Here are a few things we've been doing leading up to Christmas (that's a whole other post of it's own!)
We decided to join the masses in the "Elf on the Shelf" tradition, and I have to say I was a little bored with it after the 2nd day. It was nice to have something for the kids to do when they got up so they weren't hanging on me while I finished working, but I got tired of trying to come up with things for him to do and most nights I forgot to move him so I had to hurry in the morning before they boys were awake. We planned on doing fun mischievous things, like most of the things I see on Pinterest, but then it occurred to me that having this elf to make sure the kids are being good while he was being naughty didn't seem like the best plan! He spent the majority of December just sitting on shelves or other objects around the house.
We had a Gingerbread house making/Christmas movie night and watched Elf. Elf was the boys' favorite movie this year. Deegan loved the part when Buddy says "He's an angry elf!" and Griffin's favorite part was the elf saying "Little Buddy Diapers"- and they would quote them all the time!
Ritter figured out how to get out of "tummy time"- and his pants.
I convinced Adam to let me put the tree up the weekend before Thanksgiving ;-)
Ritter loved sleeping to the sound of the train.
He finally fit in the Bumbo! I LOVE the Bumbo, especially for Colicy, reflux babies that refuse to lay down! (I know it says not to put your kid on the counter, but I only put him there when I can watch closely)
Deegan and Griffin were both in love with the train!
Deegan played Santa a lot
Ritter gained exactly .5 oz/day for his first 3 months (which is on the low side of average, but still acceptable!!)
My mom bought this super cute outfit...
And the other boys had to have hats too!
In early November, Ritter's colic was all but gone and we had a relatively happy baby for about 3 weeks! It was HEAVEN! The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Adam ended up staying late at work and Ritter chose that day to bring the Colic back! He cried from 5:30 that evening until 11:00. Adam was gone until almost 10 and I was on the verge of killing some children! (Not really, but my tolerance was very low!) From that night on, Ritter has cried increasingly every day. I decided to pull out all the stops and try anything and everything suggested to me. We tried the Chiropractor and the allergy spray he prescribed, probiotics, me going milk free, feeding him formula, increasing his reflux medicine dosage, tummy soother, gripe water, gas drops and finally essential oils (as well as different positioning and sleeping techniques). NO LUCK! So I finally made an appointment with the pediatrician last Friday. When I took him in of course he was happier than ever and laughing and smiling at her. She felt his belly and said she couldn't see anything that could be causing him to be crying like he is (2-4 hours at a time, 2-3 times a day). Then she looked at his head and was concerned. She said something about the way the ridges are separating and that his head is growing really fast. She didn't tell me the measurements, but pointed to the chart and he's close to being off the charts on head measurements. I told her that my other boys' head grew fast like that too and that they had big heads when they were babies (Griffin still does!), but she was still concerned that maybe he had some fluid causing pressure on his brain. So, we headed over to the hospital to get an ultrasound done on his head and some lab work to check for any other inflammations or problems. While I was there, Adam texted me to tell me that Griffin's mouth, which he had smacked pretty hard 2 days prior on the side of a bed, was hurting him pretty bad and maybe it needed to be looked it. I told him we were at the hospital for an ultrasound and he said "Great, what's Deegan going to do to even this out?". Deegan woke up that night with a stomach bug and was sick for the next 2 days! Luckily, Ritter's tests all came back normal and my mom looked at Griff's tooth and said it would be fine. Now we just have to figure out how to deal with all this crying and avoid Ritter's head getting flat like Griffin's did from sleeping in his car seat and his head growing so fast.
Deegan taking pictures of himself while he was sick.
Ritter FINALLY happy.
Griffin's fat lip.
