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Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Easter 2014

Easter 2014 was the best Easter ever.  Must be that cute baby I got to spend it with!
My parents came to Memphis for the weekend and spent Easter with us.  This was so awesome.  I haven't gotten to see them at all for the past two Easters, so this meant alot to me.  My brother also joined us for part of the weekend.  I was in family heaven!
On Friday night, my parents, Tyson and his girlfriend, Alex and I all went to see David Nail in concert.  That hometown boy did us proud! It was an awesome show, and I so enjoyed my little night out with the family.  Aunt Maddie kept Banks, and I knew she'd do a great job with him so I didn't even have to worry.
On Saturday, we went to a crawfish boil and then took Banks to meet the Easter Bunny.  Banks thought it was funny this year... we will see how he feels about it next year! :)
On Sunday, we went to church, then came home to see what the Easter Bunny had left for Banks.  That sneaky bunny also brought Alex and Charlie a few gifts this year!  We then had brunch out on the patio... a perfect day for it!  The weather for Easter was absolutely phenomenal!
I know that each Easter will only get better and better as the years go by.  I look forward to teaching Banks about the true meaning of Easter, and us celebrating the love our Father has for each of us.
Hope everyone had a fabulous Easter weekend!

---KPG

Banks- 4 months

My happy, happy boy!
Month 3 flew by just as quickly as the previous 2.  It was filled with great times, lots of laughs, and a few firsts for Mr. Banks.
Let's begin with his stats:
Weight: 13 lb. 2 oz. (10th percentile)
Head: 16 1/2 " (75th percentile)
Length: 24 3/4" (50th percentile)

Banks' weight is still not where it needs to be. Therefore, we are upping his Prevacid dosage to try and minimize his spitting up.  The Zantac did not touch it, and so far the Prevacid has not either.  Hopefully, this stronger dosage will do the trick.
My milk supply is diminishing, so I am on a medicine to try and keep it up to his needs.  This is so frustrating for me, as I have no changed by diet or exercise AT ALL.  I want to lose weight so badly, but have not changed a thing in order to keep my supply up, but it is just not working.  I do not want to have to do formula, so I am hoping this medicine will help me out.
Banks also has had some blood in his stool, and the pediatrician believes it may be due to a reaction from the dairy in my diet.  I do not drink milk at all and consume very little dairy.  I seriously had to think back to the last time I had any dairy, which was 3 days ago.  I had a burrito bowl with a handful of shredded cheese on it.  Not exactly an enormous intake of dairy! So, I am now on a strict no-dairy diet.  I am willing to do anything to nix this spitting up/weight dilemma!
We are now strictly using size 2 diapers.  They are big on him, but I am not buying anymore size 1's.  We are also now using his Bumbo seat alot.  And he LOVES it.  The child will sit in there and just play and play.  It's been so nice! :)
The pediatrician told us today that he had the upper body strength of a five or six month old.  Awesome news!  He has been strong since day one, but he's holding his head up like a champ these days.  He also loves to put weight on his cute little feet while holding mom's hands.  So sweet!
This month, we transitioned him out of the swaddle.  We did this gradually... we started with one arm out, then two, then cut it out all together.  I was so worried about this process, afraid it would mess up his sleeping. It didn't, and I feel so much better now that he is out of the swaddle.  He's now free to roll over and move around all he wants!
The swaddle didn't affect his sleep, but my low milk supply has.  The past five nights have been rough. He's been waking up two and three times a night absolutely STARVING.  At first, I was like "oh dear, he's testing me.  I'm not getting him out of the crib. Go back to sleep.  You always sleep all night. Blah blah blah." But I'm telling you, he is so hungry.  Eating full meals two and three times a NIGHT.  On top of his 5 or 6 feedings throughout the day.  Luckily, I figured out my supply was dropping and knew that had to be the problem.  My hope is that the medicine works, fixes my supply problem, and in turn fixes the sleep issue.
Banks is genuinely just a happy baby.  Every time we take him anywhere, people stop and ask "is he always this happy!?". He is so go-with-the-flow.  I haul him everywhere.... shopping, on walks, to exercise, out to eat, wherever!  He and I have lunch together every single day.  I make it a point, whether at home or at a restaurant, to sit down and have lunch with just the two of us.  Sometimes Alex gets to join, but I shut off the TV and have our time together.  If the weather's nice, we ALWAYS eat outside.  The child is destined to love patios.  Raising him right.
We took our first trip to the zoo this month.  It was so much fun! Obviously, Banks is too young to get much out of it, but the weather was perfect and Alex and I were in animal heaven.  I look forward to numerous zoo days in our future!
We also celebrated Banks' first Easter.  Technically, he was 4 months on Easter, but I'm writing this post a few days late. Easter was fabulous!
I think that just about covers it! Month 4 is already so much fun!

---KPG