Miles: 3 Months

(I'm obviously catching up on these monthly posts much later. Things got very difficult with Miles around this time and I just couldn't get these published. I did keep brief notes and pictures and am able to put the posts together now and share them. I have looked back at the monthly update posts for Peter and Luke many, many times and I want to be able to do the same with Miles.)

Weight: 10 lbs. 8 oz. (1%)

Height: 24.3 in. (53%)
Head Circ: 16.3 in (74%)

This was a big month for Mr. Miles! He celebrated his first Easter and also took his first plane trip to meet lots of family for the first time. 

For Easter, we went to church services and then had lunch and an egg hunt with our friends, the Harmons. Miles slept through most of the festivities but seemed to enjoy watching the big kids run around and scream. Peter and Luke both love to hold him and Peter wants to carry him all over the place. Miles takes it in stride and all the jostling doesn't seem to bother him at all. 

Three months feels significant as seems like the end of the newborn phase to me. He's much more aware of the world around him and can spend longer stretches of time awake. He got his first shots this month and didn't seem to be bothered by them other than the first few seconds after he got them. 

It was really special to see almost all of Kory's family meet Miles for the first time (only his parents had met him previously). He's still tiny and loves to be held, so there was plenty of snuggling to go around. I am really hoping he won't be as quick to be mobile as the other two boys were. 

He smiles SO easily. If you make eye contact, he'll give you a great big grin. I love this age when they're developing a little bit of personality but are still small enough to fall asleep on your chest. That's the very best feeling! 

Miles is still a great sleeper. He was sleeping through the night before our TX trip, but that got disrupted when we traveled to see family (as I expected it would). He finally got back to sleeping all night long the last night we were in Amarillo. Of course. :) 

  

I waited until we got home from this trip to move him into his crib in his bedroom. I figured he'd already be getting used to the time zone and bed change, so we might as well help him get used to sleeping in his own room at the same time. After a couple nights, he was back to sleeping from about 8:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. This really feels so much different than my other two boys who didn't consistently sleep through the night for about 15-16 months. 

We got to spend a lot of time with our nieces and nephews in Canyon. Lucy and Molly spent a LOT of time holding baby Miles. :) He's used to being passed around and held by unfamiliar people so he never seemed to mind. 

Kory flew back to OR while the boys and I went to Artesia to spend the week with my parents. The older boys LOVED riding horses with Uncle Andy and the Gator with Pop. Miles was happy to be held all day long...but that can't happen when we're back home and I am outnumbered 3 to 1. 

He was a fantastic flier on this trip and slept pretty much the whole time both ways. Flying with a tiny baby is really not that hard, but they do require that you bring a lot of gear. 

This was my first time flying alone with 3 kids and we made it! It wasn't terrible except for a diaper blow-out and a potty accident, at the same time. That was rough. I declared this a "Yes Day" and the boys got unlimited screen time and unlimited treats and it made for a happy day for everyone. 

When we returned from our trip, Miles went to the Dr. for his weight check-up. He's dropped significantly in his weight percentile again (down to 1%), so she asked me to begin supplementing with formula. He has definitely started nursing for less time each session, so I thought he'd just become more efficient. It appears he's not getting enough milk to gain weight, which is puzzling as it appears I have plenty of milk. We'll begin supplementing with a bottle of formula once or twice a day and I'll begin pumping also. Hopefully, I can get him back up to a healthy weight quickly. I don't mind supplementing but really prefer the ease of nursing. I'm a little concerned that something is wrong for him to be gaining so little weight. 

We've been so blessed with happy babies. None of them have had colic or terrible gas or anything to make the newborn period extra tough. Even though Miles isn't gaining weight, he's a very content and peaceful baby. I thought I might feel totally done having kids after Miles was born and I don't really feel that way. I am surprised by that but also know that I might just always want more babies, even if we don't actually end up having more. When he sleeps all night and is so sweet and cuddly in the day, it sure makes this baby stage more fun!

Miles: 1 Year!

Height: 29.3 in. (25%)

Weight: 19.1 lbs. (15%)

Head Circ: 19 in. (95%)

Teeth: 5 (#6 is trying to break through now)

Diapers: Size 3

Clothing: 12 months

Favorite Foods: Bananas! Cheerios, Blueberries, Tortillas

He's a really good eater now. He doesn't love cold stuff but he's learned to tolerate it. If you get a banana out, he starts squealing and giggling in anticipation. :)  He eats just about everything we're eating unless it's so messy that I don't want to deal with it. He would prefer to feed himself at all times but will let me spoon-feed him yogurt with no complaint. He can bite off almost all foods but I still need to cut/tear it up because he will throw big pieces of food.

He took his first steps a couple weeks ago. He is still not really motivated to walk, but he will do it if you stand him up and encourage him to walk to you. Crawling is much faster for him, so that's still his preferred method of getting around. He loves to cruise around the furniture and is quite proud of himself when he does take steps. 

Miles is definitely a mess-maker right now. His brothers are happy to yell at me when he's destroying something. Miles' favorite things to tear up are Kleenex and toilet paper but he'll make do with any paper product he can get his hands on.

He doesn't really say any words yet. He can say "Mama" and Kory says he heard him say "Dada" a couple times, but I've never heard it. He says "ba-ba" and "ga-ga" a lot. He likes to scream, especially when you're eating food and he isn't. 

An average day at home looks something like this:

8:00 wake up, drink a bottle, eat breakfast

8:30 play with his brothers or run errands 

10:30 bottle and nap in crib or car seat      

1:00 wake up, bottle, lunch                        

1:30 play with Peter while Luke naps        

3:00 bottle and nap                                     

                  5:00 wake up, bottle, dinner                                         

5:30 play with toys, take a bath, watch Sky

7:30 bottle, bedtime routine, in bed by 8:00

Since he's eating a lot more solids, he won't drink as much formula anymore. He will only drink about 5 oz. each time, so we've started giving them a little more frequently to make sure he still gets enough. He thankfully sleeps all night long! Neither of my older two slept as well as him, so I am very grateful for that. He's got a tooth trying to come in right now, so he's woken up a couple times around 10:30 p.m., but will go back to sleep with his pacifier replaced or sometimes me rocking him. I really think his good sleeping habits are partly just his nature but are helped by the sleep course I took and by him being bottle-fed instead of nursing.

We have a tradition of waking up the 1-year-old on their birthday with a crib full of balloons. Miles was the least impressed of our 3 boys but he was also a bit overwhelmed by his screaming brothers and balloons being thrown at his face. 

His birthday was sunny (which is rare this time of year) so we went to the park after getting Chinese food for lunch. He wasn't very impressed by the swing but always smiles for pictures. He actually almost fell asleep in the swing since we were there at nap time. 

We had a small party for him on his birthday. The Chappells and Pedersens came over and we had nachos for dinner and then had brownies and ice cream for dessert. Miles had our traditional birthday dessert: Boston Cream Pie.

The first year of a baby's life is always hard, but Miles was exceptionally hard. You'd never know now that he struggled so much with eating and gaining weight for so many months. God answered our prayers and went above and beyond in making him healthy and chunky. :) I'm so glad you're ours, baby Miles! 

Miles: 11 Months

Weight: 20 lbs.

Height: 28 in.

Well, looking at Miles now, you'd never know he struggled to gain weight for so many months. He's my biggest baby now, which is probably mostly due to being my only formula-fed kid. This also means he's been my best sleeper, which I definitely enjoy!

He's the most obedient baby I've ever seen. He immediately drops things when you say "No". If only his older two brothers could learn from him. ;)

We have lots of blurry pictures right now. He's not really into sitting still. He can say "Baba" and "Mama". When he sees a bottle or sees someone eating food, he screams like a maniac. He will also scream between every single bite if you're not feeding him fast enough.

He doesn't eat any purees anymore and almost always feeds himself. He recently had some curry red peppers and loved them! I figured they'd be too spicy for him, but Luke shared some of his and Miles was screaming for more all night. He also likes steak, soft vegetables, and crackers. He still won't eat anything cold.

He's started standing on his own for a few seconds this month and he is SO proud of himself when he does it. He still hasn't taken any steps or even moved at all when standing. He can lower himself down to the ground but will fall down if it gets a laugh out of his big brothers (which it always does). 

When I'm cooking, he pulls up on my leg and holds on while screaming for me to pick him up. I remember both of his older brothers doing the same thing before they could walk. It makes me really look forward to the time when they can walk and be a little bit more independent. He also fusses until you pick him up and then immediately wants to be put back down, only to repeat the cycle all over again. It's tough to not know what you really want in life. :)

Miles flew for the second time when we traveled to TX for Christmas. He needed a couple nights to adjust and then went back to sleeping all night. His top two teeth are still not all the way in, but they're through the gums at least.  

He's starting to become much more interactive with his older brothers. If they're on the ground, he loves to crawl over to them and pull up on their head or face. They both love to hold him and are always trying to carry him around the house. He's a great sport and doesn't seem to mind. One of his favorite things to do right now is go down our little slide in Peter's or Luke's laps. He wants to do it over and over again, and lucky for him, his brothers are happy to comply! 

Miles: 2 Months

Weight: 10 lbs. 12 oz. (23%)

Length: 23 in. (64%)

Head Circumference: 16 in. (94%)

We have seen a couple smiles from him, but so far he's much more serious than his two older brothers.

He really loves bathtime and is happy to lounge in a warm bath for a long time. 

We dedicated baby Miles at church this month and he got to wear his first 

bow-tie. He was very calm and well-behaved on the stage, which is more than I can say for his older brothers. 😬

One day he latched onto Peter's cheek and we all thought it was hilarious, especially Peter! He's got a pretty strong suck, as you can see when you look at Peter's eye. :) 

He sleeps in the pack-and-play bassinet at night and for most naps, but I do still enjoy holding him for naps when I can. I love this stage when they just fall asleep in your arms and you don't realize it until you look down and see them snoozing. If he falls asleep while Luke is napping and Peter is doing quiet time, I can hold him for the whole nap. Otherwise, I end up taking him to the bassinet because the older boys are trying to climb in my lap on top of him. 

Miles is our best sleeper by far. He already sleeps 5-6 hour stretches each night. Sometimes I have to replace his pacifier at the 3 hours mark, but he will go back to sleep with no further interventions. I took a baby sleep course from Taking Cara Baby before he was born and it has been so helpful. Peter and Luke were not good sleepers as babies and I've been so amazed at how well her techniques work. I recommend it to every new Mama I know. The baby stage is so much more manageable when you're getting some sleep at night!

He's quite strong and can lift his head pretty well already. He did have two colds this month and that's always tough when they're so tiny. Thankfully, he recovered quickly and didn't have any complications. The main issue was that it was hard for him to breathe laying down so he liked to be held upright when sleeping. 

I've been pretty insistent that all of my babies take a pacifier, as I don't want to be the only thing that pacifies them. Miles can't hold it in his mouth for too long yet, but he does like to suck on one. We were able to drop the nursing shield this month and he's still doing well nursing. He did drop in his weight percentile a little bit, which has his pediatrician concerned. He was in the 34% and is now in the 23%, so we'll go back in 1 month for a weight check after we return from our TX/NM trip next month. All of our boys have been small so I'm not too worried. 

Highlights of this month include:

*Returning to Moms Connection and Bible study and church

*Watching soccer games with friends

*Seeing the sun finally make an appearance

*More eye contact and awareness of other humans

Miles: 10 months

Weight: 20 lbs. 1 oz.

Height: 28 in.

Teeth: almost 4

Clothing: 9-12 months

Diapers: Size 3

His top two teeth are just barely poking through the gums. It has been a loooong process for those to come in. Hopefully, now that they've broken through the skin, he'll be in less pain and be less fussy. He is back to putting himself to sleep at night and sleeping all night, so I am very grateful for that.

We celebrated Miles' first Thanksgiving at home with just the 5 of us. It was a really nice, relaxing day. Miles LOVED the turkey and was eating it by the fistful. He loves to feed himself and is doing really well with it. Meat is probably his favorite thing to eat, followed by puffs and Cheerios. He still doesn't really like anything that's cold. He doesn't drink from a sippy cup yet, but I also haven't really worked too hard to teach him that. At this point, I'll probably just wait until he stops drinking formula to work on it.

He says "Mama" but still doesn't say "Dada". When Kory tries to get him to say it, he says "Baba" every time. He learned how to wave this month and he loves to shake his head, especially if you say "No No Miles".

It's a good thing we put the baby locks back on because he's really interested in opening cabinets and drawers. He's smashed his poor little fingers SO many times in the past couple weeks, but I think he's figuring it out now. There's been several times I haven't been able to find him and he's crawled into a closet or behind the bathroom door. 

Miles stood up unassisted once but hasn't tried it again. He is pretty content to crawl and doesn't seem too anxious to walk, which I'm perfectly fine with! He's happy to play in his room by himself and will eventually come crawling to find the rest of us. I can definitely see him quickly becoming more toddler and less baby, which is hard to believe. Although, it feels like a LONG time ago that I was pregnant and had a newborn. Time is weird, especially when it comes to having kids.

Miles: 9 months

Weight: 17 lbs. 2 oz. (11%)

Height: 27.8 in. (27%)

Head: 18.3 in. (87%)

Teeth: 2

Clothing: 6-9 months

Diapers: Size 3

His top 2 teeth haven't come in yet but his gums are very swollen and he's quite fussy. He wants to be rocked to sleep for both naps and bedtime and he's waking up 2-3 times most nights. It's so hard to go back to being up with a baby in the night after you've gotten used to sleeping all night. Thankfully he isn't awake for very long and will go back to sleep pretty quickly.

Miles began pulling himself up this month and he LOVES to be standing. He isn't cruising along the furniture and doesn't seem very interested in walking yet, for which I am really grateful. After having two early walkers, I'm happy for this one to just take his sweet time.

He did start crawling everywhere in the past few weeks and he's so pleased with himself when he goes from room to room following his brothers. They aren't quite as excited because he's now destroying their LEGO creations faster than they can build them. :)

My mom and dad came to visit this month for Peter & Luke's birthdays. He started saying "Mama" during their time here and while it probably isn't a direct reference to me, it's sure fun to hear him say it. 

He's doing really well eating solids and prefers to feed himself rather than be spoon-fed. Scrambled eggs and Cheerios are his two current favorites. He doesn't really like anything cold, so he won't eat most fruits. 

He's still drinking about 5 bottles per day and eats solids at breakfast and dinner most days. He has always liked warm bottles but I'm trying to help him adjust to slightly cooler temperatures. He still likes to hold the bottles himself but doesn't quite have the strength to hold it unless he's laying all the way down. 

The reflux medication he's been using was recalled this month and insurance will not approve any other prescriptions for reflux. It's been really frustrating and we definitely don't want to go back to where we were before he started taking the medicine! We're hoping and praying that he'll be able to get a new prescription soon before he's back in pain from the reflux. He still coughs and chokes on his bottles and we can tell it's becoming uncomfortable for him again. 

It's fun seeing Miles reach new milestones, but now that he's on the move, it's time to baby-proof again and spend most of my day keeping him away from cords and plugs and other dangerous objects that he wants to put in his mouth. 

My days just got a lot more tiring. ;)