Caideny Caiden

To say that I'm behind on blogging would just be silly. I have about 6 months of blog posts I could write and no intention of getting "caught up". There are some though that I really don't want to miss and this is one of them...

Our sweet little Caiden is 4 months old and I really can not believe it! The time has certainly flown by and I've been wanting to write a post to remember him during these first few months.

The first 5 weeks were not exactly fun. As I look back I realize that I should have known he was coming. But I didn't and it really took me off guard. I also realize now that Caiden was just as unhappy about his early arrival as I was. He would usually go 2 1/2 to 3 hours between feedings during the day time but at night he wanted to eat every 2 hours. And he was not one to nurse back to sleep. He had to be held and rocked and I spent more than one night sleeping in the rocker in his room instead of my bed. He would stick his little nose as far into the crook of my neck as he could get it. It was sweet that he wanted to get  as close to me as possible. He would and still does hook his arm over mine and hold on tight. Whenever he would eat he would hold his little fists right next to his cheeks and go to town. If I did something he didn't approve of, like interfere with his attempts to eat while sleeping, he would grunt at me. I was really surprised by his cry because it sounded so mad and he didn't have to work up to it. He would just wake up mad. And then September 2nd arrived...

That was his official due date and once we hit that, it was like someone flipped a switch. It wasn't that everything changed at once but he did start going 3 hours at night between feedings. I finally started to think maybe it was just sleep deprivation and not post pardum depression that I'd been suffering from. His cry started changing into more of a disgruntled vocal expression of his current state, he grunted at me less and over all just started mellowing out. Today he is such a happy, content, and truly easy baby. He loves to talk and smile at me, laughs at Adelyn, and watches Matt like a hawk. Because he was 5 weeks early he has an adjusted age for hitting developmental milestones. He didn't really start smiling at me until around 10 weeks (5 weeks adjusted) and he just started "playing" with his activity mat about a couple weeks ago (17 weeks/12 weeks adjusted). We went to his 4 month check up yesterday. He weighed in at 14 lbs. 14 oz. and 26" long. The pediatrician didn't think he was really 5 weeks behind developmentally and was really impressed by how social he is. 

A few other things - he is a cuddler and I just love it! The point of tummy time was completely lost on him for the first 8 weeks. If I needed to guarantee a little extra sleep out of him, I'd put him on his tummy in the pack & play. Worked like a charm. He was really hairy when he was born. On his arms & back. He even had side burns. But it's all fallen out now. He is a happy spitter. He is all boy! Stinky gas. Stinky diapers. Stinky! Sometimes he laughs while passing gas. He's been known to poop on the changing pad. (Adelyn never did that) And he had the most amazing ability to pee out of his diaper and get everything around him wet without ever getting the diaper wet. How this is possible I do not know. Thankfully we've grown out of this ability. He is a great napper but thinks the 4 am milk tastes the very best. He has gone 9 hours at night (once). That's what I'm asking for for Christmas - sleep. He has lots of nick names (mostly from Adelyn): bud, wittle bud, buddy, Caideny Caiden, buddy boy, little mister. He brings so much joy and delight to all of our lives and I can't imagine our family with out him. Caiden, you have captured my heart & I'm so blessed to be your mommy!