Evan- 3 Months

Evan at 3 months is a total JOY! I love this little baby to pieces :) Evan is learning and growing so quickly now. It is amazing how subsequent children seem to breeze through all of their developments much faster than firstborns (or secondborns!). This month he has started to crunch up to a sitting position. He is working those little baby abs pretty hard :) When you sit him in the swing or bouncy seat he will try to pull himself forward. He has NO interest in tummy time. AT ALL! He hates it actually and at this point (near the end of 3rd month) can only lift his head up about 45-60 degrees...and then he starts to fuss and I come to his rescue.

Evan does not like movement either. We own 2 baby swings...one full size and another travel swing. The travel swing has only been used a few times. He does not like the position of his legs in it so he immediately lets us know! For the big swing, he does enjoy sitting in it, but just not moving! I'm happy about this because motion can be an addictive thing. This guy is laid back!

At his 3 month exam he got his 2nd round of Infanrix (Polio, DPT, Hib) and this time escaped with only a very slight induration (small, hard swelling). No redness or pain on the leg this month thankfully! He weighed 7.6 kg and was 64 cm. He is again topping the charts on weight. The doctor was mightily impressed. ESPECIALLY since Evan doesn't eat at night. Evan goes to bed at 9:30 and will wake up (on average this month) at 6 a.m for his first feeding. Then he will sleep again until 10:30 or 11!!! His average eating time is 18 minutes (I have an Itzbeen). Somehow the little man manages to maintain his solid weight on such few feedings. During the day though there are times where he will eat twice in 3 or 4 hours. This doesn't bother me as long as we are home..and when we are out he seems to forget he is hungry!!! He LOVES being out and about, and LOVES being in his little baby carrier seat. This is favorite (non human) spot. Being in the stroller on his carseat! Absolutely tops! :) He is SO transportable, this little guy. I can take him anywhere (as opposed to his 3 year old sister who I can take anywhere, but end up regretting it! )

Smiles and laughs. Evan loves to smile, but not as much as his big brother Erik! He is a little more posessive of his smiles and you really have to beam at him to get one in return. But when he does smile he is a heartbreaker!!! He also can't resist laughing when you lift him up into the air...that is too much fun!

So I think I've covered it...nursing, sleeping, shots, weight, likes/dislikes...Stay tuned for his 4 month report which is JUST around the corner seeing I've delayed this post for way too long :)

Evan's 2 Month Doc's Appt. and Kaitlyn's Vaccines

Look how he's grown!!!


















Evan visited our long standing Pediatrician last week. We've been with this doctor coming up on TEN years now! The secretary is still the same, the office is still the same...in fact everything is still the same. I have a 2 (nearly 3 year old) and I'm back for monthly newborn well-baby visits. It smells oddly like 2002 all over again. Deja-vu with Krista and Erik at these SAME ages exactly. For these visits Krista and Erik are of course in school, so I just can't help but feeling 10 years younger---okay well not physically feeling (my back won't let me do that)...but feeling that I've been thrown back in time with Krista and Erik duplicates. Kaitlyn is a darker haired Krista and Evan is a lighter complexion version of Erik. Evan is also a well rounded little baby, just as my little Erik was at this age. At home when I pull out the old photo albums it seems SO odd to see Krista and Erik at these same ages...Often Kaitlyn is wearing a dress or outfit that Krista wore in the pictures. Poor little Kaitlyn sees the baby, the outfit and sreams "It's ME!"...I'm sure she feels a bit confused to see herself in those photos---in a different back yard, a different kitchen, a different decade! She is sure however, that it IS indeed her in those old photos and the baby is indeed Mommy with baby Evan.

Okay...back on track. We had our well baby visit last week and TWO rounds of vaccines for both Kaitlyn and Evan. Kaitlyn had her MMR booster and the first of the Hep B series. Evan had the new Infanrix Quinta which boasts SIX vaccines in one--hep B, Hib, Polio, tetanus, pertussus and diptheria all in one! He also had a round of Prevnar. He did really well with the first of his first shots..He didn't even cry for the Infanrix, but he did SCREAM for the Prevnar. Evidently it really burns to administer. I nursed him afterwards and he calmed down easily. When we got home I gave him a paracetamol suppository. About 5-6 hours post injection he developed a bright red, raised and warm spot around the injection site for the Infanrix. It was HOT to touch and he was in a lot of pain. I gave him a second round of paracetamol and applied ice to his leg for about a half hour. I had set my alarm for 4 hours to give him more paracetamol but it didn't go off!! Imagine my surprise when I woke up 7 hours and 30 minutes later to a sleeping Evan!! He is in the bassinet next to my bed so I peeped in and he was snoozing away. I did wake him because I was bursting at the seams to feed him and he ate and went back to bed. In the morning he wa 100% himself and the leg redness was gone. That was his BIGGEST sleep ever and since the vaccine he has done 6 or 7 hour nights consistantly. I'm wondering if it was a sleep vaccine! He did great though and hopefully it will go as smoothly next month for the same shots.

On the weight front Evan is very big. Our doctor actually said he has NEVER seen such a weight gain in such a short amount of time. Evan gained TWO kg in 6 weeks even. YES, TWO kg!!! He went from 4400 grams to 6400 grams in only 6 weeks. This is about a pound a week. He just really took off and the doctor showed me that he is outside the chart now. He said the breastfeeding is really a huge success...but he did seem a little amazed by the enormous weight gain. He hinted at it being TOO MUCH...Oh well what can I do. I feed on demand and that is why I have the good milk supply that I have. Evan WAS eating every 3-4 hours around the clock for most of that month though so now that he is doing 7 hour (+) stretches at night I'm sure the gain will slow a bit and he'll fall back in the normal range!! :) He has now grown 6 cm also (he was 59 cm at the appt). He looked healthy as can be and is a real little charmer now...talking, smiling and laughing even *the laughiing started this weekend!

Kaitlyn did really well also ONCE she had her clothes off. It took both Toomas and the doctor to undress her!!! She screamed!! Once she had her clothes off she sat amazingly still on the examining table and watched those shots go right into her arm as if she were mezmerized by the proceedure itself. The doctor commented on how she didn't even move one single centimeter..This may be due to the fact that the secretary, upon hearing her crying brough in a huge bowl of gummy candy that Kaitlyn got to hold during the shots. On a down note her eczema seemed to kick into full gear again after the shots. The doctor put bandaid over both shots and we didn't remove them that night because she was afraid to do so..in the morning when I took them off she had raised red bandaid marks on her arms from where she reacted to the adhesive. It is still there over a week later. She also had some patches on the back of her leg and was scratching a lot. Kaitlyn has always had these reactions after her shots.. I was hoping with age it would be better...and infact it is a bit better. She had a much stronger reaction at her 12 and 18 month boosters.
















So that is the doc's update for this month.... Look how much Evan has grown!! I've posted a picture of him in his tubby at home for the first time (1 week old) and now a photo from last week (2 months). What a change. I'm afraid the days are now numbered for this little tubby!!!

More weight/height stats for the littles..

Here is a brief update on our 2 littlest family members....As mentioned in the previous post, we had our apppointment on Monday with the pediatrician. Of course the big news was Evan's whopping TWO pound weight (1 kg) gain in 3 weeks...He was 4,450 grams and was 55 cm tall. Interestingly he is only NOW at 3.5 weeks reaching Erik's birth height! Erik was one tall little dude for sure!! Anyway, he checked out beautifully and we really didn't have much to discuss with the doctor. The next exam will be when Evan starts his shots in a month's time..

Little Kaitlyn also saw our beloved doctor as well. She weighed in at 13,1 kg or 28 pounds (exactly 50%ile) and was 92 cm or 36 1/4 inches tall. Developmentally she is right on target, doing everything a nearly 3 year old should. The only issues we had to discuss with him was about her eating (or lack of). She just doesn't eat the way I'd like her to! If she had a choice she would live on goat cheese, cucumber and milk. Hopefully she will decide to eat a bit more balanced in the coming months because I'm sick of her dairy obsession (goat cheese, camembert, yogurt, milk, blue cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese!!). For now the doctor reassured us her growth is PERFECT! He showed us his computer screen with her weight gain stats from birth. It was so wild to see. She has remained on the 50% percentile EXACTLY since BIRTH! There was one exam at 12 months when she dipped down into about the 40% but she has stayed RIGHT on track the whole way. The little red dots on the chart were EXACTLY on the line for all of these months! Pretty darn amazing to see that it has remained so precise the last 3 years.

8 Month Exam

Today we went to the pediatrician's for our "9 month" exam (a few weeks early). Kaitlyn didn't get any shots today thankfully! We're all finished with those until her first birthday. Today was a quick growth and development check-up as well as a control for her right ear (which has now had 2 infections). Doc said the ear is healing and looks fine now. He didn't know if this will be a recurring problem for her or is just an isolated event. We'll see on that one. We're praying that ear infections aren't her weakness!

So, all in all she looks great! The doc said she was growing very well and seemed like a very happy and friendly baby (which she is!). She weighed in at 8900 grams which is 19 1/2 pounds and was 69 cm long (a bit over 27 inches). Hard to believe she has grown 1/2 a FOOT since birth and gained 12 pounds! Not bad in only 8 months.

As far as development goes she is sitting very well....and scooting even! She can get around by either sitting and scooting forwards or lying on her back and arching her back and inching forward. In otherwords...She ISN'T very mobile yet! Which isn't a bad thing for me, because my house is not ready for a toddler (or even crawler) yet. She's getting there though and is starting to develop the "desire" to get a toy that is a foot away. She's been on her knees a few times but doesn't know what to do when she is up.

We are thankful for our healthy baby who continues to thrive and develop! She is the light of our lives (one of the 3 lights, that is!).

Kaitlyn's Five Month Checkup

A Healthy Baby Girl!!

Today we had Kaitlyn's five month checkup and she checked-out A.OK! Her stats are: height 25.5 inches long (65 cm)...Hooray-- two feet tall! She weighed in at 7.8 kg or 17 pounds, 4 oz...and her head circumference was 44 cm. All in all her stats put her around the 65-70% for a 5.5 month old girl in France (on all measures). The doctor gave us the go ahead to start solids this month or next. I think we will wait until she turns 6 months and have a celebration for her 6 month birthday...which is only 10 days away! Right now she is enjoying breastmilk alone...and I am enjoying the last few days of exclusive breastfeeding before we start getting messy! The bad news of the visit is that she got her booster vaccinations (Prevnar and Infanrix Quinta). She didn't even cry for them, but unfortunately did start crying a few hours after we got back (and is now running a slight fever). Despite not wanting to, I gave her a bit of tylenol and thankfully now she is napping peacefully. I'm so thankful for this precious, healthy blessing! She is a pure joy for us.