Mother's Day 2014 and Alex's Baby Dedication

Our church has a baby dedication ceremony twice a year. Two years ago, we dedicated Evan to the Lord on Mother's Day. This year, we were able to dedicate Alex. Kim had saved some of Nathan's old outfits from when he was a baby so I used them in the ceremony for both Evan and Alex. They looked antique white and so cute on the boys. Kim and Billy surprised mom for Mother's Day by coming into town to help her celebrate. We had a nice church service (where Evan repeatedly pulled my hair on stage and laughed during the prayer). We then ate a great brunch at City Range.

Alex 4 Months Old

Alex turned four months old this past weekend on 5/3/14. He is doing great and progressing right along. He rolled over on Thursday night, two days before turning four months old. He turned from his belly to his right side and then back. He loves kicking his feet and smiling when you look at him. He coos a lot and grabs for his toys. He also does fairly well holding his bottle. We took him for his four month check up today. He weighed 11.1 pounds and was 23.5 inches long. That put him in the 0 - 2% group. So even though he's bigger than Evan was at that age, both my boys are on the short/skinny side. I think they get that from my family. We are all small people. The doctor said there were a lot more overweight children these days, which skews the chart as well. Luckily, I don't have to deal with that issue. Alex holds his head up well and tolerates the bumbo time for about ten minutes at a time. He's got a little flat spot on the back from sleeping on his back, but hopefully, it will round out with more sitting up & tummy time. His capilary hemangioma is starting to turn white in the middle. The doctor said that's a good sign that it's stopped growing and may start shrinking soon. We tried giving Alex rice cereal this weekend. He did not seem at all interested, so we'll see if he continues to grasp the spoon-eating concept or not. He's a very healthy boy!

First time eating rice cereal.

Evan enjoyed eating the cake pop for Alex.

Spring Fling 2014

Mom and Dad returned from their cruise just in time to watch Alex for us on Friday night so Vince and I could take Evan downtown to see the bike races at Spring Fling. They had so many more tents this year with sponsors, so it was hard to find a spot to sit and watch the bikers without having to walk way far down. We sat for a bit and Evan enjoyed ringing the bell for the bike riders. The pro women were fast, but nothing compared to the pro men that raced after them. I strong breeze rushed by when the men took the field. We enjoyed looking at the booths and watching one of the bands play at one of the stages. It was perfect weather for such a nice night.

Sleepless Nights

Evan had us spoiled by sleeping through the night starting at 10 weeks old. Alex has not been quite as easy as that, but he does sleep at night and has since he was born. I've been very blessed to have two babies that know when to sleep. However, Alex loves to eat more and gets up frequently in the night. He finally got over the curve last week and slept five straight nights from 9pm to about 5am. This week he's gone back to 3:30am and 4am, so a little regression. I attribute that to a growth spurt (I hope). Starting next week, he will be four months old and we can start the rice cereal. I'll be eager to see if that helps him sleep through the night better. Evan continues to sleep through the night from about 9pm to 6:30am. He's a wild sleeper and tosses, turns, kicks, and moves all night long. We try to cover him up to keep him warm on the cold nights, but the blanket is tossed within the first hour's sleep. I put two layers of pajamas on him to act as his blanket. For Alex, I put his onesie and sleeper on him, then a fleece bag sleeper. He's a noisy sleeper and grunts and talks some in his sleep. I remember with Evan, I had to listen for a change in breathing to know when he was awake. With Alex, he lets you know five minutes before he's fully awake with his grunts and groans. Here's hoping we have a full 8 hours to 10 hours of sleep very soon!

Easter 2014

This was our first Easter as a family of four. It was Alex's first Easter and Evan's third. Kim and her family were able to come visit for the weekend. Now that mom and dad are settled in Spartanburg for good, they were also here. We enjoyed our Easter ham dinner on Saturday night and the kids dyed Easter eggs.

Kim, John, Nathan, & Grayson attended the 9:30am service at our church with us while mom and dad went to their new Sunday School class at their church. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best. After church, we surprised Vince for his 40th birthday and ate brunch at the Marriott downtown. They had a huge buffet with everything on it, including some scrumptious desserts. Vince opened gifts at home after lunch while the boys napped. That afternoon, Vince & I took Evan outside to have his own little Easter egg hunt. He enjoyed playing with the grass more than the eggs.

Alex is 3 Months Old

Happy 3 months old to Alex! I was hoping to post that Alex was now sleeping soundly through the night. Evan started sleeping through the night at ten weeks old, so I had high hopes for Alex. He does sleep well, but still has his moments. Last week he slept from about 8:30pm to 4:30am, even 6am one night. But for the last three nights, he's been up around 2:30am for another feeding. So he has regresses some on the long stretches of sleep. I'm hoping it's just a temoporary growth spurt and he'll be back on track soon. Alex is a good baby overall. He is happy and coos all the time now. He can reach up and grab his toys and makes good eye contact. His smiles are so cute and he almost has a laugh now. He has found his fingers to suck on and puts them in his mouth a lot, but loves the pacifier more.
Evan is still rough with him, as he wants to pinch or grab everything (toes, fingers, etc.), so we are still cautious and don't put Alex within Evan's reach unless supervised. And by supervised, I mean holding his hands tightly so he can't pinch Alex. We try to show him how to touch Alex gently, but have a ways to go. Alex has been working on tummy time and kicks his legs so much, he can crawl over the boppy pillow and land on his head - just like Evan did! I see the Tumzee in his near future. He can also hold his head up really well, but still has a little wobbling. Alex drinks about four ounces now, every three to four hours. I'm eagerly anticipating the rice cereal I can start at four months old, hoping that will get him to sleep longer through the night.

We had fun with a new pacifier this past week.