5 Months

Another month has come and gone and not much has changed. Joel is still the easy, happy baby he's always been. We are so blessed to have such a delightful baby....especially since his siblings seem to be more of a handful each day!

EATING: Joel has gotten much better about taking a bottle and the scare last month where he wouldn't take a one is a distant memory. We cured the problem by making his last feeding of the day a bottle of pumped milk, so he started to get pretty used to taking a bottle. About halfway through the month, he started waking up again in the middle of the night, so we tried adding oatmeal to his bottle, but that didn't make a difference. We've been trying to give him more solids, but he really isn't very interested in baby food yet. He'll sometimes eat about half of a stage one serving of baby food, but that's it. Unfortunately, we came to the realization that he was definitely not getting enough during the day from just liquid feedings (because he began waking up again once or TWICE at night), so we've started to supplement with formula. We're beginning the process of weaning to just formula, and he seems very happy and much more content that way.

SLEEPING: Joel is still a pretty good sleeper. He's the best one we've had so far when it comes to putting himself to sleep. You can usually rock for just a few minutes, lay him down wide awake, and he'll drift off as long as he has his pacifier in. He takes about 3 fairly predictable naps each day. The first two are around 9 and 1 (they last for about 1.5 to 2 hours) and the last one starts around 5 and doesn't last quite as long. He sometimes wakes about an hour into his nap, but usually will go back to sleep if you put his pacifier in. He is usually asleep for the night around 8 or 8:30 and wakes up for the day around 7:30. Once we started to fill him up more during the day, he stopped waking in the middle of the night. He does still wake around 5 or 6 and usually I'll nurse him back to sleep. He would probably go back to sleep if we let him fuss or rocked with him for awhile, but 5 minutes of nursing him is just as easy and it allows me the chance to get up and go for a jog before the other kids get up. Overall, he's a pretty good sleeper and we're glad to have gotten his middle-of-the-night waking under control!

MILESTONES: Joel is becoming stronger each day and has tons of control over his body. He rolls both ways really quickly and with ease. He is close to sitting by himself, but still topples over if there's nothing supporting him. Lately, he seems REALLY determined to get up on all fours. He can lift his arms off the ground, but can't quite get his belly up. He'll usually get up on his arms and start pushing his knees and feet into the floor in an attempt to move. He gets pretty frustrated, though, when he realizes that he's not getting anywhere. We, on the other hand, are happy to see him not mastering this skill just yet. Having a third kid to chase after is more than we are ready for right now!

4 Months

Where is the time going? Despite the fact that I detest the newborn phase, I'm somewhat sad to see it ending. Every moment with (what I hope is) the last baby is bittersweet. It's exciting to see him grow and change, but kind of sad to know that this is my last time seeing all these "firsts". Needless to say, I'm trying to soak it all up!

Joel is still our "Jolly Joel". He's an incredibly happy and easygoing little guy. He seems to be taking after his big brother (and Daddy) in the personality department. Joel loves to be around anyone and smiles, coos, and giggles with whoever is paying attention to him. He's also following Caleb's patterns for growth and appears to be a long, skinny baby just like his big brother was. At his 4-month check-up, he weighed 14 pounds 6 ounces (44th percentile) and was 25.5 inches (76th percentile). He has dropped in his percentile for weight, but the doctor thinks that is due to how active he is. 

EATING: Joel is still nursing and doing great with it. He is much faster and more efficient, which is a good change from those first couple of months! We've switched back and forth between 4 feedings during the day and 5. It seems like no matter what, he still wakes up once at night to eat. It's hard to have such an unpredictable baby at this point considering the fact that the other two were on very solid eating schedules by this point. We've gotten a bit more lazy about giving him bottles, which ended up backfiring. He got a little picky with Grandma one day and refused to take the bottle. Needless to say, we're back to making sure he gets bottles more regularly so that Mommy can have a bit of freedom! We're also ready to start solids with him. I really despise baby food and would be happy waiting, but we're hoping solids might help him sleep a bit more at night.


SLEEPING: Joel is so-so in this department. Just when it seems like he's sleeping longer stretches, he's back to waking up randomly throughout the night. There have been days when he has slept 11 hours at night without eating, and days when he wakes up 4 hours into his sleep to eat....there's no telling what each night holds and it's testing every bit of my type-A, needs-a-schedule, personality! During the day, he's pretty much taking 3 naps. The morning and afternoon naps are about 1.5 to 2 hours each and the evening nap is usually less than an hour. He's a pretty good napper, so we're happy about that! He's also grown in his ability to put himself to sleep. There are times when he even fights being rocked and just wants to be put in his crib!


MILESTONES: Joel is definitely a mover! He rolls both ways all the time now and manages to get himself all over the place by rolling. There have been a few times when I've put him down in one spot and then came back to find him quite far from where he started. He is getting pretty good at gorilla sitting where he leans forward and supports himself for a bit before tumbling to the side. Joel loves spending time in his exersaucer and any other place that allows him to be upright with a view of what's going on. He's also become more aware of his hands and feet this month. He is growing into quite the thumb-sucker and seems to prefer that to a pacifier, which is quite the opposite of his siblings.

The pictures say it all...

When I watch the interactions between Caleb and Leah on a daily basis, I can't help but wonder what the days will be like when Leah and Joel are best buds. If these pictures are any indication of what their relationship will be like, we might be in for some trouble...

Ummmm....is someone going to do something about this?!?

 Seriously people, she's not going to let me go!

 Alright, fine, I'll just take matters into my own hands...a little biting never hurt anyone, right?

 Okay, Mommy, you're right, she's not so bad and she sure loves me a whole lot. I guess I'll be civil!

Overheard....

I can think of about a hundred things I said I'd never do once I had kids. One of which was let them eat snacks in our family room on the (brand new) couch. Funny how three kids later, my mind has changed a bit and there are certain things I do just to keep peace and sanity. If the kids just happen to have a snack and watch a show, I might just happen to get 30 minutes of no whining, fighting, hitting, biting.....

On this particular day, they met me in the kitchen where I filled up their bowls and happily sent them on their way downstairs. Caleb flew down there and Leah toddled behind. Taking those steps downstairs with her precious snack in hand takes a lot of concentration! Once Leah managed to make her way to the couch, I expected to hear shouts of "Hey, I was sitting there" or "Leah spilled my snack".

But no, not this time. This time, I heard the sweetest little voice say "Caleb, I wuv you". And in return, I heard "I love you too, let's snuggle". Yep, I dropped whatever I was doing to grab my camera and document this moment. Though there are days when these two seem like they can't stand another minute of being together, they are, indeed, best buds! 

And so, I've learned, that letting go of some of those things you said you'd never do as a parent not only leads to added peace within the home, but also moments of complete joy. Who cares if there are crumbs between my cushions...because with those crumbs come moments of sweetness where my babies snuggle up together and make wonderful memories!

Sick and tired of being sick!

Yep, that's right. We are sick and tired of being sick! The past two months have been filled with one sickness after the next in our house. We managed to stay nice and healthy before Joel got here this winter, but since his arrival, the story has been much different. And unfortunately, with 3 kids, sickness just drags out even longer. And chances are that by the time the first kid gets better, he/she is sick again because they've caught what the third kid has. It feels like a neverending battle of sleepless nights, runny noses, coughing attacks, and a whole lot of whining! We started in the beginning of March with colds/runny noses that spread to all 3 and lasted a total of about 3 weeks, had a few days off, then had a 24 hour stomach bug that only hit Caleb, had a few more days off, then Caleb started with pink eye, followed by Leah a few days later, followed by a cold and horrible cough for Caleb, and then Leah was lucky enough to get that one, and now Joel is battling the same cold/cough. Will.it.ever.end?!?!

I'm pretty sure the doctor and his nurse think by now that I am either nuts or just a horrible mom that can't keep my kids healthy. I think I call just about every week with some new concern, but in my defense, I've never dealt with a newborn being sick this much (it's kinda scary at times). Whatever happened to breastfeeding being the best for immunity? I'll admit, I've never been a germ-o-phobe, and I don't think these past two months will even change that about me. I keep my house clean and orderly, but I don't go overboard with disinfecting. My kids sit in shopping carts that haven't been wiped down with lysol wipes, an occasional kid fork drops to the floor and gets picked right back up for use, and every so often I just have to turn my back on one of my dirty monsters picking their nose. I just can't spend my life trying to avoid sickness, and hopefully the amount of sickness we're going through now will build up enough immunity so that they will be healthier later in life!

So, although I'd love to have posted more in the past few months about how much Joel is growing and changing, the trip we took to the aquarium, all the fun things Leah is doing now that she's two, the beautiful weather we've had, our enjoyable Easter, Caleb's life as a four year old, etc., etc., I'm sticking to this. It's been time consuming, I've done lots of laundry, we're still not sleeping all through the night, and I'm more ready for warm, summer days (with less chances of illness) than I've ever been before (even during my teaching days when summer vacation felt like all I was living for)! Until then, we hope those that are reading this have managed to stay healthy and we are thankful that the germs in our "petri dish" (as my sister called it) of a home can't find their way into your home via the world wide web! And for your enjoyment, here are some pictures that would've made for great blog posts, but surely you can understand why they didn't...

3 Months

I thought that this time around, I'd try to update the blog on our baby's monthly "birthdays". Well, as you've noticed, I missed months one and two, but here we are at month three already! I don't consider this a failure yet, because everyone who knows me knows that I cannot stand months one and two, and could easily skip the newborn phase altogether. I could sum up these early months by saying there was no routine, plenty of crying, little sleep, and not very much excitement to blog about. Though I don't like it very much, I have managed to cherish the newborn phase a bit more this time as I know hope this will be the last time I have to endure it!


With that said, here we are with a 3 month old baby already. Some of the days have felt like an eternity, but in reality, time has flown by! Joel is truly a joy to have in our family and has been our easiest baby yet.

EATING:  Joel is still exclusively nursing and is doing well with it. He gained a lot of weight at the beginning and seems to have slowed down a bit. I was a bit worried by that, but he's happy and poops/pees plenty, so he must be getting what he needs. He's fine with taking a bottle of pumped milk and that's a great relief as I've know some moms who have babies that refuse bottles! He eats about 5 times a day and it only takes about 30 minutes instead of an hour like it did at the beginning! The only downside of breastfeeding is that I don't always know how much he's getting and therefore feel like I can't try to push too much of a schedule like I did with the other kids. If you know me at all, you know that the lack of schedule is REALLY hard for me. But, we're sticking with this a bit longer because it's good for him and good for the family budget!

SLEEPING:  Eh....sleeping is still not Joel's strength. We've had some nights where he's slept 11-12 solid hours and other nights where he is up a ton for his pacifier or a 4/5am feeding. Regardless, he goes to bed around 8 and wakes up around 7:30. In his defense, he's had 2 nasty colds within the past 2 months, so it's understandable to not have very consistent nights. For now, we're just waiting it out and hoping that better health will bring better night sleeping! As for naps, he's doing okay. For the first 8 weeks, he would only be content while being held. So, naps and everything else about his day were done in my arms or while being wrapped in a baby carrier. He hit the 8 week mark, though, and became a bit more independent. He started to nap in his crib or the pack-n-play in our room. Soon after that, his mini-naps started to turn into much longer naps, which was great. He seems to be falling into a routine of taking three naps a day, but they vary greatly in length. Usually at least one nap will be about 2 hours, so that's nice....it's even better when that 2 hour nap overlaps with Caleb and Leah's naptime! 

MILESTONES: At this age, there isn't much excitement, but it is fun to watch Joel begin to interact with the world. He started smiling very early on (at 3 weeks) and has been Jolly Joel ever since then. He loves to smile at just about anyone. He spent several weeks experimenting with his sounds and you could tell he was trying to figure out how to laugh. At around 2 months old he started to giggle. He started cooing around 2 weeks old and has been very vocal since then. He is constantly "talking" and trying out new sounds. It looks like he'll take after his daddy in the social skills department! Joel is also a big mover and started to roll over at about 6 weeks old (front to back). He has recently rolled a few times from his back to front, but can't always figure out how to do it again.

Dear Caleb,

Today you are 4. Something about 4 sounds SO much older than 3. There is now no way you can even be slightly considered a baby or toddler anymore. You are 100% a kid. A big, goes-to-school, has imaginary friends, pretends-to-be-a-pirate, kid. Though there isn't an exact moment within the past year that you made that transition from little boy to big kid, it has happened. A bittersweet transition for sure, and something that reminds us that the years of parenting are flying by so very fast. Just yesterday, we took you home from the hospital. Clueless about parenting, and unsure of what was to come. Somehow we blinked, and now 4 years have come and gone!

This past year has marked some big moments in your timeline of life. Last Spring, you made your first visit to the dentist. Not that this is a big deal in the course of life, but something about that milestone stands out in the development of who you are. You see, many kids would hesitate or fear sitting in that big, scary chair. Not you. Not our chatty, outgoing, talks-to-anyone little boy. You plopped right in that chair and took it on without a bit of hesitation. It probably helped that we spent a bit of time rehearsing what would happen and explaining every step of the process before we went. You are your mommy's child. You have to know everything in detail before jumping head first into something unfamiliar!

Sometimes that bold, outgoing personality has it's drawbacks. Prior to any major talks on stranger danger, you truly had no fear in new situations with new people. So much so, that you managed to give your mom the biggest scare in her parenting days thus far. While taking a trip with our neighbors to a large children's garden last Spring, you managed to fearlessly seperate from the group in order to make a trip to the bathroom and water fountain. After what seemed like an eternity of searching, Mommy found you happily skipping away from the bathroom area (about a quarter mile from where the rest of our group was playing). Needless to say, we spent many hours discussing stranger danger and your eyes were opened to a whole world of new insight!

Another milestone was your first (and hopefully last for a very.long.time) surgery. After many sinus issues and what seemed like neverending colds, you had your tonsils and adenoids removed in June. Though the surgery was quick, the recovery seemed like an eternity. You spent a few weeks just lounging around (thank goodness you love movies and tv). The scariest part of the recovery was your refusal to eat and drink just about anything you were offered. For a child who absolutely loves sweets, it was a shock to see you even turn down bowls of ice cream for breakfast!

After a fun summer of traveling to the lake, which has continued to be one of your favorite places on Earth, and spending lots of time in our pool, you turned into even more of a fish than you already were. You are fearless in the water and eagerly worked at swimming without any floaties. This became one of the few times when you didn't let your perfectionist, has-to-get-it-the-first-time, mentality get in the way. You tried over and over and over again without giving up. We're sure that by the end of this summer, you won't be needing floaties!

With summer coming to an end, you jumped head first into one of your biggest moments of the year....starting school! You started preschool two days a week at a church preschool about five minutes from home. While most of the other kids hugged, cried, and clinged to their mommies, you asked your mommy when she'd be leaving! There wasn't an ounce of fear or separation anxiety in your body, and it certainly made that much easier for your tearful mommy. With almost an entire year of preschool under your belt, you have accomplished so much. Your social skills are even better than they already were, your imagination and ability to pretend play is fantastic, you are insanely good at coloring, you know all of your letters and the sounds they make, you write your name and love to write anything else when someone spells it for you, and you continue to show more independence with each passing day (even though you'd be happy to let others do everything for you).

We had a busy Fall as we attempted to find some sort of routine before the chaos of a new baby. On our busy days at home and running around town, your bond with your sister grew and grew. As she became more verbal and interested in what you were doing, you became more interested in playing with (and bossing around) your little sister. You love her to pieces and she looks up to you. Most of the time, you two play so well together and it's such a joy to see the bond that has grown. She became your roommate in November as we rearranged to make room for the baby. The first few nights were tough for her, but just hearing you say "It's okay Leah, I'm here, just go to sleep," was all it took to calm her down. You are her protector, as any big brother should be!

In January, you became a big brother yet again. This time, it was a much different experience for you. From the moment you found out you were going to have a brother, you were excited. Though you wanted to name him Mario Luigi Sturm, you accepted him just fine when we decided to call him Joel. This time around, you've been much more interested in the your new baby. You've asked lots of questions...some of which have required some creative answers, such as "how was Baby Joel born?"! Even though there's been a lot of exciting moments with a new baby, you've also had a hard time adjusting to being one of three kids in the house. You have your not so well behaved moments when it is clear that you are just seeking extra attention. Thankfully you have grandparents and your aunts to love on you a ton while Daddy and Mommy are busy being sleep deprived and focusing on Joel!

There are certainly many more moments from this year that have been turned into precious memories in our book. It's hard to believe that years from now, this 4th year of your life will be something you'll forget most of. What won't be forgotten, however, are the ways in which this year has continued to mold you into the person you are growing up to be. You are, without a doubt, an extrovert. You love people and don't have a shy bone in your body. You are sensitive. You care about others and take things personally. So sensitive, that you border crybaby status at times, but we (mostly Mommy) don't mind. The sensitivity and innonence will only last so long! Perhaps that most exciting trait that we've watched develop is your faith in God. You have begun to pray with an open mind....telling God just what's on your heart. You read Bible stories with such excitement and have begun to understand that God is the creator and author of all things. We look forward to how God will use your bold personality to touch the lives of other people for His sake. For now, we'll just enjoy the sweet 4 year old boy that He has given to us. It is a blessing to be your Daddy and Mommy and we can't imagine what life would be like if you weren't a part of it! Happy birthday, sweet boy, we love you so very much!

Love always,

Daddy and Mommy