Townsie is a little over 4.5 months and here's a little about him these past few weeks!
GROWTH
- Weighs 14 lbs 11 oz & is 25" long
- Still rocking the dark brown eyes!
- His skin is still super dry [and we actually made a special trip back to the doctor for an eczema flare up all over his body] and his scalp still has cradle cap. We have been lathering him up with cortisone per the ped's advice and then covering that with vaseline. His skin seems very sensitive and randomly gets red and bumpy out of the blue. We wash his belongings in Tide free and clear and haven't changed anything but his little body has flare ups a lot.
- He fits comfortably in 3-6 month clothing and size 2 diapers.
LOVES
- Being held
- Sitting [straight!] up
- Playing with his toys
- Smiling and cooing
- Being with his favorite people and is starting to have distinct preferences
FIRSTS
- Rolled from back to belly, but got mad doing it! [first week of February]
- Slept over 8 hours last week [first week of February]
EATING
- Breastfeeding is still going well and he eats on demand. While he's away from me when I'm at work he takes about 3-6 oz. per bottle/twice in an 8 hour period. He's still not a comfort nurser, but if he gets tired and we're out, he most likely will fall asleep! We're waiting to start him on solids because we are contemplating doing Baby Led Weaning. I don't know if I'm up for it, but we shall see. I think, if we decide to do it, we're going to wait until the first week of March or so, when Townsie is over 5 months.
SLEEP
- Oh man, sleep! Such a conundrum. The best word to describe his sleep is that it is consistently INCONSISTENT. I, like a glutton for punishment, track his sleep and wakeup times and they are all over the place. No patterns.
- Some nights he has three wake ups and some nights he has one. Some nights he'll sleep 5-7 hours for his first stretch and other nights he barely makes it two.
- We've started letting him CIO when putting him down for the evening and he rarely ever even cries. I was hoping that would help him figure out how to soothe himself back to sleep during the night but it hasn't really done that. I don't mind waking up, I truly don't, but the on-the-clock every 1-2 hour wakeups [especially during the holidays--yay--ugh!] were killing me.
- Per the doctor's advice, I feed him around 30 minutes before bed so he goes to sleep used to not having a super full belly. I think this may be helping him.
- I have noticed that he is going down better and for longer stretches during the night than he used to.
- He is in a sleep sack and uses his lovie and hands to attempt to self soothe.
NAPS
- Oh man, naps! Haha. We definitley didn't want to have him CIO for naps but rocking him and nursing him to sleep were habits we didn't want to maintain [plus--they weren't even working]. We value sleep for him and want him to be able to get rest.
- He goes down fairly simple for us [cries or fusses for ~10 minutes] and then usually sleeps around 45 minutes. He can't figure out how to get past that first sleep cycle and I'm hoping he gets it soon. At my mother and father in law's he seems to have longer naps and better success--I wish I knew the secret!
- He's never taken a nap longer than 1.5 hours in the crib for me, but has taken over 2 hour naps in the pack n' play for my mother in law. Who knows!
HEALTH
- Still battling the sensitive skin issue--I just want him to have baby soft skin always and some days that just isn't the case. It can literally go from hour to hour on how it is. So weird. I'm hoping it gets better every day!
- At his 4 month appointment the doctor noticed that he had a flat spot on the right side of his head. She was concerned because she didn't usually see that type of flat spot on the front but more-so on the back. She referred Townes to a plastic surgeon and said she was concerned he may need surgery if his skull sutures were fused. Cue mom freak out. Less of a freak out was for the possible helmet. Say what? A helmet? I thought I had done everything 'right' to avoid one. Of course I felt responsible. I was hard on myself because I thought I had made sure he wouldn't get a flat spot by not letting him use the rock n' play & only let him sleep in the swing for naps AND only for a few weeks! Mommy guilt is so strong sometimes.
- The surgeon wasn't convinced he needed a helmet and was confident that his sutures hadn't fused. We wouldn't need the surgery [thankfully!] but we did get a referral for a physical therapist. She evaluated him last week, he'll be going weekly for an undetermined amount of time, and will be working on correcting his torticollis [or weak neck muscles]. She said he probably developed them in the womb [which made me feel less at fault--I know, silly, but true] and said that the therapy would help him to loosen up and favor his left side like he does his right side.
- The physical therapist wasn't convinced he needed the helmet unless we just wanted him to have a perfectly round head. She said the flat spot would not probably go away per se, but with his head growth and hair growth it wouldn't be all that noticeable. We decided to forego the helmet especially since it is really only noticeable from looking down if standing over his head, which likely won't happen as he ages.
I don't know about you...but he looks pretty perfect to me. ;-)
Social/Playing
- Townes is such a smiley baby and overall pretty content [unless you're trying to nap him-haha!]
- He loves reaching out for toys of all kinds and does a silent giggle here and there
- He finally has actually tolerated his carseat well and doesn't cry when you put him in it and sometimes even coos during the ride! Success!
- We're working hard on tummy time to strengthen those neck muscles and he actually prefers that to being on his back
PARENTING
- Overall my anxiety has lessened as sleep has gotten better. Townes being so happy during awake time makes me such a happier momma! I love that Dave and I tag-team everything without even having to remind one another. He's the best partner, husband, and father I could have ever dreamt of having. The week days fly by and the weekends seem so long--especially being awake so early with two little ones. We try to get out a lot so that we keep Theron entertained and keep the days moving! When Townes struggles with napping [i.e. almost every weekend!] it's vital to keep us busy to not dwell on the next nap--haha.
- I'm loving Townsie in this smiley stage and am getting really excited for the sitting up unassisted stage and riding in carts stage.
We love you, Townsie! Thanks for bringing so much to our little world.
xo
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