Showing posts with label month update. Show all posts
Showing posts with label month update. Show all posts

Monday, January 28, 2019

tatum ross | 4 month update

i just want to freeze time right.HERE.
this boy is so.good.
TATUM:
four months old :: 18 lbs 1 oz (90%) :: 26.5 inches long (97%)

birth: 8 lbs 2 oz :: 20.5 inches
2 days: 7 lbs 10.5 oz
12 days: 8 lbs 10 oz
one month: 11 lbs 6 oz :: 23.5 inches
two months: 14 lbs 6 oz :: 24.8 inches

long sleeve tee // little bipsy
tatum name sign // quincyjeanart
month banner // hooray everyday
crib // franklin & ben - from sugar babies

if you can remember back to when tatum was first born, he had a full head of hair (that we were all shocked to see at birth! -he's our first baby to have the hair that he did), as his cute little head has grown, that hair has spread out + thinned out. BUT i'm starting to see some new little growth and am so excited for it! it's one of my obsessions with him- to run my fingers though his hair :)
as hair has thinned, thighs have GROWN.
we've got those obvious rolls on the outside, but even in under that diaper are a couple more that stay hidden for just his mama to enjoy ;)
it's taken a good 3-4 months, but i'm feeling like we've found our true, new normal. where the past days of just two babes in our family seem so far in the distant and i can hardly imagine the life before we were a family of five. we've got our flow figured out and now it's all we know.
and it is so.good.
tatum, you are so.good.
everything feels right having these THREE sweet babes in our little family.
**disclaimer:: don't get me wrong- there are surely moments of struggle + feelings of overwhelm. but i wouldn't trade it for the world. the five of us are in this together. there isn't anything better than family.
S L E E P
we've slowly creeped into the four month sleep regression and are doing our best to get night time sleep to be more solid. though i've gotta say, as i've anticipated this time to come (both of our other babies went through it too, so it's certainly not my first time at the rodeo), it's actually been not as bad as i was expecting. thank goodness! and as i type this, last night my sweet tatum only woke once. which has been the first time for that over the last couple weeks.
naps haven't been effected but the second half of sleep during the night has. he's been doing great stretches of sleep initially. going down around 7:30/8 :: earlier than it had been the month before, when bedtime was more like 8-9pm. but as he's gotten a little bit older, and a little more regular, he's tired for it and we're having an easier time with bedtime routine for harper + tanner if i can get tatum down before them, rather than after.
he gives me about a 6-7 hour stretch of sleep at first, often waking around 2am. he nurses, and then right back to sleep (no diaper change anymore). then the same thing has been happening at 4 and 6 :: there's the sleep regression part for ya ;) he's ready to wake for the day around 7:30/8am, and i'm happy to see his smiling face!!!
there were a handful of nights where he was seeming restless during those wake ups, and i wasn't quite sure what he needed. maybe trying to get comfortable and back to sleep? not totally sure. but he seems to have settled in and bypassed that little stage.
if there's one thing i've learned time after time that i've had a baby :: phases come, and phases go. don't think on it too much. don't hold pressure on yourself to 'figure it out'. embrace it and before you know it, it will likely pass.
E A T
he's still a nursing boy. and nursing well!
i've got the same goal for him as i did the others, and i'm hopeful to think we will reach it as we did in the past too. nursing for my baby's first year of life is a strong desire in my heart. i'm thankful to have succeeded there twice before, and pray tatum and i will too. there aren't any signs that we shouldn't be able to. harper breastfed for 13 months, and tanner for 14. 

giving our babies a bottle hasn't ever been anything we've been good at in the past. both harper and tanner took a bottle a handful of times. but that's it. i haven't been in a position where i have NEEDED them to be solid on a bottle and i'm just fine with that. i hold the expectation that they are my baby for one year and for this one year, i am 100% ok with being fully attached to them. and that works for us. this time goes too fast and no matter how it goes, my heart longs for that first year. 
with tatum, this boy has surprised me here. he's taken from a bottle (with freshly pumped breastmilk) four times now. without a fuss. this may not seem like much to others, but for us that's kinda big. i don't want to be away from him, but i've also found being at my third baby, my needs are a little different. and i do need a little bit of time 'for me'. and it's been good. 
P L A Y
this is where tatum is just getting more and more fun! it always amazes me how babies just keep getting BETTER. seems impossible at the age they're currently at, that anything could surpass it. but then the smiles that come. the giggles. the laughing and playing. and that's where we're at. it's so fun playing with tatum and the kids never get tired of trying to make him smile and laugh. such a JOY this boy is! toys are such an interest. and we've entered the stage of 'if it's in grabbing distance, the baby is going for it'. it is so fun to see his eyes light up and watch him inspect anything new with such amazement.
brandon and i have both made mention that we think he is our chattiest baby yet. we, harper included, call him our 'talky boy' :) if he's feeling excitement, you'll know about it. and if he's mad at you (particularly me not getting to him quick enough if he's hungry) he's sure to let me know all about it too. literally yelling at me from across the room. yelling. not crying.
P H O T O  D U M P

Xoxo
-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

Monday, January 14, 2019

tatum ross | 2 + 3 month update

trying my hardest to get this done NOW before tatum turns four months, and this would have to turn into a 2 + 3 +  f o u r  month post :)
time is flying yet somehow at the same time i actually feel like it has gone by just as it should. we've had this sweet, sweet babe in our lives for a little over three months now! and though it's hard to believe, i also feel like we're right where we should be.
i'm trying my hardest to be right in the moment with him and it's working. don't be sad about the past being gone, and don't be sad about the growing future ahead.
right in THIS moment is where we're meant to be.
and it is ever so sweet!
tatum name sign // quincyjeanart
month banner // hooray everyday

TATUM:
two months old :: 14 lbs 6 oz (90%) :: 24.8 inches long (>97%)

birth: 8 lbs 2 oz :: 20.5 inches
2 days: 7 lbs 10.5 oz
12 days: 8 lbs 10 oz
one month: 11 lbs 6 oz :: 23.5 inches
this boy is such a trooper. tags along amongst the busyness of our lives with three young children and often without a fuss. he is my easiest baby yet and is so so precious to us all!
...just how delicious is he here!? xoxo
between about five and eight weeks, we had a nightly "witching hour" that we had to work though. but that has gone and passed and i found that if i was able to get him to sleep before it began, we were more likely to soar through it. but not always. ;)
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giggles! sweetest sound on this planet! to get his little high pitched squeal to come out is on the daily agenda. 
this boy is so ticklish! 
he LOVES the bath. he could just hang out in there five times as long as his bath actually needs to take. as well as diaper changes. LOVES them! the second his diaper is undone and his little baby bottom is cleaned, he gives a soft little grin.
and melts his mama into a thousand pieces.
i love this baby boy with all my heart.
i crave him when he sleeps.
my heart misses him when we're busy and attention is focused elsewhere.
SLEEP
such a great sleeper he is!! he is down for the night between 8 and 9, a dream feed when brandon and i head to bed around 10:30/11, and wakes somewhere between 7:30-8:30. he used to have weeks of no wake ups during the night (amazing!!) and now we're at more of one wake up a night being our norm. generally around 3 or 4am. which in my book, that is still amazing!
we've got a pretty solid bedtime routine and that seems to make a difference:: dim lights, jammies + diaper change, essential oils rolled on bottom of feet, swaddle, white noise, essential oils (frankinsense + lavendar) in the diffuser in our bedroom, nurse, and down to sleep.
tatum is pretty flexible on how he goes to sleep during the day. whether it's rocking, nursing, or just being laid down. right around christmas, he took a strong liking to his paci and it is now sometimes a part of him falling asleep. if he's going to sleep on his own, it is most helpful! swaddling during naps helps for them to last longer, though he has sometimes fallen asleep without being swaddled while laying on our bed. which i have been very surprised about since he is out of that sleepy newborn stage!
three naps a day is where we're at. a shorter one in the morning about an hour or two after waking up, the biggest nap of the day in the afternoon (usually 2-3 hours, sometimes 4!), and then another small one around dinner time to get us though to bedtime. i always swaddle him during that afternoon nap to make it be a longer nap (which is also when tanner naps!). mama thanks the heavens for the stars aligning when this happens!
he's still sleeping in the snuggle me and i'm not sure i'll ever be ready to move him to his room. down the hall just seems too far away! though i know it will come where we're gonna need to be in our own spaces. we moved tanner to his room at four months so i'm feeling like it's coming on in our near future.
EAT
when he's sleeping so well at night, i feel like he makes up for all that time of no nursing and nurses so much in the day. which i am just fine with! i love nursing him. we have always nursed on demand and will continue to do so. tends to be about every 2-3 hours. i generally offer before and after naps. and any time in between if he's acting hungry.
by the thigh rolls and cheeks he's got, there's no question that he's a good eater!
PLAY
i'm loving his awareness of his surroundings. and the kids are too! as we've exited the sleepy newborn stage, harper and tanner get so happy when they feel interaction from tatum. harper often comments to me how tatum's eyes are open more than they used to be. she loves when he's awake!
he is entertained by everything around him and we've been slowly bringing out some of his baby toys to play with him. i love watching his little eyes and seeing him taking in all the newness that he is experiencing. 
adding two months together in this post- there are too many pictures i want to share! it would've been quicker and easier if i had just given access to my iphone camera roll. butttt that's not gonna happen, so here's a good ol' photo dump with our most precious pictures of our baby boy.
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Xoxo
-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth