9.06.2009

8 weeks old, already?!

It's hard to believe that 8 weeks ago we were just welcoming baby Stratton into the world!! He has grown so much over the last 8 weeks! We had to move the straps to the car seat up a notch since he has gotten so much longer! And we have finally (finally!) graduated from the "newborn" size and he is now wearing 0-3 month clothes. We don't own scales but I am pretty sure he is over 10 lbs now, probably closer to 11. I am almost afraid we might skip right over 0-3 size and go straight to the 3-6. His torso is so long that 0-3 onesies are almost too short! The pants are still really big in the waist, but I don't for see that problem getting any better, maybe I need to be looking for a baby belt?!

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[see how long and skinny he is!]

We are trying to feed him 5 ounces again. His eating has been really sporadic lately. Sometimes he would suck a 4 oz bottle down in mere minutes and seem like he was still hungry. Then other times we would be forcing him to at least get a good 3 oz.?? So we are going to try to up the amount again and see how it goes. We also have starting feeding him a special "nightime" formula. It's Enfamil Rest Ease. It's supposed to digest slower and make them feel full longer which will hopefully translate into longer sleeping for mom and dad, too! I think it's working ok, I mean I am happy with a good 6 hours. . . he's just not going to sleep 10 hours yet. I read that it takes preemies longer to sleep through the night, too.

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[chillin' on his belly]

In general he is a great baby. Not a lot of fussing and carrying on, and we have learned some tricks when he has random fussiness . . . like he likes to lay on his belly, or sometimes we swaddle him up like we do at night and put him in his crib and he's fine. He loves taking a bath, especially in the big tub where he can be neck deep and really flop around. He moves his legs like a little frog in he water. I think he will be a good swimmer just like mom and dad! We have been hearing some different cries and sounds coming from him lately, too. I think he has figured out that it's HIM who is making that noise and he like to hear himself! We are patiently (not really) waiting for him to start smiling at us.  I just know he'll do it for the first time with Kayce and Cooper. . .probably at Cooper, who can be pretty funny to me too!

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[Stratton's first visit to Gigi's office]

Friday Jarrod and I had dentist appointments in Wynne at my mom's office, so we took Stratton. His first visit to the Dentist went well. Dr Weatherford took a look in his mouth, and while there are no teeth yet, he still got a good report! He got to meet the girls in the office (minus Jana and Laura) and after Jarrod and I got our teeth cleaned we went out to lunch with mom.  We left from there and went to Searcy where we stopped by Ultimate Outdoors (for those of you who don't know Jarrod worked there for a couple of years in college. The owners are so nice and Jarrod goes by the store almost every time he's in Searcy). It was the first of many trips to the store, I'm sure, for Stratton and his daddy! We got to introduce him to everyone at the store and they were excited to meet him. We had dinner with Terry and Margie and Jennifer and Daniel at Who Dats. Then after visiting with them at their house for a little while, Jarrod and I left Stratton to stay the night with Nan and Pa for the first time! They kept him till Sunday afternoon, so we had a great relaxing weekend with not one but TWO nights of uninterrupted sleep!!

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[ready to go to Who Dats in his Rock n' Roll outfit]

Tonight we went to church, and Stratton did get a little fussy towards the end. Then we went to Firehouse and ate with some friends from church. Stratton got to wear the polo romper that Bubba, Derek and Steven got him. It looked so cute on him. I hope it stays warm so he can wear it a couple more times!

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