19lbs 2oz

Everyone in our little family lost a little weight this week due to a stomach virus that was going around. Lucas was 19lbs 12oz two weeks ago, but the doctor said not to worry about it. Here is a picture of little Lucas getting weighed. This is unsure, about to cry face.


We had a really great visit with Dr. Wiles and Nurse Janet this month. Here are some of the the helpful things that we learned...

Sleeping: Lucas gets up at 1am and 5am to nurse, but sometimes gets up at 11pm and we have Jeff go in and soothe him. Dr. Wiles said that Lucas can't tell time, so if he wakes up he figures he might as well cry and see if it's the time that mom comes in and feeds him. He suggested that we get a night light with a timer and set the light to come on at 1am and 5am. This way if Lucas wakes up and the light isn't on, hopefully he'll learn that it's not time to eat and will go back to sleep. I'll die if this actually works. We'll keep you posted.

Tantrums: Lucas has started throwing tantrums! It caught us off guard at such a young age, but the doctor actually brought it up and said that it's normal at 9 months. He said that we should think about how Lucas sees every situation and not unintentionally encourage tantrums by rewarding him with a neat toy. He suggested that we say something like, "Lucas, I'm sorry that you're so upset right now. I'll be playing over here when you're finished"....and then go and play with another toy so that Lucas will have to make the decision that he'd rather quit throwing a fit and see what mommy or daddy is doing that is so fun.

Eating: Lucas isn't a big eater. During meal times I sometimes give him a toy to play with so that I can shovel the food in while he's distracted. Dr. Wiles said that we should be concentrating more on teaching Lucas the relationship between hunger and food and worry less about the calories, especially since he's still nursing on demand. Again from Lucas's persective, if shutting his mouth and turning his head gets him a neat toy, that's a great outcome for him and he'll probably do it again. The doctor suggested being more laid back about it by putting food on his tray and if he doesn't want it then assume he's not hungry. For lunch today I just held the spoon full of food close to me until he opened his mouth telling me that he was hungry and wanted to eat. He ate well and it wasn't a hassle.

That's about it. It was good to be able to ask questions and make sure Lucas is growing well and is healthy...