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.

He Eats!!!

Brennan was really chewing his fists and sucking on them loudly starting about three weeks ago. I asked his doctor if he saw any evidence of him teething already and he said no. We were making him bottles as fast as he could drink them, every thirty minutes. He still seemed hungry so we went out on a limb and decided to try solid food, early. We started him right as he turned three months. Here's a new Moosey eats video.

He has done great with it, in fact he loves to eat. He eats about 3 bowls of rice cereal a day, sometimes 2 at a time. He's really good at swallowing and prefers to even hold the spoon. I usually have to get two spoons because he's got such a grip on the one that I can't get it away from him. I'm excited for him to be able to try other foods in a few months, I think he will really like sweet potatoes and peas. He already eats way better than Sara ever did. She hated rice cereal, which still pretty much fits her personality.

I'm also really proud of the fact that I'm still breast feeding him. I'm able to feed him half and half. He usually gets 2 oz of breast milk and 2 of formula at a feeding. It's better than no breast milk and I'm glad I've been able to keep some of it going. He probably gets total about 10 oz of it a day. I'll keep pumping as long as there is milk. Nursing doesn't really go so well so really the only time I nurse him is if he gets up at 3 a.m. It usually puts him back to sleep quickly. I'm still drinking a beer every other day and that really helps, plus I eat oatmeal which seems to work too. I haven't had to watch what I eat as much, nothing seems to bother him anymore. I still haven't tried coconut or mango and I don't eat any nuts except walnuts.

Just for fun the other day I gave him a piece of parsley from the garden just to see what he'd do. He tried to chew on it a little bit.

We recently got him a baby exersaucer so that he could sit upright (which I thought would help his ear pain). He seems to like it OK. He likes chewing on the toys and it has spring loaded legs for when he gets bigger and wants to bounce.


His ears finally seem to be getting better. He has responded better to this antibiotic than any of the other three. Also I decided I couldn't drive into Provo every 2 or 3 days if he is going to have repeated ear infections so I took him to a pediatrician here in Spanish Fork. His name is Dr Bennett and he got lots of good recommendations. So far we really like him and I think we'll stick with it. It's nice having his doctor 5 minutes away. His staff was really bragging on him too, saying he never takes a day off because he loves his work. I'm crossing my fingers that Brennan does not have any more ear infections but if he does I hope that we can keep using this doctor well into the future.

Now that he's feeling better he is so much fun. He laughs a lot more and likes it when you raise him slowly above your head or make various noises, he really gets to giggling. He still laughs in his sleep too which is one of my very favorite things about him, it's really funny.

Moosey has really grown, he is now 14 pounds and has outgrown his 0-3 months clothes. He is wearing his 6 month jammies now. His feet outgrew his jammies first but the rest of him was getting to be a tight fit.

He's starting to talk more, he'll make specific noises to protest something or to try to get our attention. I also am loving how his hair stands up like little fuzz on the top of his head. His eyes are looking blue and I hope they can stay that way. I'm so excited to see what he looks like at 6 months and 1 year. I think he'll be a cute little guy.