Titus at 3 months

Titus had his 3 month birthday yesterday. He has been doing fairly well. I've been trying to figure out his allergies through a process of elimination and testing. Basically, I don't eat a lot of food and then if he has a reaction to something I try to figure out what it was that I ate. Right now I am on a gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free and egg-free diet. Since I became much more strict about what I was eating, Titus' eczema cleared up, and he seemed to be happier. Previously, he would struggle with a stuffy nose and also had difficulty pooping. He also had eczema covering almost his whole body and had terrible cradle cap. He would also get red circles around his eyes.

pictures of Titus' red, splotchy eyes and the eczema covering his arms/body

Weight: 15 pounds
Height: 24.5 inches
Diapers: size 2. Using cloth & disposable about half/half the time

Titus is still sleeping pretty well. He is very easy to put down to sleep. He will be awake 45 minutes to an hour and a half or so, then start to get whiny. I set him in his crib, give him his paci and leave the room. Most of the time I don't have to go back into the room after that. Sometimes he requires a bit more attention, but for the most part he is simple. He takes probably 5-6 naps throughout the day. At night, he feeds 2-3 times. I usually feed him before I go to bed, and then he does a 5 hour stretch followed by another 3 hour stretch. When he wakes up, he is starving and frantic for food, so someday I hope he sleeps longer, but it seems that he needs to eat when he wakes up.

He is still a very quick nurser. He can be done with a meal in 3-6 minutes. Occasionally, he will want to linger, but he still hardly ever eats for more than 10 minutes. During the day, he eats approximately every 2 hours. He wakes up from a nap, eats, then has some play time.

Titus is constantly chewing on things. He loves sticking his hands (or my hands) in his mouth, especially. He does seem to like soft blankets too, but his favorite is his hands. He is fairly close to rolling over. He is good at batting at things, grabbing things and kicking things. He is content playing by himself for a while. When he is awake he spends a lot of the day hanging out on the floor, watching his big sister run around.

comparison, 2 months

When I got a picture of Titus chewing on his hands this last week, I was reminded of this picture of Georgia.

I thought it was time for some more comparison pictures. There are lots of people that say Titus looks just like Georgia. I see many more differences than similarities at this point.

Titus weighs probably 1 pound more than Georgia did at this point. He is also a bit longer. His skin is paler. His eyes seem like they will be brown someday. He has less hair than Georgia did. His hair seems to be fairly reddish colored.

2 months old...Titus

Today, Titus is two months old. He is growing like crazy, and this month was full of more wakeful periods and getting into a new rhythm of life.

Weight: 13.4 pounds today (weighed at home)
Height: probably around 24 inches
Diapers: size 2
Clothing: growing out of size 3months (or 0-3)

Titus is a pretty easy baby. We have fallen into a rhythm or schedule that we loosely follow every day. We go through a pattern of sleep, eat and awake. Titus is awake anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or so, and then will nap for an hour to two hours. So on any given day, he will take anywhere from 4 to 7 naps. He wakes up for the day around 7 or 8am (sometimes even later), and will go down to bed in the evening around 9 or 10pm.

Nursing is amazingly easy. He can get a full feed in about 6 minutes, which makes life much easier. He is also very easy to put down for a nap. We worked the 4 or 6 weeks to have him napping in his crib, and our work has paid off. Now when I notice he is tired I can set him down in his crib and leave the room and he falls asleep on his own. I am sure there will come a day when that doesn't work quite as easily, but I am very thankful for how he has learned to sleep.

Titus is becoming more communicative and responsive. He follows people and moving objects with his eyes. He loves cooing and "talking" to people. He smiles and has almost started giggling. Just in the last couple days he has begun swinging his arms trying to reach out and touch or grab objects.

He has bad cradle cap which doesn't bother him, but we get a lot of questions about.  It is slowly getting better after lots of olive oil baths. I am also still following a gluten free/dairy free diet. Titus is a very happy baby now, and I am hesitant to re-introduce those items into my diet.

Comparing Titus & Georgia, 5&6 weeks

So when Titus was first born, I thought he looked identical to Georgia! (Ok, he was the slightly chubbier/boy version). But now, looking at pictures, I think they look vastly different. So, I thought it would be fun to compare the two of them. In this picture, Georgia is about 6 weeks old. Titus is 5 weeks old.

One thing I notice when looking back at pictures is that Georgia was much more smiley. She smiled in almost every picture I have of her!

Some similarities: both kids have the same scalp/hair. They both had/have cradle cap, and loose hair the same way. So far, Titus has lost his hair in the front, keeping long hair in the back. The same thing happened to Georgia, creating some funny hair styles in her early days.

That's about where the similarities end. Titus is much lighter skin tone. He is white and red, while Georgia has always had a nice tan look. Their faces are shaped differently, and Titus just looks like a boy. I will try to get some more pictures to compare in the near future.

3-years old!

Well, this last month we celebrated Georgia's birthday. My little baby is quickly growing up (I know, I make that comment every blog post). Seriously though, it makes me feel old thinking about how old she is getting! It seems like just yesterday we lived in London and had a little baby that was learning to walk and eat. Sigh.

Apple picking in October (no, we did not pick those apples. It just made for a good photo!)

Now our three-year-old is a rambunctious, sometimes-ornery, preschooler who loves to push our buttons and test every boundary. It really isn't as bad as it sounds (most of the time). She is also super affectionate, very creative and imaginative, and is one of the most outgoing people I know. On her birthday morning, she went with Dave to Starbucks and brought a balloon with her - and not just any balloon. This is the most ridiculous, huge princess balloon you've ever seen. It has to be at least two or three feet tall, and is bright pink and has six different princess on it. We gave it to her on her birthday morning and it has traveled with us many places. Dave said she was a mini-celebrity in Starbucks and everyone was telling her happy birthday. For my little extrovert, that was probably the highlight of her day!

One of the books we read has a character who carries grass in his mouth. So she wanted to try it

Weight: 37 lbs
Height: 41 inches
Shoes: size 10
Clothing: size 4T (although we have some 3T that she still wears and I have started adding 5T clothing for this winter)

Georgia loves princesses, books, and drawing pictures. She was Rapunzel for Halloween (without ever seeing the movie - she just likes the princess with the purple dress). She has asked a few times if she can grow up to be a princess when she grows up. She also asks Daddy (and me!) to be her prince.

Picking out a pumpkin

Georgia does NOT like: sitting at the table (a real battle these days to get her to stay still while eating), anything scary. She has entered a phase where she is now easily scared. I was scared of everything as a child, so I expected it to happen. We bought a nightlight for her room which seemed to help. But seriously, she had a couple days where she wouldn't walk to the bathroom by herself unless we came with her. She is scared of noises and is constantly asking, "What's that?!"

Just a normal day at home ;) helping mommy wipe off the table

Georgia is also adjusting to life as an older-sister. She really does love her brother and is great with him. I have noticed that she seems to be attention-seeking and tells me that she is a "baby". She found a pacifier we don't use and keeps it in her bed and likes to suck on it at nighttime. She also crawls on the ground and has a high-pitched "baby" voice that she uses. Its a little over the top, but I expect in a couple more weeks, life will resume as normal for her.

Georgia is hitting the imaginary stage. She plays pretend with her kitchen or her stuffed animals. When she is frustrated about something, she will tell me, "but there was a little girl who's parents let HER do that!" I could see her being a pretty good liar someday soon, but we have not had to deal with that yet.

Titus is 1 month old

This month has just flown by! I know I always say that, but I think having two kids now to keep me busy the time will go even quicker than it used to. Titus is doing well. Really well. He came home a little bit of a grump and has turned into a happier child. I have cut out gluten and dairy from my diet and it seems to make a difference in his world. It is difficult, but very much worth it for a happier child.

Weight: 10lbs, 1 oz at 2 weeks.... probably 11+ pounds now
height: 23 inches or so
clothing size: 0-3 months

Titus is a good eater.  Nursing this time was a lot easier, probably because I know what I'm doing.  He is also a great sleeper. He has already slept a 7 hour stretch. He normally wakes twice to eat at night - sleeping one 5 hour stretch and one 4 hour stretch, then a couple more hours. He seems to be like his sister and has trouble sleeping when out of the house. He will fall asleep in the car, but if he is in the stroller and out and about, he will fight sleep. He doesn't like to fall asleep nursing, which is the opposite of Georgia. He also has trouble sleeping if I am holding him. It makes my life easier because I can set him down - either in the swing or in his bed and just leave. He seems to enjoy laying quietly in his own space and staring off into space before falling asleep.

We have gotten a few smiles the last couple days. He also is starting to respond by looking at people and cooing just a little. He enjoys doing "tummy time" and has fallen asleep doing it a couple times. Dave and I got a cold this last week, so Titus has also gotten it. Thankfully its a very mild cold and doesn't seem to bother him at all.

Introducing Titus Matthew.....

Sharing a birthday with his grandfather (my dad)

October 26, 2013

8 lbs, 5 oz

21 inches

25 hour labor... BUT...

easy-peasy recovery (mostly back to normal now, 2 weeks later)

I have to admit that Titus' delivery did not go the way that I had planned or thought it might go. It started when my water broke on Friday night while getting Georgia ready for bed. It was the one scenario that I had not really thought through. I had no contractions and was tired after a long day. We debated staying home or going to the hospital, but I knew that we should go in. So, we took a little nap and went into the hospital around 1am on Saturday morning. I had not dilated at all since my appointment on the previous Tuesday.

We had a very long night walking the hallways of the hospital, trying to get some contractions started. But pretty much we were exhausted and didn't sleep all night. By noonish, I still was nowhere close and had no contractions. I agreed to start pitocin. By 4pm I was done. Exhausted, tired. I thought for sure I was in transition because of how I felt. So I was very discouraged when I was told I was only 5cm. I ordered an epidural and asked they turn off the pitocin so I could get some sleep. They also started antibiotics because it had been 18 hours since my water had broken. 

They were able to start the pitocin up again after my epidural was in place. Finally sometime that evening I could feel the need to push. They called my doctor who left a fancy dinner (complete with a nice shirt/tie on!) to come deliver.  Pushing was as bad as I remember it being. I kept falling asleep between contractions and didn't have energy to even open my eyes. Thanks to my doctor, Titus was born after 25 hours of labor, and only requiring 2 stitches. He was almost 2.5 pounds heavier than Georgia!

Interesting fact - both Georgia and Titus were born at 40weeks, 3 days - both in the 8pm hour!

Titus has been a more difficult baby than Georgia. Although Georgia was probably close to a perfect baby. He has some fussiness issues and I have cut dairy and gluten out of my diet to see if that helps his digestive system. He has slightly redish hair and very red skin. He is also pretty hairy. He had a doctors appointment this week and he weighed in at 10 pounds, 1 oz and almost 22 inches. He sleeps pretty well at night, usually going to bed between 10 and 11 and waking up at 6:30 or so. He will wake up once around 2 or 3 to feed. He likes to cluster feed in the evenings, and will sometimes nurse for 2 hours on and off before he falls asleep. He doesn't take a pacifier :(   I wish he did!

He has excellent head control and is starting to track things with his eyes. His eyes are a bluish-gray color. I am trying to start the process of "sleep training" by having him take naps in his crib, when possible. He falls asleep (most times) in the car. When he is awake, most of the time he is grumpy. Thankfully he doesn't cry a lot, and when he does cry his cry is low and quiet. We are looking forward to a few weeks down the road when he will start to smile.