More Than Two

We noticed last week that Karston can count to two. He would look at one person, then to another, and you could see the wheels turning: one adult, more than one adult! More than one is a good number, because that usually means someone will hold Karston even if someone else goes to the bathroom. Two is a common number of adults in our house, Daddy and Mommy, but after holiday gatherings with more than two, Karston counted to three today. Again, you could watch his head turn, with wheels spinning: one adult, two adults, more than two adults! That may be this week's definition of happiness: more than two adults, and so many chances for holding, for play! Since Karston's very social, he counts people. I just had no idea that someone so young could count.

Merry Christmas!

What's the best Christmas present from a new baby to his parents? Yes indeed, Karston let us sleep Christmas night! He only woke up once for nursing. He's only done that once before, 4 days after Thanksgiving, and then he was up for an hour in the middle of the night. That's not nearly as nice as this Christmas present! I woke up rested, smiling, and thinking how much I love this baby boy ...

Five Months

Saturday Karston turned five months old. Sunday he was twenty-two weeks old. And Monday, he ate food from a spoon! Before this evening, he thought food only came from nipples. Daddy decided to feed him formula from a spoon since Karston was hungry after going through all I had, and was pushing the bottle away. OK, you don't like a bottle; well, here's a spoon. And it worked this time, he swallowed! I quickly mixed in some rice cereal to increase the calories. This past month, ever since the pediatrician suggested that we try it, Karston wouldn't swallow anything from a spoon. He would give us a strange look like we were weird for putting a spoon in his mouth. On the positive side, he also wouldn't spit it out. But without swallowing, the rice cereal would dribble out soon enough. But the transition to real food is starting now! Speaking of eating, Karston's second tooth came in on Thanksgiving Day, exactly five days after the first tooth, both at the same age as his dear cousin Hayley, a Thanksgiving baby who turned 13 this year. Overall, he's been on a bottle strike, no matter what's in there, which is tiring for me.

Karston sits in his high chair now, not the bouncer. The bouncy chair used to be wonderful, because we didn't have to hold him every second. Now that he's so intent on sitting up, and spends so much energy curling his body forward into an upright position when you hold him semi-reclined, the high chair is better. He's at our level when we eat, and he's much happier there. He has remarkable trunk control this past month, sitting up, lifting his head up so far when we roll him on the bed, and even holding himself horizontal when held above your head. He's more coordinated now, as you can guess since he's batting away the bottle, so toys are more interesting. He can reach for things, and pull them to his mouth for gnawing. Then he forgets, and unattached things fall. He laughs more easily now, although it still takes a lot of effort to get the laughs to fall out. He still loves to stand up in his stationary activity center. He's getting even stronger, so he can stand on his tip toes and almost tumble out of the seat (which we can lower). His thumbs are now wider than his other fingers (as you would expect). Oh, and ever since Thanksgiving, he hasn't screamed about bathing (thank goodness).

Although Karston looks older and bigger now, the truth is, he hasn't quite gained a whole pound this month because he was a hair under 14 pounds on his birthday, on our new accurate scale. We all agree, though, that he looks more like a boy now. I'm not sure if it's because his face is getting square, or if it's just because his hair, as it gets lighter, catches the light just like a blond crew cut.

We're starting to get a daily routine, which is a huge relief because I now know when I can do things for myself without toting him around. Karston usually wakes up hungry every 3.5 hours at night. He generally sleeps the rest of the time between 9:30 PM (his choice! I'm not making him stay up that late!) and 7:30 AM. We had three nights in a row right after Thanksgiving where he went four hours between hunger cries, and he insisted on staying up late those nights, so we only got out of bed once to nurse. I could get used to that! On a good day, he takes two naps about 2 hours long, one after breakfast and the other after lunch. If his first nap is less than 2 hours, I have to switch him to a three nap schedule, which is trickier all around.