words to use on the blog.

This is how I feel!!

Right now, when I have downtime, I either take a nap (sleep when the baby sleeps!!) or do chores. Usually blogging isn't on my mind, except to think about all the stuff I haven't blogged yet. Then the bloggy guilt comes, and this week, I can't handle any more guilt.

Monday we went to the doctor for both boys' check-ups, Jack's 2 year and Miller's 4 month (2 wks late).  [Insert line about "how I still need to take official 2 year old pictures of Jack and write a big 2 year old post" here.] So everything is all good with Jack, except I need to do a better job of brushing his teeth. Whoooops.

We get around to Miller and here's where the bummed out/guilty part comes. Jack has always been on the lower end of the charts for weight, anywhere from 30-40th percentile, and over 75th percentile for height. So when they told me that Miller was only in the 2nd percentile for weight and height, I was SHOCKED!! (This means that 98% of boy babies his age are bigger than he is.)

Prior to our appointment, I had been feeding him every 3 hours and trying to stick with a routine of eat, awake for an hour or so, nap for as long as he will, and then awake until it's time for the next scheduled feeding. He has felt bigger to me, showing growth milestones of alertness, babbling, holding his head up, etc. But the proof is in the pudding, he's just not gaining as much as we want him to.

So here comes the Mommy Guilt, "How did I not notice this sooner?" "If I had brought him in 2 weeks ago on his actual 4 month birthday instead of waiting to do both boys at once, I could have already been working on this!" "Will I have to stop nursing and give him formula to get his weight up?" "Will I have to start feeding him cereal even though I'd like to wait until he's 6 months?" "Is THIS why he cries all the time?"

Sigh.

So to answer some of those questions... The doctor did want me to start him on cereal and so far so good on that front! (Compared to Jack who HATED it for the longest!) He really likes it and it hasn't seemed to upset his stomach. It also hasn't made him sleep any better - so there goes that myth!

The doctor gave me some formula to use if we need to. I've been using it to mix with cereal, but overall I've just been nursing as often as he needs to. Yesterday was our first real day of demand-feeding and he was just so dadgum happy all day long. And took great naps. (Didn't sleep so great at night, but you can't have everything!) It was really good to have positive progress after such a rough Monday.

Also, I don't know what I would've done without Cara at the doctor with me! She came to help wrangle the boys. She held Miller while we did Jack's stuff, then took Jack out to the van while we finished up with baby brother. Then the rest of the day she listened to me moan and groan and whine about how hard it's been lately, and she let me whine - then talked some sense into me. Thank you B.

Oh, and did I mention that she helped me make a cake for Jack's birthday? I made the cake and then she and Jack made the icing!

It's still not easy. I still don't have all the answers. Even the ones I kinda need right now. But God is in control, and I will trust in Him with all my heart, and lean NOT on my own understanding. In all my ways I will acknowledge Him and He will make my path straight! (Prov 3:5-6)

Just help me remember that when life is like this:

Big Giggles from Miller-Man

Miller's Birth Announcement

Ummm... let's just say I'm a liiiiittle late on this. :)

Here's Miller's birth announcement:

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

Vacation to Charleston, SC

A few weeks ago, we headed to Charleston, South Carolina, with Jason's family! Jack's longest car trip and Miller's FIRST car trip!!

Playing with his "special treat"

Happpppy!!

The view from our condo! The 18th green and the beautiful ocean.

On the first night we were there, we went out to the beach to see how Jack liked it!


He was sure, then unsure, then sure - then took off running and fell in the sand. Well, it was the kind of sand that is like GLITTER and will NOT come off easily! Poor buddy. 

Some photos from around the condo:

watching himself playing in the waves

I love this sweet sweet video of Jess and Miller talking. 

Now some beach and pool photos:

Me-wah! (aka what Jack calls Miller)

me and my Seezter

Best picture ever. Jack is finally getting used to the water!

We made it to Patriots Point juuuust before the sky opened up!

Yup. We got rained on. 

Waiting for dinner at Hyman's Seafood.

Another night at dinner at Fleet Landing.

The one awesome souvenir I bought for myself was a "Charleston gate" necklace. Mine had the gate from the blue house on Rainbow Row, so I had to go get a picture of it! 

Here's a close up of the gate:

Walking around the Battery.

My sweet hubby!

One awesome picture I got on the way home... Words can't describe how much I love these boys.

I'm the KIIIING!!

We had a wonderful time - the Millers are a blast to be on vacation with! 

One vacay down, and one to go! WHOO HOO!!!