Howard Trio Plus One: Graham at 2 Months

I know I say it all of the time, and it's a cliche, but time flies! I can't believe Graham is 2-months-old already. I completely missed doing a 1 month blog post for him due to the craziness of adjusting to being a family of six, but I hope to do monthly blog posts for him from now on. (This post was actually written almost entirely on my phone while I nursed and held Graham as I haven't been able to find much time to sit down at my computer these days).

Graham at 1 Month, Graham with Jack and Faith at 1 Month, and a photo of me with my baby brother posing the same way Jack and Faith posed with Graham

Age: 2 months
Weight: 10 lbs 6 oz
Length: 22 inches

Size Clothes: 3 month

Naps: He sleeps best during the day when we are on the move (carrier, stroller, car). His naps are still random and short.

Napping in the Rock n Play

Night Sleep: At night he sleeps great! The last time he eats during the night is still unpredictable (anywhere between 7:30 and 9:00), and sometimes I wake him up for a 'dream feed' in hopes that he'll sleep longer (although it hasn't really worked). For the most part, though, he wakes around 2:30 am and 5:30 am to eat and I'm usually back asleep within 30 minutes of him waking. (At 1 month old this was not the case as I was up for at least an hour every time he woke up as he was much more awake during the night). After he eats at 5:30 am he goes back to sleep until about 7:30 am. At 7 weeks old he slept from 10:30 pm to 5:30 am, which was amazing, but it's only happened once. For his first six weeks he was sleeping in the rock n play at night, but after I read about the increased SIDS risk and the developmental issues that can occur due to a rock n play, I switched him to a pack n play. I expected the transition to be difficult, but it ended up not being a problem at all.

His first night in the pack n play

Eating: Our trio was bottle and formula fed so breastfeeding has been something new to learn this time around. I am so happy it has worked out so far as it was something I was really disappointed about with having triplets. Although it was really hard for the first couple of weeks, once my body got used to it and we got Graham's top lip tie lasered, it has been so much more enjoyable! Breastfeeding is much more convenient than bottles, especially now that I'm getting more comfortable feeding him in public (with a cover and in discreet places since I do like my privacy). We don't have to make formula, guess how much a baby will eat, heat it up, and then wash the bottle! We have given Graham a bottle of pumped milk on occasion, and I really hope to do this a little more regularly so that I am able to leave him with Micah and sitters in the future.

During the day Graham eats every 1.5-2 hours (sometimes I stretch it a little longer if we are out) starting between 7:30 and 8:00 am. I'm not feeding Graham on a set schedule, but I do watch the clock to know when I should feed him based on the last time he ate. I started doing this when Graham was about 10 days old as I wasn't getting any sleep at night because he'd go long stretches during the day and then he'd want to eat all night. A lactation consultant suggested I try to get him to eat more often during the day so he slept more at night, and it worked great. His last feed of the day is usually around 8:30 pm. Right now he eats about 11 times in a 24 hour period, and he usually eats for about 15-20 minutes (although there are always a couple of short feeds during the day too).

Food Intolerances: Unfortunately it seems that Graham had some food intolerances as when he spits up it's a very large volume and it smells like vomit. This started when he was about two weeks old, and at first we just thought it was reflux. But as time went on we realized that this didn't seem like the reflux our other kids had since he didn't spit up very often but when he did it was projectile and so much that there were puddles (or if it was on me I needed to change my entire outfit and possibly take a shower).

After doing some research and talking to the pediatrician I decided to eliminate dairy and soy from my diet. His spit ups decreased and I thought maybe it was a fluke, so I added it back in after 10 days. During the 4 days that I ate dairy / soy, though, his spit ups increased again. So as of 6/1 I have been dairy and soy free again. Since his spit ups haven't gone away completely I took Graham to a Kinesiologist who determined he also had a gluten sensitivity. I have been avoiding gluten since 6/15. It is so difficult to eat this way, especially since I don't have much time to grocery shop and prepare food and dairy, soy, and gluten are in so many foods! If it helps Graham it's definitely worth it though.

Likes: Looking at picture frames and fans. Laying upright on a chest. His pacifier.

Snuggling with Mommy

Dislikes: Getting changed after spitting up on himself. When loud noises wake him from his nap (happens often since the big kids are loud and I haven't been able to get him down for a nap upstairs very often).

Milestones: He first started smiling at 5 weeks old, but the smiles really started becoming more frequent in the last week.

8 week old smile

Places he's been: Graham has been so many places already! He has been to Target, Sprouts, and Costco. He sat on the sidelines while the big kids played at the spray park, pool, and a few parks. He's been to church and he's been along while we worked in the nursery. He's been to the Zoo, Aquarium, Botanic Garden, and Explora. And he's been to Monte Vista twice, which is a four hour car ride without stopping each way, and he did pretty well! Both times we were in MV we also visited the Great Sand Dunes. We are thankful he is an easy going baby so far. He's been more places in his first two months of life than our trio had been in their first year. Everything is so different with a singleton, especially when Mommy is trying to keep the older siblings entertained.

Aquarium

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Evening stroller ride with Mommy after the big kids went to bed

Trying to keep up with the biker gang

Reading with Grammy in Monte Vista

Things he does that make us smile: SMILE! I don't know if there is much better in life than having a tiny baby look at you and give you a huge smile! He also makes some adorable cooing noises.

Howard Trio's thoughts: Since having a baby brother has been a HUGE change for Alexis, Jack, and Faith, I thought it would be fun to get their thoughts on him each month...

What is your favorite thing about baby Graham?

Alexis: I love talking to him, kissing him, hugging, and looking at him
Jack: hugging him
Faith: putting his pacifier in and helping getting rid of the throw up 😁

Looking at his tiny hand

Our four cuties

Here are some other random pics from the last month:

The girls waited a whole month to hold him, but they were both proud when they did it! The were afraid he would pull their hair and I think they just weren't sure what to think of a baby.