Clark's 0-3 Month Update

Okay, WHAT. I can't believe this first milestone has hit. Clark is three months old?! Seems so quick, even when the day-by-day moments seemed so long. No one can really prepare or warn you about what it's like to go from one to two kids. I prepared for the worst in my mind, but ultimately ... you'll never truly understand it until it happens. It's hard. The days are long. The nights are longer. Everyone is learning a new schedule and, quite frankly, a new person! I am happy to say that where we are right now is a lot easier and better than the beginning, but I'm so so thankful to our parents, siblings, and friends who have been by us through it all. Checking in on us, bringing us food, offering to watch the kids (or one of them), etc. It means so much!

With that being said, let's check in on Clark's life for the last three months, visit his milestones, and talk about his basic day-to-day!

Eating

Now, after three months, Clark is eating 5 to 5.5 ounces every 3 to 4 hours. He loves to eat, loves his bottle time, hates to burp halfway through, and hates when it's over. Hahaha* 

Basic eating schedule for the past month:

• 5:30ish bottle in the morning before I get ready for work, unless he gets up around 4 instead. It always depends on when his last feeding the night before was.
• 8:30 (at the earliest)
• 11:30
• 2:30
• 5:30
• 8:30 (or anywhere around those times) He could go 4 hours in between, but I always plan for 3 in my mind.

Our pediatrician reminded us that at his four month appointment, we would start to talk about certain "foods." Very excited to see if he likes mostly everything like Max did at that age!

Sleeping

Since we'd had a boy before, we were semi-prepared this time for the amount of Vaseline we put on the circumcision. Fewer peeing-out moments and wake-ups in the middle of the night. I could honestly say most of me getting up over and over was from Clark's hunger or the fact that he had his days and nights switched for JUST a little while. We got that fixed over time ... just took a little patience, persistence, and convincing. Which leads me to sleeping location, self-soothing, and sleep training:

Like Max, we started Clark in the crib immediately. It worked for us with Max, so we knew we wanted to continue the practice with Clark. I'm calling it sleep training, even though it's my own personal practices. I am not claiming to be a sleep trainer. Hahahaha* BUT I learned with Max that if you are just persistent and dedicated to "forcing" your baby to self-soothe instead of him (or her) depending on you or your body to fall asleep ... you will most likely have a good sleeper. I'm not saying you can't soothe your baby somehow. An example of what I would do when training Clark: I would go in, lay my hand on his chest, put his pacifier in, hum a song, and then walk right back out. No talking allowed! I say this because Max put "talking" and "being up for the day" together! So if I ever talked to Max in the night, he would perk up and think it was morning and time to stay awake. Will it be easy? No. Was it easy with Clark? No. It was easier with Max, but they are two different human beings entirely! I told myself that it didn't matter how many times I got up in the night to convince him that it was time to sleep, I would do it. Just because he would eventually get it. Schedules are also a must in our house. Once it gets to a certain point in the evening, the sound machine comes on, he gets changed, gets a fresh diaper, etc. These are his little cues to tell him, "Hey ... it's getting close to bedtime!" Sidenote: we also never used a sleep wrap or swaddle with this kid ... he HATED them and would scream while being put in one for the night. So it's just been sleepers for this one!

At 1.5 to 2 months, he was still getting just one feeding in the middle of the night. On 8/2/22, he started sleeping through the night! Whoo-hoo! You go, Clark! It depends on when he gets his last bottle of the day, but he sleeps from 8-4 or 9-5 or 5:30. A lot of the time, I have to wake up him for his first bottle of the day because he's still sleeping.

Our basic bedtime routine:

• Awake/play time until his final bottle of the evening. Sometimes he will even get the tiniest nap before then as well.
• 8:00, 8:30, or 9:00 evening bottle (sometimes later ... again, it depends on where it lands)
• Immediate burping, fresh diaper, fresh sleeper outfit
• I turn on his sound machine/nightlight, walk back and forth in his room a few times while singing and holding him, and then put him down in the crib awake. He puts himself to sleep. His bed time is about 30 minutes after his last bottle. He is flipping from his belly to his back easily during the day. Anger and the need to be on his belly fuel him to flip from his back to his belly at night, so if he does that ... he's 100% a tummy sleeper. He prefers it. I just check on him a lot more often.

Temperament & Activity

Clark has been a lot more fussy and angry than Max ever was, but every child is different and likes different things! He screamed a LOT during the night in those early days when he still had the nights and days confused. Truly, it seemed like there was no end in sight. It got significantly easier once he figured out when "bedtime" was AND that he liked to sleep on his belly more. I think that has highly motivated him to learn to flip a lot sooner. I don't think Max flipped both ways until the tail-end of month four.

We also had to switch up formula a lot at the beginning 1. because of the shortage but 2. because it seemed like a lot of the mainstream formulas hurt his belly. Once we finally settled on (and could find a little easier) the Gerber Gentle formula, he calmed down a lot too.

This last month, however, Clark has been quite the smiler and flirt. Haha* He loves when we talk to him and usually has a grin to spare. He's even started giggling a little when I say certain words. The most recent being, "Tickle, tickle, tickle!" over and over. The cooing is also starting and is adorable. He's got lots to say already ... I think he's learning from his brother. So I think his personality is starting to show and form now, which is always so so fun!

Max & Family Updates

In closing, we are finally getting used to being a family of four! It took some getting used to. Max was still very used to having me (and Justin) all to himself. He didn't do anything malicious or mean to Clark, but he would always say, "Mommy! Hold you!" if I ever had to pick up Clark. At month three, Max is a lot more interested and invested in Clark. He tells me when the "Baby's crying!" or when he is sleeping and tells me to "shhhhh." Which makes me laugh because we don't encourage him to be super quiet while the baby is napping. Honestly, Clark could sleep through a hurricane at this point. Haha*

The very first night was bad because the boys kept waking each other up. Clark would wake up screaming for a feeding ... Max would hear him and wake up ... Justin would still be calming Max down when I would put Clark back to bed, so the noise from Max would wake Clark back up ... AND SO ON. Haha* So we invested immediately in these under-the-door noise and light-cancelling slides. They have never really woke each other up since!

Every day is a day to learn, grow, make mistakes, and figure things out. Even though it's not perfect (it never is), we are getting more "comfortable" in our routines and daily lives with two boys. We are ready for the next quarter!