Four Months Old

Here are Michael's 4-month measurements: Weight: 13lbs (30th %), Height: 25.5 inches (75th %), Head: 41.5 cm. So he is longer than average, but lighter than average. They weren't concerned with the percentiles, since these have been consistent since he was 2 weeks old. He is very healthy, and strong for his age. He supports his weight on his legs longer than average 4 month-olds. They also said his eye movement is a little advanced too. They said a 4-month old will usually follow a light when it is moved from left to right, but they don't always follow it upward, and Michael did. He also had his next round of shots, and didn't start to cry until the second shot. After the third shot, I picked him up and he stopped crying after about 5 seconds, and he was back to his smiling self pretty quick. He's such a trooper! His next appointment is at 6 months. The only concern we are still having is his sleeping. He has been waking up 4 or 5 times a night. We need to start letting him cry a little bit longer to see if he will go back to sleep on his own, instead of feeding him or giving him his pacifier as soon as he starts to cry. We are going to try that out this weekend. I think another factor that contributes to his restless nights is his napping in late evening. We are going to try to get him to nap early evening instead and see if that makes a difference. We started giving him cereal this week. He has adjusted to a spoon pretty well. He spits quite a bit out, but I know he will get better at it. Since we have started giving him cereal, he has pooped less often. The pediatrician said we may have to give him a little juice to help that out. He is getting a lot more formula these days too. He gets about 7 oz during the day, and 4 oz at night. Other than that, he is still on breastmilk. Ok, that is the latest and greatest. The next update will hopefully be describing how he is sitting up on his own, or he rolled over, because he is getting close to doing both!

Eye Update

Michael's latest visit with the eye doctor didn't result in anything new. His tear duct is still clogged, and his eyelid is still droopy. They still will not do anything about his tear duct until he is six months old, and we have another appointment scheduled in June at that time. We are still hopeful that it will unclog on its own, because if the doctor has to do it, they will have to put MJ to sleep for the procedure. That sounds terrifiying to me! They also dialated his eyes, which didn't seem to phase him at all, so they could look inside his eye, and the doctor said his vision and everything else is just fine. So they are not overly concerned about his eyelid being too droopy. However, if they would perform a surgery to correct the eyelid, they will wait until he is much bigger, like school-age. His 4 month doctor visit with the pediatrician is Wednesday, so I will have another update after that! More shots! Urgh!

First Day at Daycare

Well, Michael had his first day of daycare today. I was a complete wreck, and cried all the way to work. I wasn't worried that something bad was going to happen to him. It was more of me feeling sad that I couldn't be with him during the day anymore. I missed him terribly all day, and couldn't get there fast enough after work. When I picked him up, he was all smiles, and the "teachers" told me that he was one of the best "first day" babies that they ever had. He napped, ate, and pooped right on schedule, according to the times I had left with them, and only cried when he was hungry. Plus, one of the teachers attends church with my mom's best friend, and she knew all about Michael before he ever arrived there! She's very nice and I feel very good about leaving him with her. They give me a chart every day that tells me when he naps, and when he had a wet diaper (which they check him every hour), and when and how much he eats. I don't know how other day care centers operate, but I am very impressed with Windows of Wonder so far. Check out the picture section of this website. I posted a photo of him before we left for his first day.

Three Months

Two nights ago, we had a milestone. MJ slept for 6 hours! Unfortunately, it didn't become a habit, because the next night he was back to his routine of 4.5 hours. I tried to duplicate our activities that day, with his nap schedule and bedtime, but it didn't work. I guess we just keep trying. We have started supplementing with formula a little bit. It seems like we have been giving him one bottle of formula a day. I think maybe he is going through a growth spurt, and my body hasn't been able to catch up to it yet. Plus, I have been pumping everyday to prepare for his first day of daycare, but that has only been maybe 2 oz a day. I have also been walking on my treadmill for about 20 minutes a day, and I have heard that can affect my milk supply too. Either way, I am still going to stick with breastfeeding as long as I can.

The visit with the opthalmologist went ok. He bascially said that we have to wait and see. He wants to wait until MJ is six months old before probing his tear duct, in hopes that it will open up before then. We are also hoping that when that happens, his droopy eyelid may get better, otherwise he may have that his entire life. The only reason they would surgically correct it is if the eyelid covers the pupil, and affects his vision. That would put extra strain on his other eye. So, we go back on March 23rd to check his progress. We are going to get MJ's three-month photos done tomorrow. I am hoping that he has a "good eye" day for those. Even if he doesn't I am sure they are still going to be good. He smiles like crazy! You just have to talk to him, and he beams! Unless of course he is tired or hungry! More later....