3 is a crowd

With Jake's 5-month birthday looming tomorrow I thought it was about time that I updated this blog.

As of the start of this year, Anna has been going to daycare on Tuesdays and Wednesdays only. As predicted in my last entry, having them both at home is a completely new ball game. So far the biggest challenge for me has been sleep. As I'm still getting up at night to feed Jake, I try to catch a nap in the afternoon so I can function. It's easy when there's just Jake - he falls asleep and I drop everything and lay down in bed. But with the 2 of them, it's a lot of luck and negotiations (such as allowing Anna to watch some TV after she wakes up from her nap), and sometimes even threats (if you don't sleep, we won't go to the park tomorrow). When it works out we all have a nice 2-hour nap, when it doesn't I have a cranky Anna by 6pm when she's tired and hungry and I feel just the same.

Big sis

On the positive side Anna has been a great big sister and an eager helper most of the time. She's always rushing to his bedside as soon as she hears him wake up from a nap. And when I need to get a quick chore done, she's always the one to keep Jake happy. Last week she even put him to sleep all by herself, by singing a song, covering him with a blanket and she even thought of putting his burp cloth in front of him in case he does a vomit. We can't be more proud of her! They're also developing such a special bond between them, they just love each other to bits. Anna says things like "mummy I love him so much" or "Jakie is my favourite boy in the whole wide world". And when you see Jake's smile when he sees Anna, you just know that he feels the same way about her. It's so sweet to see!

Going out

We try to head out at least once a day. I was worried before Jake was born that it'd be a huge challenge to take them both out. But they've been really good, even on the bus. Getting on and off is always a bit touch and go, especially when we get unhelpful drivers who don't park close to the curb or lower the bus. Anna is also very cooperative with crossing the road and holding onto the pram to walk rather than running ahead.

On Mondays it's become a bit of a routine that we'd head to the library. Anna loves choosing books to borrow and she now knows how to use the computer to check out the books and using the book drop to return them. On other days we usually end up at a park somewhere, so Anna can run off some of her boundless energy and Jake can enjoy watching all the action around him. 

Solids

Just like with Anna, we started Jake onto solids early at 4 months of age. In fact, it was a week before he reached 4 months. I had already bought the baby rice cereal and bowls and spoons, so when he was grabbing my spoon while I was eating yoghurt I thought I'd just give him a little cereal to see how he'd cope. He's been eating ever since. He got a bit constipated at first and is still getting use to doing what we call 'grown up poos'. So far he's tried pumpkin, sweet potatoes, avocado, broccoli, zucchini, eggplant, corn, apple, pear, peach, rockmelon, and grapes. And he loves it all. He now has 2 solids meal a day: fruit and cereal for brekky and veg and cereal for dinner.

Rolling

Jake started rolling back in December. He'd been trying for a few days and when we were over at my parents' for a family Christmas gathering he finally made it over. Since then he has not stopped rolling whenever he's put down onto his back. As he has never warmed to tummy time and being on his tummy tends to bring up vomits, it's been a real challenge putting him to sleep. We promptly moved him into the cot which was not an issue for him at all (whereas Anna really didn't like the big bed, much preferred to be snug in the bassinet). It was not being able to fall asleep on his tummy and waking up whenever he rolled over in his sleep that bothered him (and us!). We'd physically hold him down so he couldn't roll over, until he falls asleep. We tried using a set of bumper cushions but they didn't really stop him rolling when he really tried. There were many many hours spent sitting by his bedside holding him down by his arms. Finally, at our latest check up, the health nurse recommended that we just let him roll and start teaching him self-settling again (which he used to do brilliantly before the rolling started). It's been going ok so far, day sleeps are much better than bedtime at night. There are times when he brings up a vomit and we'd have to change his sheets, but luckily it doesn't happen at every sleep. He now happily sleeps on his tummy which is a great win for us.

All the measurements

So now to the obligatory numbers: at 4 months, Jake weighed 7.5 kg (Anna was 8kg!) and measured 70cm long (compared to 69cm for Anna). He's a happy baby, always ready to flash you a smile and enjoys a good laugh when we make funny faces or sounds. Just like Anna he loves his bath. He also enjoys putting absolutely everything into his mouth, with his favourite being mum's pinky. He loves watching everything around him while being carried in the baby bjorn, in fact that's how I cook dinner most nights. We're really enjoying our baby, our Jakie (this is what we call him most often).

It's almost 11 now, I think I should have a quick shower and head to bed. Hope it won't be months again before my next entry.