Details to Remember

Quick Facts to get us up to date -

• When we came home his weight was down to 6 lbs 11 oz.
• Sweety Petey continued to go to the doctor daily for blood draws to check his bilirubin levels. By Thursday (after we had come home from the hospital on Monday) his levels were back down to normal. No more doctor visits.
• At his two week appointment he was 8 lbs 12oz. and 21" long
• At his two month appointment he was 12 lbs 9 oz. and 24" long.
• At his four month appointment he was 16 lbs 6 oz. and 26 1/2" long. 90th percentile for height and 76th percentile for weight.
• We never got used to breastfeeding so I continued to pump and supplement with formula. After 3 1/2 weeks I quit pumping. I pumped every 3 hours for that long and at the end I still couldn't get more then 1 to 2 oz. per session. It was definitely not enough to satisfy my son. I do regret that I wasn't able to breastfeed exclusively, but I also don't regret it at the same time. Not breastfeeding is a very freeing experience and there are many pluses (and many minuses, of course). I do not feel like I have lacked any bonding time/experiences with him at all because I didn't breastfeed. I can't imagine being any more closely bonded with my son than I am now.
• He has slept through the night since he was 11 weeks old. I honestly don't know how I could have gotten this lucky and I honestly don't know how it happened. I just knew that he could do it and he did. It just happened.
• We swaddled from the very beginning until he was 4 1/2 months old. Swaddle=Sanity I will buy a swaddle blanket for every single pregnant person that I know from now on. I don't care if they have registered for it or not.
• He rolled over from his tummy to his back pretty consistantly at around 8 weeks. Then about a week later he just stopped. I firmly believe that he hit a growth spurt and couldn't figure out how to turn his now huge body and noggin.
• At 4 1/2 months he started to consistantly go from tummy to back again and has just started at 5 months to occasionally go from back to tummy. It's that huge noggin of his...I swear.
• At 4 months he started to be VERY vocal. I mean he screams, screeches, coos, babbles, etc. Sometimes it is soooo loud. He gets it honestly from his daddy.
• He is very close to sitting on his own. Right now he just needs a little support. I'm excited for him to be able to do this.
• He began eating rice cereal once a day at 4 months and 1 week. Three weeks later he started eating it twice a day. At 5 months and 1 week he started having some baby food in the evening. Sweet potatos were the first item on his menu. He ate them well and didn't really seem to care one way or the other about them.
• The only time that he cries and/or is fussy is when he is tired and needs to sleep. A wet/dirty diaper has never bothered him and he has rarely cried because he was hungry.
• We have babywised him from the beginning. Eat,Play,Sleep. Repeat. I am not rigid about his eating schedule but we really don't deviate much at all. I am not rigid whatsoever about his nap schedule. He will definitely let us know when he needs a nap.
• He never had his days and nights mixed up...even when we were first home from the hospital.
• I love love love to give him a bath. He's always so happy and he just watches what I'm doing with this look of awe. I talk to him and he smiles and laughs. It is fabulous.
• By Christmas we had put away all of the 0-3 month clothes.
• He hated the bumbo seat until almost 4 months old.
• He looooooves his swing and has loved it since the beginning.
• He has extremely sensitive skin. If The OP rubs his face on his cheek it immediately breaks out even if The OP has just recently shaved.
• So far he has reacted well to both rounds of his vaccinations. He has cried, but I have been able to calm him down very quickly and he hasn't required any further tyleno.l.
• He has tolerated the car seat well and has rarely cried in the car so far.
• So far the furthest that we have taken him from home has been about 3 hours.
• He has stayed the night at his nana and opa's house four times so far.
• We started daycare on January 5th when he was three and a half months old. I cried, of course. It was very hard for me to give up that control of his caretaking. I still find a million things wrong with his sitter, but I know that she takes good care of him and cares about him. He is there from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm every day. It breaks my heart.
• I truly am his primary caregiver and I really don't mind. The OP loves him very very much, but he works a lot and when he gets home he is tired physically and mentally. So, the responsibilities mostly rest with me. Occasionally I get irritated about this, but most of the time I'm find with it. I'm a control freak so I like things done my way.
• God knew what he was doing when he gave me a child that would easily sleep through the night because a tornado wouldn't wake my husband when he is sleeping. It would all be up to me.
• At 1 1/2 weeks we went back to the pediatric cardiologist and Dr. Bricker already felt like his heart murmur was close to being completely closed. We will go back in April for the next check.
• We put together his exer-saucer at 4 months and he has always enjoyed it, but really started to show interest in it at around 5 months.
• I sing to him even though I have a horrible voice. Singing to my child is something that I never really thought I would do. When he was born, though, I found myself singing and he liked it! Surprises, surprises. I do have a limited repitoire though. The ABC's,Jesus Loves Me,The Eensy Weensy Spider,Twinkle Twinkle,You are my Sunshine, or I sing along with any video on CMT.
• He notices the dog, but doesn't really seem to be bothered by her presence. He just stares at her if she's in his line of sight, but other than that...nothing.
• I was shocked by how early he began to recognize strangers or people that he hasn't seen in a while. By four months old we were already dealing with that and I just didn't expect that until much later.
• He has from the beginning always woken up in a good mood. There's always a smile on his face.
• I have very brown eyes and The OP has very blue eyes. So far Sweety Petey has hazel eyes. I would bet money on it that they will eventually turn one way or the other. The OP had a cousin with hazel eyes and when she was little she always would call them weazel eyes. So that's what we call it. Weazel Eyes.
• He slept in our room in the Pack N Play for the first four weeks and then transitioned easily to his own crib in his own room.
• We run a vaporizer every night because it helps with his congestion that he was waking up with and because I believe that the "white noise" helps.
• He lights up when I read him the book ABC's by Dr. Suess.
• Since he has discovered his hands which was at about 3 months old he has been trying to suck his thumb. We are definitely ANTI-THUMBSUCKING!!! So we stick his pacifier in his mouth at every opportunity to try to curb this. His sitter has been instructed to do the same thing. We may very well be fighting a losing battle but we aren't going down without a fight :)
• He has always been most fussy in the evenings.