gus @ 12 weeks

we made it! 12 weeks has long been my 'you can do it' goal...with luci everything seemed to get much easier at about 12 weeks...and here we are already with gus (as of tomorrow) and sure enough, many things seem easier.

notes at 12 weeks...

-within the last week he has found his hands. it started last week - he was bringing them together on his own a lot...and just within the last few days his hands have found his mouth! he can't get enough of this hand eating...

-he will often grab my hands or arms when i'm changing his diaper or feeding him a bottle (which i do every night before bed...i call it my relief feeding)

-nursing is getting easier, but i'd say the feeding business is still harder at this point than it was with luci because of his reflux. he is a serious spitter...drenching entire burp cloths with one spit up...and often one feeding has 3 or more spit-ups. luckily the prevacid is helping & for the most part his pain seems fairly well managed.

-because of the reflux he doesn't get much time flat on his back. he could do without luci's beloved star, and doesn't seem entertained by objects floating above him. the exception to this is the mobile in his crib. his crib has an elevated head so maybe that is what makes the difference.

-if you catch him at the right time (over 90 minutes since a feeding & just up from a nap) he enjoys tummy time & does a pretty good job pushing himself up.

-he's pushed himself over a few times from tummy to back, but i'm still not convinced it is a voluntary movement.

-he's in 6-9 mo pjs

-his 1-2 diapers are much too small but i'm still squishin his lil booty in them cause we bought too many of them

-not many of the 3-6mo clothes fit anymore...we are mostly in 6mo or even some 6-9mo/9mo

-he's just starting to get some new hair growth in on the top of his head & it is blond. he still has quite a bit of his birth hair though, and it is very dark.

-his eyes are an amazing shade of blue. they are darker and more intense than luci's, although shaped differently. his eyelashes are long & curled and his eye brows are very light...just like his daddy's.

-he has rosonke ears, and a halvorson mouth. he has my mom's smile all the way....and it is ADORABLE.

-he loves to be spoken to...and usually he'll talk back.

-he's thinking about giggling...he gets close, but no full on chuckle yet.

-he usually takes four naps...two 30-45 minute ones in the AM and then a longer one starting between 1p and 2p and last for 90-120 minutes. he usually takes another cat nap before going down to bed between 7p and 8p. he usually gets up between 7a and 8a.

-he's usually up between 2a and 4a for a feeding. he had a great few nights of 5a, 5:30a and even 6:30a wakings, but he hasn't repeated since then. about 50% of the time he goes right back down and the other half of the time he's awake for up to 90 minutes. ugh.

-he's soothing himself to sleep now. our routine is upstairs, close the curtains, change a diaper, wrap in the miracle blanket, sing a song while rocking, and then rock for 2-3 more minutes. he does a combo of talking/fussing/crying usually. i often go in just once to soothe (paci) after 5 minutes of crying and then he usually falls asleep after that.

-he started the wet razz & blowing raspberries last week.

-his mama thinks he's the sweetest lil guy around ;)