Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Nolan's Four Month Update



We're a little behind in our monthly update, but 4 months has come and gone and Nolan continues to do so many new, exciting things and grows so much everyday!  His personality has really developed in the last month and he's quite the happy, giggly character!  He is almost always smiling and is very easy to crack a smile, even with strangers.  We know lots of tricks and goofy things to make him giggle and even get belly laughs from him, and it is possibly the best sound I have ever heard!  I love his little giggle and knowing that whatever crazy thing I am doing is making him smile is the best feeling in the world.

Nolan is healthy and happy; his 4-month well check went well and Dr. Reddy said everything looks great with our guy!  His head is still quite flat, mostly on the right side, so we are waiting it out for one more month to see if more tummy time will round it out a little more.  If it's still a concern in a month, we'll get referred to a specialist and see what they have to say.  We need to get him on his tummy a lot more and thus far, we're doing so successfully... for Nolan's terms.  He will spend up to ten-fifteen minutes on his belly with his head completely lifted, but we have to keep him totally distracted otherwise he will whine to flip over.  We're working on rolling, both belly to back and vice versa.  He can do belly to back by himself sometimes when he really wants off his tummy, as long as he isn't too upset.  Once he gets too frustrated, he gives up, face plants and cries (so sad).  I think if he really concentrated enough he could do it, because we barely nudge him for help and he can do it alone.... He's just lazy (or should I say, smart!  He knows we will help him).  Nolan has definitely started teething, with drool everywhere and everything he can get his hands on goes into his mouth.  He never seems to be in too much pain (yet) with it, so we'll just continue to shovel toys, cool freezer teethers, fingers and mommy's shirts in his mouth to keep him happy!

Here is what else our big 4-month old is up to:

Height, Weight, and Sizes: 
Nolan has gained even more weight this month, although he is slowing down a bit in chunking up (all completely normal).  At his 4 month well check (at 17 weeks, 6 days), he weighed in at 15 pounds, 5 ounces (54th percentile), is 25 inches long (50th percentile), and still has a GIANT head measuring 16 3/4 inches in circumference (81st percentile).  I'm so happy that he has chunked up in his percentiles, since he started out from birth having a hard time gaining weight, going from the 30th percentile when he was one month to the 50th percentile now!  He fits mostly in 6 month clothing (chunk!) and is continually moving up in sizes.  One week a pair of pajamas will fit and the next week, they won't!  Most of his onesies are 6 months, while pants, shorts and PJs are 6-9 months.  He can finally fit into the two-piece snug fit cotton PJs, and when he wears these, I wonder where my baby has gone!  He looks like such a big boy in them.  He is currently blowing out of his diapers almost every morning, which means we get to switch to the next size up: size 3!  

Feeding:
Nolan continues to feed on a 3.5 hour schedule, with the hopes of switching to a 4 hour schedule in the next few weeks (no rush, if it doesn't work).  He is following the same schedule as what we started last month: starting his morning at 6:30AM, with feedings following at 10AM, 1:30PM, 5PM, 7:30PM-8:00PM and a dream feed (top off) at 10:30PM, drinking about 5-6 ounces every time.  This schedule is working out well, but he has not been finishing his bottles through a complete feed (he will drink 3 ounces, take a break for 15-20 minutes, and then finish the rest) which tells me he is ready to try stretching his feedings a little bit longer.  On that note, we will also be starting on solids in the next few weeks now that we've had our 4 month well check and got the go-ahead from Dr. Reddy!  Nolan has been watching us, wide eyed and super curious, while we eat the last couple weeks.  He has started grabbing for our drinks and food while we hold him or he's sitting at the table with us, so I think he will be ready for it when we start!  We will start with rice cereal for a few weeks and if he is ready, move on from there.  Big changes are coming for the little man... hopefully he will like them all!   

Sleeping:
We've pretty much maintained our 3.5 hour E.A.S.Y. schedule and Nolan seems to enjoy taking 2 hour naps both in the later morning and afternoon.  He has improved with his "fussy hour" in the evening, and we've switched it up a little differently from last month to help him out.  His last nap is from 3PM-5PM, with a feeding at 5PM and then some activity time while I get dinner together.  He will join us at the dinner table in his high chair while we eat (which he loves to chat and watch us), and usually we start our bath and bedtime routine around 7:00PM.  He gets a bath first, PJs on, then a bottle around 7:30PM-8:00PM, we read some books and off to sleep he goes!  He's really tired by this point, so once we switch to our 4-hour schedule, he will be going down a littler earlier which I think he will like.  

He is still sleeping through the night with no sleep regression so far (fingers crossed we don't experience that at all)!  He takes all of his naps in his crib, and we move him when we dream feed him at 10:30PM into our room to the Pack N' Play.  This is mommy being a worry wart and wanting my baby to stay close!  I really need to work on getting him to sleep in his room all the time... this is something I need to work on and improve for me rather than for Nolan!  

A new thing Nolan has learned to do this month is move around in his crib/Pack N' Play!  He can scoot 180 degrees, so most times I put him down in one direction and he wakes up in the complete opposite direction!  He sleeps mostly on his side now that he can roll onto it.  Initially, he would roll to his side and couldn't stay, would get frustrated and cry out for us to turn him again.  Now he is pretty solid when he sleeps and can manage to stay completely on his side the whole time or scoot around to different positions until he's comfortable.  He is really good at taking his pacifier out of his mouth and just okay at putting it back in.  Sometimes we still need to run in and put it back in for him if he's really fussing during nap time.  At night, he never cries out for it, so I'll cross my fingers he sticks with that routine!  Because he was moving around so much in his crib, I decided to rid of his blankets to swaddle and try out some new ones (the swaddle blankets with no sleeves that zip up, like a pouch) and he really likes those!  We stocked up when some muslin Aden & Anais blankets at Babie's R Us and some Halo Sleep Sacks at JCPenney went on sale, so we should be good with those for a while... or until he outgrows them!





Firsts & Milestones:
-Sitting up unassisted
-Celebrated his first Easter!
-Teething (full on hands in mouth, chomping on everything or anything he can)
-Open mouth kisses (cutest thing ever!)
-Recognizing his name, turning towards you when you say it
-Grabbing his feet and eating his toes
-Moving/Scooting in his crib and Pack N' Play
-Clutching on while being held
-Developed his "angry" cry
-Celebrated first Mother's Day with Mommy
-Grabs faces and pulls you in close
-Grabbing hair with a crazy grip (and doesn't let go!)
-Takes pacifier out of mouth and sometimes can put back in
-Rolling from both back to belly and vice versa with the help of Mom and Dad

Likes:
-Singing "Nolan's Song" (made this song up... "There was a Nolan who had a puppy and Harley was his name-o.. to the tune of BINGO)
-Sophie the Giraffe (new favorite, we take her everywhere)
-Watching Mommy and Daddy eat, trying to snatch some food for himself
-Taking selfies with Mom on the iPhone
-Playing with and eating his feet (still a favorite)
-Laughing because Mommy is laughing
-Snuggling his puppy lovey to go to sleep
-Orange Oball... watching Mom and Dad throw it in the air always makes him giggle
-"Talking" in his crib or Pack N' Play when he first wakes up
-Putting anything in his mouth!

Dislikes:
-Tipping over from sitting up... we're working on our balance still!
-Getting better at tummy time... but still dislikes being on his tummy
-Sneezes (when Mom and Dad sneeze, it's inevitable that he will cry)
-Being off schedule (disaster melt down status!)
-Any kind of peek-a-boo game... He just blank stares at us like we are crazy!
-Losing pacifier in the crib
-Having the hiccups (he gets frustrated)
-Loud noises (sneezes, the dog barking sometimes, screams, too loud restaurants)





We're so excited to being trying a whole bunch of new things in the next month.. new food, new activities, and maybe even a first road trip!  Here's to the start of summer and until next time!

Monday, May 12, 2014

First Mother's Day!


Mother's Day was especially nice this year because it was my very first to celebrate being a Mommy! Last year at Mother's Day, we had just found out we were expecting, but no one else knew at the time.  This year made it that much more meaningful, knowing we've come full circle and were able to celebrate with our little guy!

Nolan gave me the cutest card that he wrote in himself (maybe Dad helped, a little), and he also treated me with a gift card to the Spa at Green Valley Ranch!  Ever since my prenatal massage there right before my due date, I have been wanting another visit SO bad, but never really thought I would be able to go back.  I'm thankful Jason will let me take a day to enjoy for myself and I am so excited to book this massage, ASAP!









The boys also spoiled me by taking me out for not one, but TWO meals for the day!  We wanted to try a new place for brunch, so we planned on driving across town to DW Bistro.  Online, the website said they would not be taking reservations for Mother's Day.  So we braved the crowds and tried it anyway.  When we got there, they asked if we had a reservation!?  Because we didn't, it was a 2.5 hour wait, so we politely declined.  No place is worth waiting that long for!

We decided to try Bachi HLK, instead.  We frequent Bachi Burger a lot and love it, and had heard they recently opened a new restaurant serving brunch and lunch.  When we got there, there was no wait and we got seated and started right away!  They offered complimentary mimosas for Moms, so I definitely took advantage and enjoyed one, which didn't disappoint.  Our food was amazing and we will definitely be making the trip over there again to visit for brunch.  Jason got the HLK Classic Eggs Benedict, and I got the Almond Brioche French Toast.  It was SO good, the prices were decent, and we highly recommend it!





Nolan was amazing through our morning outing, and spent the half the morning awake and up with us and the other half snoozing for his nap.  Although he's becoming more alert, he can still (mostly) manage to take his naps in his carseat while we are out running around, which I'm thankful for!

We spent the afternoon running a couple errands and then resting at home before going back out to dinner with my mom at Elephant Bar in the District.  Again, Nolan was a good baby and had fun playing with his toys and the menus, as well as snapping a few pictures while we waited for our food.  Once we got our dinner, he took a nap in his carseat and let us eat!  After dinner, we went to one of our favorite dessert places, Sweet Addictions, and got some yummy Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches.  Nolan was over being out so much for the day, and decided he wanted to leave ASAP, so we booked it home and put him to bed.  




Words can't even express how it feels to be Nolan's mom.  Being a mommy is all that I imagined it to be, ten times harder than I thought but a million times more rewarding than I ever could have expected.  I'm so lucky to have this little guy steal my heart four months ago, and I can't even remember what life was like before he came along.  I'm also thankful for having the most supportive husband who works his butt off to allow me to do my dream job and stay at home with our baby!  Being a stay at home mom is HARD, despite what most people think, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I feel so lucky and proud to be the mom of an amazing family!





Sunday, May 4, 2014

April Happenings

This month we started off with company in town... and Nolan finally got to meet his Auntie Stacey!  She came into town the first weekend of the month, and got lots of snuggle time in with little man!  She also bought him the cutest fedora that he loves wearing!





While Stacey was here, we visited the Linq and played tourists for the day!  We went to all the shopping and dining areas to check them out, and spent our afternoon walking around downtown in the cutest little area Vegas has to offer!  We visited the Polaroid Store, Brooklyn Bowl, took pictures in front of the High Roller, and also snapped pictures on the digital billboard camera!  Nolan was so good the whole day.  He took a few catnaps and stayed up with us in between to enjoy the day.  Before we left, we definitely couldn't pass up visiting Sprinkles Cupcakes... and instead of buying just one cupcake, I decided to splurge and get a Sprinkles Sundae.  I tried the strawberry cupcake and mint chocolate chip ice cream, and it was AMAZING.  Seriously the best cupcake I've ever had, and the ice cream wasn't too bad, either!











While we were down at the Linq, we realized that the Academy of Country Music Awards show was in town, and there was a concert that day (Friday) and Saturday down where we were.  We randomly looked up tickets to see who would be playing on Saturday, and realized it was such a good deal to go see so many great country artists for fifty bucks!  So, on a whim, we bought tickets online and decided to hang out all day Saturday right back at the Linq for the concert!  We went back and forth between the venue and the Linq area, stopping for pizza and beer at Flour & Barley, and also stopped back at Sprinkles Cupcakes to use the Cupcake ATM that we missed the day before!  We got to see Kip Moore, Lee Brice, Joe Nichols, Chris Young, and Keith Urban perform.  It was so much fun, but I really missed my little guy!  This was only the second time I had been away from him longer than an hour.... and I missed him like crazy!  We were at the concert from 4PM to about midnight, and I really did have the best time and enjoyed the music, the weather and the good company!













One afternoon, I caught Daddy and Nolan looking so alike while both zoned out, watching T.V.



We celebrated Jason's grandfather's 84th birthday, and snapped a 4 Generation photo while we were there.



Nolan turned 12 weeks old!

We dressed super cute throughout the month!



One weekend night, we tried a new place to eat called Monta Ramen. I had been craving a noodle restaurant like the one we had on our honeymoon in Hawaii, and found the reviews on Yelp to be pretty good for this restaurant.  We really liked it and got a TON of food for super cheap!  We will definitely be going back.


Nolan practiced more tummy time, and I found a solution for him to be entertained for five minutes instead of screaming after one minute.... the laptop!  He watches himself on the Photo Booth camera and keeps himself decently entertained for a few minutes longer than normal.  Progress, people!


Nolan slept through the night for the first time and has been ever since!




We hung out with our friends during the week, and Hudson and Nolan had some BFF bonding time.  We also made a cute Easter craft thanks to Jess' help.  It was messy but super adorable!  




Nolan played with his new toy, Scout, that he received from the Easter Bunny.  He likes to sit and chat it up with him, and Scout knows Nolan's name, favorite color, animal, and food. While playing with Scout, we practiced sitting up and Nolan is getting pretty good at finding his center of gravity and spending a few seconds sitting up, unassisted!  Although he slouches a lot still, he's getting there!




We got a new carseat from our Britax Registry Rewards, and Nolan wasn't thrilled about trying it out. (Sidenote: When we purchased our carseat, stroller, and carrier, all Britax products, they were offering a promotion to buy 5 participating items, and receive a free convertible carseat!  I did my research and we purchased two extra accessory items that we needed anyway, sent in the UPCs, and then received an email to choose the seat we wanted!  Two weeks later, they sent it to us, and we saved over $300 on a convertible carseat!  Although we won't use it for another few months, it was still a great deal that we took advantage of and I love the seat!)


Nolan started a new trick of placing his feet at the top of the Pack N' Play to wake up Mommy in the morning!  It is really cute and he giggles as he does it!


We enjoyed lots of time in the exersaucer and Nolan is getting really good at pressing the buttons himself, slamming his hands down to make the noises and jumping around in his seat!  



We took lots of cute, smiley pictures and selfies!


Nolan proved how big he's gotten at the end of the month when he wore his 6-9 month Jammies!  Chunker!!


The weather's starting to warm up so hopefully next month we'll be starting to spend some more time outside and introduce Nolan to some water, soon!  ...Until next month!