March 30, 2021 by Stephanie

Walter-4 Months

Weight: He is feeling a little heftier these days. He is exactly 13 pounds. We have almost doubled his birth weight.

Health: We are no longer giving him medicine for his acid reflux. Some days he is doing well being off; other days he still spits up a lot. I do notice that it typically happens more in the morning than other times of the day, so I am not sure if it is related to me being more full in the mornings and the flow is higher.

Diet: Breastfeeding is going really well. I have no thoughts around needing to supplementing at this point, which feels really good. Walt feeds 6 or 7 times a day, and on average it adds up to 2.5 hours of nursing. He is going about 3 hours between feedings during the day. My app says that we have had 190 feedings over this last month, and spent 3 days feeding him. In addition to that I have pumped 12 times. I only go into the office one day a week, and it is so nice not to have to pump every day. It is doing so much for our breastfeeding journey to be the one to actually feed him 24/7 6 days out of the week. Looking back at both of the bigs’ journeys, I am in a much better position this time around. I was already supplementing with formula with George at this point. And with Daph, I had to pump extra times each night to make enough for her. I truly think a big reason why it’s not even on my radar to need to do either is that I am nursing him most days completely. I am truly thankful to be working from home this much to allow for this. I am not a good pumper, so it has been nice to need to do that very minimally.

Clothes: He is solidly in 0-3 month clothes, but I would assume we would move up to 3 months before his next update. He is still in size 1 diapers.

Sleeping: He is so go with the flow with his sleep, which has been a godsend since our schedule never seems to be the same from day to day. We started putting him down for the night around 8pm. Then I wake him up at 10pm for a feeding, and then he goes right back down. He typically doesn’t wake up until I get him up at 5:15am, and often times sleeps until 7 on the weekends. I had been thinking of knocking out that 10pm feeding to just let him completely sleep through the night. But the couple days I have thought to test it out he has woken up by 11 acting hungry, so we’ll keep with this schedule for awhile. He typically takes two naps during the day, and he is taking those in his crib fully now. He is still sleeping in a pack and play in our room overnight. I am thinking we will keep him in this for awhile now so when we go on vacation this summer he will be used to a pack and play and it wont be a complete mess to his sleep. I would say that 9/10 times, we are able to put him down awake, and he falls asleep within 5 minutes. Oh and we are doing the magic merlin suit for the day naps, and a swaddle with both arms completely wrapped overnight. I do think we will have to stop with the swaddle here soon because I think we are close to rolling.

Likes: His favorite place is upright with his face to our ears. We have this little vibrating bouncy seat that he loves to get crazy in. He seems like the best listener and loves to hear all of us tell him stories. He also love playing peek-a-boo, however it looks like it startles him at first then he just laughs and laughs.

Dislikes: He despises baths. Honestly it is really the only time he cries.

Nicknames: Walt, Wally, Wally Bear, Butters, Sweet Bean, and Stinkerdoodle. Daphne still has her own names that all include Baby in the title: Waltie baby, Cutie baby, Sweetie baby, Baby guy, and Baby Walter.

Milestones: We put him in the bumbo for the first time this last week. He is doing so well with his neck control. I think we are soooo close to him rolling over from front to back. He did start laughing this last month, and my oh my does it warm the soul. He had his first road trip yesterday to the zoo in St. Louis.

Quirks: He has started chewing/sucking on his thumb. The drool is coming in as well. Whenever a camera comes out, he deadpans it. He can be laughing so hard, and then I try to document it, and he almost immediately goes stone face on me. I have to work really hard to get these smiles on camera.

We parents are: drained. This has been a pretty heavy month. I can hardly believe all that has happened in the last 30 days…I had all four of my wisdom teeth taken out at the beginning of the month, which I am still recovering from 4 weeks later. I do not recommend this while breastfeeding, but it was a must for my own dental health. For me it was worse than when I had knee surgery. Then, I went back to work full time. It’s mostly been good and a fairly easy transition. I am more tired, and there is always work to do. I feel like I am processing things much better now, and able to ward off most of my negative feelings. It is also an exciting time at work with a few things that have been added to my plate and the new teams that I getting to be a part of, so that definitely adds to the mix of making it worthwhile to leave me kids every day. I have been keeping up with working out 5 days of the week, which is so helpful for me not only physically but really mentally as well. Then there was Crosby. Losing Crosby was and is really hard on us emotionally, and we are still dealing with the aftermath of that. Tom has been crushing it at work, but it also comes with using a lot of his energy physically and mentally. We are also prepping ourselves to get our gardens ready and making plans to really use our outside space the best we can.

Big kids are: doing pretty well. Daphne got into our district’s preschool program for next year, so we are really excited for her. Daph and George will be at the same school for the next couple years which is great! George started soccer, and we’ll see how it goes. It is entertaining for us all at least. They have been great with Walt, and they both have their ways of showing him love. George does it in quiet small ways like stroking his face to help calm him or helping shine a light for him when we are in a dark space. Daphne however is loud and aggressive with her love towards Walt. She is always telling him how much she loves him and that he is her friend. She always wants to be next to him, and has become the alarm whenever anything is awry as far as Walt is concerned. She also announces to anyone who meets Walt who he belongs to (her).

The dogs are: As I mentioned, we are still in a daze from Crosby’s passing a week ago. There are moments where it just doesn’t seem real yet. The kids mention missing him almost every day. George’s teacher went above and beyond and got the kids a framed picture of our family with Crosby to put next to their beds. He was such a big part of our days that they just feel a little empty. Grace is moving along in her charmed life now as an only dog. We are able to give her a little more freedom out of the yard because she wasn’t our runner, so she is loving that. It still makes me so sad that Walt won’t have any memories of our Crosby.

In case you are curious, here is Georg e at four months and Daphne at four months.

Walt you are the perfect puzzle piece to our family. You are the chill to every one else’s crazy. Thank you for these past 4 months of loving on you!

September 18, 2017 by Stephanie

Daphne-4 Months

Daphie Girl is four months old today.

Weight: 13 lbs. Half of that is in her cheeks.

Health: She has been doing pretty great. We do not have to go to physical therapy anymore for torticollus. She has a slight bump on the right side of her head, which does mean she has to work harder to roll over. However the PT said that she is so strong and moving so well that they are confident that will subside as she grows. It is not noticeable to really anyone who doesn’t see her every day. We are still doing daily exercises with her to make sure that she doesn’t lean more on the right side and get lopsided. Overall she is doing really well with them.

Diet: I am really proud of myself. At this point with George, we had to start supplementing with formula because I just wasn’t making enough. I have been doing really great with keeping up with her demands so far. Since she sleeps through the night I also pump an extra time before I go to bed. That’s mostly so my boobs aren’t rocks in the morning, but it has been nice to stock up some with that extra pump (or fill in when I had a low pump).

Clothes: She is still in 0-3 month clothes. She is in a size 2 diaper.

Sleeping: This girl is such a good sleeper. She goes to bed at 8pm and does not wake up until I get her at 6:30 to feed her before I leave for work. On the weekends, she will make it almost 12 hours before stirring. She takes one long nap during the day (generally in the morning), and she will take cat naps in the afternoon. I think she sleeps so well because of being swaddled. She will whimper a bit at first being a baby burrito, but within a few minutes she is out like a light. We are still using a sleep sack swaddle, and I am dreading the day when she starts rolling from back to tummy. I have been looking at the magic sleep suits for this transition. Anyone use one? Thoughts?

Likes: Me-I am apparently the ultimate pacifier. Eating. Funny faces. Standing (assisted). She loves tummy time, which I know makes her very rare. Mornings-she is such a happy baby in the morning. She loves show tunes. I haven’t found a song yet that she doesn’t respond to with smiles when I sing to her. (That’s my girl!) She also likes to suck on her fingers. She likes her head to be rubbed, and she has even started rubbing her hair on her own.

Dislikes: Unless she is sleeping, she does not like laying down. She needs to be sitting up or standing to watch what is happening. She doesn’t even like to lay her head on your shoulder. She still hates a dirty diaper. She is not the biggest fan of swings.

Milestones: She sits up pretty well in the Bumbo. I think we need to get her bouncy activity center out because of how much she loves being in a standing position. She is rolling a lot more, and I am afraid that rolling both ways is going to be happening soon. Right now she just rolls from belly to back. She has started giggling too, which is fun to hear.

Nicknames: Sister Friend, Girlfriend, Sweet Cheeks, DC, Daphie, Daph, and Daphne June. Most of the time it is Sister or Daphie Girl. The other day, I was trying to calm her down, and I kept saying Daphie, and George would respond with Girl. It was super sweet.

Quirks: Anytime she is in the Z vibrating chair at home, she has a blowout. She enjoys the sh*t out of that chair. But honestly, she has pooped/peed on me more times in 4 months than George has in 3 years (including potty training). She has a real knack of starting that crap when you are changing her diaper.

We parents are: TIRED. With the start of school, my brain has been going non-stop, which is a little exhausting. I have been trying to get up early to work out, and I do that late pump at 10:30, so that cuts into my sleep time. Tom has been working constantly on the house when he isn’t at work, so he has been exhausted lately as well. We are slowly tearing away at the living room renovation. Tom has been working himself ragged on the project. We hope to be done by the beginning of October.

George is: THREE! He had his birthday this last month, which is always a good time. He is still doing so well with sister friend. (I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop…) He is still at the sitter for the time being, but Daphne is staying home with my mom now. He asks for her a lot on our way to the sitter or home, saying he misses her or we need to go get her. He has asked to hold her a couple times.

The dogs are: just loving life. They really are doing ok with the new baby and new house. No big complaints.

Here is George’s 4 month update. These kids are so different.

Sweet baby girl, you are starting to react more to us, and we are loving watching you grow.

December 26, 2014 by Stephanie

George-4 Months

This month was a big month for little man!

Weight: 13 lbs and about 24 inches.

Health: He still looks like he is in pain sometimes when he goes number 2. Other than that though, he seems pretty healthy. He doesn’t have quite the issue with spit up any more. It happens a couple times a day, but it is usually small dribbles and mostly is only when I breastfeed him. He has his 4 month check up after the holidays so we will see what she has to say about him. We are seeing someone new, so hopefully we like our new pediatrician as much as our one in Clarksville.

Diet: He has six feedings a day. Five of them are breastmilk, and the last one of the day is formula. As I described in my pumping experience, we had to add formula to the routine because I was not making enough breastmilk. Thank you for all the advice and support I have received over the past couple days. I have a few things I am going to try to hopefully increase my supply and my productivity at work from some of the wisdom shared with me.

Clothes: We are sitting pretty in the 3 month range. Some 0-3 month items are getting too snug and some 3 month stuff is too big. We are not even close to fitting in 3-6 month stuff.

Sleeping: This has been all over the place. I usually read him a bed time story and rock him to droopy land. Then I put him in his crib where he generally falls asleep. Then about 15 minutes later he has lost his pacy, and he starts crying. Tom will then repeat the rocking and talking him to sleep. At this time for the most part, he falls asleep for the night. Occasionally, he doesn’t make it all through the night, and Tom will attend to him. (I will be honest that I haven’t heard him stir before 4:30 myself. I am in my own sleepyland.) There have been a couple nights where he ends up in bed with us or I fall asleep with him in the rocker because he just isn’t having the solo crib life. He does sleep a lot at the sitter’s, so I am not really sure if that is affecting his sleep at night or not. She tries waking him up but he puts on his cranky pants and refuses to stay up.

Likes: He LOVES his pacy, but this kid needs to learn to put it in his own mouth. We are always chasing that thing because he spits it across the room. You think I am exaggerating on the “across the room” bit, but sadly I am not. I think he thinks it is a game that we are playing. And seriously, someone please tell me where the Pacy Abyss is. We are always losing them… He loves talking with his Daddy. They are just too much cuteness together! We discovered the Baby First channel this past week. He watches a couple shows in the morning while Tom and I get ready. He will sit and coo back at the characters. It is so cute to hear his giggles and Oooos to the little animals on the screen. Our favorites are Tilly Knock Knock and VocabuLARRY. These are the two he responds to the most, which is perfect that they are right when I get ready. They are only 10-15 minute clips so they are perfect for that 20 minutes that I need to get ready for the day. And I then sing the songs for the remainder of the day…

Dislikes: He hates being burped right now. He will shriek when we try to do this until we put the bottle back in his mouth or give him his pacy. He is getting better at tummy time. He can lift his head up like a cobra yoga pose. But after a minute or two of lifting, he is done and will let you know it. His tummy time is funny though because it seems like he is lifting his rear end up more than his head in a superman type fashion, like upside down leg lifts.

Milestones: He can hold his head up on his own now, and he sits up pretty well if propped up. No more slouching here! He is really getting more chatty. Both Tom and I usually have a chat session with him a couple times a day. We also had to take him out of church a couple weeks ago because he decided it was a good time to test out his new sounds with his dad. He stays awake more in the car too and will coo at the music on the radio. He started doing raspberries and humming this last week. You can tell he is really learning how to use those chops more and more. He doesn’t really laugh yet; we get giggle chortles right now. I think a full on laugh is coming soon though. His smiles are really just the best. He smiles at me every night when he realizes it is me picking him up from the sitter. (I have to hold back tears of joy every day.) He met soooo many people this last month from his great-grandparents, to old friends, to people at work and church…he was Mr. Sociable this month. He also met Santa and was unimpressed. This may not be a milestone to others, but this is huge in our household: We don’t cry anymore at lotion!!! My eardrums are being saved, and George is actually smiling now when I lather him up. We are fairly certain that he may be teething. He has been a little crankier than normal and is a hot drooly mess.

Quirks: He smiles with his pacy on. Any pair of pants he wear (no matter how long they are) end up being short on him. He wants to be a summer baby all year round. He will stick his hand up your short sleeve when you are holding him and hold onto your shoulder.

We parents are: making it. This month was a rough one for the Whitener parents. We had a lot of stress on our plates, and well it was just a hard month for us. George was not the root of any of it just to be clear. Both Tom and I are routine people, and it has been a little awful without some continuity from day to day. And it is just a busy time in general with the holidays pulling us in a lot of different directions. Oh yea and we moved into a new house and both have new jobs. But we are bouncing back and getting more settled every day. I just need to let go of some of my control issues…Tom started his new job this week so it is so great to see him so pumped and excited again.

The dogs are: four this week! If you follow me on IG, you can see a lot more of their relationship with George blossoming. Grace is just in love with him, and she tries to shower him with kisses anytime she can. (Or she is trying to help clean up George drool.) George also reached out and pet Crosby for the first time the other day. I will just be over here melting away from all the cuteness.