Reed's newest trick

Just this past Thursday night Josh and I were getting Reed ready for bed and he started holding his feet. He has been putting them up in the air for a while, but this was the first time that he had grabbed them. The next morning he started doing it again so I ran to grabbed the camera to document. Then I decided to put him in the chair and take a few cute pictures since he was in such a good mood and he decided to keep holding his feet even while sitting up! :) Please notice all the hair he is getting! I can't get enough of this little boy....love him to pieces!

Excuse the no pants we were having a relaxing day at home in just a onesie!

Concentration!!

Look at that thigh...my little chucky monkey!

Both feet and a smile!!

Deacon's Birthday

Reed attended his first birthday party a couple of weekends ago. I can't believe Deacon is already 1! It was so much fun seeing all the kiddos together!

Birthday Boy!!

I think he got a little help from Dad on this one!

Cake face! :)

Reed and Owen playing with the balloons!

Owen smiling for the camera!

Pretty Amelia!

Okay, so I know the next few pictures are exactly the same, but I couldn't download just one. They are hilarious! All the kiddos are looking at their parents like we are crazy! Reed is smiling in a couple of them, but my favorite part by far is Amelia tugging on her boyfriend Owen, who is completely ignoring her! :)

Sippy Cup

Well if you read the previous post you know Reed had been having a few dirty diaper issues! So after calling the doctor they recommended giving him juice to help move things along. One afternoon I gave Reed a sippy cup with some diluted juice in it and he grabbed it with both hands played with it in his mouth for a little while and then just drank it down like he had been doing it all his life. I was totally amazed! I was holding him at the time so I took these pictures with my phone.

What is this??

This isn't milk...

He looks so big....I can't believe my 4 month old is drinking from a sippy cup!

Eating Cereal

Well we decided to give Reed cereal for the first time on August 19th (Reed was 1 day shy of 19 weeks)! We had several days with Reed where Josh and I kept asking each other, "Do you think he needs more food?" He just didn't seem satisfied (read the previous post for more on this). So finally one night I gave in, I say this because I really wanted to try to wait until 6 months to start solid foods. The book I have been reading (Super Baby Food) and our pediatrician recommended waiting, but I knew it was okay to start at 4 months and wanted to try to go off Reed's needs and not wait just because that's what I wanted. Reed loved every minute of the cereal and did great (way better than I expected) with the spoon! By the end he was whining for more between bites.

The cereal didn't seem to help him sleep better, but we have continued to give it to him every night. He seems to love it and if anything it is helping him get ready for more foods to come. Reed gets better at eating every day. I mix cereal with 1 oz of breast milk and he gobbles it down in less than 5 minutes.

1st Bite

Mmm...good!

What is this stuff??

Faster please...

Why are you taking pictures??

Happy Boy!!

Back on Track...

Reed is now 21 weeks old, we just can't believe how big he is getting! By the way, when does a Mom stop counting weeks?? Well, I decided to write this post to document one of the things I have found much harder about being a parent than I ever imagined. Weeks 18 and 19 of Reed's little life has been thus far the most trying time for me. I found myself literally every day saying, "What should I do!" or "What is wrong with him!" We have been overly blessed with a very healthy and happy baby. However, a couple of weeks ago Reed was much more fussy than normal and especially at bedtime. It was all we could do to get to 8 o'clock without a total meltdown. Then he started crying out when I would try to nurse him. He was doing this at almost every single feeding, to the point that we were both in tears. It was like he was crying for a bottle, it was heartbreaking for me. He also started waking up more during the night, the pacifier would normally get him back to sleep, but a couple of nights I was up every hour putting the pacifier in and one night I even had to feed him in the middle of the night and that hadn't happen in over a month. On top of the fussiness and not sleeping good, Reed was going up to 6 days without a poopy diaper, this started right before he turned 4 months old. All this and Reed started fighting sleep at nap time like I have never seen before, it would take an hour to get him asleep and then by the time you got him to sleep it was time to eat again and this just created more crying! Ugh, are you getting my drift...not fun! I just never imagined I would be at such a loss on what to do to make my child better. I didn't know if he had an ear infection and maybe that is why he wasn't nursing. I thought maybe he needed more to eat and I should be starting him on solid foods. So finally after a night of being up 4 times putting the pacifier back in I decided to try feeding Reed cereal before bedtime. Then that night was one of the worse yet, it didn't help at all he was up almost every hour.



I just kept pressing through telling myself it has to get better! We learned after the late afternoon feeding to get Reed to take a nap before bedtime and this helped him not be so fussy. I did a lot of reading on breastfeeding and learned several techniques that have seemed to help with feeding time. We also let Reed cry it out a couple of times when he woke up for his pacifier and now he is only waking up maybe once or twice a week for it and not until around 4 am. I am so happy to say that the last week as been the BEST week ever. Reed has been SO happy, eating great, sleeping great, having plenty of dirty diapers and even the napping is better. The last four days I have been home with him he has taken a 2 1/2 hour morning nap, a couple of 30-40 minute naps during the day and hour to hour and half afternoon nap. He is growing up so fast, learning more and doing something new every day and just such a joy to be around.



I have been told over and over, as soon as you think you have them figured out or as soon as you think you have them on a schedule it changes. This is SO true and easier said than understood, especially when you are living it every day! But I am happy to say we are back on track for now!

4 Months Old

Reed was 4 months old on August 9th! Two weeks late on posting, but I did take these pictures and jot a few things down on the 9th about what he has been up to this month. He is getting so big and cuter every day! At his 4 month check-up he weighed 16 lbs 7 oz (80th percentile), 25 1/2 inches long (75%) and his head was 16 1/4 cm (35%). The doctor said he looks great and his a healthy little boy!

I could stare at this smile all day!

He is getting so big! He looks all grow up in his little jeans!

Squirmy worm, can't sit still!

Give me that camera!

He has found his thumb! He just did this for the first time last week. He has always tucked his thumb under his fingers.

So sweet! I LOVE his big BLUE eyes and long eyelashes! I never dreamed I would get my blue eyed baby I always dreamed about with all the brown eyes in both our families!

This little 1 month old has grown up and perfected that little smile! Wow, he has changed so much! Why do they have to grow up so fast?

What Reed is up to at 4 months.....

• Still wearing 3 to 6 month clothes
• Still wearing size 2 diapers
• Still nursing/eating 5 to 6 times a day, every 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Every once in a while he will go 4 hours, but it is usually when we are out and about and he is asleep in the car or stroller or distracted by everything going on around him.
• Still loves his playmat! Reed loves to look at himself in the mirror that hangs above him on the mat. I say all the time, "What would we do without that mirror!"
• We also got the jumperoo out this month, his feet barely touch the ground but he likes it a lot and will play in it for quite a while.
• Starting to reach more and more for things
• Can hold toys really well now and everything goes straight to his mouth
• Still chewing on his fists like crazy, this creates an enormous amount of drool everywhere.
• For the last week or so Reed as been going to bed between 8 and 8:30. He still doesn't nap a whole lot during the day, so by 8 o'clock he is so tired. He sleeps until around 7. The days that I go to work (I work 3 days in the office and 2 from home...more on that later) I have to wake him up at 7 to feed him. On the days that I am home he is normally up by 7:30, but he has slept in a few times past 8 o'clock.
• Loves being on the go! I always say Reed is like a different baby when we are out of the house. Don't get me wrong he has always been a great baby, but when we are out he never fusses, smiles and everyone and is always so happy.
• Loves to watch tv. We have caught him looking around us sometimes to look at the tv.
• Still not rolling over! He gets so far over on his side, but he will not roll over! He will also get himself turned completely around, just not over!
• Pulling his head up when he is laying on his back. Anytime you put him in his carseat, lay him on his boppy or flat in your lap he will pull himself up as far as he can, like he doesn't like laying down. He would always rather be seating up. Sometimes he will get himself sitting straight up in his boppy by himself. I can't put him in is bouncy seat anymore because it doesn't allow him to sit up enough to his liking and he throws himself forward so far he can't lean back.
• His hair is starting to grow back in slowly but surely! I think it is a little lighter too.

No more hair :(

You have probably noticed from the recent pictures that Reed's hair as slowly all fallen out. He had so much hair when he was born we couldn't believe how much he had. Around 11 to 12 weeks old we started noticing that it was starting to thin and within 2-3 weeks it was all gone. He kept it for so long I was starting to think he might not lose it, but I was wrong. We still think he is as cute as ever, but he is definitely going through an awkward hair stage! :)

Hard to believe it use to all be as thick as the bottom half

Can you see the slight red mark in the middle of his neck? Ihave the same birth mark on my neck.

Look at all that hair!! He was 8 days old here.