Liam is 20 Weeks

This week was pretty good.  It seems we are getting into somewhat a routine.  Liam has started to hold his bottle while he eats.  He can’t hold it up the whole time, but he’s getting close.  His motor skills just keep getting finer and sharper each week.  He is also really quick with his hands.  He will grab something nearby before we even know it. He is also getting really strong.  While at a friend of mines house, we had him lying on the floor on his back.  There were some toys behind him, and as he was trying to see them, he nearly rolled over!  On Friday I took him to the petting zoo with a friend of mine and her family.  You can read about that adventure and see pictures here>>

http://4fayz.blogspot.com/2008/04/adventures-with-liam-part-1.html

Liam is 19 Weeks

Liam is growing so fast, I can barely keep up with him. I ended up supplementing with a couple bottles of formula this week since he was too tired to nurse, and I did not have any available pumped milk to spare. Thankfully, by the end of the week, I was able to catch up a little. We saw some neighbors at a meeting from our old neighborhood, and he was almost the same size as an 8 mo. old girl that lives at the complex. One of the neighbors asked: “What are you feeding him, pure cream?”

He has really started to use his hands to examine things. He will examine our hands and fingers, and our faces. When he was laying in his Jungle Play Yard, he will try to grab the toys, especially the one that turns and plays music. One night he was so determined to get the music to go, you could see he was concentrating and being very precise with his fingers to turn the ball. He's having a lot more awake time lately too. When we think he's ready for a nap, he lets us know that he's not happy, and will stay up and want to hang out for a little longer.

He had his 4 month check up with Dr. Bailey today. He scored really well on his questionnaire, especially in the problem solving section. He now weighs 14 lbs. 14 oz. and is 25 inches long. He also had to have his vaccines, which weren't quite as bad as the previous time because the nurse was quick and experienced, and not in training like the last one. The Doctor also noticed that he was starting to get a flat spot on the back of his head, so hopefully with more awake time now it won't get any worse.

With the warmer weather, we are looking forward to taking him to some fun places, and watching him explore new things. We often wonder what kind of person he will grow up to be, and we can already tell he is going to be smart and sensitive!

Liam is 18 Weeks

This week was probably one of the most stressful weeks I’ve had since Liam was born.  I’ve found that if he wakes from a good nap, he will nurse, but if he’s been up for a while and needs a nap or if he doesn’t get a good nap in, he is too tired to nurse and will cry until he gets a bottle.  This past weekend, he was off his sleeping schedule and got so tired he would not nurse.  It lasted most of the day on Sunday, and I ran out of fresh pumped milk (that was for work on Monday), and I had to use 2 frozen milks that I have reserved for when I’m at work, or emergencies (like that).  When I started work a month ago I had around 10-15 bottles worth saved up, and generally used them at the start of the week, then just used the milk I pumped at work for the following day. Then during the week the milk I was able to pump dropped nearly in half.  I’m thinking the lack of him nursing over the weekend, and the stress it brought on must have caused the decrease.  One of my friends had sent me some Mother’s Milk herbal tea before Liam was born.  It has fenugreek and other herbs that are supposed to help increase milk production.  It had some pretty positive reviews online, so I tried it, as well as started to pump more frequently, and thankfully I have been able to increase it up again.  Although, he wants to eat so much, I can barely keep up with him.  He has also been fussier lately, and he also is having a hard time napping during the day.  I have read that can be caused by a developmental change.  So it seems, he is going through a growth spurt, and developmental change all at once!  He does sleep pretty well during the night, he does get up to eat at times, but thankfully he will go back to sleep without much effort.  I am grateful for that!

Liam is going in for his 4 month check up and vaccines next week.  We are guessing he will weigh at least 15 lbs. We will also be working on filling out his 4 month questionnaire this week.  We have briefly looked it over, and think even though he’s a preemie, he will score pretty well on it.  Liam has started to relax his hands more and is grabbing things more with them, as well as chewing on his hands.  He tracks objects very well now, side to side, and up and down!  He has a lot more interest in his toys, and also the TV.  He also has started to jump a little in his Jumparoo.  Fussy or not, we love this little guy more and more each day!

comment by Gaylene on 04/24/2008
That's so awesome that he is doing so well. Can't wait to meet the fella

Video of Liam sleeping

Click the link below to watch it:

http://www.vimeo.com/885062

Liam Sleeping (6 Days Old) http://www.vimeo.com/885062 About this video: "This is a video of Liam sleeping. You can see just how tiny he was! It was taken on 12-13-07, when Liam was only 6 days old."

Liam is 17 Weeks

This week Liam is starting to get the hang of his fingers, and is starting to grab stuff with them and not just his fists.  He is “talking” more and more each week too.  We finally got the Bjorn Carrier this week.  We are looking forward to taking him on walks and to new places as he gets older.  He really loves being up high and seeing stuff from our view.  In the meantime we use it when he starts to get fussy, but isn’t quite ready to go down for a nap. Usually when we want to buy something new, we go to Amazon or other sites on the internet and read other peoples reviews of it.  A few people mentioned their baby falling asleep in the carrier.  Liam doesn’t really fall asleep unless he’s bundled up tight in his bed, so I kinda laughed at that and thought he wouldn’t ever fall asleep in it.  Then the first time we had him in it, sure enough he fell asleep.  It was short lived though because I tried to transfer him to his bed so I could get some stuff done, but he ended up waking up.

The other fun item we purchased this week came from a recommendation of a friend of mine whose son was born 2 days after Liam (thanks!).  It is the Rainforest Jumparoo from Fisher Price.   We saw that it also had really high reviews, and it looked so cute and fun so we decided he HAD to have one.  He’s still a little small/young for it right now, but we think in a few weeks he will absolutely LOVE it.  In the meantime it’s a new place for him to hang out and explore the new toys.

He just continues to grow and change right before our eyes.  His eating habits change just as quickly too.  I usually have about 15 oz. of milk pumped for him to have while I’m at work.  Most days that is plenty, although he actually ran out of milk early one day this week.  I had to make a milk run during work to give him some more.  Then on the weekends he will nurse a little, but if he’s really tired he refuses to nurse and will cry until he gets a bottle.  It can be a bit frustrating at times, especially if I don’t have enough milk pumped for the next day. The combination of going back to work and him growing so fast, it’s hard to know if I will have enough milk pumped for him while I’m away anymore.  But before I know he will be old enough to start eating, so it’s only going to be an issue for the next couple of months.  Anyway, taking care of a baby is definitely a lot of work, and can be so tiring and frustrating at times, but the second they give you a big smile all the hard work disappears and you know that it’s ALL worth it.

comment by mom/grandma on 04/08/2008
So, so cute, he looks like he loves the jump-a-roo already. You are doing a great job, he's amazing, and I'm not biased or anything:)