My Journal--Third Month

Feb 19, 1999

Things are going quite well. Calvin is great! He's hardly fussy at all. He's such a content baby!!! He still sleeps well at night. And nursing is going great. He is not going through a growth spurt at this time! :) He's not on any type of schedule. He nurses whenever and sleeps whenever... except that he somehow knows night from day... even though I am sitting here at the computer with him in the carseat on the floor next to me. He is sound asleep. It's now 1:03 am, and he fell asleep sometime during ER... at about 10:30 or so, I guess. I'll change his diaper before I go to bed, whenever that is. He'll probably nurse some after that. Then we'll go to bed, and I have no clue when he'll nurse next. We do the family bed, and I don't pay attention to the clock at night. He honestly doesn't seem to nurse very much at night, but I'm not sure how much he does nurse! I just know that I sleep really well at night. :D

Ellen has been pretty nice to Calvin lately. . . so much better than she used to be. I think I am perhaps a bit too picky about how she can touch him, but I get nervous because sometimes she will be mean, and it's hard to tell when that will happen. . . well, most of the time it's when she's tired. It happens more after John comes home from work. I suppose there's probably a reason for that. Maybe because I pay attention to John, and she wants his attention or mine or whatever.

Nursing Ellen is going okay. I've been having more success at distracting... though who knows how long that will last. She is still putting her fingers in her mouth sometimes, and I don't like that. I wish I could nurse her more. I have started saying I will do "Twinkle, Twinkle." When I feel I can't nurse much longer, I sing the song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and when I'm done, she's supposed to stop nursing. Today I started saying she could have "two Twinkles" and sang the song twice. :) Funny, hunh? She's not always happy with it, but it works okay.

Ellen is going to bed really well at night now, so hopefully that means that she is getting more used to having a brother!!

Ellen has started saying "Why???" in a whiny voice. She says it "all the time." It gets on my nerves sometimes. But she does some really great things, too. She is soooo smart and uses such long sentences sometimes that I am really impressed. She is starting to draw figures that look a little more like people. She can draw a face with circle eyes and a smiling mouth. :)

Back to Calvin... He had a rash the other day, but it's getting better. For about half a day I put just the cloth diaper on--well, a couple diapers with a doubler--without the cover so I would know when he went so I could change it right away. That really helped.

His cradle cap is better though his scalp and his forehead are still really dry. His cradle cap was kind of bad, but Sunday I started putting Lubriderm lotion on it and that really seems to be helping!!

Use of the sling is going great! I'm really starting to get the hang of it! I used it today when I watch some children at a women's Bible study. Watching the children went pretty well today. Calvin was more content this month than he was last month. Nursing went well, too, even though I nursed "in public." :) I wore a nursing shirt that made discreet nursing work really well.

Feb 27, 1999

Thursday and Friday Calvin and I went to an infant massage class. He seems to enjoy it... but yesterday after class, after we got to the car, he really started crying and wouldn't nurse for comfort. Then today toward the end of class he started crying again, and it was a little hard to comfort him. I stood up and held him swaying back and forth and after a little while that calmed him. Whenever I tried to lay him down he started crying again. He didn't really settle well until he got in his car seat and John started to the car. Then he fell right asleep. I guess maybe the class gave him a bit too much stimulation--sensory overload perhaps.

We are going again today, so we'll see how it goes.

Feb 27, 1999

Well, during the last infant massage class, Calvin didn't really want to be massaged much. He was more interested in looking around. He loves to be held facing outward so he can see everything.

He started fussing while I was trying to massage him, so I ended up holding him most of the time. He cried some, but not like he did the second day toward the end of and after the infant massage class.

After the class a lady told me that I seemed really in tune with Calvin. :)

March 7, 1999

We went to a different church today. Calvin wasn't as content as he usually is at church. He didn't nurse much at all during church even though he was a bit fussy--he didn't want to. Believe me, I offered many times! He wanted me to stand up and hold him facing forward and gently bounce him a tiny bit up and down.

He had some dry boogers in his nose, so maybe that is partially why he was a bit fussy and not that interested in nursing. Also, he is getting older. I guess he'll naturally start nursing less often! This is so unlike Ellen was at that age. But perhaps she was so demanding and wanted to nurse so often because I tried to make her go longer between feedings. With him I offer whenever he show cues or I think he might want to nurse. It's going really well for us. :) And, no, I don't know how often he nurses.

I put him in his sling after church, and they had a church picture taken. You see, this was the first time this church had ever met. It's brand new. We might start attending Pilgrim Bible Church. Anyway, I thought it was cool that Calvin will be in the picture in a sling.

Then he fell asleep in the sling while we were talking to some people after church. He looked so cute!!!!

I thought this was amazing! . . . Before church, I told Ellen I would nurse her after church. I didn't really want to nurse her during church. Anyway, she remembered and told John during church that she wanted to nurse after church... she usually *demands* to nurse during church. Well, she waited and nursed after church!!

Tandem nursing is going lots better. Ellen isn't so demanding and is more cheerful and accepting of my limitations. I'm very relieved.

Ellen is being really nice to Calvin, too. I must confess that I gave her some "time-outs" in her room to encourage her to be nicer to Calvin. . . to not scratch him, pinch him, and stuff like that. I guess it worked??? Who knows. But whatever, she's being nicer. I figured it's better to calmly give a "time-out" than to get mad and yell or say something mean to her.

I laid down with Calvin to take a nap at about 6:30 pm. I got up after a while, and he continued to sleep in our bed until about 11:30 pm. And, yes, I checked on him very often. I don't like being away from him, and I especially don't like leaving him alone. I feel really comfortable when John takes care of him. John is great with him. I'm so glad he is so involved in parenting Calvin! It's so sad that some fathers aren't interested in taking care of their little baby.

March 10, 1999

Someone is going to come on Friday and show us again how to massage Calvin. She took the class to learn how to teach parents how to massage their infant and needs to practice. She's coming to our house. Mom is going to come and watch Ellen so John can learn how to massage Calvin, too.

Wearing the sling is going great. It's not as comfortable as I was hoping it would be, but he's kinda heavy, so maybe that's why. We think he might be about 15 pounds or so. I can't wear him as much as I'd like to because my lower back starts to ache when I carry him a lot. But he still gets carried a whole lot. :)

We are going to go to the WIC clinic on the 22nd, I think. Then we will be able to see more accurately how much Calvin weighs. John held him while he weighed himself and then John weighed himself alone. That's how he came up with 15 pounds.

We decided not to take Calvin to the doctor's office. Since he's not getting shots, and he's growing so obviously well, we don't see a need. He appears to be really healthy.

He is the "drool king." I call him that sometimes because he drools soooo much. And he loves to chew on his fist. I try to nurse him when he does that, but he doesn't always want to nurse. Sometimes he just wants to be held. I think he may chew on his fist sometimes if he's a bit agitated.

She is starting to play with Calvin more. Yesterday I laid him on the floor, and he watched Ellen dance. It was cute. And she put her stuffed animals around him. I know she'll enjoy him more and more as he is able to interact with her more and more.

I find it easiest to nurse Calvin while I am lying down. :)

March 11, 1999

Tuesday, my mom came over to our house, and Ellen didn't nurse or even ask to nurse until I asked her at around 3:30 or so. Then the rest of the day she asked to nurse about four more quick times.

And then today I think Ellen only nursed once. It surprised me when I realized that tonight. I guess nursing is starting to not be as intense of a need for her as it has been--though she did ask a couple other times today. I feel bad for not nursing her more. I meant to nurse her again today because when she asked earlier, I told her to wait until later. sigh....

Calvin has lots of wet, wet diapers and lots of drool and spits up sometimes. He's getting bigger. He can bearly wear size 3-6 months anymore. That size is getting too tight. I'm going to need to get more clothes for him in size 6-9 months.

He still has cradle cap.

P.S. Ellen just came in here a little bit ago. She said she wanted to see me, and she asked to nurse. I nursed her a little bit. Now she's lying on the couch trying to go to sleep.

Written when Calvin was almost three months old (originally posted as an introduction to Calvin's homepage).

Calvin is the sweetest little boy! We love him very, very much!!! :D He is a happy cloth diapered, non-vaccinated, breastfed baby!

Before Calvin's birth, we didn't know if he was a boy or a girl. We wanted it to be a surprise. My husband and I were a bit nervous about having a boy, though, because we had our little girl Ellen and really enjoyed having a girl, but we didn't know much about taking care of a little boy.

During my pregnancy, I thought my baby might be a boy because my pregnancy was so different this time. As soon as I held him in my arms after he was born, even before I looked to see what he was, I thought he looked like a boy. And, well, he's a boy!! ;D

And guess what?! We *love* having a boy. He's such an easy-going baby. He's usually easy to comfort--he likes being held while I stand up and sway back and forth, being rocked, and nursing--so he rarely cries for very long. It's neat because both his Mommy and Daddy are good at comforting him!

Somehow he knew day and night right from the beginning. He sleeps in bed with us, and we all sleep very well at night. He does wake sometimes to nurse, but I haven't a clue as to how often. :)

He enjoys being carried in a sling. He's very patient when I dress him. He's usually pretty content in the car. What else can I brag about? ;) He's just the best baby in the whole wide world!!!!

Ya know, sometimes people say parents create fussy babies if they cater to their baby's needs too much; well, I don't believe it one bit. Calvin is doted on! We answer his cries promptly, he is rarely alone, he sleeps with us, he is demand-fed, and he is a glorious baby!!!!!

And we know what it can be like to have a high-needs baby. Our first child, Ellen was a high-needs baby. She is still quite a handful! But she is beautiful... inside and out. :) She has the most gorgeous smile. Calvin is blessed to have such a fun, caring sister.

Calvin loves his sister, and she loves him. It's neat to see Ellen really starting to enjoy him more now that he is almost three months old. He likes to watch her play. She dances for him and puts her stuffed animals around him so he can see them. It's really cute to watch Ellen and Calvin! At first it was a real struggle. Though I know she loved him from the beginning, Ellen can be too agressive sometimes--she has scratched him a couple times and bit his toe, and I think she had some jealousy, but it's soooooo much better now. Sigh. That's a huge relief!!!

It's fun having a little boy. He's so snuggly and sweet... and, yes, I am in love with him!!! I love to watch him sleep. I love how his smiles light up his whole face. It's great!