Jacob - 5 months old

Hello all, it's that time again. I can't believe another month has come and gone and my sweet baby boy is now 5 months old! His unofficial measurements this month were 17 lbs and 25 inches long. His head circ was 43 cm.

As I mentioned in our last update, Jacob started on some solids. So far he has tried rice cereal, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and peas. He has yet to get the hang of eating from a spoon. He usually looks surprised when we try to feed him and about 95% of his food ends up back on his bib.

He's been "talking" like crazy lately and he has learned to blow raspberries so he does that quite frequently.

He celebrated his first Easter and picked up a bug from a girl at church. He spent about two weeks with a cough and a few days with a nasty cold. He is feeling much better now though. Our little trooper was smiling the whole time!!

He also stayed the night away from mom & dad for the first time. He stayed at Grandma Kathy & Grandpa Jim's while we went to a wedding in Detroit. He did very well and slept the whole night for them.

He is very close to being able to roll from his back to his front and he has pretty much mastered rolling front to back. (Tummy time is officially out) We also bought him a little seat so he can practice sitting up. He LOVES to practice sitting and standing. His legs are very strong and with a little help in the beginning he can pull himself up from a sitting to a standing position. He has discovered his feet which are often in his hands now. He has yet to stick them in his mouth though! (I'm not sure with his big belly he could bend that much)

Jacob - 4 months old

Jacob turned 4 months old on April 5th. He went to the Dr on the 8th and he weighed in at 15 lbs 10 oz (putting him in the 60th percentile for weight), 24.5 inches (40th percentile) with a head circumference of 42 cm (40th percentile). He also received his second set of vaccinations at the appointment and did well with those. He goes back to see the doctor when he is 6 months old.

This last month has been busy as far as new developments have gone. Jacob is now reaching for and holding objects (rattles, small toys, burp cloths, etc) He reaches for everything in sight! He also developed object permanence which means he realizes that we have left. This caused him to start waking up again in the middle of the night. Luckily, our pediatrician had warned us this would happen so we were ready for it! We took that opportunity to unswaddle him at night and do a little "sleep training" with him. It took 3 days but he is back to sleeping through the night now -- unswaddled!

But probably the most exciting new development this last month has been laughing. He doesn't do it often but we happened to catch his first time on video! It is adorable. We can't wait until he laughs more often.

Since I am writing late I will tell you a little bit about what we have been doing since he turned 4 months. This will probably be repeated in the next email (sorry!) We have started him on rice cereal. Just tastes for now. He had his first taste on Friday and spit it all back out. We then gave him a bottle of rice milk last night which he spit up the entire bottle. I believe he just drank it too fast though. We will be giving him some sweet potatoes soon as well, I have already made some to freeze. We were given the go ahead to try both rice and oat cereal, as well as fruits and veggies. We plan to take it very slow though. He still will be receiving all of his calories from me, just having tastes here and there to prepare him for meals at about 6 months. We are excited!

Three month update

Jacob turned 3 months old last Thursday, 3/5/09. His unofficial measurements were: 14 lbs 9.6 oz, 24 inches long, and head circ. of 41 cm. He received his first set of vaccinations and did very well with them.

This past month he seems to have learned a lot. Sometimes you can just look at him and SEE him learning, it is amazing. He has been smiling much more now and is on the verge of laughing. He has continued to sleep through the night every night but maybe one or two. We are so blessed with that.

We had a play date with the other girls from work who had babies in December. There were 5 babies in total ranging in age from 6 weeks to 10 weeks, plus 2 two-year olds. It was a scary site to see so many children in our home!

Mom went back to work and Jacob stayed home with Dad for the first time. He is also babysat by his Aunt Melissa on Thursdays. He seems to be adjusting well to both transitions. He also got to meet Grammy & Auntie Sarah for the first time. And did some visiting -- both of Lolo & Mom at work.

He discovered his hands this month, right at 10 weeks old. They have been in his mouth pretty much ever since. Which means pacifiers are all but out now.

But probably the most important thing that happened this past month was that he was baptized on 3/1/09.

Happy Valentine's Day

two month update

Today Jacob Michael is 2 months old!

His unofficial measurements (taken at home vs. the doctors) were 22.5 inches long and 12 lbs 6.4 oz.

Over the last month he has learned many new things -- our two favorites are smiling and sleeping through the night. He has also started sleeping in his crib in his own room instead of in his bassinet next to our bed. The transition went very well! He has attended church for the first time and has had his first play date (with Kaytee and June). He occasionally rolls over from his tummy to his back, but can't seem to do it every time. He has been talking (cooing) a lot more this month and sometimes it even sounds like he is laughing (he isn't!) He has been doing an excellent job at supporting his head as well.

He still is fascinated by looking at the blinds and has also started to be fascinated by the elephant on his mobile. We have often found him staring, smiling, or "talking" to it -- and it is always only the elephant! He also enjoys looking at himself in the mirror (has even started smiling at himself sometimes) and enjoys looking at his picture we have framed as well.

Two Week Checkup

We took Jacob for his 2 week check-up today. He finally got to see his actual pediatrian for the first time. The man is amazing. I am so happy we chose him to be our doctor.

We talked about his sleeping habits, eating habits, etc. Everything is looking and sounding good for him. He has started to spit up a lot but Dr. Wynalda said as long as he is gaining weight he is not concerned about it -- babies will spit up in varying amounts until they are about a year old. We also told him about his eye goop {we had called about that last week because the goop was greenish/yellow and I was afraid he had an eye infection -- turned out to just be blocked tear ducts} This is already starting to clear up though so that is good. Again this is normal until about a year old.

He weighed in at 8 lbs this appointment, which is well over his birth weight. His height was just about 20 inches {19 7/8 inches} so my little man is growing! His head circumference was 35.5cm or 14 inches. They didn't write down what the percentiles were this appointment so I don't know where he falls for that.

He goes back at 2 months. The appointment is scheduled for February 11th currently. He will get shots at that appointment.

Doctor Appointment

Yesterday we took Jacob for his first doctor's appointment. He weighed in at 7lbs 7oz according to the nurse and 7lbs 5oz according to the doctor. I was with the nurse though so I believe the first one. That is only 0.7oz less than his birth weight so he is doing well there. He measured at 19 inches (18.5 at birth) We told them all our concerns about feeding. He chokes a lot when he eats because I am making too much milk. So I stopped breastfeeding. They want me to try breastfeeding again and see a lactation specialist. I have already seen one. We started again last night. It went well at first and then not well over night and is back to going well again today.

So the funniest thing happened at the doctors. She was examining him and took off his diaper. She spread his cheeks apart and he farted right in her face. I seriously could not stop laughing. I felt horrible for laughing but I couldn't stop! I had to turn away. OMG. Hilarious! Luckily for her he didn't do one of his projectile poopings. He does that often.

We also told them about our concerns with his breathing. He sometimes wheezes/grunts. They gave us a few things to watch for. We go back next week for a follow up.

Today Jacob is a week old. I can't even believe it!