week 17 & 18

okay..so I am once again behind in my blogs...but I have not forgotten. I will be explained soon...I promise.

So my baby boy is such a big guy now. At the beginning of week 18 he had his four month appointment. Our little (HA!) guy now weighs 17 pounds 13.5 ounces, and is 25 inches long. He is in the 92 % for his weight and 60 % for his height. The doctor also told us that he is teething and we should expect to see his two bottom teeth in 2-3 days. Well it has been over a week since she has said that and we have yet to see his teeth pop through--but he does have all the other signs of teething. Also at the doc, she told us that Kylan is doing very well. She said he is doing a lot of things that baby's don't normally do until around six months. She also suggested that a lot of his advancement probably comes with the extra care he gets at home. This made me feel good about my decision--though Kylan often makes me feel good about my decision.

So what is new with Kylan. He is a very "HANDS-ON" boy now. He reaches and grabs everything. He is especially fascinated with mouths, so if he can he will put his hand in your mouth. We also have begun to sit him in the high chair. He has seriously outgrown the bouncy chair---You put him in the bouncy chair and it becomes a bouncy bed. So it is not good for feeding him rice cereal. I have begun to use his high chair a lot. I put him there when i make dinner and give him toys to play with. It was in his highchair that he began reaching out for me with both arms, showing he wanted to be held. Very cute, but I didn't fall for it. He likes to be held ALL THE TIME!!! Let's see. OH YEAH--I should explain the picture of Rob's arm. Well, when Kylan is hungry he latches on to anything that is around him. Rob received two hickey's on his arm from Kylan. He's a leech!

So the other picture is of Kylan's first bath in the big people's tub. He loved it. He splashed around and chased the rubber ducky's. It was fun to watch him. We also let him float in the tub and swim. Did you know that infants younger than six months have a swimming reflex? When you move them towards water and put them in it, they will actually swim. This is why it is fairly easy to teach infants to swim. (They just have to really learn the breathing part.)

Speaking of reflexes. I don't have any pics...I forgot my camera., But Ky helped out a class at Concordia University. He showed a group of students all the reflexes that infants develop early on or are born with. The kids had a great time playing with him. And he loved all the attention. He was the only baby there that did not cry. (Isn't it scary that I called the college students "KIDS", boy am i old.

So last week, we went to Madison to meet up with Jules our friend from Colorado. IT was great to see her and hang out with her. Plus we got to show Kylan his future stomping grounds. We drank beer at the terrace---Well not all of us, but Kylan watched us drink beer. We then walked state street and took pics next to the capitol building. After that we went back to Becky's and ate the best pizza ever--Glass Nickel. It was the first time Kylan got to meet Becky. We all had a good time.

Well bigger updates for the Schnake family (most likely) next week.

week 16

My little man is getting bigger and bigger every day. Kylan now will pick things up with his hands and study them. He also rolls over fairly often when he is on his tummy--though never on purpose. He has rolled over from his back, but he has yet to repeat it. He often rolls to his side though in effort to pick up a toy. At this point we have also let Kylan drink from a glass and taste lots of different big people foods. He loves it! Especially drinking from a glass. Sometimes he will get upset if you pull it away. Now when we eat or drink he ogles are food/glass. Sitting with him at dinner has also become quite a chore, since now he tries to grab things on the table.

October 1st, Nanna had "Welcome To The World" party for Kylan. He got to meet a lot of important peopl in her and Robby's life. It was a fun party and Kylan loved all the attention.

Downsides (did I mention this in my last post?), we are still working to get Kylan to sleep better at night. I dream of the day I can sleep 6 hours straight without him waking up. Or only getting up with him once at night. He is just not a very good sleeper. Also--I know I mentioned this in my last blog, but I have to reiterate Kylan's need for attention. If I leave the room for a minute, he cries. If I am in the room and not focused on him or next to him, he cries. I love my boy--but he needs more independence. I am hoping this phase passes quickly.

week 15

I know....I am behind in my blogs. The last few weeks have been hectic with house hunting and Kylan. Kylan has been going through a "Spoiled" phase. People have to be paying attention to him. He will not play with his toys by himself, but he will play if you play with him. He has also been very demanding with being held. I have gotten to the point where I will just let him cry for a while. He is really wearing me out. Hopefully he will get through this phase quickly. I love my child and I love holding him, but I also like to have time to get dressed, take a shower, eat, etc... Sleeping also has not been going so well. He has been taking 20 minute naps. This leaves him more grumpy. At night he was going back to a 2-3 hour schedule--where he was getting up that often. We started giving him formula at night, but that only helped for about 3 days. Since then has worked back up to sleeping 4 - 5 hours for the first sleep and then 2 hours after that. I am so used to being up with him so often, that one night when he slept 5 1/2 hours straight, I woke up several times. My body isn't used to sleeping that long.

So for week 15, Kylan went to his last baseball game of the season. He didn't really enjoy it though like he did the other games. He was a bit grumpy and slept some. The next day we travelled up to Shawano for a weekend get away.

We had a nice time. Dad got Kylan to laugh out loud a few times. Up to this point Kylan has merely shreiked when he is happy. We also tried to get a family portrait done. But Kylan was not very cooperative. The photographer lady was waving too many toys in his face. I think it was driving him nuts--I know it was driving me nuts.

Anyways we only made it through 3 of 7 poses. Perhaps when he is a bit older it will work better.

That's all for week 15....