Week 17 and 18

Today Noah had his 4 month check up.  He's still hitting his percentile curves exactly--95th percentile in weight, 90th percentile in height and 50th percentile in his pee-wee head.  That's my boy.

His main medical issues are some dry skin around his eyes that may have gotten infected and some major eczema all over his body.  Not a big deal as medical issues go.

Noah and his puffy red eye condition.

Throughout the appt Noah kept demonstrating his amazing athleticism by continually rolling onto his tummy and grabbing the stethoscope with a baby death-grip.  Show-off.

Finally started sitting in the Bumbo last week (yes, I know it's supposed to be on the floor)

Life with Noah is getting slowly easier although it really is hard to roll with the punches.  I STILL can't figure out his routine from day to day.  Sometimes he naps for 40 min and sometimes it's 2 hours.  It's pretty impossible to predict.  And then just when I think I have things figured out, of course it changes.

Ah babies, they sure keep you on your toes.

The Not-so-well Checkup

Recently we went to the peds for Noah's 3 month well-check.

Turns out he's the same percentile as his 2 month self--16 lbs (95th) in weight, 25 inches (75-90th) in height, and 40 inches (50th) in head circumference.

Judah tagged along and felt like a very big-boy helper. I guess he's at that stage where he wants to "help" with everything.  Half the things he says now is "I can help you!"

He especially wanted to make sure he was there to comfort Noah when it was time for shots. But when the big moment came Judah folded like a cheap suit in pain and sympathy, awwwwww.  I ended up having to comfort Judah who was much more shell-shocked than Noah.

Two babies crying from shots--one of them vicariously.

My most pressing question for the doc was--why is Noah's nose so stuffed? The last week and a half have been so torturous with no end in sight. The doctor said it was probably back to back colds compounded by unusually small nasal passages. If the problem doesn't get better in two weeks we could get an x-ray if we wanted.

This was not the answer I hoped for (wait and see, nothing to do) so I got a second opinion from the urgent care doctor, who basically told me the same thing again.

Meanwhile I've been referring to Noah as the little buzz-saw or baby Darth Vader. Either way, it kinda sucks.

Weeks 8 and 9

This past Monday Noah had his first set of shots.  I hadn't taken him to the doc since he was 4 days old so I was excited to find out his stats.

Noah nervously anticipates his first set of shots.

At 8 weeks Noah is 14 lbs (95th percentile), 23.5 inches long (75th percentile) and xx inches in head circumference (25th percentile).  Much like his brother at that age.  Big body and pea-sized head!

Check out my meaty thighs!

I told the doc that my most pressing issue was that Noah could not nap on his own AT ALL.  She encouraged me to do some nap-training (which made me love her so much) instead of waiting until he's 3 months old like all the books say.

Noah insisted on a modesty cover for his bath pic.

So I've been half-heartedly letting Noah cry 15-20 minutes during his naps but the little guy is not able to soothe himself to sleep.  Or, he falls asleep immediately but cries again after just 3 minutes or so, off and on, off and on until he finally loses patience and wails inconsolably.

I kind of want to give up on the nap-training, but then again, the alternative is hefting around his 14 lb body for 8 hours a day, which is pretty physically painful.  Although, that's not the worst part.  The worst part is it doesn't allow me to give much attention to Judah.

Poor Judah.  He's really going through some tough times adjusting to the new baby.  He's been a pretty good sport at the beginning but as time drags on and the baby gets needier and needier, Judah's patience has worn pretty thin.  He now has really tearful meltdowns and tantrums several times a day, and in general, just seems pretty miserable.

A rare smile from poor Judah.

Yesterday, for the first time ever in his entire life, he refused to take a bath.  He wailed, screamed, cried when I tried to coax him into the tub and I was completely perplexed and frustrated.  What the heck?!?!  He has always loved bath time!

Having a 2nd baby is no joke.  The spouse and I are exhausted and frequently exclaim "WHY DID NO ONE WARN US ABOUT THIS?!"  But the truth is, people did warn us.  We did expect it to be hard (at least for the first few months).

But head-knowledge and actual experiential-knowledge are two very different things!