So I don't forget

Sometimes Graesen blows me away. There is a side of him that is so sweet. He can be both an old soul and have the innocence of a forever child all at once. I don't feel like I can take credit for it. I think God just made him this way; a person who effortlessly emits joy. Just the other morning he walked up to me, hugged me, and said, "You're the best mommy I could ever imagine." He was just getting ready for school and I was taking care of the baby. But that's Graesen for you. He used to kiss my head when I bent over to tie his shoe. Even as a toddler, if he was upset and I picked him up, he would start rubbing my back like I was the one who needed comforting. A couple nights ago I was helping him with his spelling and pointed out that his "d" was backwards. He responded with, "Thank you for correcting me." Last night in the car he asked me what I wanted for Christmas and when I wasn't sure, he started coming up with ideas of things he thought I would like and said he wanted to get them for me. A couple weeks ago he was using an old birthday gift card he had at Barnes and Noble. Jace didn't have a gift card, and I saw him eyeing the games and toys there. I told Graesen that I would chip in an extra $5 or so dollars if what he bought was an activity or game he could do with his brother. He said, "I would be delightful to." 😀 He also regularly talks about the "cool morning breeze" and how much he loves the way it feels at my parents' house. He breaks out dancing during the middle of his piano recital performance. He really is a unique child and I feel so blessed to get to be a part of his life.

6 months

I can hardly believe that Caedmon is half a year old. He's changing so fast and if I let myself think too much about it I get sad.  This month has been huge for Caedmon developmentally.  He has taken off and is doing things I wasn't expecting to happen for at least a couple more months.  It seems this little guy is in a hurry to grow up.

• 15 lbs 6 oz ( 12%)
• 28.25 in (97%)
• We have to go back for another weight check in a month
• He has some sort of hives that he's been getting since birth and we aren't sure what from 
• Wears 3-6 month up to 6-12 month clothing. 
• We just switched to size 2 diapers in the last week. He's thin, so the size 1 still fit, but we figured we might as well go up a size for the length.
• Only takes about 2 to 2 1/2 oz per feeding, so we still have to supplement with 1 oz of pumped milk after each feeding.  Somehow, even the small feeds of 2 1/2 oz still lead to spit up. He only nurses 7 times in a 24 hour period, so this is far under the normal intake for a baby his age. He stops himself before eating more than that.
• To ensure he keeps his small amount of milk down, the GI doctor increased his Prilosec to 3 mL twice a day.  It seems to keep him from being in pain, but he still spits up some and just recently has started getting the hiccups more again.
• Caedmon is a great nighttime sleeper, but I still have to set an alarm and wake him up for a feeding after 5-6 hours.  Since he doesn't eat enough on his own, this is necessary to increase the amount he gets and keep my supply up.
• Not a great napper unless he's being held. Some days he will do great and sleep 2-3 hours in his bed, but not always.
• Still sleeping on a reflux wedge, in the tucker sling.
• Doing great eating solids to increase his caloric intake.  So far he has tried bananas, avocado, peas, sweet potatoes, pears, carrots, apple sauce, and some of those little baby puffs.
• Caedmon for sure has a milk soy protein intolerance, as we saw major changes once I removed those things from my diet.  His colitis has healed up and he is a much more comfortable baby. The doctor says we can try to see how he responds to dairy around his first birthday.
• On 1 teaspoon of miralax a day, because he still has issues going on his own.
• Easily rolls both directions.
• Caedmon is crawling!  Right after he turned 5 months he started pushing/leap frogging his way forward.  Within a couple weeks he was full on crawling.  He is super fast now.
• Caedmon is going from crawling to sitting to crawling independently.
• A week ago Caedmon started pulling up to stand!
• He is into everything already.
• He loves to "talk."
• He tries to follow his brothers around and thinks they're hilarious.
• Caedmon tries to play with a grab other babies at our mom/baby group
• He likes to grab onto our faces and hair.
• He likes to grab onto the dog and cat and try to pull up on them.
• He still loves his Sofie giraffes.
• He likes to pull his books out of his shelf.

Halloween

I only got one picture from Halloween on my big camera. The boys were so hyped up that it was hard to take pictures.  I volunteered in Graesen's class for the party early in the day.  We had the boys' friend trick or treat with us since his dad was on shift at the fire station and his mom was out of town for work.  Graesen and Jace both decided to be flame troopers this year.  Caedmon wore Graesen's old lion costume.  He slept through most of the trick or treating in the ergo.  The other boys wore out much sooner that they thought they would and were glad to be done walking around at the end of it.