3 Months

Wow.  How on earth is Carter already three months old???  I know they say the second one seems to grow faster, but this is ridiculous!  I feel like we've come out of the "fog" a little bit this month.  Maybe it's because I have a couple more hours of my life back each day because I quit pumping.  How on earth did I do that, having a baby, a nearly four year old, and going back to work...a job where I don't just sit at a desk and can take a pump break whenever I feel like it?  Or maybe it's that we have a decent schedule going with both boys.  Or maybe it's simply because I know the end of the school year is in sight.  Regardless, we are so happy that this little guy is now a happy spitter-upper and growing healthily!  It's amazing what a little Prevacid can do ;)

I have been quite leery of putting Carter on his back because it's a guaranteed spit up.  Not that nearly everything else isn't, hahaha.  I have literally never seen a kid who spit up so much (and so often!) in my entire life.  It's a wonder he gains weight at all...and he's already bigger than Reid was at this point!!  He's somewhere around the 13 lb. mark and getting to get those cute baby rolls on his arms and legs.  He loves to wave them around and is beginning to suck on his fingers (no thumb, yet) when he's hungry.  Still hates tummy time, but does enjoy hanging out on his back now.  I just feel so bad when he barfs up what he drank two hours ago.  But I've come to peace that this will be our messy kid and that's just life.  And a lot more laundry, LOL.

For awhile, I seriously thought I was either doing something wrong or we were unfortunate enough to have two kids that had colic.  The Zantac wasn't much help, then it was nearly impossible to get him to keep any of the Prevacid in his mouth from a spoon.  Thankfully, a good friend whose sons also had GERD told me to put the 1/2 pill into a syringe, suck up a little water, and squirt it in the side "pocket" in his mouth.  Voila!  Medicine in = happy spitter!  Not that the meds are guaranteed to stay in there, of course.  And then the timing does indeed stink because it has to be about 30 minutes before he eats ("in a perfect world," the pediatrician said) or waaaaay after he eats.  So then he's either screaming because of hunger, or I'm guessing when the least spitty-uppy time might be.  Let's just say we are praying daily for this little guy's flapper to mature and close like normal.  But in the meantime, thank goodness for Prevacid!!  Love my little guy's big gummers! 

I'm really not sure who loves bath time more...  Reid, or Carter!  Carter is getting too big for the baby tub already.  He splashes all over the place, which Reid thinks is absolutely hilarious, but I definitely can't put him in the big tub yet...

 

 

So far, he seems to still enjoy having his arms swaddled and sleeps a lot better that way.  A few nights ago, I put him in the white fleecy swaddle blanket (which is now apparently too small) and he repeatedly unswaddled himself all night long.  All the others were downstairs in the dirty clothes (spit up on, of course!) or I'd have done a 3am outfit change.

Cute guy!

At this point, I typically wake up around 5:15 or 5:30 since I quit pumping.  I'll come downstairs for my chai latte, devotional, and makeup, then back upstairs to wake up Reid, who now enjoys getting ready in Mommy's bathroom.  We'll wake up Carter together so that Reid can give him a hug and kiss, change him (Reid loves being a helper and throwing the diapers in the diaper genie), finish getting Mommy ready, then head back downstairs to finalize lunches, make fifty trips to load the car, and aim to be backing out of the garage by 7:05 at the latest.  But this day, Carter decided to stay awake and grunt around after 4-something.  I gave up and finally got him up and woke up Reid by putting Carter in his bed.  Big brother thought it was hilarious!  Little does he know that in a week or two, it will become Carter's bed ;)

Saturday mornings are fun because we don't have to be anywhere at any particular time.  I know that will change when we start t-ball, soccer, or whatever we start Reid in next year.  So for now, I'm enjoying that one day of the week that's laid back.  Jason sweetly decided to be our grocery shopper and discovered that Saturday mornings are very quiet at the store, so he is usually shopping or on his way home when I start getting everyone up.  Last week, I needed to give Carter his meds and Reid was up around the same time, so all three of us hung out in Mommy and Daddy's bed.  Reid "texted Daddy" on his phone (video monitor) while Carter and I made faces and cooed at each other.  It was so much fun that we repeated it today :)

More smiles!

Thankfully, Carter seems to enjoy hiking as much as the rest of the family.  He's too heavy for me to carry in the front baby carrier anymore, and now that he can hold up his head, it's perfect for the big boy backpack that Daddy can carry.  So this morning, we went for a nice family hike.  Reid wanted to do a long hike, so we went for it.  But he tuckered out about 2/3 of the way through.  We knew he was done when he fell and started screaming/crying even when nothing broke the skin on his knee or elbow.  So Daddy carried both Carter and Reid!  Superdad!!  I offered to take Carter, but in Jason's words, "I'm training for our Kauai hike next summer."  Probably good since I just had vein surgery a month ago, too.

So thankful for our little guy.  He and Reid go together like peas 'n carrots.  (We had to wear this outfit just for Aunt Lala..old inside joke.)  I love seeing his sweet smiles everyday and how much he loves his big brother.  We love God's little addition to our family!