Pages

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Alexander - 6 months







Stats:

Weight: 16 pounds

Height: Not sure – he has a check-up next week

His likes/dislikes:

He loves being around people, and especially staring at his big brother (he’s mesmerised). He dislikes waiting for his milk (even a tenth of a second!)

His typical day:

Around 4 months he stopped sleeping through the night and for the past several weeks he’s been up every hour or two at night. Last night was the first time he slept for 5 hours in a row. I miss the early days when he slept! He usually gets up for a feed around 6:30 then sleeps until 10, up until 11:30ish then naps for an hour or so and takes another nap around 2-3. When Hudson is home, I try hard to plan his nap around Hudson’s. He still loves the pram (and surprisingly is still in the bassinet one). He rolled over around 5 months (back to tummy), but still isn’t sitting. He loves grabbing the balls out of his swing and enjoys the playmat now. He’s a louder, happier baby than Hudson was (he’s doing a high pitch scream as I type because he’s trying to get his balls out of the swing). I love how they each have their own personalities.

We started solids a bit before 6 months on the advice of the maternal nurse, and he’s taken to it like a champion. He loves to eat and opens his mouth up huge and yells if you’re not fast enough. So far he’s had a taste of watermelon (first food), steal cut oatmeal, avocado, pumpkin, carrot, banana.

His adventures:

We had 2 months of torture with breastfeeding and realised he needed to have a laser treatment on his upper lip, which we did when he was 5 months old. It made a huge difference and now feeding is completely pain free. However, we are a bit worried about the weight he’s putting on – he’s gone from the 75% at 2 mons, 50% at 4 mons and 25% at 5.5 months. We have a check-up next week, so hopefully he’s put on a bit. He’s taken a few bottles, which is good! I realised I’ve only been away from him for around 6 hours altogether over the past 6 months.

We had our first beach trip, and it worked out great. Hudson loved the water, but Alexander stayed in the baby bjorne.

Official Nicknames:

I think we’ve decided that Xander will be his nickname – it was either that or AJ as I don’t particularly care for Alex. We call him all kinds of names – Xan, Xansibar (like the island Zanzibar), Xanny, and sometimes Xander the Salamander.

Thoughts on the past few months: 

It’s been so much fun. I was surprised by how easy the transition to two has been, although you do feel a bit like a single parent to the second because dad is so occupied with work and the first. I love watching Hudson with Xander – he’s so sweet!


















Off to clean the house that is never clean,

B

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Alexander - 2 months








stats:

Weight: 14 pounds

Height: 61 centimeters

His likes/dislikes:

He loves it when you tickle his mouth, and loves going for walks (whether that be in the pram or in dad’s arms walking around the house)
He still dislikes getting a bath.

His typical day:

His routine is still not set yet, but the boy loves to sleep (and I love him for it!). We’ve been getting solid 7-9 hours for a few weeks now and most days he has a big nap (although some days he just catnaps). The other day he catnapped in the morning, napped from 2-6pm, slept from 8:30-6:30, woke up for a feed then back to bed until 9:30. It was amazing!
He’s an incredibly happy baby who rarely cries. We spend a lot of time in the pram walking around town and checking out the park.
He’s having both sides now for most of his feeds. I’m doing on demand so he gets it whenever he wants. Sometimes he cluster feeds in the early evenings.

His adventures:

We tried a bottle for the first time (6wks) and it didn’t go well. It’s winter so we haven’t gotten up to much – lots of walks, café visits, couch cuddles. Looking forward to warmer weather! His neck is super strong and he's a pro at tummy time (at least for a few minutes at a time).

Thoughts on the last month: 
I am falling more in love each day. I never understood when parents said they love their kids for different reasons, but it makes sense now. Alexander is so different from Hudson already. Alexander is our happy baby and Hudson is our sweet and sensitive one. And both are so incredibly great – we’re very blessed.
We are still trying out different nicknames for Alexander. We don’t like Alex, and mostly call him Alexander but we’re also trying out Xander or AJ. Time will tell which will stick ;)

Off to bed at 9:15 on a Saturday (party animal!),
B

Friday, July 29, 2016

Day in the life - Just Alexander (6wks)

On Mondays and Wednesdays, Hudson heads off to daycare while me and Alexander get to spend some one-on-one bonding time together (and, lets be real, I get a break!).

2:30 am - Alexander is up for a feed. He's a quick eater and usually goes right back down. He knows the way to momma's heart is sleep. We're back down by 2:45ish

6:10am - Alexander is up for another feed. I feed him and he's back to sleep. I get up to talk to the Hubs and get Hudson ready for daycare.

7:20am - The boys are off with breakfast to go. Today was avocado on toast. I head back to bed (don't judge!)

9:15am - Alexander is up for a feed. Lately he's been sleeping until past 10 so this is a bit early, but still a good sleep-in. He eats and then we spend some time just looking around the room contently (I do a little facebooking and eat a Cliff Bar).

10:30ish - We head for a walk into town, and stop at the local cafe. He sleeps while I read and enjoy a green tea and scone.

11:30 - Walk over to the health food store - pick up nutritional yeast, steel cut oats, organic apples, and brazil nuts.

12pm - Walk around the oval a few times in bipolar weather (repeating a cycle of nice one minute and raining the next)

1pm - Get home and feed Alexander. He's snoozing on me while I contemplate what to eat next and begin this blog post.

2-3:15pm - Make an Acai smoothie, small arm workout, make the beds.

3:15pm - Alexander is up. Time for another walk. This time to the post office and grocery shopping.

5:00pm - Last week the trash truck left behind half of the trash in the can, so I gained some major wife points (at least I better have!) by rearranging the trash so hopefully it all comes out this week (so incredibly disgusting).

5:15pm - Alexander is still passed out (pram rides knock him out). I grabbed a few cookies and start dinner - roasted sweet potato that will be covered in a veggie bolognese sauce with broccoli and peas on the side. First time trying it, so we'll see if it's okay.

6:00pm - Hudson and I eat dinner. I wear Alexander in the baby borne to keep him happy. Hudson loves it and finishes it all.

7:00pm - Dad is home (hip, hip, hooray!) He eats his dinner while we ask him a million questions about his day. Hudson sits on his lap and steals his food. Then he takes over with the boys while I clean up.

8:00pm - Time for Hudson to go to bed. Dad usually does the teeth brushing, book reading and bedtime cuddling. I try to entertain Xander. He gets a bit cranky in the evenings (lots of on and off the boob!)

9:00 pm - Dad is busy at work so he logs on to do some emails while I watch some tv and continue to entertain Alexander.

10:00pm - Dad takes Alexander for a few laps around the house, then back to the emails.

10:30pm - One last feed for Alexander.

11:00pm - Bedtime!

Off to enjoy some rare both kids sleeping time,

B

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Alexander - 1 month


His stats:

Weight: 11.4 pounds

Height: 56 centimeters

His likes/dislikes:

He loves sleeping on your chest, staring at the shutters, pram walks, and eating. He is the loudest eater ever and it makes it laugh all the time.

He dislikes getting a bath and being put down (ha!)

His typical day:

He's not in a solid routine yet, but most days he's eating 8-10 times per day - mostly feeding on one side each time for 5-10mins but sometimes he wants both. He is starting to sleep one long stretch at night around 4 hours and then the second one is short - 2-3 hours. He naps on pram walks, and we go for at least one each day (usually into town for grocery shopping and going to the park). His bedtime is often around 11pm and sometimes he's a bit restless between 8-11. He naps a few times a day but no definite times (he would nap all day if he's on your chest).

His adventures:

We are out and about much more, and started earlier with Alexander, than we were with Hudson (perks of being the second born and having parents who have more confidence and know what they are doing, at least more than they did). We put in a lot of face time at the local cafe and parks.

He had his first photo shoot at 8 days old, and we're looking forward to getting the photos from the photographer soon. He peed everywhere, but I'm hopeful we'll have some good photos.

Thoughts on the last few month: 

The transition to a family of 4 has been easier than I thought it would be. It helps that Xander is a better eater and sleeper than Hudson was. He's a pretty relaxed newbie. If he's crying it's usually because he's hungry or wants a nappy change. Hudson is an incredible big brother who has not shown one teeny, tiny ounce of jealousy (despite Xander getting all the gifts and taking all his old baby stuff). He's a huge help and shows so much love towards Alexander. He loves to hold him and is concerned whenever he cries (he's usually bossing me around telling me Alexander wants some milk). I love hearing him say Alexander's name, and I look forward to watching their friendship grow.