Wallace | Three Months

Happy Three Months, Wallace!

You are getting so stinking big, it's startling.





This month was huge because I started back to work last week. Wallace started the week off strong and took 3-5 ounces a day, during my 5.5 hours away from him. But by the end of the week, he was getting angrier about the bottles and took exactly zero ounces from Lois on Friday. Yikes. He tends to hang on until around noon when he just cannot anymore and then he gets very upset. He'll nurse most of the evening to make up for our time apart, which means I have a hard time putting him down to do anything else (i.e. help the big kids with unloading their backpacks, homework, making dinner, doing bedtime, etc). Last night Lois watched him while Nate and I went out with friends for 1.5 hours and Wallace was hysterical and wouldn't sleep for Lois. Sigh. I know he will get there but right now he's showing his strong preference for the boob and for mommy.

First day with Lois:


First day with Tony:


First day!


We need to get into a solid routine of eating, playing and then napping longer than 20 minutes. When we are together he still prefers to nurse to sleep for most naps which is a problem when we are apart, obviously. So on my day off and weekends we will focus on the sleeping and scheduled naps first, then we will hope the bottles fall into place with time. I ordered the $30 Mimijumi bottle that is 'guaranteed' to work, or your money back. I truly don't think it's the bottle choice that's the issue but we will see! I've been down this path with Cecelia and forgot how awful it is and how much stress it causes for everyone.



Therefore, my first week back to work was good while I was AT work, but tough when I'd come home to a sad and hungry baby. Here's hoping next week is better. I'm thinking it might be a solid month before we find a new routine.







In other news, Wallace rolled over for the first time today! This is VERY VERY early compared to my other kids, if I recall correctly. He has been rolling from his back to his left side consistently for a week or so now. This morning he went all the way onto his tummy, we all screamed and cheered, and then he started to cry. He's super strong, always trying to bear weight through his legs, holds up his head during tummy time, and loves to be vertical when we hold him, too. This kid is Porter's exact opposite because Ace loves to nurse and loves to move (Porter hated both of those things at this age).



He's a big fatty, wearing size 2 diapers and mostly size 6 month clothes. His 3 month outfits are still in rotation but are quite snug, but I don't know how much he weighs for sure....guessing around 15 pounds? His eyes seem to be brown and he has very little hair, which makes his ears even bigger. He's seriously the cutest and so stinking happy all of the time (except when I'm away and he can't nurse, or won't nap....but otherwise he's the best!). He is our biggest baby yet and I still think he looks most like Truman with those dark eyes and double chins, plus the chill attitude makes us remember Truman much more than Cecelia or Porter. ;)





Wallace is newly obsessed with his hands and loves to suck and chew on them constantly. He's grabbing his dangling animal friends that hang above his activity mat and really enjoys putting every blanket in his mouth, too. He also loves to be outside looking around at trees, and still can be distracted from a freak out if we go outside for a little bit. So basically he is at that stage when he needs to be entertained but his attention span is still extremely short. I find that after one hour of being awake, he's had enough and really needs to nap. But again, that is one area we are working to streamline a bit. I'm pretty sure the other kids were falling into a 'three nap a day' schedule by three months.



Twins?




He sleeps in the Mamaroo swing at night next to our bed, and consistently wakes for the first time at 1:30-2am to eat. Usually he will eat again around 5am and last week I had to wake him up before I left for work, to force feed him around 7:45am. He goes down for the night around 8:30-9pm in the swing, so that means his first stretch of sleep is about five hours. Not bad, but he's been doing this since the first week at home without much change in his sleeping pattern.





Sister was here.


He'll spit up if he nurses too much and will pop on and off when he's had enough. I don't know how much milk he's eating at once because the most he's taken in a bottle was 3 ounces, but I am pumping 8-9 oz during my one session at work (about 3-4 hours after our last feed). So basically, my supply is pretty amazing this time around but I attribute that to a big baby who freaking LOVES to nurse. It's nice to only pump once during my work day but I'm definitely feeling multiple let downs before I pump around 11:30am, and my reusable breast pads are totally soaked by the time I get home.

Oh, and I calculated 200oz of frozen milk in our stash, so hopefully someday Wallace will take a bottle and we can use that milk!







Reading back over Porter's three month post, I remembered to say that Wallace absolutely LOVES TV, too;) He can also entertain himself for about 30 minutes on his activity mat at times, just like big brother used to do. Wow, really glad Wallace nurses better than Porter did---I forgot that he was already trying to wean completely by now. But yeah, Porter definitely had a better schedule during the day although he was kind of a mess at night. Ah, such a trade off to have an excellent nurser but not a great daytime schedule this time around. Happy he sleeps well at night though!



Lived in my body three months ago, insane.


Cecelia at three months? Gah, I vividly remember the day when I did a bottle stand off with her, because she was one who didn't take the bottle and fussed all day at daycare for Lori. I only remember her drinking a few ounces for Lori, but apparently she was actually taking 8-10oz? Who knows. But this is the post that tells us how we conquered the bottle with her and now I'm thinking about doing this for Wallace. Ugggghhhhhhhh. Also, both Porter and Cecelia were going to bed for the night around 7pm so I should probably start that with Ace, too. It seems like CC and Wallace are similar with nighttime sleeping schedules at three months.



Truman's post says he was 16 pounds, so maybe Ace is actually that heavy, too? And all three big kids' posts mention the fourth trimester ending...I forgot about that!



Well, Wallace, you are still the best baby ever. Even when you won't take a bottle. Love you so much!!