Dear Sean,

Five months old and positively scrumptious. That’s you, in a nutshell.

Your personality continues to be “chill.” You are the epitome of the magical third baby that I heard so much about before actually taking the leap to have a third baby. I can’t say enough about how blessed we are to have a baby with your demeanor. You go with the flow, you rarely complain. The only time you really ever seem to lose your mind is when we are getting close to bedtime. And who can blame you for that?

So let’s dive right in with sleep, shall we? I’d say there were pretty significant improvements this month. You’ve seemed to move more consistently to only one wakeup per night, and that wakeup is typically between 3:00 and 5:00 a.m. Compared to where we were before—all over the place—this is very bearable (for now). You’re in your crib every night now, all night if I can help it. Sometimes I do doze off while nursing you in our bed so we snuggle for an hour or so, whenever I wake back up and move you back to your bed.

We did break you of the swaddle a week or two ago. You started rolling over in it, and although you are strong enough to lift your head and turn it all around even when your arms are strapped down, we knew it was time. You handled it SURPRISINGLY well, given that sleep is not your strongest suit. One night, I did try to put you in a sleep slack instead of a swaddle sleep sack (which we now just wrap around your torso instead of your arms) and you had a really tough time staying asleep, so apparently you still need to feel the security of the swaddle around your middle. It’s funny, the trial and error we must go through with each individual baby! :)

Rolling. You started doing it in your sleep because you are so good at it awake! You are rolling, rolling, rolling all the time. You can go all ways. Back to belly, belly to back, to the right, to the left, whatever. You are an independent rolling machine. You also like to bear weight on your legs, which is funny because neither of your sisters were very good at that in their infancies. You like it so much that it occurred to me that perhaps you’d like a jumperoo. And guess what? You do. You jump around in that thing like it’s the greatest fun ever. You’re gaining a lot better control of your hands, too. You love to reach and grab. Hair, clothing, blankets, toys, whatever. If it’s there, you want to grab it. I’ve experienced some fingers to the nostrils a few times while nursing you in bed.

You do this adorable thing right now, where you tilt your head back to look intently at whoever is holding you. We might have you on one of our laps at dinnertime, and you’ll just suddenly rotate yourself a bit and tilt your whole head back to look straight up at Daddy or me. Or Grammy or Grandma or whomever. You will straighten back out and then do it over again. It’s sooo cute. I can’t help but wonder what is going on inside of that little head of yours!

Size-wise, I’m not sure where you’re at with weight and height, but you are still a solid little dude. Although you seem to have thinned out maybe just a *little*? You’re still solidly in 3-6 month clothing, although I think 9-month sizes will be knocking on the door here very, very shortly. You also outgrew your size 2 diapers so we are in size 3 now. I wasn’t even able to finish up the box of size 2s we had open because they were just too ridiculous. And frankly, we were experiencing too many blowouts. Not fun for anybody!

Earlier this month, we had you baptized. It was a really lovely day. Unfortunately, the priest that married Daddy and me—and then baptized your sisters—he passed away last summer. So we had to choose a different church for your special day. Thankfully, it’s a church we’ve been to many times, as it’s the one your grammy grew up going to, and the one at which we attend Christmas Eve Mass every single year. We were blessed to have a lot of extended family join us at the church, and then we had a party for you back at our house. It was fun to celebrate you, and of course, you were awesome.

Mommy is leaving soon to go on my first business trip since you were born. Honestly, I’m sick over the thought of leaving you for one night, let alone three! I am slightly freaking out but I know it’ll be okay. Your daddy is a champ with all of you kids and it’s comforting to know that at least you’ll be with him. But given how much I still miss you during the work days (it feels so, so good to pick up and snuggle you at the end of them!), it’s going to be kind of rough. Not to mention all of the pumping I’ll have to do. Chant with me… I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…

You’ve been doing wonderfully at daycare. Mary seems to have fallen in love with you, because… obviously. You are fine at drop-off, you’re great at pick-up. But that’s what we’ve come to expect out of our relaxed little guy. I’ve started to wonder, though… does this laidback nature now mean that we’re in for it once you’re a toddler? TIME WILL TELL. :)

I’m so blessed to have you as my son. I love you to the ends of the Earth.

With endless kisses,
Mommy

Dear Sean,

Buddy, you are getting so big! I can’t believe we’re already a third of the way through your first year. WHAT?! HOW?! I am trying to soak up as much of the yummy infant stage as possible, because it is so fleeting. Why does it go so fast?!

Well, the only part I’m not soaking up is the sleep deprivation. That is one thing I will not be sad to leave behind in the (hopefully-not-so-distant) future. So let’s start there this month: SLEEP HABITS. You still seem like you are not even close to sleeping all the way through the night for me. The only thing that’s grown consistent about your sleep is your bedtime (about 7:00pm) and wake time (about 7:00am). At least we’re there, I guess. But the middle-of-the-night feedings are all over the place. Sometimes you’re up to eat as early as 11:30pm, eat, sleep, then up again around 3:00am. Sometimes you sleep until 1:00am, eat, sleep, then you’re up again around 4:00am or 5:00am. Sometimes you’ll throw me a bone and wake only once, around 3:00-4:00am. Those nights seem glorious right now. I know your sleep could be so.much.worse, but it also could be so.much.better. But man, you’re cute and otherwise so, so good—so I forgive you. For now. I’m trying my best to just roll with it for another month or two, but if things are still status quo by then, we may have to do some (*gasp*) sleep training. You’re forewarned.

You’re going down fairly easily at night, especially since you started daycare (we’ll get there in a minute). But whether you stay down right away is always kind of a crapshoot. Sometimes you wake back up in less than an hour. Thankfully, you’ll usually settle yourself back down after a few minutes, but there are times when that’s not happening and I end up going up to feed you—AGAIN! How it’s possible for you to eat so much, I’ll never know.

We did go ahead and move you to your own room a week or so ago. You’ve been doing great as far as that transition is concerned. It doesn’t seem to have affected your sleep at all—positively or negatively. The only difference is how far I need to travel to get you at night, ha! It’s been fun to get more use out of your nautical nursery. Naps are coming along. You’re not-so-great at morning naps, which is probably because we tend to be on the go for a lot of them. Not your fault, but it’s just a product of being the third baby in a family with places to go and things to do all of the time. We’ve been better at enforcing the afternoon nap, though, which has also moved to your crib in your own room. You’ve been doing great with that, usually sleeping for 2-3 hours which is fantastic!

You’re still swaddled, and I don’t think you’re ready to give it up just yet. I’m waiting for when we will have to go cold turkey with it, which could be at any point now, when you figure out how to roll over in it.

ROLLING! That has been your new trick of the month. You’ve been successfully rolling from back to belly for a few weeks now, and you’re starting to figure out the belly to back thing, too, when your arms are in the right position to be out of the way. You always roll to your left. You’ve been working on it so much that you’ve actually given yourself some rug burn on the left side of your face! You’re still not rolling in your sleep, which is good since it’s buying us some additional time with the swaddle. I fear for what our nights might look like when we have to stop swaddling. Hopefully you’ll pleasantly surprise me.

You’re also capable of big belly laughs now, but wouldn’t you know that you refuse to laugh that hard at your family. Instead, you saved that for our neighbor/friend, who had you absolutely busting a gut. Apparently we’re not as funny as think we are! ;)

Speaking of your gut, you are a big boy. We had your 4-month doctor’s appointment and you weighed in at 15 lbs., 11 oz. (63%) and 25.5″ long (68%). It still amazes me how much bigger you are than your sisters were. Your rate of growth seems to have leveled off a bit, which is good because I was beginning to think you were going to grow out of clothes faster than I could buy them. You’re still in 3-6 month sizes for now.

Also, the pediatrician said she thinks you might be teething already because your bottom gums feel very firm. You love grabbing everything you can get your hands on—hair, clothing, toys, whatever—and shoving it in your mouth. You are drooling a lot more than I ever remember your sisters drooling. When I hold you up on my shoulder, you gum the shoulder of my shirt, which makes for some awkward wet spots sometimes! :) It would be totally crazy if you were to get teeth soon, as your sisters didn’t get their first ones until they were 10-11 months old! But you’ve proven that you’re determined to be different in just about every way, so I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised.

So, daycare. I started back to work on September 1. I had 15.5 weeks home with you—more than I ever had with your sisters—and for that I am super grateful. I knew I would never regret taking the extra time, even if it meant going a few additional weeks without a paycheck. Leading up to going back, I definitely felt anxious and sad, but when the day itself came along, it wasn’t so bad. I managed not to cry. It helped that Nora and Vivienne were thrilled that you’d be going to Mary’s with them. Of course, Nora only got a couple of days there with you before she started school, but Vivienne still asks sometimes if you’re going with her and is always so happy to find out you are.

It’s been fine so far. Mary reports that you are happy and easy. You’re not napping as well there as you do at home, but that’s to be expected—same thing happened with Nora and Vivienne, especially in the beginning. Sometimes you come home super tired and it can make for cranky evenings, but I think you’ll adjust with time. Daddy and I just end up holding you a lot, which is fine by us because we like to get in all of the snuggle time we can! I definitely miss you during the week. It’s one of the hardest things about being a working mom, feeling like there is just never enough time. But it makes me truly enjoy the time I *do* have with you and completely cherish the weekends.

You are taking your bottles with no problem, which is a relief. Although you’ve always seemed to be content to switch back and forth (who cares, right? as long as you’re getting milk!), I still worried that you’d suddenly refuse the bottle once you realized you were going to have them more often now. But nope, you’re a little piggy! (Side note: You still don’t take a pacifier. We’ve given up.)

We continue to be amazed by how laidback you are. There are days that go by when at the end, I have to think about whether I even heard you fuss… at all… all day. You’re such a blessing. Such a calm soul!

I kiss you probably 150 times a day. You are just so squishable and lovable and yummy. I really couldn’t love you more. Your smile melts me. That’s a wrap on month #4… let’s go, month #5!

Love you through and through,
Mommy

Dear Sean,

You’ll have to forgive me for writing your letter late this month—we’ve had a lot going on! (For the record, though, I did take your pics on time!) August has been a crazy busy month for our family. But let’s focus on you.

You continue to grow like a weed. I weighed you on your 3-month “birthday” (at home, using the weigh-myself-holding-you-then-weigh-myself-alone-and-take-the-difference method) and you were 14 lbs. Geesh. I am still squeezing you into 0-3 month clothes often because we don’t have much summer clothing for you in 3-6 months sizes. But you are definitely fitting into 3-6 months outfits just fine right now, which leads me to believe that by the time the weather actually turns in the coming weeks, I may have to exchange some of the fall stuff that I bought you for 6-9 month sizes. Are you really going to make me SKIP A SIZE?! I don’t know if my mama heart can handle that.

You don’t go back to the pediatrician again until 4 months, so we’ve had a little break from doctor visits. I did, however, take you into the pediatric urologist at the end of July to get the potential inguinal hernia checked out. Thankfully, she said she was pretty sure you DO NOT have a hernia and that the excess fluid you were retaining would eventually reabsorb into the body—it just was taking a little longer than might be “typical” in other babies. I’ve already noticed it getting better, I think, so things seem to be on track there.

Sleep has changed quite a bit this month. You are now going down for the night between 7:30-8 p.m. Typically you nurse to sleep but you have also been known to go down awake and put yourself to sleep, which makes me proud! Night feedings are still all over the place, though. Most nights, you’re still up twice to eat. The first time can be anywhere from 11:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m., and the second time can be anywhere from 3:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. Some nights, you’re even up THREE times. On the rare, rare occasion, you’ll only wake up once. I think that’s only happened maybe two times. Anyway, I’m not going to lie—it’s rough on me. You are still usually quick to go back down, and since I nurse you side-lying, I’m usually barely awake, but MAN do I miss sleeping through the night. Mama is tired. Plus, you’re so huge that I feel like you can’t possible NEED to eat this much. Surely you can tap into some of the reserves in your cheeks and thighs in the middle of the night? :)

You’re still sleeping in the pack ‘n’ play in our room for now, since I can’t bear the thought of moving you down the hall and walk “all of that way” to feed you this many times per night. There is part of me that wonders if you might sleep better if I move you, though. It’s worth a shot, and truthfully, it’s getting to be about time anyway… so that transition will likely take place sometime this next month. You’re still not on much of a nap schedule. Generally you’ll take some kind of snooze in the morning, but not usually very long. Your longer nap (which can sometimes be 2-3 hours!) usually comes in the afternoon. I’m still letting you nap wherever and whenever. You take your best naps in the Mamaroo at this point. With Nora, I spent all this time trying to get her on a nap schedule before sending her to daycare, only to have it get completely messed up while Mary got her on a schedule that worked at HER house. So by now, I know not to sweat it and go with the flow a bit more.

Aside from the night feeding frenzies, you’re basically the best baby ever. Not to take anything away from your sisters (even refluxy Vivienne wasn’t waking us up this consistently in the middle of the night at this age!), but your demeanor is definitely “third baby chill.” You’re easy going because you kind of have to be. When you cry—which isn’t often—we can’t always tend to you RIGHT THAT SECOND. We might have two girls in the bath, be trying to get shoes on, taking Viv to the potty, or be in the middle of a bedtime story. I always feel major mommy guilt when I feel like we can’t meet everyone’s needs at once (especially yours since you’re still so little!) but I think it’s made you more patient overall. You really only cry when you’re hungry, which is maybe a little more often than other babies. You’ve gotta feed that belly, you know. :) Anyway, Daddy and I often marvel at just how awesome you are. So, please keep it up for us, okay?

By this point with your sisters, I was already back at work. I’ve taken a few extra weeks with you—to get us through the month of August—so I get to enjoy some additional time at home with you. I do go back to work on September 1, though, so that’s another big transition that will happen this month. On one hand, it feels like I’ve been at home with you forever, but on the other, it has gone by WAY TOO FAST. The closer we get, the more sad I’m getting at the thought of leaving you. Your smiley, happy face is fun to be around, you know.

Speaking of smiling, you are SO HAPPY. You smile at anyone and everyone who makes eye contact with you and talks to you. You love it. And we love watching it. What a flirt. I wonder if you’re going to eventually develop “stranger danger” like your sisters, or if you’ll be a more social baby. It’s funny how you’re all different in so many ways!

Your sisters are still totally in love with you. I love listening to the way they talk to you. They are ALWAYS in your face, despite my frequent reminders to back up, give you space, let him see you, etc. They just can’t help themselves. I’m pretty sure you’re Nora’s favorite person in the entire family. And Vivienne, well, every time we’re going someplace, she always asks, “Seanie come, too?” As if we would leave you at home alone! Ha.

You’re still not rolling over, but I think it’s coming soon. I just don’t think the urge to go anywhere has struck you yet, since you’re so content just lying where you are. But you have successfully rubbed most of the hair off of the back of your head. Your legs and arms are constantly moving, and so is your little head. Back and forth, back and forth you turn it, so the little bit of hair you had is a goner. You still have a little tuft of hair at the base of your skull, though, so it’s… interesting. You definitely have a funny little hairdo right now!

Your 3 month-day was on my 34th birthday. Happy to share the 16th of the month with you, bubba. I love you even more than I knew I would, if that makes sense. You’re so cute I could eat you up (but I won’t). Here’s to marking another month… and hoping that the next one might be filled with more consecutive hours of sleep! *yawn*

Love you infinitely,
Mommy

Dear Sean,

Well, hello, little fella. You’ve officially “come alive” this month. Your eyes are more focused, it’s clear you can see us and the world around you, and you’re interacting—grabbing things, cooing, SMILING. Sometimes you give up smiles so easily, all we have to do is look at you or talk a little bit. Other times, we might work HARD for it and you still don’t give them up (like when I was taking these pictures)! But when you do smile, oh my gosh—my heart! You are so gosh darn cute, I can barely stand it.

And you’re huge. I knew you were, but it’s been confirmed. We took you to your two-month well baby appointment at the doctor’s a few days ago and you weighed in at a whopping 12 lbs., 8 oz. Now, that’s the 66th percentile, which means you’re actually pretty “average,” but considering you started off at only 6 lbs., 15 oz., it’s been a pretty steep period of growth for you. Plus, your sisters were only 9 lbs., 9 oz. (Nora) and 10 lbs., 7 oz. (Vivienne) at this same age, sooo… you’re huge to us. You still love to eat, so there’s no question how you’ve bulked up! :) The truth is that I weighed you when I was writing your 1-month letter last month. It was informal—I weighed myself, then weighed myself again while holding you, and subtracted my weight. Using that method, it looked like you were 10 lbs. already. You had only been 7.5 lbs. at two weeks, so I was honestly in disbelief. Or denial? I figured that method must not be too accurate. It seemed impossible you were growing that quickly. But knowing what I know now, yep… it was probably accurate. It’s just crazy having a 2-month-old baby boy who is roughly the same size now as Nora was at SIX MONTHS. Haha! But I’m loving it. Your plump little cheeks, arms, legs, and belly… I could nibble on them all day long! Even your little fingers are getting a little pudgy.

Needless to say, your newborn clothes no longer fit you. The 0-3 month sizes are good for now, but who knows for how long. Our pediatrician says that she expects your rate of growth to level out now, but only time will tell. We have only a few summer outfits in 3-6 months so I’m hoping the 0-3 month clothes will at least get us through the rest of the season! It’s been a really hot and dry summer so far, so you’ve been wearing a lot of rompers and onesies. You have some really cute shorts/t-shirt outfits as well. There are a few things in 0-3 month size that I don’t know if you’ll ever get a chance to wear unless we get some cooler days—footie pajamas, and outfits with pants. Hopefully we can squeeze in a wear or two before they have to be packed away!

A surprise at the pediatrician was to learn that you might have what’s called a congenital inguinal hernia. It’s apparently an opening in the groin that’s supposed to close up before birth (or shortly thereafter), but we have reason to believe yours didn’t. We are seeing a pediatric urologist next week to get you checked out and see what the deal is. It sounds like “worst case,” you may have to have a minor surgical procedure at some point, just to close the opening—and that likely wouldn’t happen until you’re 9-12 months old. We’re hoping it’ll turn out to be nothing to really worry about, just something to watch until you’re bigger.

Let’s see… sleep update? You are doing pretty well and being kind to me most nights now. You are still late to go to bed for the night—we go upstairs around 9:30, and I’ve usually fed you and you’re passed out by shortly after 10:00. Then I’m passed out shortly after that. On the really good nights, you’ll sleep through until 5-6 a.m. before you wake to eat. On good nights, sometime between 3-4 a.m. On the “ehhh” nights, you’ll sleep until 2 a.m. and then you’ll usually wake again at 5 or 6 a.m. Thankfully, in any of these scenarios, you’re really only waking to eat and then you typically go back down easily for me until your sisters inevitably wake you up between 7:30-8.

With your sisters, I remember it being pretty obvious when we needed to move up their bedtimes earlier. You do get fussy in the later evenings, but the time that happens varies. And it’s relatively mild. Your behavior hasn’t yet reached a point where it’s screaming, “I NEED TO GO TO BED.” The pediatrician says that transition will likely happen in the next several weeks (and at the latest, by four months?), so we’re watching for that.

We did transition you a week or so ago to the pack ‘n’ play for sleep. You’re still in our room (it’s just so much easier for me with the middle-of-the-night or early-morning feedings), but the next step toward getting you in your own room in your crib was to get you sleeping flat (as opposed to on an incline in the rock ‘n’ play), so we’ve done that. Dare I say that you’ve actually been sleeping better in the pack ‘n’ play? I think it’s probably more comfortable for you at this point since you can stretch out. You know, because you’re so big and all. ;)

Napping during the day is hit or miss. There’s no schedule for it. You sleep when you sleep and that’s all there is to it. Some days, it seems like all you do is sleep and eat, and others it seems I can’t get you to sleep for longer than 15 minutes here and there. Thankfully, you’re pretty content to be on the go, whether you’re sleeping or awake. It’s a big blessing for a third baby because, well, our lives require that you be on the go A LOT.

Your sisters love you to the moon and back. They really can’t get enough of you. Telling them to leave you alone because you’re sleeping is like straight-up TORTURE, especially for Vivienne. They’re always sure to give you kisses and hugs before bedtime or before leaving you for whatever reason (daycare, camp, friends’ houses, etc.). Nora loves to make you smile and continues to call you “the cutest brother in the world.” Vivienne excitedly squeals, “He’s looking at me!” anytime you focus on her. They are big helpers with diaper changes, getting you dressed, trying to calm you when you’re crying. I can’t give you a bath without two sisters glued to my sides with extra wash cloths in their hands, rubbing you down. You are a lucky little boy to have so many “mothers”!

When we carry you around, you’re now much more content when we face you outward so you can observe the world. You are starting to enjoy the play mat, and I just clipped a hanging toy to the handle of your car seat to give you something to bat at whenever you’d like.

I just finished your nursery. It’s the first nursery for which we’ve ever adopted a theme—a nautical theme. For your sisters’ rooms, we only ever chose color schemes. All there is left to do in your room is to put photos in the many frames, which I hope to do in the next week. I love the way it’s turned out and I hope you’ll enjoy it through your infancy and toddlerhood.

Earlier this month, you experienced a rite of passage in our family: Your first trip to the Poconos. We went down over 4th of July weekend with our family: Grammy, your uncles and aunt, and your cousins. We visited our life-long family friend, Susan, and it was a great time. It’ll be fun to see you there next year, toddling around with all of the big kids!

Thus far, you have been a really chill, “easy” baby. You really only ever cry when you’re hungry or sleepy. Or, occasionally when you’re bored/uncomfortable and just need a diaper change or a change of scenery. When you have a baby, you never know what “kind” you’re going to get. I always expect things to change at any moment with this whole parenthood thing. I know by now not to get too comfortable with routines, especially with babies. So, if things take a turn? I’ll be prepared. But if you keep on keepin’ on like you have? We’ll continue to know how lucky we are. Thank you for going with the flow! It’s a wonderful quality that perhaps you’ll keep through your life.

New nicknames this month: Bubba and Bubby. Those are probably the ones I use most often now!

You are another light in our lives and we couldn’t be more grateful for you. Sean, you’re so special to our family and you fit right in—into the groove, into the chaos, into the happy.

We love you more than you’ll ever know.

Onward to month #3!

Love you always,
Mommy