Saturday, November 10, 2012

Dutch 4 months

New NICKNAMES: Little Man and Bumski (this is what grandpa calls him. My dad will walk over and grab Dutch's toes and say "how's my little bumski doin"? and now I call him that all the time.
Nicknames that stuck from last time: Love Bug, Little Dutch and Dutchy.


FOUR MONTHS stats:
Height: 24 1/2 inches (40%)
Weight: 13 lbs. 4 oz. (25%)




FAVORITE THINGS: Dutch loves to talk. In the last 2 weeks he has started "ahhh, ohhh, blaa, oww, eee-ing" all the time-on his changing table, in his crib before his naps and then when he wakes up and also when he's hanging out in his papasan. 

Dutch LOVES to go for walks in the stroller. I told my mom that when he gets fussy to put him in his stroller ,with his soft blanky, and go for a walk. She was amazed that he didn't make a peep for her hour walk and he didn't fall asleep either.
Dutch always wants to be facing out when we are holding him and boy does he fuss and arch is back until we turn him around the other way.

AVERAGE NIGHT SLEEP: The average night is 8.5 hours. BUT we had seven days in a row of 11 hours then he'd go back to sleep for 2 more hours, BUT then the next week Dutch started waking up 3-4 times a night!If anyone has any recomendations, I'm all ears. Bed time is between 7-8 PM and I try to go to bed by 9-9:30, morning time is 8 AM, with 2-3 naps usually only 45 minutes long.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Rolled over from his tummy to his back. Laughs. Found his feet and loves to hold onto his socks.

Absolutely, positively loves sucking his fingers-he stuffs them in his mouth at any chance. Mainly he sucks on his 1st and 2nd fingers but sometimes I find 3 fingers in his mouth. He can't figure out how to get good suction around his thumb so his pointer finger is his favorite. 

Dutch got his 2nd round of immunizations and did great. 

He still fits in most of his 3 month clothes but he has a cute little fat roll on his thighs. 
Dutch is a great spitter-he spits and spits all day long. I think the record is 4 bibs and 5 outfits in a day just from spit, no poop.  I know that he doesn't do well with tomato or tomato sauce on spaghetti or pizza, it totally has something to do with what I eat. 

Last but not least, Dutch is starting to sit longer by himself before he topples over.


NEW PLACES HE'S BEEN: Macaroni Grill, JC Penney, Fat Cats for bowling, daddy's office, Wendy's, Arbys' and lots of lighting stores.

WHAT WE'VE LEARNED:
NESS:  I. HATE. DIAPER. RASH. Dutch has had diaper rash for 2 months! I've tried 2 different prescription medications and tubes and tubes of desitin original, desitin creamy, butt paste, triple paste and calmoseptine, still to have him squeal in pain.  I've changed brands of diapers twice and used only cotton balls with water to wipe him, I'm changing diapers every 2 hours and using baby powder-I am failing as a mother and as a Nurse Practitioner... and yes I cry over this regularly.
 
Your child can decide to wake up 4 times/night and scream for so long that you are sure he's sick but in the morning he acts totally normal and doesn't have a fever or ear infection. 
 
 
Bart:
1. I have a new appreciation for a parents bond with their child! 
2. Babies and routines are bogus. Babies will do their own thing. 
3. It's even more fun to come home to a baby and wife (don't get me wrong, I love to come home to Canessa too)- the smiles and coos are great.  Travelling for work is crappier than it used to be ... when I'm gone, it makes me feel a little more home sick.
4. No matter how frustrated you are in the night , when morning comes and Dutch smiles I can't do anything but love him.

9 comments:

Angela said...

Love it! Cute pictures! I'm so sorry about the diaper rash:( I asked my friend what she did w/her baby because she was having the same problem and she said she used desitin clear and it finally worked...but they don't make it anymore. So I guess I'm not helping you at all. Haha.

Emily M. said...

Hi Canessa! Not sure if you remember me (Emily Linnell), but my sister's baby and my baby have frequent diaper rash. A few things we use that weren't on your list: Lavender or Melaleuca Essential Oil, or Lotrimin. The two latter ones are best for yeast, which is what my daughter seems to get ALL THE TIME and it is hard to cure! My sister adds a few drops of Lavender into the triple paste that you can buy at Walmart. Worth a shot! Hope you find SOMETHING that helps soon! Diaper rash IS the WORST! Good luck! :)

Emily M. said...

ps. For infants it is best to dilute the Melaleuca with some Coconut Oil, about 40% 60% (60 being the Melaleuca).

Rosie said...

on naps: 2 or 3 for 45 minutes at this age is totally normal. In the next 2 months or so they'll get longer. Take longer to respond to him at night... let him fuss for a few minutes (maybe 10... I know it hard beacuse its faster to respond and get everyone back to sleep) to make sure he's REALLY awake and REALLY needs something from you. Since he's already started to do LONG stretches by himself, yoou know he's cabable so you, as mommy, can decide which feedings he actually needs and which he just wants your attention for. With Allison once she slept 12 hours the first time we made the executive decision that since she was capable of doing it, she no longer needed her midnight feeding, so I stopped getting up for her and after a day or two she stopped waking up then. I'd still get up with her if she woke up at 3 or 4, but she with that decision she started dropping middle-or-the-night feedings on her own. I will tell you though, its kind of up to Dutch. He might insist on keeping them a while. Allison easily gave up feedings after 3 months old, but Lindsey insisted on 2 a night for 6 whole months and nothing we did could get her to drop one of them, even after she'd done a few long stretches on her own.
On Diaper rash: head to the health food store (the one down by Roberts near Towne Center... I foget the name) and ask for Mother Love's Diaper Rash and Thrush ointment. Comes in a little bitty blue glass tub for about $10. All natural, olive oil (& calendula?)based. We discovered it when I had thrush with Carter and have used it for lots of rashes since then. Lindsey's been having such trouble lately (screaming and wailing and gnashing of her 4 cute teeth at every diaper change!) becuase her bum just HURTS. The Mother Love is the ONLY thing we've been able to put on it to that didn't hurt her and cleared it up in a few days. I acutally think it felt good for her becuase she'd stop screaming when we started putting it on (or could be she's just glad we're done wiping her butt...). Until you can get to the store to get it, Neosporin works well too without making baby scream. If its a yeast infection (which it could be... my kids yeast infection rashes were red and raised and kind of cauliflower-looking in texture, if that makes sense), just use the external cream from a pack of monistat.

Nee said...

such cute pictures of my sweet boy....such a great post....fun to hear from both of you.....so glad that you chose to have your little Dutchie poo....I love him and love to come take care of him.

Gretchen said...

Great post!!! Just because you are an NP means you kids will get the weirdest things! I totally agree with the posts about about essential oils. I looked up diaper rash in the Prescribers letter and I will email you what it says.
Good luck!

Diana said...

Its only after you have a child that you find that talking about naps, diaper rash, poop, vomit etc. seem totally normal! Matt would get terrible diaper rash when he was a young infant and I would cry because of it too. It makes you feel like a terrible parent even when you are doing your absolute best. He probably has sensitive skin and infants poop way more than an older child so as he gets older it will become less of an issue. Things that have helped us with Matt's sensitive bum: 1) I bought disposible cloth wipes from a medical supply store that are aren't like baby wipes I just wet them with water so that it doesn't sting as much when I wipe his bottom 2) Air time - Give him some time with his little bum out in the air because being in a diaper is like being in a perpetual rain forest 3) Aveeno cream doesn't seem to make Matt fuss but it doesn't seem to solve the problem but...4) MAXIUMUM Strength Desitin in the purple bottle is what makes the difference in our house! It smells terrible but we put an extra thick layer on every time we change him (if he has diaper rash) even if he was just wet because the cream is creating a layer of protection for his skin. It makes him cry while we apply it the first couple of times but then it starts to heal and within a day or two he's all better.

I think some kiddo's have just have more sensitive skin then other kids. I put regular strength desitin on his bum every diaper change now just because I figure that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and now he doesn't get diaper rash :) But Sam never has a problem - each child is different and you're a great mom.

I think Dutch's sleep schedule sounds pretty normal and I agree with your friend Rosie!

Big Hugs!

Leslie said...

He's so big in that truck now! No advice expect for that just because you're the NP doesn't mean you can't have problems that are "unsolvable". Diaper Rash is stress and waking up 3-4 times a night is awful. Hang in there!

Colin and Katie said...

He's so cute and getting so big! We miss you all so much-it was so good to talk to you and catch up! We hope the bad things get better and the good things continue! Love you all!