Almost 10 months

Were has the time gone- our boy is almost 10 months old!

Sam is just a week away from 8 months old!

Here is a pic of him standing and playing - he fell right after this, and pulled himself up again! (but he fell on his butt, otherwise wouldn't have been able too, but he was a proud little thing!)

Sam sitting and playing at 6.5 months old.

Our miracle is 6 months old today!

My heart overflows with joy. Our miracle boy, Sammy, is 6 months old today. The little soul who didn't give up - the little soul whose doctors said couldn't make it into this world, is 6 months old today. I cried with the joy if a heart bursting last night, as Caroline (our 14 year old) said the day before, Mom, I couldn't imagine life without him, and either could I.

He lights up our hearts, what a blessing.

He weighs about 14 pounds now, and about 25.5 inches long(we have his 6 month appt this afternoon so will know for sure) That is up about 9 pounds since birth, and 7.5 inches - while still on the low end up the percentiles, he is just perfect!

He knows the word up - and will reach for your hands to help him stand, then lift his face towards the sky and squeal with delight.

He picks up anything within his reach, and especially likes phone cords and remotes.

He gets so happy when Daddy comes home from work, huge grins and happy jumps.

He adores his brother and sister, and will be lonely when school starts up again!

He isn't so fond of solid foods, just not his cup of tea - I think he will be happier to wait for finger foods, those purees do nothing but make a mess!

We are SO blessed!

Catherine, Ray, Caroline and Christopher

Well, alot has happened feeding wise in the last month - I decided it was time to start supplementing with formula- Our little man just didn't seem satisfied or happy later in the day, or in the evening, and bedtime was hard, he cried hard when going to sleep-

I started him on an evening bottle, and once we got the right nipple/bottle combo, he started going to sleep with a full belly, very little crying - stil waking to eat at night, which I am also using formula for - but here is the amazing news- he is gaining weight!

He weighed 13lbs 8oz this am - up from 12 lbs 4 oz on the 15th - 1.25 lbs in 14 days...

Think maybe the lad was hungry? I know BF is best for baby- Christopher never got anything else and was 20 lbs at 3 months- but every circumstance is different, and I am SO happy we made the decision to give him another source of nutrition-

He is nursing 2x a day right now - and the rest via bottle- and is a happy camper-

We went on a little vacation last week - back down to Napa to visit friends, to Marine world in Vallejo, and to SF, to the exploratorium and fisherman's wharf. We had a good time!

Off to Michigan in a couple weeks to take the baby to meet Ray's family- now THAT should be an experience, going on an airplane ride, I feel for our Row mate!

Just a couple pics!

Sam's 4 mo checkup, weight gain, breastfeeding, vaccines, milestones etc

So, Sam had his 4 mo checkup today-

After gagging on post nasal drip and throwing up his morning feeds and pooping- he weighed 10lbs 14.5oz- and was 23.5 in long

so he is between 5 and 10 percentile for height, moved up from 3 % at 2 months

and is just under 3% for weight, moved down a bit since 2 months-

Dr isnt worried at all - didnt tell me to switch to formula- told me i could give some rice cereal to combat the bit of reflux he gets when he is full - said if i am really concerned can pump and use human milk fortifier 1 feeding a day - or just do what i am doing and we will check him in a month-

said with his height gain he will prb gain some weight next, then height etc, it isnt even

His HC went down on the chart too, but still on the chart- but i think it is because his head was very narrow and elongated at 2 months, and is finally getting a normal shape! Plus his daddy has a small head, wears a small motorcycle helmet!

said the no gain weeks are normal at this age, not to worry

said he was very alerts, strong, and just were he needs to be developmentally

also said because i successfully BF a little porker before, she doestn think there is something intrinsically low cal about my milk(another one of my worries)

So, you all eased my mind tremendously and the Dr confirmed what you said - i told her Ive been driving my friends nuts with my concerns, lol

About vaccines- he got his first round today, HIB, polio and..something else i am not looking at the paper right now-

DTaP is delayed till 12 months because of his seizure issues early on-

and i decided to delay HepB because he is getting DTap at 12 mo anyway

I told the nurse this, and she went all into how he would then need like 7 shots at 18 months because of boosters and chicken pox etc etc blah blah- i said, np, i will delay them so he is vaccinated before school, but heb b is an adult disease anyway, and she says, no, not anymore if they fall on the playground and get scratched and someone had it etc-

i said no, look at the info sheet - sex, blood products, needle sharing etc-

It was odd how she reacted, I told her not to worry i wont ever let him get 7 shots in one visit!

So I am just gonna keeo encouraging him to eat and use the paci less, to keep my supply up, and not weigh him again until we see the Dr in a month-

He was a showoff there, kicking and smiling and just acting like life is fun, it was neat-

(PS, she confirmed both my meds play no part in anything)
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Sam and his slow weight gain

Sam is 4 months old! He is doing great, fairly happy, very busy, and truly a joy!

But he needs to gain some weight! His weight issues bother me as much as my own bother me (mine of course is the OTHER side of the scale)

He weighs 11lbs 4oz - which means he has gain 1 oz in 10 days-

If you look at his weight tracker on the side, he had 2 weeks at 4oz gain, 1 week at another, next week at 8.5, and then another week at nothing - so I thought this week he would pack some on, but it doesn't seem to be the case-

The week he gained the 8oz, I took away the paci all together, and fed fed fed him all day long - he was very full, did alot of hickuping but gained weight-

He eats every 3 hours at least, and has been up 2-3 times a night to feed - I just don't know what is going on, other than my milk isnt high enough calorie for him.

I am on blood pressure med(procardia) and thyroid med(levothyroxin) and am wondering if these might be effecting things - he has his 4 month checkup tomorrow, and I am going to discuss it with the Dr -

Here is a pic taken on his 4 mo bday!

Sam and the Duck

Sam is so fun right now, he is very black and white, either happy or mad...and these pics demonstrate that...look at the duck on his arm...

 

Here is Sam playing...

I am really enjoying my new camera!

Sam is talking to Daddy...

Sam is 3 months old today, will post more later- but wanted to let you all see him talking to daddy, sorry for the quality of the video, it was very dark in the room, but it is the sound that counts here!

Sammy sure adores his big brother...

Christopher has been off school(he is in a year round school) and the boys have had some AWESOME bonding time- look at these pics, Sam is looking up to his big bro...

a smile!

Finally a smile on film! but then the batteries went dead in the camera...but we got 1!

Sammy's new friend...

Sammy is about 2.5 months now, almost 10 lbs, and just a joy! He is dishing out the smiles a bit easier these days too, which is SO fun.

He loves his Sissy and Brother, and they spoil his with kisses and love all day too, it is very cute!

Ray and I feel SO blessed to have this little miracle in our lives!

Here are a couple pics of Samuel with his new friend, Captain Hook - it is really funny how he will coo at him, i may need to find another toy too, this one is pretty silly looking to carry around in a diaper bag!

My 2 boys...

Pics with the bear...

These 2 below are at 1 month old





These are at 8 weeks - he looks like he is saying he can growl like a bear!



It is so hard to get pcs without red eye, any suggestions on a good digital camera?

Here is when he was done, tried to get some pics with the little beanie baby bear...

A few new pics-

Ok, back to our normal blogging!

We have choosen a bedding set, whew...that was compicated, lol. The reason you saw them all here on the blog is so my mom and Ray could see them as i was looking, and the winner is....

Pirates Cove! The last one posted, evidentally the guys at Ray's work had some input too, and the Pirates set was a hands down winner...

It will be a cute room, the crib is together, the dresser has to be assembled (that will be FUN!) the bedding is ordered... I am going to have Sammy start napping in his room this week, he still wakes 1-3 times at night to eat, so night time will come in a couple months probably...

If you have noticed the side bar, Sam weighs over 8 lbs now!

Will we will have some new pictures posted this week :-)

Catherine

Can we say HUNGRY?

Sam weighed 6lbs 15 oz Monday, and 7lbs 3.5 oz today, no wonder he is nursing round the clock non stop!

Or this??

Click on the picture to make it bigger- that border is red check, not pink right?

Or this one?

How do you like this bedding?

As you may remember, we didn't do much as far as buying stuff before Sammy was born, so are just now getting his room together-

Nana and Papa bought him his crib, and his dresser will be arriving soon...so it is time to start decorating!

How do you like this bedding?

6lbs 9 oz today, at 1 month 1 day :-)