Jack - 4 months

Jack. - You are four months old F-O-U-R , yes, four. 1/3-year old at that. This month has been crazy and our adventures even involved your 1st airplane ride to our home state, CT. You were an excellent traveler and never made a peep on the plane. At 4 months old, you’ve already earned your wings.

We needed to get our house ready to be rented out and we had Christmas at your Grammy Donna and Grampy Nicky’s. That was your 1st Christmas celebration and boy, did we have fun. You met your Aunt Julie – your Godmother – and Uncle Chris, your Uncle Rob and your Aunt Lisa and your beautiful cousin Lindsay. You were so cool being held by all of those new people, including many of your grandparent’s friends. Your big smile won everyone;s hearts. It was quite cold and snowy in the East Coast. It was also the 1st time you got a bit sick.

Jack, you were baptized on 12/26. You did absolutely wonderful, didn’t cry once. You bonded with your Godmother Julie from the get-go and we are sure that you will be really close with your Godfather, Leopoldo. We can’t wait for you to meet him and for your baptism celebration in Brazil.

When we got back from NY / CT, we had the best visit ever. Auntie Mara and Uncle Helio and your beautiful cousins Bia, Gabi and Pedro came to visit us. They spent the week with us and although that wasn’t enough, we cherished every second that we spent with them. Being here, the only one from our Brazilian family in the US, I really treasure every family visitor, especially someone who is like a sister to me (your Aunt Mara). Your father and I really hope that they had a great time and that they’ll want to come back to spend more time with us.

You went to daycare for the 1st time ever and everybody in Kindercare absolutely fell in love with you. You are still having poopie issues and on day 2 you had a major explosion. All my fears that I or Santana weren’t going to be there when you needed to be fed or changed went away because you did absolutely wonderful. It was actually the 1st time that you and your sister were in daycare at the same time. You guys did great, but your mom was worries sick. One of the thng that both you and Giulia have taught me is that you can be OK even though I’m not with you 100% of the time. On an intellectual level, I understand that. On an emotional level, I will always, and I mean always think that you need me and I will always be here for you. I really mean in – always. But I will also try my best to let you spread your wings. No pun intended!

What else have you been doing? Well, you oves toys, bright colors, catching your sister (pique-pega), making bubbles, dancing with me and the second I start dancing with you, your face lights up and you give me the biggest smile in the world. You only like your paci (not Giulia’s - quite opinionated!) and you love it when I sing to you, you look at me with so much love…
You love watching Dora and Ni Hao Hai-lan. These are colorful cartoons for little kids and you seem to be hypnotized by them.
.You made celebrating the holidays such a joy this year and your dad and I can't wait to continue celebrating our lives with you. It is so much fun to view the world through the eyes of a child and you and Giulia make us do just that.

Love you forever - Mamae

White Christmas

Passport

So we are still having poop issues with Jack. He'll go 2 or 3 days without going and then all of a sudden, he'll go for those 3 days and more. This past Friday, Santana, John and I finally made our way to City Hall to get a passport for Jack. We had all the required paperwork minus the photos, because the lady at Walgreens messed up his pictures. But the Passport place had a photo option, 3 times the price, but at that point we were willing to pay the fee.

While John and I were solemnly swearing that Jack is really our child and born in the USA, Jack had an EXPLOSION. It was so bad that his clothes were covered in poop, I even had to wash him in the sink.

We, of course, didn't have a change of clothes for him. And he needed that picture. As we were scrambling to find something to cover him up with, he had the most content expression in the world. Happy and relieved. Couldn't care less if he ever left our arms, let alone the country...

Laughs

Jack, you went from smiling to flat-out laughing. And we are loving every second of it!!!

Poop! (Or Lack thereof....)

So Jack went from pooping 4, 5 times a day to pooping once every 3 or 4 days. This really worried me since Giulia has never had this issue (as a baby or otherwise) and Jack had been super regular up until and before this.

I called the pedi and this is what I got. what I have to say is that thank God I am breastfeeding him....


How often should my baby poop?

In the first week, your baby should have a least 1 - 2 poops per day. This pattern should continue up until about 6 weeks of age.
After 6 - 8 weeks, some babies, particularly breast-fed babies, can poop after every feed and that's normal, while some babies, including breast-fed babies, only poop every few days and that's normal. Formula-fed babies often have less frequent and less liquid poops than breast-fed babies - that's normal.
So you can see that what is normal includes a wide range - if your baby is growing and contented and pooping at least once every week, there probably isn't anything to be worried about.


Is it normal for my baby to squirm around when he poops?

A baby will often squirm around and screw up his face when he poops. He is just helping his bowels move. Drawing up the legs puts him more in a squatting position that makes it easier to poop. It doesn't mean he has a problem or is in pain. As long as he is pooping and is growing, don't worry too much.