Fun together

Here are some recent pics of Sara and Moose hanging out together.  I feel like he is just recently big enough to hang out with Sara and for her to be able to move him around and play with him a little bit.

 I can't believe how big he's getting, just like a real little boy.

 He loves to sit and watch Sara play but now that he can scoot a good 4 feet away I have to clear a wide spot for him on the floor and watch him like a hawk.  I'm excited for him to be able to sit up on his own and really play.

 He loves his baby carrier, it's his favorite way to be carried.  He never complains in it and will go for a long walk and just look around.  He's already as big as Sara was at 1 year in it.

More Christmoose pics

The Great Big Sister

Sara is such a good sister to Brennan. She is always trying to make him feel better and "reporting" to us his status. Whether he "likes it", "don't likes it", or he is asleep or sad. She loves it when he smiles at her and she is always trying to get him to laugh.

Whenever she sees something she likes, she has to go show him. Tonight she was showing him her new ornaments from Granny KP and Grandpa. I let her hold him to take a photo in front of the tree and she was rocking him back and forth. He actually really liked it.

I realized that he's getting big enough to where I wasn't as nervous with her holding him and even man-handling him a little. I still wouldn't leave her alone with him but it's nice that he's getting big enough that someday we can just let them play. They are going to have so much fun someday.

We haven't really gotten Brennan anything for Christmas. Dan says the ski-trailer can kind of be his present because we had to get a double seater for him.   We are hoping for snow to be able to actually use it.

It's been really cold at night and I've been dressing Brennan in three layers of clothes. He seems to make it better through the night if he's super warm. I never had to worry about that with Sara too much because it was soon Spring after she was born. Brennan's room tends to be the coldest in the house too.

We're doing well though overall. He's still eating like a horse. He LOVES zucchini, pear, and rice blended together. I think he'll be 16lbs by Christmas easily.

Calming Down

Brennan has done so well at all our family gatherings. He hardly has even uttered a word. Mostly he just sits around smiling at everyone. He is a very smiley baby. He only cries still if you put him down or if he's hungry or tired. He just loves to be tickled and held though. I'm glad people and situations aren't freaking him out. He seems to love riding in the car and will sit back there silently. It's nice that Sara is back there with him. I always felt sorry for her that she didn't have anyone to look at while she was back there. At least if Brennan gets upset she can talk to him and it usually makes him feel better. Plus, he just likes watching her. Yesterday, while they were in the car, she was showing him pictures on her phone and playing him music, holding her phone over to him so he could see. I wish he was more predictable at night though. Some nights he'll sleep 7 or 8 hours, other nights he's up every 2 or 3. He's plenty big enough to be making it through the night at this point and Dan says he thinks it's not food he needs but that he just wants to be held. Sometimes I just go get him and rock him back to sleep but on the worst nights, he wants to stay up and play for 2 hours before falling back asleep. I can't wait for him to start sleeping more regularly. I've tried dressing him warmer, thinking maybe he was getting cold, and that seemed to help a few nights. So far, Sara has been the much better sleeper. I'm just hoping Brennan can adjust as he gets older. At least Dan and I have started taking turns getting him, which will help.

Sleep Moosey, Sleep!

I love sleeping pics of my kids. This is the first real pic I've gotten of him in his bed. He slept 9 hours last night and still sleeping!

The sounds he makes

Brennan is learning to make new sounds this week. He does a bubble blowing raspberry and is moving his lips differently. He also scowls his little brow in some new expressions. I got him on video practicing his foot eating and talking today. Also this one where he sits with Sara. Also, Sara likes to have him sit on her bed and play with her or watch her play.

Eating our potatoes

Moosey thought it was funny when I wiped his nose after he sneezed. I got a video of him cracking up. He ate 2 bowls of sweet potatoes and rice cereal today and a bowl of pears and zucchini mixed. I wonder what he will weigh by Christmas. His body is really getting longer. I just bought some 9 months onesies that are almost getting small, I should have gotten the 1 year size clothes.

Moosey laughs

I finally got a video of Brennan laughing. He hangs on to his spoon when I feed him and today he thought it was funny that I was trying to take it away. It was able to hide the camera so he didn't see it. I was tricky but I'm glad I got it on video, it's too cute not to remember.

Much Better

Brennan has been doing so much better. He makes it most of he way through the night now. We think that he's started to mature and come out of the infant stage. Just this last week as he's been sleeping better he's also been entertaining himself more and letting Sara entertain him.

I'm still really busy with him but I've been able to start cooking and going to the store again. Also we've been running errands more and it's starting to feel like we have more of a life.

I can't believe how big he has gotten. When I hold him on the nursing pillow he takes up the whole pillow.

Tonight he was sitting in his high chair eating and he was laughing at me so hard he could hardly take a bite. He was making a loud laughing sound and then waiting to see if I laughed and then when I did he would blink his eyes and laugh again. It was really funny.

He now eats zucchini, apples, sweet potato, bananas, rice cereal, and pears. He's got a huge appetite and would probably sit in the high chair and eat the whole day if I'd let him. When he's eating he's happy. When he gets hungry he gets really upset.

Feet!!

Mr Moose has discovered his feet and he loves them! He got upset today because I put socks on him and he could see his toes. He really likes to get his big toe in his mouth and chew on it. He also likes to put his hands on his feet and touch them.

Tonight I made a kissing noise and Brennan thought it was the funniest thing ever. He laughed and laughed and it sounded like a real little boy. I even called Dan over to watch him because it was so funny and cute. We tried to film it with the iphone but every time we point a camera at him he stops what he is doing and watches the camera instead :( I hope he keeps that laugh though, his smile was so huge and his giggle so cute. I wish I had a hidden camera, somehow I need to figure out how to camouflage it

I'm so glad we had one more kid, it has been such a fantastic experience, so rewarding and fun. And now I know I'm ready to be done having kids, so I'm enjoying every moment.


More pics from today courtesy of Ben:

4 Month Check-up

Moosey had his 4 months checkup today and it went great! No ear infections! I hope we are done with those for good, I'm sure he does too.

The doctor talked to us about his sleep habits. He said that Brennan needs to start learning how to fall asleep on his own right now so that when he's 6-9 months he can start to self soothe and put himself to sleep. He also said we didn't need to swaddle him any more.

He also said that Brennan should be having all the green veggies right now and no fruit.

It's good that I realize that the doctors advice is only advice. I think kids will eventually learn to sleep on their own. Sara went through some rough periods when she cried but she made it. I'm sure Brennan will have rough periods too. Right now we're swaddling him because it seems to keep him cozy and warm at night and in a good state of sleep. Also he won't take naps in his bed during the day so he sleeps for an hour or two in his swing in the afternoon. I do this so that we can all get some rest, Sara included. When he cries it wakes her up.

I think the most important thing is that we're all rested and happy. I'm sure the hard part will come when he won't fit in his swing any more but by them I'm hoping he's older and better able to cope with being by himself.

Also the advice on the veggies seems well placed but I think I'd rather Brennan get a variety of foods rather than just all green to start. Right now he eats bananas, pears, apple, sweet potato, and peas. I feel good that he's getting some variety in his nutrition. I think the doctor means that we should give him too many "sweet" foods before he has his veggies. If he's going to be in this family though he'll have to eat his veggies and hopefully if he doesn't want to, Sara can be a good influence on him and coax him into it. I'm happy with his nutrition right now, he's getting a variety of nutrients from the different foods. We are probably going to be adding more foods starting this week.

I was expecting his growth to be off the charts but he was in the 50th percentile for everything, height, weight, and head circumference. I guess it's good because maybe he won't be a giant.

Here's how his stats and Sara's at 4 months compared :

Sara: Weight- 11.9 lb Height- 24.8 in Head circ- 16.4 in
Brennan: Weight- 15.1 lb Height- 25 in Head circ- 16.8 in

Surprisingly they are very similar in everything but weight! I thought he would have measured way different. Maybe they will end up being about the same size.

He got his shots today and only cried for a second, I was amazed. Sara cried for a good 15 minutes when she had hers. Also he had a very friendly disposition with the doctor, even smiling at him and he kept his eyes on him the whole time. The doctor says he watches for body language in children and he thinks Brennan has a good disposition. We also discussed him being intense and crying for me all the time. His opinion was it's nothing to worry about and to try to keep getting him to entertain himself small bits at a time.

He has been better this week about entertaining himself. Sara has also done an awesome job at helping. He loves it when she sits with him and he won't cry when she plays with him or talks to him.

I'm glad we've made it to this milestone with him. I feel like things will hopefully get easier from here on out and if not, we'll still make it through OK.

Moosey Questionnaire

I have to fill out Brennan's 4 month old questionnaire before we go to the doctor on Friday. It's basically a bunch of questions you have to answer about their development that help the doctor determine if they are developing correctly for their age. Some of the questions are like, "If you hold a toy in front of them and move it side to side, do their eyes follow it and do they turn their head?" It's kind of fun to do the little experiments with your baby to see if they do it or not. Brennan did 98% of it. There are even lots of things he does that aren't on the questionnaire.

I am going to talk to the doctor about his appetite. For the last 3 days I can't feed him enough. He cries and cries non-stop, shoving his hands in his mouth. He has to be eating constantly. We feed him until he can't hold any more.

I know he must be burning more calories and he's sleeping through the night longer so he's starving when he wakes up. He is moving around a lot right now. If you put him down on the floor, he's a good 3 or 4 feet from where you left him in a matter of minutes. He can roll away and scoot himself with his back legs. He's so solid, like a little bull dog and he so determined, he just keeps pushing and pushing with his legs until he gets somewhere.

Also he tries to sit up and roll out of his high chair and bouncer and will pull himself up if there's a handle he can hold on to. Sara did not do that until 7 or 8 months and most babies don't even start doing that until the end of 5 months or 6 months.

Also, I know this sounds crazy but he says "Mama". Dan and I have heard him several times and tonight he said it so clearly it freaked me out a little. It was cute to hear his little voice though. Dan always says to him, "Do you want that Mama?", so maybe he's picking it up.

He is totally wearing me out during the day, he is so high energy and frantic about eating and moving around. The only calm and peaceful moments we have are after he is stuffed to the brim, and then he's puking on me a lot, or when he's in the bath tub he's quite calm.

I wouldn't be surprised if he weighs fifteen and a half pounds or sixteen pounds on Friday, he already looks so much bigger to me this week.

I'm hoping we can get through this stage where he's feeling so frustrated, I just keep telling myself this can't last forever.

It is nice that he's sleeping through the night better. For 4 nights he slept from 10:30 p.m. to 7 a.m, which was awesome! Then last night he went to bed at 11 p.m. and got up at 5 a.m, not so awesome. Still, at least I haven't had to get up with him at 3 a.m. for about a week now, I hope the trend continues.

I really want him to grow up so that he can communicate better and be happier but at the same time I'm worried he's growing up too fast and I already feel sad about that.

Yes, he has big feet!

4 months old

I realized today it's been maybe a week since I have taken pics of Brennan and he's growing up so fast.

I'm trying to take pics so that I can look back and see how he grew every few weeks.

Here's one of him in the car seat. We went to see the Christmas lights in the park tonight and he stayed awake until the very end and them totally passed out.


I'm hoping he is getting more hair. Sometimes it looks blond and other times it still looks brown.


He does good surprise looks. He still doesn't really like the camera.

Cute smile and I think his eyes are still mostly blue. I really notice that he has my eyebrows, or Grandpa Sears' eye brows, kind of a rounded brow.


Today he tried avocado for the first time. He had a little rash on his cheeks later so I may have to watch for a diaper rash and discontinue the avocado if so. I also learned not to make avocado puree in the Baby Bullet. It turns into foam. He didn't really like it all that much either so I think from now on I'll hand mash it and mix it in with peas.

He's getting more and more mobile. When you're holding him now he always wants to try to sit up. Today he kept sitting up and trying scoot away, reaching for objects near him. Dan played with him on the floor too and he was getting his legs up under him really well. His arms aren't strong enough yet though to crawl away though.

He's slept the last 4 nights in a row all through the night. He does not go to bed until 10:30, which is later than I'd like but it helps him get through the night I guess. He gets up at about 6:30 when Dan gets up. It's so nice not to have to get up at 3 a.m. with him. Usually when he gets up at 3, I can't get him back to bed until 5 a.m. When he gets up that early so it takes a big chunk of my sleep, especially if I can't get to bed until midnight. Four nights of sleep may not exactly be permanent but it's hopeful. There is no reason at his weight and as much as he eats that he shouldn't be sleeping through the night now.

Snuggler

Mr. Moose had a good Thanksgiving once it was over. He was a bit afraid of the big crowd and all the noise. He cried pretty steadily until we left and then he seemed fine. I've noticed one other time that he seemed really unhappy to be in a different place and when we got home he seemed fine. I hope he is more easy going as he gets older. He also hates for me to leave him with his Dad or anyone else. He prefers me to hold him. I hope that's just a phase, although it's flattering to be preferred, in the long run it means not having any breaks :(

He's still eating like a champ. I think we'll try avocado tomorrow and maybe sweet potato next week. He's already eating tons of peas and bananas. Sometimes he doesn't even want his bottle any more, he'd rather eat from a spoon. He can hold the spoon with both hands and get it into his mouth. Tonight he grabbed the food bowl away from me and put it up to his mouth and tried to drink out of it. It's one of those exciting stages where they start to reach out for objects. I can't believe his coordination though, he's definitely about 2 months ahead of his age, maybe more.

Also today I had to put away all of his 0-3 months clothes. He is wearing 6-12 months clothes now. He's so chunky and cute. I think he gets cuter ever day and his personality is really starting to show. He loves to sit with me and be tickled and laugh. He also loves to be lifted up by his arms or elbows up onto his feet. He and Daddy play that game over and over and Dan says to him when he stands up, "You did it!" and Brennan smiles, it's really cute. He has such strong legs that he can stand up himself with very little help, he just needs to be steadied.

Brennan goes for his 4 months check up next Friday. I'm excited to see how it goes. I can't believe he's been so healthy. Sara had a terrible cough this week and possibly walking pneumonia and Dan and a terrible cough the weekend before. Brennan has had little more than a few sniffles and I'm sooo thankful! It's eliminated a lot of my worry and anxiety.

As Christmas approaches I'm so thankful to have Brennan here and that he's healthy, happy, and thriving. I hope I can just relax now and just have a great holiday with my two cute kids and the best husband ever.

Beginning Crawling

The week Brennan turns four months old, I put him down on the carpet on his back and he rolled over to his front. It took him a while to do it at first but now he can do it more quickly. According to the internet when I googled ages and stages they aren't supposed to be able to do this until 6 months of age. I'm trying to get a good video of him doing it. Also he is getting his legs up under him which is the beginning practice for crawling. I got a video of him doing that.


Also he eats like a horse. Technically he's only supposed to be trying solids just now but we started three weeks early. He's been eating tons of Banana and Pear. According to the baby food book the amount of food I make him should last 3-4 days, and we're lucky to get breakfast and dinner out of it. Just today he tried peas and I had to stop him from eating it to make sure he wasn't going to get sick. I'll give him the rest of it tonight as I didn't notice that he had any problems digesting it today.

I LOVE the baby bullet. It's so easy to just cut up food and blend it up. I keep everything ready right on the counter. He's usually really impatient waiting on his food and the bullet gets it to him quicker than me mashing it with a fork, far less lumpy too. I have no idea why anyone would ever feed their baby out of a jar! Besides that, it's so much fun to make baby food.

Brennan went to the doctor this week to get his ears rechecked. Thankfully he didn't have an ear infection, still just some fluid behind his ear drum which will hopefully go away. He did weigh in at 14.15lbs! I can't wait until his 4 month check up next week to see what his growth percentile is.

Hard to believe

Dan and I can't believe it but Brennan was on the floor tonight and he got his knees up under himself and scooted forward several times. It's the first step to crawling and Sara didn't do that until about 7 months old. He is so strong! We predict he'll be crawling by the New Year, if not sooner.

He has gotten so interactive. He likes to maintain eye contact and he loves to be tickled, tossed about, and he really likes his kisses. He also likes making a range of noises, squeaks, laughs, and grunts. He is growing up on fast forward.

Tomorrow I'm taking him back to the doctor to have a check on his ears, I'm really really hoping they're OK or else they are going to start taking more drastic measures.

Big baby

Brennan is such a big boy. It was even more evident when we visited his new cousin Noah, born 6 days or so ago. Noah was so tiny compared to Brennan, even as a newborn. However now, even though there is only 3.5 months separating them, they look 6 months apart easily.

Here's a pic of "tiny" Brennan I took with my cell phone camera the day we were leaving the hospital with him. He looks way bigger here than Noah does now.


It really made me realize how much Brennan has grown up, seeing that new baby and comparing him with Brennan. I'm really glad he's not small anymore, it causes me too much anxiety to worry all the time about a newborn and I hate feeling riddled with anxiety. Each day that passes, as he gets bigger and bigger, I have less anxiety and I can just relax and enjoy him more.

Here's a pic of Jumbo baby now.

Dan and I think that Brennan might be crawling by New Years, he is so strong and when we put him down on the ground, he already tries to get his knees under him when he's on his belly. Sara didn't to that until she was 7 or 8 months old. Brennan is really strong.

Also, he is just sooo cute, with his round little head and waistline.

Pears!

Brennan has been eating his bananas and rice pretty well. He slurps up the bowls happily. Today I tried mixing in pears and rice and he loved it. I also got to use my new Baby Bullet that makes really smooth pureed baby food, it works wonderful! I'm sure Brennan will become great friends with the baby bullet. I'm really excited for him to try new foods. With Sara it was such a drag feeding her because she didn't like anything. I think Brennan would eat paint off the wall happily.

Brennan has been laughing a lot more, he is really ticklish as well. He is able to sit himself up a little bit now but he can't hold himself up. He likes to be held while he's standing up on his little bowed legs.

He's mostly been sleeping through the night, some nights if he has gas he's up every 2 hours. Those night are very painful. I'm used to only getting up once a night with him. Any more makes me super tired.

It's hard to believe that next week he'll be 4 months old!

3.5 months old

Moose has lots of names. Sara and I have made up most of them. Sometimes we call him Moosa or his Russian name is Mooska. I don't think we even need the name Brennan anymore.

Moosa is doing great eating his food. He eats about 3-5 tablespoons of rice cereal a day and this week we added Banana too. He eats 2-3 tablespoons of that. I'm hoping to try out avocado next week. He can also have cooked apricots and pears, according to the Super Baby Food book. His foods are limited however until he turns 6 months old, then he can be much more adventurous.


Sara really loves her brother, it's so sweet. If he's crying she always comes over to him to see if there is something she can do. She will go get his pacifier, she pets his head, holds his hand, and gives him kisses. Tonight she wanted to give him kisses and hugs before bed. I'm so proud of the way she has treated him. She rarely gets jealous and most of the time just wants to help make him happy.


Mooska is now much better at holding up his head. He can mostly do it without any support now. I hiked with him in the baby carrier and he was facing outward for the first time. He loved it. I wish it wasn't just about to be wintery weather so we could go on more hikes. Maybe it will be a mild one.

He still cries a ton and hates to be put down. I hope as he starts to approach 6 months old and is able to sit up and be more self sufficient that he won't complain so much. His ears hopefully are healed and aren't causing him pain. He is teething pretty bad. He drools and chews on his hands constantly. At night it seems to bother him worse. Every night I rub a wet rag on his gums as he bites down on it and it seems to make him feel better, sometimes I do that for a good twenty minutes.

His sleeping is hit or miss. Some nights he'll sleep 5 or 6 hours, others he's up every 2 hours. I recently ate some dark chocolate and some licorice that I think really did him in. It turned my milk brown and I had to dump out some of it because he wouldn't even eat it. It gave him lots of huge burps and I think it woke him up a lot. Hopefully things will be more peaceful now and I'll try to avoid those things.

I can't get him to nap very well at all during the day. He likes to take little 20 minute cat naps, in his bouncer or wherever he is. If I put him in his bed he almost always wakes up. Today we put him in a huge puffy snowsuit to go on a walk. By the time we got back home he had long been asleep so I left him in it. He slept another 4 hours like that. The snowsuit immobilized him and was probably warm and cozy. Maybe he needs to take naps in snowsuits every day.


Every time I weight him he weighs more. This week he weighed 14.5. I predict that by Christmas he's 15lb's. It's so odd having a baby that gains weight because with Sara we struggled for every single pound. I think now especially that he's eating solids already he'll keep gaining at a steady rate.