Pickled Blu: The New Kid in Town

Look out...I am about to catch up on about 7 months worth of baby, so if you are in a hurry, this post might not be for you:)

Where does the time go? At one month I was struggling with all that comes with being a momma to a new baby. I was also figuring out how to be a mother of two. Breastfeeding...UGGGH...so hard for me! Shep was a natural. We did so amazing for the first two months. At about 6 weeks, he started cluster feeding in the evenings and I pretty much breast fed from about 5pm until about 10pm or until I was bone dry. Before long, I was bone dry more often than not and little Shepherd was not going to have it! After a bit of guilt, heartache and tears, I went to formula and did not look back.

At two months, I was getting in the swing of things. We had Shep on the boat a few times, and Jack and I took him to the pool at LEAST once a week! He is such a good baby. We just kept him fed and dry and he just came happily along for the ride. SWEET BOY! By this time, he weighed about 14 lbs. Even though he came into the world at an average 7lbs, he was never meant to be a little baby. Oh no...that 7lbs was 3 weeks before my due date...very much like Jack who arrived 4 weeks early at 6lbs 14oz.
At three months( picture above in Aubie outfit sleeping-I forgot the label) the smiles and ooohs and ahhs were in full swing. The grunting stopped. Up until about this time he grunted all night long. It gave me FITS! I could never sleep because I was afraid he was choking or something. NO, just GRUNTING!!! The above outfit was a 6 months size.

That did not last long. His four month picture is in a 9 month size and at his four month doctor's appointment, he weighed 18 lbs. BIG BOY! Look at that grin. He'll give you the biggest smile, and then, he will squint his eyes and just get extra cute for you... I love it! I have been convinced that he has been teething since he was 4 months old, but at 7 1/2 months, still no teeth! He started solids about this time, and I thought he really liked it, but I guess I was wrong. At this point, he cries when I bring out the food. He does not like eating from the spoon. He DOES like it when I mush my banana and give him tiny little bites!

At 5 months, I panicked and tried to get him wearing all of the 6-9 month clothing that I realized he was about to outgrow hence the snaps about to pop open in this picture. By this time, he was getting a lot stronger and I really started noticing how much he watched Jack. He just adores him ( and Jack loves his Shep). He was sleeping through the night at about 3 months, but about 5 months he decided to start waking up about 3-4 am for a bottle. He does not take a paci, so we were at a loss at what to do to comfort him. At first I thought it was a growth spurt, we were just getting up and feeding him. , and then at his 6 month check up, Dr. McGhee tells me that it is what she calls a "trained night feeding". Yes folks...we trained him to wake up in the wee hours of the morning...UGGGH!

Look at this doll. Rolling over and sitting up with some help to make sure he doesn't slam backwards! We had to switch him over to his big car seat ( the convertible rear facing) because he exceeded the weight limit on his carrier. Really, he was too heavy for me to carry in the carrier anyway, so I was kind of ready, but I dreaded letting go of the carrier because you can just get them out of the car and do things like grocery shop and they will stay asleep while you cart them around ( mostly). He sits up now in the front of the cart with the padded cart cover that KK gave us when Jack was a baby. It blows my mind to see how fast he is growing!

Here he is at 7 months ( actually more like 7 1/2...the holidays really through me for a loop). I am feeling pretty confident that his eyes are going to stay blue. Dan and I were kind of shocked, but we love it and think they are pretty! He is IN LOVE with his brother. Watches his every move. Jack is equally smitten with Shep. He still asks to hold him all of the time and wants to go in and see him in his crib. It is so stinking cute. Of course, he is also loud during nap time which I have a VERY low tolerance for. I am trying to let it go a bit, but poor little Shep is always on the go with us and I just want him to get his rest. I think we have established the fact that he is a very fast growing boy!
Dan and I just put our foot down on the night feedings. I went through three nights of hell trying to comfort him with no bottle and no paci. Finally it was Friday and I asked Dan to take a shift. Shepherd slept straight through for him( of course) until about 5:30 am and has been doing pretty good with it since. He still wakes about 4 am, but he is quiet and I think drifts in and out until about 5 or 5:30. Please say a little prayer that this keeps up! It has been nice getting to sleep straight through!