Clement hit the three month mark on Monday!
We were supposed to go in for a check up yesterday, but I had to reschedule because of the storm, so now we're set for next Monday. I'll have to come back and add height/weight info after having that appointment. My home scale has him at 16 pounds.
Let's see... what has Clement done over the last month...
He did roll front to back a few times one night, in very deliberate fashion, around 9 weeks. I had propped him up to do tummy time on his elbows, trying to encourage him to lift his head, and before long I could tell he was going to flip, so I got my camera. Here's the tail end of
his very first roll. And then we did it again:
his second roll. I don't know if he can still do it or not, because every single time I've tried to get him to hang out on his tummy after that night, he has flattened out, flailing his arms to the side, pushed his face into the surface beneath him and screamed bloody murder until he is rescued.
For the life of me I cannot get him to do tummy time! He used to be fine with it. If he didn't want to hold up his head, he'd just turn it and chew on his fingers. But now, NO. The lad REFUSES.
I still try to find a time every day when my nerves feel strong and make him do it. I've tried all times of day, during his various moods, and with several gimmicks to make it seem like great fun.
He will not be sold.
No idea what's going on there.
Another video of Clement hanging out in his johnny jump-up can be found
here. This is at nearly 11 weeks.
Shortly after I posted his 2 month update, Clement got the hang of the full-blown baby giggle. I love his laughs, and he seems to really enjoy it. You can tell he doesn't think we're all that funny; he just likes to hear himself laugh, so he'll play along with whatever we're doing. But it's more like he's just getting tickled listening to himself-- his eyes kind of watch us like "okay guys. funny the first time. now it's lame. but whatever, I sound awesome when I laugh so I'm going to keep doing it."
Equally, he likes to hear himself fuss. He will scream, it seems, just to blow off steam. Nothing will be wrong. In fact, he'll be easily distractible. It's like a little loudness just seems FUN to him. And so it's frequently like he's looking for a reason to holler... "NO I DON'T WANT TO LAY DOWN, PROP ME UP AND DO IT IMMEDIATELY." "HOW DAAAAAAAAARE YOU CHANGE MY DIAPER RIIIIIIIGHT NOOOOOOWWWW!!!!" Etc.
But this is nothing new. I've already shared all this. Suffice it to say, it hasn't changed.
What has changed, is that now he's teething. So all those peaceful hours he spent silent or cooing happily at his mobile or sitting around looking at toys... now they're pretty much solid grumping. He used to be such a HAPPY talker; I'm sad he sounds so discontent all the time now. It's especially ramped up over the last week or so. I would discount it and say it's way too early for teeth... but Josephine popped in her chompers early, too... they get it from Sean.
In addition to cramming as many of his fingers as possible in his mouth all day long and lots of drooling, he's also been spitting up more, and nursing poorly-- with tugs and chomps-- just the way Josephine used to when her gums hurt.
12 weeks
About a week prior to all of this, I noticed he had become reliably good at sucking on his left thumb to soothe himself to sleep during naps. He's never been a huge fan of swaddling, frequently squirming against the constrictions when I've wrapped him up, but he was bad about waking himself up without the swaddle, so I did it anyway. Since his thumb was now an asset, I started leaving it out of the swaddle at night, and that helped him sleep through the night. In fact, a bit to my alarm, he dropped 3 feedings all at once, simply sucking on his thumb and falling back asleep. He did this a few nights in a row, actually sleeping 10-11 hours overnight!
He didn't seem to be making up the feedings during the day, so maybe my milk supply diminished... or maybe he got bored with the thumb sucking and figured out it wasn't actually as great as eating... or maybe the teething discomfort ramped up... or maybe a combination of all three... but that slice of heaven hasn't lasted.
He does still use the thumb sucking to replace one feeding, but our schedule looks more like this right now: Every 3 hours during the day, a last feed around 10 or 10:30, and then one around 5:30 or 6, and then the "wake up feeding" around 8:30 or 9:00. Depending on the night, he does seem to be managing a 6-8 hour stretch between feeding overnight.
Also, I don't know if it's the heaps of stress I'm currently feeling, or if it's the lack of overnight feeding, or if it's his poor/weak nursing due to his gums, but my supply seems down, too. He used to just feed on one side per session, but now during the day he pretty much always needs both sides.
There's always SOMETHING to keep me wondering! Guess that's just life with little ones.
13 weeks
More johnny jump-up. I noticed today that he is finally seeming to bounce a little more in the jumper, as opposed to just hanging out. So maybe he's getting the hang of it. Regardless-- he likes the thing. That, taking walks, and riding in his swing if Josephine is playing in the same room are sure-fire ways to pull him out of a "I'm grumping because I'm bored" slump. He also loves having someone help him stand up and crouch down over and over again. He gets quite the focused expression, and when he stands up, will frequently start talking-- same as when he's sitting up. It's like he knows he's in an adult posture and therefore needs to begin having conversations.
On that note, he still astounds me with how well he communicates. The timing and tones of his "uh-huhs", sighs, and "words" usually make whatever he's thinking completely obvious. You definitely get the sense that he expects his communication to be taken seriously. Even if he's just flirting and I get distracted, he'll kind of give me this noise in the precise tone one would say "Hey! Back here!" and when I look back over at him, he promptly resumes his smiley, chatty flirting.
Fair enough, Clement. I don't want to be missing out on that anyway. :-)
