He’s moving! It’s hard to get a photo, now!

• Date: August 12th, 2020
• Height: 29 inches
• Weight: 22 pounds 5 ounces
• Sleeping Pattern: Sleep has gotten a bit better this month! He wakes up once per night about half of the nights. He usually takes two naps throughout the day, but I’m seeing a pattern of dropping down to one nap towards the end of the month.
• Eating Habits: Not much has changed with food this month. He still breastfeeds about five times per day (morning, after both naps, before bed and once at night). He also has three solid food meals per day (a mixture of purées and finger foods) and 8-12 ounces of formula before bed. He also drinks from a water sippy cup throughout the day.
• Development: Just in the last week of this month, he transitioned from tummy to sitting, which was a big deal! One week later (11 months and 3 days) he started crawling! It was slow, but within one week of crawling he is full on crawling around the house.
• Mischief: He’s gotten very expressive when he disapproves of something. This is specifically pertaining to foods. He will quickly let you know through crying, head shaking and throwing his head back if he doesn’t like something. We’ve been practicing the “all done” and “more” signs to help communication.
• Cuteness: The way he does a “cheese face” when he sees us is adorable, he squints his eyes and smiles with his teeth. So cute! He also gets so proud of himself when he stands up and pats the chair or table he is holding onto.
• Talking: Hugh is babbling a bit more this month, saying things like, “Gaga”, “Rara” and “Mama”. We’re not claiming that as saying any words just yet, but it’s good to see he’s making more sounds!
• Favorites: He loves wheels. He has a few toys with wheels and loves rolling them on the floor. He is also teething pretty hard, so anything chewy is great! Lastly, his pacifier is our saving grace. Favorite people at the moment: Mommy and Liam.
• Firsts: Transitioning from tummy to sitting 8/10/2020, pulling up to standing 8/12/2020 and crawling 8/15/2020. It was a busy week of firsts!
• Concerns: His temperament is very similar to Hayden at this age, especially as it pertains to food. I’m preparing myself for another picky eater and possibly some sensory hurtles and autism. It doesn’t scare me this time around because of our experience with Hayden. I know if Hugh has some of these challenges ahead, we will get through them with flying colors.
• A Day in the Life: He wakes up around 7am to a breastfeeding meal followed by solid food. We usually go for a walk/run around this time. When we return, Hugh plays on the floor with me or is held while I teach morning class until around 10am. He now takes about a 1 hour nap. When he wakes up, he breastfeeds again and has another solid food meal. Hugh will play on the floor while the rest of the kids finish school or help with house chores before we go outside to a little while. At this point, he might take a second nap. If he doesn’t he is either living on my hip or playing at my feet while I get dinner going or doing chores around the house. Then, it’s dinner and more play time before bed time routine starts. Hugh gets a bath, brushes his teeth and gets a breastfeeding and bottle while awake and listening to books to his siblings. Then we sing songs and go to bed. Hugh will wake up around once per night half of the nights.

• Date: July 12th, 2020
• Height: 30 inches
• Weight: 21 lbs 9oz
• Sleeping Pattern: Hugh has gotten fairly consistent with sleep (Yay!) He takes two naps during the day, one 1-2 hour nap around 10:30am and another 30-90 minute nap around 3pm. He usually sleeps from 8pm-7am with 1-2 wake ups in the night.
• Eating Habits: He has around 6-7 breastfeedings in 24 hours, one 4-8oz formula bottle at night and 3 solid food meals per day.
• Development: This is my absolute favorite baby stage!!! Hugh is sitting up perfectly now but not yet crawling or walking. I can put him somewhere and he just sits. Cue the heart emoji! However, this week, he’s learned how to go from tummy to go his hands and knees and will sometimes rock back and forth. It’s almost crawling time!
• Mischief: I’m not complaining in the slightest, but Hugh still doesn’t like to be put down. I’m loving every minute of my cuddles with him! However, he’s grown too big for his Johnny Jump Up, assisted sitter seat and bouncy seat. He still fits in the 360 entertainment center and we’ve pulled out the pack-n-play for play time, as well. However, he does NOT like being in either of those. Mommy’s hip is the favorite. Before I forget, he does still spit up, but nothing like he used to. Solid food is helping with that…also coloring it. Yuck!
• Cuteness: This baby melts me with his kisses, cuddles and love. I’m spoiled by his love.
• Talking: Hugh has started to make more sounds! He says more ‘ah’, ‘mah’, da’ sounds. Nothing is to say a name, but he’s fun to see his personality come through.
• Favorites: He’s a big time pacifier still. I’ve started to leave a few in his crib with him at night for him to find in hopes he’ll sleep longer. Especially since he can’t crawl to him yet, I scatter them about the crib.
• Firsts: Not many firsts other than foods this month. He’s still trying a variety of food every day and loves every bit of it! He’s become quite a good eater. He has also begun using a water sippy cup. He needs assistance to drink with it still, but is beginning to enjoy it more.
• Concerns: We’re not as concerned as just aware that Hugh will need more time to meeting family and people in his life outside of us five. He doesn’t remember anyone outside of our home since the pandemic began. He’s going to be rough when we start introducing him to family and friends again…whenever that time comes.
• A Day in the Life: Hugh wakes up around 7am, has breastmilk and we’re off on our walk or run for the day. After the run, Hugh will play while the older kids do their school work, have another breastmilk and a solid food meal before napping around 10:30am. He will usually take a 1.5-2 hour nap. When he wakes, he will have more breastmilk followed by more play. A solid food meal happens around an hour after he’s been awake and he’ll play some more until around 3pm. He’ll nap at 3pm for 30-90 minutes (usually on the shorter side). Hugh will eat breastfeed, eat dinner with us and play (or ride along in my arms) until we begin bedtime routines at 6:30pm. He will help me read and sing to Blaire and then he’ll get a final breastfeeding and bottle before bed. Sometimes, he’ll stay up until 8 or 9 after a tiny cat-nap while feeding. Those are fun. Haha! Then, he’ll usually wake around 12:30am and again around 5am. A quick diaper change and breastfeeding allows for him to get back to sleep until 7am.

• Date: June 12th, 2020
• Height: 28 inches
• Weight: 20 lbs 1 oz
• Sleeping Pattern: Hugh has gotten a little more consistent in the sleep department. He wakes around 6am and naps for 30 minutes on our run/walk around 8:30am. Then, he stays awake until a long nap at 10:30am-12pm. And most times he does a small nap in the car or in his crib around 3pm for 20-30 minutes before going to bed around 8pm.
• Eating Habits: He’s gotten a lot less picky with his eating lately! Yay! He’s trying more food that we’re eating both with his hands and pureed. He still has an 8 ounce formula bottle before bed as supplement and nurses 7-8 times per 24 hours.
• Development: He started sitting up! It’s just been in the last week that he can sit up unassisted and it’s a game changer. I can tell he is feeling so big. We can sit down on the floor and play much easier now. We brought the big box of baby toys downstairs this week, too, so he has oodles of toys to chew on!
• Mischief: This little man still wakes up 1-2 times in his 10 hour nights. I’m hoping after his top four teeth break through (hopefully soon!) he’ll drop one of those wake ups. He’s also still a very big fan of being carried by me all day. This past week I got “Mommy’s Thumb” in both arms/hands. I’ve had to significantly reduce the amount of time carrying him and instead have used a carrier more. That’s what 20 pounds on a forearm for hours per day will do!
• Cuteness: Hugh is such a joy. He is interacting more with all of us and I love seeing him smile and giggle when his siblings play with him.
• Talking: No talking yet, but he has added a few sounds to his repertoire, like “sss” and “aaa”.
• Favorites: He is still a big fan of his pacifier. I did an experiment the other day to see if he could only use it for sleep times. He was quite fussy without it during wake times. So, for now, we’ll stick to letting him have it for the afternoon/evening hours.
• Firsts: Summer weather is right around the corner and it is getting HOT. He’s not a fan of the heat (just like the rest of us). He is also not a fan of getting his feet wet in the kiddie pool. So, to cool him off, I started blending up fruits and making homemade popsicles. He loves them! He’ll eat an entire popsicle outside while the kids play. It’s great!
• Concerns: No concerns! He’s doing awesome. We’re just nervous to take him to the pediatrician’s office this week for his 9 month check up amidst the pandemic. South Carolina’s daily case rate is increasing rapidly since it became “uncool” to wear a mask and stay at home.
• A Day in the Life: Hugh wakes up around 6am, bright and early…right along side his siblings! We usually start the day with a quick breakfast (for Hugh it’s a breastfeeding) followed by a walk or run around the neighborhood. He will usually take a 30 minute nap around 8/8:30am in the stroller or carrier. He’ll nurse again when we get home and play with us while the kids do the bulk of their desk school work. He’ll also get some solid food during this time until he goes down for a nap around 10:30/11am. He’ll sleep for 1-2 hours while we eat lunch and do group school work. He’ll wake up for a nursing and play time. He’ll also get another round of solid food around 2pm. Depending on what we’re doing that afternoon, he might get a 30 minute nap around 3pm (or fall asleep for a quick snooze in the car during errands). Then, he nurses again after his nap or just in the middle of the afternoon. He helps me make dinner and eats dinner along side the family. Once dinner is done, so is he. He usually gets held for the rest of the day until we start bedtime routines at 6:30pm until he gets his final nursing and bottle around 7:30pm. He’s usually out for the night around 8/8:30pm. He’ll wake around 11pm-12am and again around 4/5am. A simple nursing gets him back to sleep. Until he wakes again around 6am.

• Date: May 12th, 2020
• Height: 27.5 inches
• Weight: 18 lbs 9 oz
• Sleeping Pattern: Hugh usually has two or three wake ups in the night and 2-3 naps during the day.
• Eating Habits: Up until the day before he turned 8 months old, he was having around 7-8 breastfeeding sessions in 24 hours. He would also have 3 solid food “meals” per day (one mid morning, one mid afternoon, one dinner). I had followed his lead on when to stop the food at every meal. He had worked up to about 1/2 cup per meal of solid pureed baby food. However, he has consistently been constipated no matter the type of food he ingested. So, I’ve taken him down to a total of 1/2-1 cup of food per day, but added a couple of formula bottles and extra tiny breastfeeding sessions throughout the day, in an experiment to see how he does bowel-wise and in temperament. We’ll see how that goes. So far, it’s been 1 day and he acts upset after every solid food meal like he wants more. He also reaches for anything I’m eating or drinking.
• Development: Hugh is pushing up while on his stomach so well! He can roll over quite easily, but only rolls counterclockwise. He gets mad when he wedges himself on the side of his crib and can’t roll the other way! Otherwise, he’s tried a whole bunch of food varieties, even some of our dinners that have been pureed.
• Mischief: While Hugh is awake, he spends very little time not connected to my hip. Despite my efforts to show him fun in his many toy apparatus, he just finds the day better on my hip. This makes for a lot of trouble with all of my other responsibilities for the day. He’s still not sleeping very well, but I’m trying to savor the extra quiet time with him.
• Cuteness: His smile when he sees me across the room melts me! Especially when he’s jumping in his johnny jump up and I’m making breakfast. He will see me across the room and both of us will light up with smiles!
• Talking: Hugh still likes making the “ahh” sound. He’s beginning to understand that we can have “conversations” with this sounds.
• Favorites: He loves fruit. He can’t stand vegetables. Sounds just like his older brother, Hayden! Speaking of Hayden, Hugh loves trying Hayden’s green smoothies.
• Firsts: Hugh has two bottom teeth now! He’s been really easy with his teething. He just bit me once and hasn’t done it since. He also doesn’t complain about it much or drool much. We’re anxiously waiting for Hugh to start sitting up! That’s such a fun stage.
• Concerns: Well, we’re two months into the coronavirus pandemic isolation. While there are many, many benefits for Hugh with us being at home 24/7, he is becoming increasingly more of a home body. If/When Logan and I get to go on a date again, Hugh is going to struggle not having Mommy and Daddy. He’s attached!
• A Day in the Life: Hugh goes to bed around 7:30pm where he gets a bath, brushes teeth and gets a breastfeeding session and formula bottle (usually 4-6oz). He typically wakes around 11pm and 3am, but sometimes will wake up at 1am and/or 5am, as well. He’ll get up for the day around 6-7am. He has breastmilk after each wake up and 3 solid food meals throughout the day. Hugh will typically take a 10-30 minute nap during our morning walk/run around 8am. Then, he’ll stay awake until 11am when he goes down for another 30-60 minute nap (usually 30 minutes, but he occasionally surprises me with a 1.5 hour nap!) Hugh will then stay awake until 3:30pm when he’ll have another 30 minute nap (if he didn’t do the 60-90 minute nap). Then, bedtime at 7:30pm.

• Date: April 12th, 2020
• Height: 27.5 inches
• Weight: 17lbs 8oz
• Sleeping Pattern: I’ll be the first to admit that Hugh is not the best sleeper. He usually takes 3-4 thirty minute naps per day followed by 12 hours of sleep (broken into 2-3 hour chunks with nursings in between) at night. However, the last week of his 6th month, he was doing one 1-2 hour nap during the day. It was amazing! That only lasted for about a week, one really great week!
• Eating Habits: So far Hugh has tried peas, broccoli, green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas, prunes, yogurt, yellow squash, pumpkin and peaches. He officially cannot stand the vegetables. If he eats vegetables without crying, it’s because he eats them with fruit. He eats 2-3 solid food meals per day, breast feeding after every wake up (morning, 3 naps, just before bed, 2-3 during the night) and one 8 ounce formula bottle before bed.
• Development: He’s mastered jumping in the Johnny Jump Up. Hugh is also practicing sitting up with assistance. He also sits in the high chair to eat his solid food meals now.
• Mischief: He is completely and utterly attached to Mama. If he sees me from across the room and isn’t in my arms he cries tears! Even if Logan is holding him while I’m busy using two hands doing something and he sees me, Hugh gets upset. Just for kicks and giggles, Logan has given him to me when he does this to see if he stops crying and it’s almost instantly that he will stop the tears. Haha!
• Cuteness: He smiles and giggles when he jumps in the Johnny Jump Up when he sees us. It’s so cute!
• Talking: No talking, but he’ll still say “ahh” sounds.
• Favorites: He loves his pacifier. He basically has it in his mouth 24/7. He also loves this little baby deer stuffed animal that came off his pacifier when he was little. He loves sucking on it.
• Firsts: Lots more firsts with different foods, but he definitely loves fruit and despises vegetables. I’m about to move him over to blending what we’re having to eat to help him try more flavors.
• Concerns: He started getting his first tooth (bottom right) as soon as he turned 7 months old. This might be why he is sleeping so restlessly.
• A Day in the Life: Hugh gets up around 6-7am for the day. He has his first breastmilk of the day. We almost always go for a walk at this point, so Hugh takes a 30 minute nap while I carry him. He stays awake for another 2-3 hours (has a solid food meal during this time) and takes his second nap around 11am. He wakes up 30 minutes later to nurse and has a second solid food meal an hour later. In total he’s up for another 2 hours before his third nap of the day. Thirty minutes later he’s up and nurses yet again. He plays with us outside and has a solid food meal while we have dinner. He stays awake until about 6:30pm when he gets a quick bath, nursing and formula bottle. During the night, he usually wakes up at 11pm and 3am, but sometimes also wakes around 1am before getting up around 6am to start again.

• Date: March 12th, 2020
• Height: 27 inches
• Weight: 15 lbs 14 oz
• Sleeping Pattern: Well, Hugh still doesn’t prefer to sleep for any long periods of time. By the 6 month mark he is still sleeping 1.5-3 hour stretches at night and four 30 minute naps during the day.
• Eating Habits: Since Hugh does cat naps during the day and night, he basically is fed by the breast every 2 hours around the clock. He also has a supplemental 8oz bottle of formula just before bed. He is starting solid food this next month.
• Development: He is rolling over and pushing himself up with more ease when he’s on his stomach. He is still stingy with his laughing and smiling, but out of everyone Daddy can get him to smile and laugh the most.
• Mischief: He’s learned that when any of his siblings come up to him when he’s in the Johnny Jump Up or entertainment seat, he cries and looks straight for me. To his credit, they do tend to be overly loud and sometimes not so gentle.
• Cuteness: The way he plays with my necklace when he breastfeeds is adorable. He also enjoys being carried in the Ergo Embrace on our walks, where he snuggles and sleeps.
• Talking: He isn’t doing much talking other than the occasional “ahh” sound.
• Favorites: His absolute favorite is to be in Mommy’s arms. If he isn’t in my arms he is not happy and will cry until he is. So basically he stays on my hip most of the day while we do all of our tasks one handed.
• Firsts: He started blowing bubbles.
• Concerns: No concerns right now, other than keeping everyone super isolated because of the coronavirus pandemic. Hugh gets to see family and friends via FaceTime but he’s not quite sure about looking at a phone yet.
• A Day in the Life: He wakes up around 8am, eats and stays awake for 2 hours before taking a 30 minute nap. This is repeated four times throughout the day until 7pm when we start bedtime routine. Hugh will get a bath followed by him joining me reading books and singing songs to Blaire. Then he’ll be nursed and fed a formula bottle before going to bed for the night. Throughout the night, he wakes up every 1.5-3 hours. On a very rare night, he’ll sleep a longer stretch and this will usually happen once per week. Hopefully, the longer stretches of sleep will continue to increase as time goes on!

• Date: February 12th, 2020
• Height: 26 inches
• Weight: 14 lbs 12 oz
• Sleeping Pattern: Sleeps every 1-2 hours for 30 minutes during the day, sleeps 2-3 hour stretches at night. He has slept for 7 hours before, once, and it’s never happened again, despite my efforts to repeat.
• Eating Habits: He nurses every 2 hours during the day and 2-3 hours at night. Can you say newborn snacks?
• Development: He’s interacting a whole lot more, smiles and giggles at us, cries when he realizes that mommy isn’t holding him and is getting stronger at both tummy time and playing in his entertainment center and johnny jump up.
• Mischief: This boy won’t sleep! He is also prefers to be carried in my arms almost all of his awake time. He’ll usually play in his entertainment center, johnny jump up or bouncy seat for 5 minutes before he’s had enough. He also does not prefer to be worn unless we’re walking outside. Therefore, Hugh lives on my hip all day except for when he’s nursing and taking his 30 minute naps.
• Cuteness: It’s a good thing he’s cute! When he is happy he opens his mouth really wide.
• Talking: Besides crying the only sound he makes is an “Ahhhh” sound.
• Favorites: He loves my hip.
• Firsts: This past month, just before he turned 5 months, Hugh went on his first road trip! We drove 6 hours (but took us 8 hours) to Disney World. He did great in the car with me sitting next to him and feeding him every 1.5 hours. Throughout our three day stay in the parks, he stayed in the baby carrier the entire time and did great, too.
• Concerns: Sleep is a BIG issue right now. He wakes up from his 30 minute cat naps exhausted, but can’t seem to go back to sleep and gets angry if I try to get him back to sleep. The frequent night time wake ups and feedings is exhausting for both of us, too. I’ve been trying everything I can think of, but 5+ months of this newborn-like sleep pattern is tiresome. I hope for both of our sakes that he begins to sleep longer durations soon! In other news, this week he’s getting put to sleep with one arm out of the swaddle, which he is not a fan of either, but he’s getting so strong that he needs to be unswaddled.
• A Day in the Life: Hugh wakes up for the day around 8am. He usually stays up for 1-2 hours before going to bed for 30 minutes, eating and repeating this cycle. He starts a bedtime routine at 7pm and after a final nursing and 8oz bottle feeding is asleep at 8pm. During the night he typically wakes every 2-3 hours, nurses and goes back to sleep.

• Date: January 12th, 2020
• Height: 23.5″
• Weight: 12 lbs 11 oz
• Sleeping Pattern: 30 minute naps all day long, every 1-2 hours, he also sleeps for 1-4 hour stretches at night, his longest stretch so far has been 6 hours.
• Eating Habits: Hugh drinks breastmilk every 2 hours during the day and at least every 2 hours, or whenever he wakes during the night. He is also supplemented with a bottle of formula at his last feeding before bed,
• Development: He’s tracking to motion and sound now. His head is getting stronger thanks to time spent in his 360 activity toy, sitting in his seat and being held on my hip. He also does some tummy time during the day. He still doesn’t like being on his stomach at all, so he’s a complete back sleeper and doesn’t prefer to sleep in a carrier. He has also begun to find his fingers and because of this, we’ve started not swaddling him for his day time naps in hopes he’ll find his fingers to soothe himself back to sleep. This has only happened once, in which he slept for 1 hour during the middle of the day!!! Celebrate the little things.
• Mischief: The first half of the month was rough. Hugh took a dip in sleep and would wake up every 1-2 hours all night and take 30 minute naps all day. The last week of the month, we started supplementing him with a bottle at his night time feeding and he stretched his sleep to a 3-4 hour stretch followed by 1-2 hour stretches. Hopefully this keeps getting better!
• Cuteness: He is smiling a lot more and has laughed a couple of times (only at Daddy, of course)!
• Talking: He coos to talk and it’s so cute!
• Favorites: He’s not as much of a fan of his pacifier any more but it’s the only way to get him to sleep still. He is starting to figure out his fingers, which I know will be his favorite soon, but he still doesn’t have control of them like he likes. Plus, those fingers pull out the pacifier, which is no fun.
• Firsts: Hugh celebrated his first Christmas this past month at 3.5 months old. He also laughed for the first time at almost 4 months old.
• Concerns: Sleep is still a huge concern. We’re taking baby steps to get help him sleep longer stretches of time. He’s still spitting up a lot, even at night, so we have him in our room in a bassinet still, but have moved it further from our bed. That way, I can still hear him and get to him quickly if he’s choking, but he’s far enough away from us that I’m hoping he doesn’t hear and wake up to our sleeping sounds at night.
• A Day in the Life: As of the last week of the month, he’ll wake up at 7am, feed, play and go down an hour later. He’ll nap for 30 minutes, feed, play and sleep at the two hour awake time. He’ll nap for 30 minutes and repeat this until the end of the day, eating every 2 hours. Finally around 7-8pm, he’ll have his final nursing followed by a 6 ounce bottle of formula and sleep his first good chunk of sleep. He’ll usually do a 3-4 hour stretch, but the last night of the month he did a 6 hour stretch! Followed by his normal 1-2 hour stretches.However, the first three weeks of this month, he would nap for 30 minutes in the swing or bouncy seat in my line of sight every 1-2 hours during the day. Then, he’d wake up every 1-2 hours all night long. Needless to say, Hugh and I need to play catch up on our sleep this month!

• Date: December 12th, 2019
• Height:  23.5 inches
• Weight: 11lbs 11oz
• Sleeping Pattern: Well, it’s been a bit of a toss up with sleep this month. Some amazing nights Hugh would do one 4-5 hour stretch of sleep, then not sleep much after that. Other nights, he would do little baby stretches of 1-2 hours throughout the night. Overall, he would go to bed between 7-10pm, depending on how long it would take him to go to sleep. Finally, he’d wake up for the day around 6-7am and do a pattern of awake for 1 hour, sleep for 30 minutes. I think he took two naps the entire month that were longer than 30 minutes…those were glorious and productive!
• Eating Habits: He is a pretty good eater. He does still spit up a ton and has gas throughout the day/night (poor guy). He is on a wake, eat, play, sleep routine throughout the day to have more predictability,
• Development: Hugh’s head is getting so strong! He’s able to keep it up for quite some time in tummy time or in our arms. Right at the beginning of his fourth month (December 15th) we put him in a baby sitting chair and he loved sitting up and looking around.
• Mischief: We need to get sleep under control over the next couple of months. These cat naps and naps in the swing are not helping our nights. This too shall pass.
• Cuteness: Just after he turned 3 months (December 13th) he started smiling a lot more frequently! It’s the greatest thing ever. He even gets excited sometimes and makes a sound when he sucks in air. I melt with that long awaited smile!
• Talking: He’s not afraid to let me know when he needs something!
• Favorites: He almost exclusively sleeps in the swing for every nap during the day. It’s the only way I get two hands free for a moment throughout the day. Otherwise, you’ll find Hugh either nursing or me carrying him outwards in one arm while we go about our day. He loves observing everything and gets upset if I try to wear him in the carrier. He wants to seeeee!
• Firsts: He started finding his hands this month, which is exciting! Occasionally he grab onto his left hand and suck away, which keeps him quite happy! He also experienced his first Thanksgiving (spent at home with just us since everyone was sick). He wore a Turkey hat and slept through most of the day!
• Concerns: This was a busy month, most of which Hugh was sick with RSV. Thankfully, he is feeling fully healthy again. Yay! But, during the illness, his breathing and cough got so bad that we decided to take him to the Emergency Room. Thankfully with a breathing treatment and some reassurance from both the ER doctor (who relayed information from our pediatrician), we headed home after just two hours. Thank you, Mom for going with me and Hugh!
• A Day in the Life: Hugh usually sleeps until 6-7am until I get the other three kids fed for the day. He is on a wake, eat, play, sleep pattern throughout the day and this gets started when we start school for the day after breakfast. I feed him and he joins us in the school room for our morning learning. Throughout the school time, I hold him until he starts yawning or gets fussy and he goes to sleep in the swing for 30 minutes. Repeating that routine, we go about our busy day and Hugh watches it all from my arms. Finally, around 7pm we get the older three ready for bed, Logan puts them to sleep while I nurse Hugh until he will stay asleep around 9-10pm. Then, he will usually do a  longer 3-5 hour stretch of sleep at the beginning of the night and do little cat-nap sleeps until morning.

• Date: November 12th, 2019
• Height:  23 inches
• Weight: 10lbs 13oz
• Sleeping Pattern: Hugh is doing pretty well in the sleep department. He sleeps from 2-4 hour stretches at night and does 30 minute to 1 hour naps during the day. However, if I wear in my the Solly Wrap, he’ll sleep for a good 2 hours. I can’t blame him, though, we’re quite loud during the day and he’s still sleeping in a bassinet downstairs with us. At night he sleeps in the bassinet next to the bed.
• Eating Habits: Hugh is completely on breastmilk straight from the breast and fed on demand throughout the day and night. He usually eats every 1-3 hours all day and night. Occasionally, he’ll sleep a 4 hour segment at night (which is lovely!).
• Development: He’s beginning to track with his eyes a lot more frequently and stay awake for longer stretches of time. We can also tell his head is getting stronger when we hold him to our chest.
• Mischief: He absolutely loves being held. Sometimes during the day it’s hard to put him down because he gets upset (I don’t mind!). I’ve also found that he prefers resting on my chest when being held more than in the crook of my arms. More cuddles! The other mischief he gets up to is all of the laundry that we’re now doing with the increased spitting up. We continue to compare Hugh to Liam (the spit up king) in the spit up department. However, we know how fortunate we are that Hugh is not a fussy spitter (or colic-y) like Liam was.
• Cuteness: When he sleeps, he is just precious! His little lips with his mouth wide open while sleeping melts me every time. Hugh also makes the sweetest little sounds while sleeping.
• Talking: No talking yet, just cries when something is not the way he likes it!
• Favorites: He loves his pacifier and he also tries to sneak those fingers into his mouth. Occasionally, he’ll get his thumb and he loves it until his hand involuntarily removes it from his mouth.
• Firsts: He smiled for the first time on November 9th! He was 8 weeks old. Since then, he only smiles once a day (if any) and it’s first thing in the morning.
• Concerns: After his two week doctor’s appointment he started spitting up a lot more frequently. So much so, we put him on ranitidine (zantac) for acid reflux. We kept him on it for nine days but wasn’t seeing much difference in spitting up or wake ups due to spitting up. He never really was fussy about the spitting up, either, so we took him off of it. He’s been off of it for three days, but he still wakes in the night 1-2 hours after a meal with thick curdled milk spit up that he chokes on. I have to suction it out of his nose sometimes, too. No fun. We’ll keep monitoring it before deciding whether to put him back on the medication.
• A Day in the Life: Around 7pm Hugh will start acting like he wants to nurse and nothing else will satisfy. I will then nurse him for the next hour while I one-handedly help put Liam, Hayden and Blaire to bed. I usually take Hugh with me to read books and sing to Blaire during this time. Once he finally goes to sleep after on-off breastfeeding until 9am, he sleeps for 1-4 hours in that first stretch of sleep. If he does a 4 hour, it’ll be now (it’s happened three times!), otherwise it’s typical for him to sleep 2 hours throughout the night. The last feeding of the night will be around 5am. I put him back down and the rest of the crew wakes up. At this point, I transfer Hugh to the bassinet downstairs to sleep a little longer while I get everyone else fed for the morning. Hugh nurses throughout the day around every 2 hours. Between feedings, I’ll either hold him, wear him in the Solly wrap, he’ll sleep in the car seat on errands or our morning walk, he’ll hang out in the bouncy seat or sleep in the bassinet downstairs. Otherwise, he just goes with the flow, being held, eating or sleeping through the craziness that is our every day life!