Well, Alex has hid first sickness. Shortly after I wrote last time, Chloe got my cold…and what a cold it was…fever and all. it turned into an ear infection. Well poor Alex caught this nasty cold too, except it turned into Bronchitis for him!! I had to bring him in two weeks ago because he was wheezing. The Doctor ( Dr Macbeth …Dr Stevens was sick) suggested we use a Nebuliser to help with his breething. We had to buy one for him. It was very tricky to use, he would completely fight it if he was awake. But it did seem to help alittle. Even with this though he would wake up at least once a night with a coughing fit…none worst than the night before I brought him in where we had to bring him to the bathroom to make him stop coughing. BUT, now it is all gone and BOY What a difference!!!
He has been sleeping 10 hours straight without a peep now for 4 consecutive nights from about 9:30- 7:30…2 times to 8 am! RIGHT before he got sick he started to do better sleepwise aswell. He had actually found his thumb and started to put himself to sleep. (I think this might have in part been a result of trying to reduce his use of the pacifier, for 3 days I hardly gave it to him…and this was NOT an easy task!! I Slowly started to give it back to him and then one night he found his thumb…it was wonderful!). Anyway, had he not gotten sick, I think he would have been like this much sooner.
We also let him fall too sleep on his own. Our night routine is bath, then a little play, then bottle, then I bring him upstairs, put him in his sleep sack, rock him and sing abotu 3 songs then put him down, rub his head and tell him it’s time for Dodo adn turn on the aqurium. Sometimes he starts to cry right away…and then I have to just let him do his thing. Eventually, about 5 mins later he finds his thumb and falls asleep. I no longer hive him his pacifier at night. I noticed though that if I put him down closer to 9pm and he is less tired, he doesn’t really cry. I think the longer I wait the more he has a tough time falling asleep. I will have to keep working on that. Over all though, he is doing amazingly well.
After he wakes up in the morning he normally plays in bed for about 30-45 mins. Depends how late he wakes up. the closer to 8am he wakes up the less patience he has since he wants his bottle. he normally eats at 8am. THen usually 2 hours later he is dead tired again and goes for a short nap, then again around 11am he seems to want to sleep again…whcih is odd because it is not long after his first nap. THen he usualy has his second bottle around noon. THen aroud 1:30pm, I try to put him down at the same time as Chloe. This doesn’t always work out…depends on how long he slept in the morning. Today for example did amazing. He went down around 1:45pm and did not wake up until 4pm. He started to really cry only once and I gave him his pacifier ( I sometimes have to do taht 3 or 4 times) and he slept till 3:30….and let out a few crys but consoled himself and then really woke up at 4pm. Normally though, he has his 3rd bottle around 3:30pm, then another around 6:30 then finally at 9pm. we give him his bath around 8:00pm. He sometimes goes for a short nap between 7:30 and 9pm, but we try to stretch him now so he will go down by around 9pm and wake up later.
We went to Karate only once the last month. It actually had gone well, but then I got sick, Chloe got sick and then Alex got sick!!! So we are going to wait until the New Year to try again.
Alex is moving around much more. In the morning we find him turned all the way around in his bed. He actually turned himself over once tonight while he was playing. He is able to hold his head quite nicely when lieing on his stomach, but doesn’t like to do it for long. He seems to enjoy this more than Chloe did. He is getting very good at putting things in his mouth. Especially his bibs. He droooooools like crazy too. We have to change his bibs like 5 -7 times a day otherwise he soaks his Pj’s. He loves to stand up and jump up and down…so ofcourse his favorite places now are the Saucer and the jolly jumper which he enjoys alot. He does’nt stay for long in either, but loves every minute of it. He is making some progress sitting up, but still shoots back within seconds. We need to make him practice a little more.He spends probably too much tim standing rather than sitting. We still use the bouncy chair alot. That is where he sits when we eat dinner or breakfast together. He still LOVES his bath and actually started taking some of them in the big tub with Chloe!! she loves it and poors water on him. He likes it too I think.
We changed formulas to ELecare. Since then his poops have been more frequent and a better texture. We also changed to a slower nipple and he is doing so much better now. He hardly ever spits up now and his nose seems to be doing better aswell. He still has excema…comes and goes. IT is still right there though…if for some reason you forget to cream him or we do not keep the place humid enough it will come back really red.
We are busy getting ready for the holidays. I cannot wait for the whole family to see him again. He has changed so much. I am happy he is sleeping good nights now too. It’s perfect timing.
Alex is just a joy. He Coos like crazy and started to make noices like he is Chew bakka in Star Wars!! It is soooo funny. It’s like a gargling sound. He does it over and over again when he is happy. I will have to try to get it on tape.
Well it’s late…need some sleep!!
We love you ALex!!
Love Mom