3 months old

Elliott is fighting his first cold.  He has a crusty little nose, a tiny little cough and is sneezing like 4-5 times in a row.  It was tough to get a good picture of him today because he wasn't feeling good.

The official 3 month picture

Date

March 16, 2012

The rest of the "not so good" pictures

Weight/Size
We went to our pediatrician today because Elliott hadn't pooped in 3 days and because we are being extra cautious with any illness.  I was really not concerned about his cold because his symptoms are so mild, but with his history I was not taking ANY chances. He was 8 pounds 12.5 ounces.  That is a gain of a little more than 5 ounces in 3 days.  Know how many times I pumped and fed him in a bottle?  ZERO.  Take THAT nutritionist.  He gained almost a pound (1/2 an ounce short) since he was 2 months.

Elliott is wearing an entire variety of clothes sizes.  He still fits in newborn, but those outfits are getting a little short.  He fits nicely in 0-3 months.  The giraffe outfit he was wearing today was 3 months.  I don't think anybody would say it was too big on him.  He is still wearing newborn diapers.  At his appointment with Dr. Miloh on Tuesday he was 22.1 inches.

(Our pediatrician told us that Elliott's system was probably adjusting to the bump in calories in his supplementary formula.  She said to give him 1 more day to poop.  If he didn't go we could give him 1 tsp of karo syrup twice a day.  He pooped twice within a couple hours of the appointment.  He probably lost 3 of those 5 ounces)

Sleep

Not much different from last month.  Bed between 9 and 10.  Eating 2-3 times during the night.  Up between 8 and 9.  With Spencer gone this week we slept until 9:45 one morning!  A little nap in the morning around 11 and a longer nap in the afternoon. He is sleeping longer stretches by himself during naps, but he is with me in bed at night and I have to say, I love it.

Movement

Still rolling from his tummy to his back.  He can kick really hard- if he kicks off something he can move his whole body.  He holds his head up really well. He has found his fingers and works really hard to get them in his mouth.  He is not very coordinated though and when they slip out he gets mad that he can't get them back in. 

Communication

Elliott is cooing when he is happy.  He makes general little "baby noises".  Not babbling, but kind of pre-babbling.  He makes good eye contact and is giving purposeful smiles a lot.  He grins at me when he is nursing, which is adorable.

Sweet Remembrances

1) Having multiple appointments with Dr. Miloh where various tests came back with good news.

2) Having Elliott's bilirubin level drop to 1.8

3) Elliott's first Leap Day

4) Taking his 2nd trip to Tucson and going to Grandma and Papa's house for the first time.

4) Packing on some weight

Food

Started supplemental pregestimil at 2 months 1 week.  Did 1 week of 3-4 ounces a day.  Did 1 week of 8-10 ounces a day.  The past few days we have been aiming for about 13 ounces a day.  I am still nursing 9-10 times a day.  He gets all his formula in a supplemental nurser while I am nursing.  It has worked well.  He has completely rejected taking a bottle, which is a problem since I go back to work next week.  We got a Dr. Brown's bottle that we're going to try this weekend.  Dr. Miloh is encouraged that once his bilirubin levels return to normal and his liver starts functioning that his fat malabsorption problems will improve and we can cut back on the formula.

Side note: Spencer was totally breast fed.  Breast milk poop does not stink.  Formula poop?  NASTY.

Mood

Elliott is finally over having a "fussy time" in the evenings.  He does not like to just sit and be still.  He wants to be held and walked around the house.  He actually slept for about an hour on the way to Tucson and almost the whole way back. 

Medicine

Elliott was finally weaned off phenobarbital this past Monday.  He has done great without it.   He is still taking ursodiol (1 mL twice a day) to try to clear bile and conjugated bilirubin out of his system, fat soluble vitamin drops (1 mL once a day) and keppra (0.4 mL twice a day) for seizures.

Likes/Dislikes

Likes: being held by mommy and daddy, taking medicine, taking baths (until it's done and then he hates the drying off part), being swaddled to fall asleep. Dislikes: staying still for too long, the new stroller, being in the car seat without movement.

Just for fun- A side by side comparison of Spencer and Elliott at 3 months

Elliott was almost a pound more than Spencer at birth.  Spencer obviously didn't have the liver problems that Elliott does though, so Spencer was about 6 ounces more than Elliott at 3 months. I predict that Elliott will overtake Spencer by 4 months because Spencer had a touch of acid reflux between 3 and 4 months and gained slowly that month.

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