Dear Moses,
You are so much fun! You're really interacting with us and smiling nonstop. Unless you're hungry or sleepy, you're smiling. I love that about you. You are talking a ton and are always yelling at us in a very serious but happy way. I figure that with three older brothers, you have to yell to be heard. I have a feeling that you're going to be forced to have a big personality if you want to get any attention at all in this family!
You've discovered your hands this month and are sucking on them nonstop. Every time I look over at you, you've got them in your mouth and are making loud, sucking sounds. Sometimes I wonder if you think you're going to get milk out of them if you suck hard enough. It's hilarious. I better keep them extra clean since they're in your mouth nonstop!
You've been a terrible nurser the past few weeks. You rarely act hungry or interested in eating. When I feed you, you usually only stay at my breast for a minute or two and then you pull off to look at something else. I seriously wonder how you're even getting the calories you need to grow! If I can force you to stay on my boob long enough, you'll get into a rhythm and eat well, but it's hard for you to get to that point.
You've become quite the drool monster this month. The front of your shirt is constantly covered in thick, slimy baby drool. I either have to put a bib on you, which gets in your face and annoys you, or I have to change your shirt like 3x a day. It's kind of adorable and gross at the same time. Speaking of gross, you are by far my stinkiest child. You catch a lot of milk and drool in your neck creases but starts to rot and stink. I feel like you almost always have a nasty odor around your neck area. I wipe it out frequently, but it seems like no matter what I do, it still stinks. Sometimes it gets raw deep inside your creases and even bleeds a little. It's so sad! I don't know what to do about it!
You were sleeping better at night at the beginning on the month (only waking up once a night), but now you're back to getting up twice (or some nights even three times!). The funny thing is that when you wake up, you don't even nurse very well anyway, so it feels kind of pointless to me to be waking up with you all the time. My goal this month is to slowly wean you off of the night feedings. We'll see how it goes. I'll start by nursing you, but only for a few minutes. Then I'll move to just picking you up and rocking you. Then I'll go in to let you know I'm there, but I won't pick you up. Hopefully you'll learn to self-sooth and just go back to sleep on your own.
I'm very happy to report that you've been napping pretty well this month. In the morning, I don't even have to nurse you down. I can just swaddle you and lay you in your crib and you'll go right to sleep. As the day goes on, you get a little harder to put down, but it's still not too bad. I usually nurse you a little to get you sleepy and then I try to lay you in your crib before you're totally asleep. I rarely have to put you in your swing anymore to get you to take a good nap.
Your name is finally growing on me. It took me awhile to get over all of the weird looks and comments I got when I told people your name, but now I love it and think it's totally rad. Unique but not made up. Uncommon but not unpronouncable. It think it fits you really well. Your daddy is beyond thrilled that I finally agreed to use the name and I'm happy that he's happy because I kind of like him. ;)
Moses, you're an amazing little boy and I couldn't be happier that you're a part of our family. It still struggle with the fact that you're almost definitely our last baby, but if you really are, you're a great kid to end on. You're amazing! I love you so much!
Love forever and ever,
Mama
Weight: 14.4 lbs (42nd percentile)
Height: 24 in (58th percentile)
