Hellobee

So now the dual updates begin! Ladies first…

Lil Miss Wagon

1 Month Stats
Weight: 12.41 lb (98%)
Length: 22.75 in (99%)
Head Circumference: 15.5 in (100%)

All in all, we have one very big girl on our hands!!! It’s so hard to believe because I still think she’s so tiny. But all I have to compare is her big brother, and he seems so gargantuan compared to her.

Eating
We knew Lil Miss Wagon would be a big eater from day one, when nothing soothed her until we fed her. She sucked down 1.5 oz of formula and passed right out! She was a great nurser from the very beginning and latched on each side, even though my milk hadn’t come in yet. She would nurse for about 5 minutes on each side before getting frustrated, and then we would give her formula. Even though she was drinking lots of formula, she would still latch and nurse at the beginning of every feeding.

Once my milk came in, we didn’t need any more formula. She has an incredibly strong suck, even stronger than Wagon Jr. had, and even though she’s tongue tied (just like Wagons Sr. and Jr.) she has no problem nursing. I suspect she’s a very efficient eater because most nursing sessions last less than 8 mins per side. When we give her a bottle of pumped milk during one night feeding per day, she drinks about 4 oz.

This time around, breastfeeding is so much easier. I still don’t really enjoy breastfeeding, but I don’t dread every feeding like I did the first time around. I believe I suffer from D-MER (read about it here on kellymom.com) but I feel like I’ve gotten used to it and can deal with it well at each feeding.

Sleeping
Wagon Jr. was a very chill baby, not very fussy, and slept between each feeding, not really needing to be held a whole lot. Lil Miss Wagon is definitely a little more finicky. The few times she didn’t fall asleep between feedings, getting her to fall asleep that night has been a nightmare. After a few torturous sleepless nights, we realized that Lil Miss Wagon also needs to sleep between each feeding, but she needs a little more help to fall asleep than Wagon Jr. did. She doesn’t even fall asleep in the swing– we have to hold her or put her in the Ergo to help her fall asleep, and then at that point we can put her down in the swing or bouncy chair. But we have to keep the motion going to keep her asleep.

Her wakeful time periods are also a LOT shorter than Wagon Jr.’s were– she is usually awake for an hour or less (usually around 45 minutes), and most times she wakes up, eats, and goes right back to sleep. Even during the day! We’ve taken far less pictures of her, but we realized it’s because her eyes are rarely open!

She’s also a much more restless sleeper than Wagon Jr. was… after nursing, she grunts LOUDLY for at least 15 minutes. She constantly grunts and whines, and even cries out every now and then, but for the most part she stays asleep and does not actually cry. Because of this, my sleep has totally stunk ever since she was born. I really miss my full nights of sleep! I basically stay in the bedroom with her, nursing and putting her back down from 10pm until noon the next day, and catching an hour of sleep here and there. But for the past few nights, she has gone about 4 hours between feedings, which means our schedule has roughly been this:

6:30am: Wake up, nurse, back to sleep
10:00am: Wake up, nurse,  go downstairs
11:00am: back to sleep
2:00pm: Wake up, nurse, back to sleep
6:00pm: Wake up, nurse, go upstairs and go down for the night
10:30pm: Wake up, nurse, back to sleep
2:30am: Wake up, nurse, back to sleep

That’s about it for Lil Miss Wagon, since all she does is eat, sleep, and poop!

Wagon Jr.

32 Month Stats
Weight: 31.25 lb (61%)
Height: 35 in (18%)

Eating
We’ve been instructed to fatten Wagon Jr. up to ensure that he is able to put on weight, since he’s only gained a pound in the past entire year. This has been tough because he has been fighting us at mealtimes recently. He has been so playful and goofy that he does not want to sit still and eat. He also doesn’t really like sweets and fattening things, as much as we’ve tried to bribe him with ice cream and cookies (as well as get him to eat them since that would help him to gain weight). He likes to ask for them, and he gets all excited when he gets them, but after a bite or two he doesn’t want anymore.

Lately we’ve been feeding him meals like chicken nuggets, fishsticks, hot dogs, mac and cheese, and his regular ham and pasta. Recently he’s started eating sandwiches, so that’s exciting. He still eats a great breakfast every morning (usually eggs, sausage, and yogurt) so at least he gets in one good meal a day. He’s also been chugging milk like crazy, which doesn’t help since that fills him up. He can go through an entire gallon in less than a week, even when we try to limit his milk intake! At least the whole milk provides a good amount of calories.

Sleeping
Wagon Jr.’s sleep continues to be great. He hasn’t crib vaulted since the two times he first did it, and even though he still has one or two crying night wakings each night, he’s still sleeping through the night just fine and taking a 1-2 hour nap every day.

Playtime and Talking
Playing with Wagon Jr. gets more and more fun every day. He is so imaginative. In fact, when my mom was taking care of him while we were in the hospital having Lil Miss Wagon, she said she would be in the kitchen cooking and he would be in the living room with his toys, quietly playing by himself. He’d set some kind of scene up and then call my mom over to show her what he had done. One example was that he set up his two little chairs, one behind the other, with some other props and he told my mom to sit in the one behind him. Then he explained that they were in a car and he was driving!

He’s of course still REALLY into his instruments and music, but he’s also shown some interest in tools lately. We have so many hand-me-down toys, including a workbench and lots of tools. He also has finally taken to his legos and builds tall towers all by himself. He even perches the little lego men on the tops of the towers, and tells us that one is him and one is halmuni (Korean for grandma, or my mom).

His talking is just taking off like crazy. He says the funniest little things and we’re always wondering where he learned these things. One is “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He also learned a Korean lullabye (the song my mom sings to him when she puts him to bed) in just three days… every single word, and sings it in tune.

Discipline
Wagon Jr.’s tantrums have been pretty under control recently, and we’re pretty impressed, considering all of the changes happening in his life with his new baby sister being around and all.  We have 1-2 time outs a day, usually around mealtime because he won’t eat or he gets frustrated. We have him sit on the bottom step of the stairs and once he stops crying (if he’s crying to begin with), we count 1-2 minutes and then we go and talk with him about why he’s in time out, we have him tell us he won’t do it anymore, we have him say I’m sorry, and give a hug and a kiss. If he’s not ready to do all of those things, the time out starts all over again. At the end of the time out, he is ALWAYS ready to obey and does whatever it is he wouldn’t do. It has been magical so far… we’re hoping time outs always work this well for him!

We’ve also realized that a lot of his tantrums happen because his blood sugar level is probably low from not eating. He eats so few snacks these days because he just doesn’t want to eat… he’s too busy playing. It’s a struggle to get him to eat meals, too. So we’ve started letting him pick out new snacks in the store, and we’re discovering the magic of a favorite character being featured on the packaging. Two new favorites are Pirate’s Booty (“Captain Feathersword food” to RJ… the pirate from The Wiggles) and Earth’s Best vanilla cookies (“Cookie Monster Cookies”).

That’s it from the Wagon household for now… see you for the next update!