5 Months

5 months already?!?!? I feel like I just did his 4 month post. Every month he changes so much! Keaton is developing quite the personality...loves to smile and "talk" to everyone and anyone. My little man is not so little any more. He is now doing the following:

- Grabbing his feet every chance he can get

- Eating cereal every morning (barley, oatmeal or rice) and doing awesome with eating off a spoon

- Rolling over constantly (although he seems to forget how to roll from belly to back and gets stuck)

- Moved up to size 3 diapers and size 6-9 months clothes

- Holding his bottle (with minimal assistance)

Some things that he is doing that is not so fun....

- Now that he wants to roll over on his belly all the time he is starting to do this at night. Once he gets to his belly he doesn't want to be there and since he seems to forget how to roll back he wakes up SCREAMING! I try to run over and roll him back over before he gets too worked up but it never works. He is screaming his head off and won't stop. All the shhhhing and patting (without picking him up) does squat!!!! You have to pick him up to calm down. He is waking up screaming now (because he is on his belly) around 9:30pm, 12:30am and 4:00am EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT and taking about 20-30 minutes to calm him down each time! UGH! I miss my baby that only wakes up once a night (not screaming either), even sleeping through the night, to eat quick and goes right back down. I sure hope this passes soon!!!! It may be some teething issues too, I'm not sure.

- Naps!!! UGH...these are frustrating and I'm at my wits end with them. I am happy to have him on a consistent nap schedule (8am, 12:30pm (small cat nap) and 3:30pm) but he will not do the crib or any other place other than in my arms! This means I spend about 4 hours a day up in the nursery sitting in the rocking chair holding him to sleep. Every day around his nap times, I take him upstairs, turn off the lights, turn on his lullaby music and "dance" around the room with him until he gets drowsy and sometimes attempt the crib but most of the time I just sit down with him and let him nap to avoid Screamfest 2009. He knows the routine though...as soon as I walk into the room and put that music on he starts calming down to sleep (with little fussing). I guess I have some progress there but I plan to work on the next phase after Christmas to not stress myself out too much. So I will continue to sit in his room with him for about 4 hours of my day until I work on the next phase. It does force me to relax and maybe get a couple minutes of shut eye. I play games on my blackberry if I'm not relaxing. Oh, the things us mothers do for our children!!!! If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!

Other than that...he is a very happy boy and he makes us smile every day!!! Below are some pics of my little guy. Enjoy!

Stress and Worry

I can't remember a day when I felt completely relaxed and stress-free...those days remain back in my childhood. I am a constant worry wort that can NEVER shut my brain off even for one second. I spend countless hours thinking about anything and everything that I have this constant knot in my stomach. So you can only imagine how much WORSE it has gotten for me after having a baby.

I can't stop researching and asking people about my parenting skills wondering if I am doing something wrong. I spend hours after Keaton goes to bed reading and looking up information about sleeping through the night, napping in crib, eating solids, milestones, you name it! I can't seem to get this thought out of my head that I am doing something wrong with raising my son. People can tell me a hundred times that I am doing a great job but I have a hard time believing it. I hate that I am this way because I really think I am missing out on the enjoyment of being a parent. Don't get me wrong...I love being a parent and watching Keaton grow everyday is such a blessing but I struggle everyday to relax! I am so worried that I ask myself things like...Will Keaton stay on his schedule today?, Will he take 2 naps today? Will he nap longer than 1 hour? Will he take all his bottle? What if he cries when we go to the mall?. I stress when I have to leave him with Erik for a couple hours so I end up texting him the whole time to check up. I trust that Erik can take care of things, I just worry that something will happen or Erik won't do something quite the way I like to do things, etc. Why do I feel this way all the time?

Let's take Keaton's napping issues...I worry myself to death about how I am "training" him to nap. I sit and read all these different sleep training techniques that my head is about to explode. Every "expert" has a different opinion and it makes a new mom go crazy with confusion. I can't stop worrying about this!!!! I'm trying so hard to be happy that I am being consistent with my abilities and that one day everything will just fall into place. This napping issue is just ONE thing that I stress about on a daily basis.

I knew that this parenting adventure was not going to be easy but wow, I am beyond stressed! I just want everything I do to be perfect for my son and I am sacrificing my happiness for him. I know that this is not healthy but I can't seem to lose this knot in my stomach and this constant nervous feeling that I have. Hopefully someday soon I will learn to relax and believe in my abilities but this is something I have struggled with my entire adult life.

My Little Reindeer!

It's been one year...

My boy today!

(November 21, 2009)

And one year ago, I woke up to this...

(November 21, 2008)

The start of solids...

Yesterday was Keaton's 4-month check-up (and shots). He was such a good boy laughing and smiling at the doctor...until shot time! His big smile quickly turned into a Mr. Sad Face and he started screaming!!! My poor boy!!! It didn't last long and he was calm by the time we left the doctors office. He did a lot of sleeping the rest of the day and was a little extra fussy in the evening time. Doctor was very pleased with his weight gain and he was so happy to show her all of his developmental milestones right on the examining table. He was trying to roll over the whole time, grabbing for her examining instruments, and following her around the room with his eyes. She was so happy to see such an advanced little 4-month old. Erik is also happy to see that Keaton seems to have mommy's height (as of right now) and measuring 26 inches...that is up 4 inches since his last appt. He is above average for both weight and height. Keaton is becoming a big boy!

We got the go ahead to start Keaton on some solids so this morning we started him with a little rice cereal. He didn't do too bad and seems to like the change. We are in no rush to start him on all kinds of other foods so we will stick to the cereals for awhile. It's so cute to watch him try to eat off a spoon and amazing to watch him learn something that we take for granted each and every day. I didn't realize that the high chair we got has different reclining positions so you can use it at an earlier age...I was excited to discover this. I can't believe my little man is growing up so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was bringing him home from the hospital and now he is sitting in a high chair eating rice cereal from a spoon. Erik and I are trying to enjoy every minute with him because in a blink of an eye he will be all grown up.

First time in the high chair having some rice cereal

"Come on mom, enough with the pictures...just feed me!"

And this one was just too cute not to post...excited for his afternoon walk

4 Months

Today my little man is 4 months old!!! Time is flying and he is changing so much everyday. I love to just watch him grow and explore new things each and everyday.

Now that he is hitting the 4 month stage, it's time to start some sleep training. Right now he is doing pretty good with bedtime. We stick to a strict bedtime routine starting at 7:30pm. We give him a bath first, followed by a lotion massage, we then put his pajamas on, turn off the lights and give him a bottle and rock him until he gets drowsy....put him in his crib, turn on his raindrop sounds and his is out within a matter of minutes. He will usually sleep a good 5-7 hours before he needs to get up for a quick snack. I feed him and put him back in the crib and he will sleep until 6-7am. Occasionally he will play around in the crib for 15 minutes or so when I put him back down in the middle of the night but he does put himself to sleep without any crying. Overall I am very happy with how he is sleeping...eventually we will try to wean that middle of the night feeding when he is ready.

Now, napping during the day is a whole different story. I can't seem to get Keaton to sleep in his crib during the day. He will only nap in his swing, car seat or on me. I keep trying the crib but he screams bloody murder every time. I think I need to change up my strategy and how I go about getting him to go down without a struggle. Right now when I see that he is getting sleepy, I will pick him up and rock with him until he gets drowsy but that is always a fight...he screams for a couple minutes until he calms himself down to get sleepy. I put him in his swing and he will usually sleep for 1-2 hours (sometimes more). I bought "the no cry sleep solution" and "no cry nap solution" books by Elizabeth Pantley and plan to use some of her techniques in getting him to nap better and to nap in the crib. I hope it all works out soon but WOW, those books have so much information in them that it is so much to process. It all seems so complicated! I didn't know it took this much "training" to get a baby to sleep properly...it sure opened my eyes! For you ladies out there that have a baby that sleeps at night and naps great during the day without doing any type of training or routine...YOU ARE LUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, over the last month, Keaton has done the following:

• Rolled over belly to back (he now can do both ways)
• Blows bubbles constantly and drools constantly
• Giggles and laughs
• Constantly grabbing on to things and bringing it to his mouth (bib, bottle, toys, my shirt, everything)
• Sitting up VERY well and wants to do it all the time (still obviously needs assistance but he is doing awesome)
• Graduated to size 6 months clothes (Carters)
• Talks (baby talk) ALL THE TIME...he is going to be just like daddy

Keaton loves walks!!!