The Grahaminator at 5 months!

Update: Since the last post, we went to the doctor and found out Graham had gained 8 oz in 3 days!!! Completely unexpected by everyone! The nurse, doctor, Andrew, and I all stared at the scale in disbelief. I picked G up, and they asked me to put him back down to re-weigh him. Ha! There was nothing drastic enough we changed in the last 3 days for him to gain that much, so we know that God just did it!! Thanks for everyone who prayed, and may this build your faith as it has ours!! The weight gain also means no hospital stay for us! WHEW. And we don't have to go back for another weigh-in for 10 days! That's the longest we've gone in a month! We talked to the doctor about the possibility of Graham having Celiac's disease, but she didn't want to test him because it is very, very rare for breastfed babies to show signs of it before eating solid foods, and the test when they're this young is mostly inconclusive. She did say I could go gluten-free for two weeks and see if it made a difference, so that's what I'm doing. I stocked up on some Chex cereal and am good to go! So we still don't have definite answers to why all this happened in the first place. I'm guessing anemia, low milk supply, and possibly Celiac's were a combination of culprits, but who the heck really knows??

Weight: 11 lbs, 4 oz (a few days ago)... Still tiny, but incredibly excited to finally hit that 11 pound mark!!

Height: No idea.

Clothing size: Still in 3 months clothes. Hoping he starts busting out of these soon!!

Diaper size: CLOTH DIAPERS! Still going strong! We had to buy a couple more to keep up with G's increased feedings and outputs. :)

Someone loves his new cloth diapers!

Feeding: After several different plans from the doctor to get his weight up this month, we've finally settled into a  routine. Still nursing every 3 hours, plus supplementing 1.5 oz of pumped milk after each feeding, with a 1/2 t of formula (for extra calories) and 1 T of rice cereal (to make it thicker and harder to spit up). Getting up to pump 1-2x every night too, to have supplemental milk and keep up my milk supply. Whew. If feeding him felt like my full-time job before, we're talking major overtime now. It really is like having a newborn all over again.

Sleeping: He naps for about 1 hr 15 min each 3-hr cycle now. He had slept almost perfectly through the night from 2-4 months, but a week or so before his 4 month checkup, he started waking up some in the middle of the night... And hasn't stopped since. :( Sometimes he wants to eat, but mostly it's random things, like he lost his paci, or his body is crammed into the wall of the crib and he can't get away, his nose is filled with snot, or he just wants to be held... I think all the changes to his diet and my stress levels didn't help all of this. I am hoping as we all settle into our new routine, things will go back to normal at night. He also has started sleeping on his side sometimes, which is pretty cute.

Milestones: Hitting the 11 pound mark!! That's pretty much all we've been working on or cared about lately. :) Staying in the church nursery for the first time. They did great with him, but he was not a fan. I heard his cries as I walked down the hall to get him, but as soon as he saw me, there were big smiles. Little stinker. He loves to grab toys and anything else now... and then put whatever it is into his mouth. Holding his bottle, kinda.

Likes: Snuggling. As usual. His new exersaucer! He's supposed to be as upright as possible to help keep his feedings down, so Nonnie and Poppy brought this up at the perfect time!  

Dislikes: Still not a fan of big crowds. Wants to be held only by Mommy or Daddy when there are lots of people around. Not saying I mind it. :)

Adventures: Really for the past month, we have stayed close to home most days. I cancelled plan after plan just to make sure Graham had the best conditions to eat and sleep. Crazy how much they affect each other! The hubs and I have become obsessed with Dominion, a really fun card game. Graham plays sometimes too. :) Reallllllly ready to start getting out of the house again.

What we couldn't live with out: Naps! I don't think I've ever been more exhausted in my life.

My favorite part of parenting this age: His smiles and laughs just melt my heart every time.

The hardest part of parenting this age: Obviously this has been the hardest month so far, consumed with worry over his lack of weight gain. I really hope I don't have to copy and paste this same answer for next month. Ugh.