15 weeks!

The little guy is 15 weeks old! I was going to be done with the weekly posts, but decided there is a lot changing lately so this could be his 3.5 month post.  So here we go.

Let me just start by saying this little boy is such a little angel baby.  He's a happy little dude who really only cries when hungry, too hot, in need of diaper change, or very overtired.  He's getting more and more personality each and every day and it's so much fun seeing him develop into a little person rather than a (very cute) blob of a baby.

Sleeping (day time):  In the past week, he has gone from needing to be held for all his naps to sleeping in his crib for most of his naps during the day!  I decided I really needed to get him napping in his own room during the day, because it wasn't fair to him or to Riley for me to be holding him out in the lounge for his sleeps.  Riley kept waking him up, I couldn't really play with Riley and was trying to get her to be quiet... it was just not working anymore.  So I decided to try and get him in his crib, but WITHOUT letting him cry.  Wasn't totally sure how to go about it, because it's not like I could spend 45 minutes rocking him to sleep or shushing him, that would sort of defeat the purpose.  But it was way easier than I thought.  Basically, at his first tired sign, I put him in his crib with a paci, and turn on his little fisher price seahorse.  It plays music and lights up, he stares at it and kicks and plays for a little bit in the quiet, dark room.  It seems to get him nice and calm and ready for sleep.  Usually after about 10-15 minutes he will start to whine/cry, and I go back in there, swaddle him up, give him his paci again, and pat his chest and stroke his little face until he falls asleep (usually takes just a few minutes).  Now, the longest he's slept in his crib has been an hour, usually more like 30-45 minutes, but it's a start!  Frees me up to play with Riley, and he doesn't get woken by her since he's in his own space! 

His awake time is about an hour and a half, but he can go up to two hours without totally losing it.  Any longer than that and we are in for a very overtired, cranky little boy.  He takes about 5 naps a day since his naps aren't very long.  Hopefully as his naps lengthen, he will only take 3 or 4 a day.

Sleeping (night time):  The past few days he has been wanting to go to sleep for the night at 5:30!!  Both times I thought he was just going to take a catnap, but then he's just stayed asleep!  Usually for this nap I was holding him since Mark was home, so last night I put him in his bed, and sure enough he only slept for 40 minutes. :) 

Now, night time sleep... oh boy.  We do the same routine every night, bath, feed, songs/stories, bed... sometimes he will fall asleep while feeding, and sometimes he needs to be rocked/walked around.  But lately after I put him in bed, he wakes up after only 20 or 30 minutes, and just won't go back to sleep unless he's walked all over the house, or laying with me on the couch nursing.  Then we have to wait until he's SOUND asleep before transferring him into his bed, and then he'll stay asleep in there for maybe 3-5 more hours.  He no longer does a big 6-7 hour stretch.  He went through a big 3 month growth spurt and started waking to eat more often in the night, and that's sort of just lingering now...  The other night he was up at 1am... and 3am... and 5am...  Sometimes he goes right back to sleep after nursing, sometimes not... And usually around 4 months things can tend do go downhill sleep-wise, soo we'll see how this all works out!!

Feeding: We're on a pretty good eat, awake, sleep routine these days, problem is, his sleeps aren't long enough to get him to a good 3 hour schedule.  So it's more like eating every 2.5 hours, sometimes 3.  I feed him more frequently in the evenings as well in hopes of filling up the tank!  A few nights I have tried a dream feed (waking him to feed around 10:30 before I go to bed) and I think I might try and do that more frequently, that way I don't go to sleep and then get woken up an hour later to feed him. 

Playing:  Jackson LOVES his play gym.  He talks to his toys and hits them and grabs them, he kicks his legs and swings his arms like crazy!  He loves looking in the mirror, looking at books, and watching everything Riley does.  He's fine with tummy time and is definitely getting stronger, although to be honest I don't put him on his tummy all that often... maaaaybe once or twice a day.  I've read conflicting things about the importance of tummy time, and I think Jackson is developing just fine, so I'm not worried about.

His fingers are in his mouth constantly.  I'm wondering if he's going to be a thumb or finger sucker?  He does take his paci for his naps, which is good because I swaddle him for naps so he can't get his hands anyway, but when he's awake, his hands are in his mouth.  He hasn't quite figured out he can grasp toys and bring them to his mouth.  He will grab onto blankets or our hands/fingers and try to shove them in there, but not toys so far. 

He seems to have a bit of eczema, on his face and arms and legs... I try to keep him all moisturized, but it's hard!  He's still got his cradle cap which is more obvious now that he basically doesn't have any hair.  He also has what seems like a bit of eczema or skin infection behind his one ear, which I am taking him to see the doctor about tomorrow. 

He is VERY ticklish- mostly on his tummy and his sides, but also on his legs.  He laughs almost every time we tickle his tummy.  He smiles all the time, and is constantly chatting.  He loves having someone to look at and talk to.  He loves bath time and sitting propped up.  He can sit up by himself for about 5 seconds before he topples over.  He rolls from back to side, but that's it.  He still loves the carrier, and he loves going for walks in the double stroller NOT in the car seat, but in the actual stroller!

He's just a big, happy little bubba and we love him to pieces!!!