Carb Addict

Don't mess with the boy's food.  

Bacon is 8 Months! (and 2 weeks!)

I know, I know.  I'm so behind.  Sorry, Bacon.  I still love you!  It's just been busy.  The holidays are here.  There's some work stuff.  Anyway, let's just get to it.

Bacon is officially crawling.  And the boy is fast.  When he sees something he wants, he puts it in turbo.  I swear he's even tried to run away from me a couple times.

His two top teeth came in.  They look so big compared to his bottom teeth.  And I thought I saw another tooth (bottom left) cutting through but it disappeared.

He's eating three meals a day now.  And just like his sister, he is a PIG, a bottomless pit.  He just keeps opening his mouth whenever I hold up the spoon.  I think I might be overfeeding him.  Also, he might be allergic to dairy.  His eczema seems to get worse when he eats yogurt.  But everything else has been good.  So far, he's had apple, avocado, pear, banana, green beans, squash, sweet potato, chicken, tofu, carrots, prunes, blueberries, and egg yolk (today!).  

Poor Bacon has been sick most of the month.  Since starting school, Eggy's been bringing home all kinds of goodies and you know, sharing is caring.  So just as they start getting over one cold, they get another.  I think the kids at school just keep passing it back and forth between each other.  

Despite all the illnesses, this has been my favorite month with Bacon so far.  We're finally settling into a schedule now where I kind of know what to expect.  He takes two naps a day.  The first one is between 9:30-10am which lasts for about 1-2 hours.  His second nap is usually between 2-3pm, depending on when he woke up from his first nap.  If he only napped an hour in the morning, he'll usually nap about two hours in the afternoon.  Either way, it works out to about 3 hours of naptime.  We usually put him to bed around 7pm.  Lately, he's been waking up around 6 or 6:30am.  Of course, I'd much prefer it if he woke up around 7 but I can't complain too much.  Once in awhile, he still wakes up during the night for a feeding but usually just once.

I also love how he excited he gets when I come home from work and crawls over to me.  But then he'll also get upset if I have to put him down to do something.  He'll crawl after me, whining and crying.  Dude, I'm just in the kitchen!

The best part is seeing Bacon and Eggy interacting with each other.  Eggy's always been Bacon's favorite.  She can make him laugh every time.  If he starts fussing while we're changing his diaper, she can usually get him to stay calm by singing him a song.  And when I put him in his car seat, he always looks over at Eggy in her seat, even if she's not there.  He really loves her so much.

And usually Eggy is very sweet with her brother too.  One time, we were driving when it was dark and Bacon started fussing.  Even though she was busy watching the iPad, Eggy told me to turn on the light for him.  When I turned on the overhead light, Eggy said to Bacon, "There, it's okay, Bacon" in this soothing voice.  

Of course, she has her moments where she's not always feeling so nurturing.  Mostly because she doesn't want to share.  But she's only 3 so she's learning.  Once they're both older, they'll probably be fighting a lot more.  I wonder if they'll fight more over food or toys.

Bacon is 7 Months!

Height: 26 3/4"
Weight: 16 pounds, 11.2 ounces

Head Circumference: 18"

Haha, so I guess he hasn't gained much weight this last month.  I think he was like 30-something percentile for height, 20-something percentile for weight, and 90% for head circumference!  The only thing growing is his head!  I even had to exchange a hat for one in size 18-24 months.  

He's still in size 3 diapers.  

Developmentally, this has been a huge month for Bacon.  He's like a totally different baby.  And it all seemed to happen at once.  You'd think with all the craziness from Korea and all, he'd take it easy but not this kid.  He's been busy.
His two bottom teeth finally cut through.

When we were in Korea, he kept biting me while nursing which hurt like a bitch.  I'd take him off and tell him no in what I thought was a stern voice and the booger would just smile at me.  Thankfully, he's stopped biting.  Hopefully, he won't do it again when his other teeth come in.
He can sit independently.  He'll still fall over once in awhile but he sits pretty well for the most part.  I even put him in the shopping cart and he seemed to enjoy it but he kept leaning over.

Even though he JUST learned to sit, Bacon is also getting ready to crawl.  At first, he would just pivot around on his stomach like a helicopter but now he gets up on his hands and knees.  He usually ends up sliding backwards which frustrates him.  Sometimes he'll get on his hands and knees, lunge forward, and repeat.  So he's getting there.  He just hasn't figured out how to actually move his arms and/or legs.
Eggy didn't start crawling until she was 8 months so I'm surprised that Bacon is already trying because he's been behind Eggy in everything else.  We better get to babyproofing the house.

I took him to his pediatrician on Monday for his 6 month well baby visit (a month late because we had to reschedule twice).  He got 3 shots and he did sooo well.  He cried a little bit but it was more like a crying out and no tears!
He is such a good baby.  Usually, haha.  Lately, he's been a little more fussier, always wanting to be held.  I'm guessing he's going through some separation anxiety.  On top of that, I think he's also got a little bit of stranger anxiety.  When we were at the doctor's office, he kept looking at the doctor and nurse.  He didn't cry but I could tell he was unsure of them.  Before he used to smile at everyone, but now he just stares.

We've been back from Korea for two weeks now and I think we're finally getting back to normal.  It's been the hardest on the kids.  Eggy's been having a little bit of a rough week at school.  She's been saying she doesn't want to go and cries on and off during the day.  She says it's because she misses us.  I guess she was just used to spending so much time with us when we were in Korea.  She was doing really well before we left so I'm hoping she'll adjust soon.  As for Bacon, he did really well with all the traveling considering but he was all mixed up when we got back home.  He was still on Korea time so he'd wake up a few times during the night wanting to play.  So not fun.  He also had an ear infection.  It sucks because I also got sick and the lack of sleep was not helping me get better faster.  I was exhausted.  But on Monday, we started re-sleep training him and he's starting to sleep normal again.  It's still a work in progress but he's doing well.  Actually, really well because he hasn't been waking up for any night feedings like he did before we left for Korea (I'm guessing the solids help).  Keeping my fingers crossed.

Korean Photoshoot

One of the things I wanted to do in Korea was have pictures taken of Bacon.  As a second child, I know he won't have as many pictures as Eggy so this is just a way to help keep things more balanced. 

I wasn't sure if we would even have time but we managed to squeeze some in last minute.  I'm so glad we did because they make me laugh so much. 

Bacon is 5 Months!

It's been a big month for our family.

Eggy started preschool.  She's still adjusting.  She cried on the second day.  Still, I didn't cry.  But on my way to work, I called the school a half hour later to see how she was doing and they told me she wasn't crying anymore but just sticking close to one of the teachers, observing.  I don't know, for some reason, that totally got me.  I called Eggy appah, crying.  Friday was worse (but I didn't cry this time).  The teacher had to pick her up while Eggy was screaming at me, "Umma, don't leave!!!  DON'T LEAVE!!!"  Sigh.  I've heard from other parents that it took their kid about a month for the tears to stop.  A month is a long time.

We went to Eggy appah's cousin's wedding.  We didn't get there until cocktail hour though because the kids were still napping and I didn't want to wake them because I figured they'd be up late.  So unfortunately, we totally missed the ceremony.  :(  Bacon was fussy, either from the heat or the noise or hunger or just being tired.   Luckily, the wedding was really close to our house so I took him home after about an hour, just enough time to show his face.  Eemo put him to bed and watched him while I went back to the wedding.

Eggy had a blast.  And why wouldn't she?  She got to eat...

 have all kinds of dessert...

 and dance, dance, dance.

Eggy appah had posted a video of Eggy dancing to Gangnam Style (she's gotten much better since the video I last posted) on his facebook that morning so his family kept asking Eggy if she would do the dance for them.  Later, Eggy appah asked the DJ to play Gangnam Style and Eggy was tearing it up.  Hilarious.  I need to get the video from Eggy appah's cousin.  We didn't stay too late.  I think we got home just before 9.  I know, we're party animals.  But Eggy knocked O.U.T. that night, even with all the sugar.  

Anyway, this post should be about Bacon.

OMG, guess what?!  Bacon is sleeping through the night!!!  Hallelujah!  It's still a work in progress but his sleep is sooooo much better.  I really hope I'm not jinxing things.  He still wakes up once or twice a night for a feeding but I'm totally okay with that.  I mean, he was waking up at least 3 or 4 times during the night before and that was considered a good night!  Maybe once we start solids, he'll be able to go the full twelve hours.  I know I said I was eager to start sleep training but when the time came I was still hesitant.  He seemed so young!  But his pediatrician gave us the green light at his 4 month check so there was no real reason not to do it.  Anyway, it's been nice to have my evenings back again.

He's learned to roll over from his back to his tummy.

It would actually take him a while to fall asleep because he kept trying to roll on to his front instead of lying on his back.  About a week after we started sleep training, he finally managed to roll over.  And that's how he slept, with his face planted in the mattress.  We tried to roll him back but he cried, rolled back again, and went to sleep.  I figured if that's how he wanted to sleep, that's how he was going to sleep.  I couldn't keep going in and roll him back every time throughout the night.  But did he have to sleep with his face down on the mattress like that?  I kept waking up during the night to make sure he was still breathing.  (When I told my mom about how he was sleeping, on his tummy with his face down, she said, "Oh no!  His nose will be flat!"  Really, mom?  You're worried about his nose?  Forget the danger of suffocation.  Such an Asian worry.)  Anyway, for awhile, he could only roll one way, to his left.  And he'd get mad because he forgot how to roll back to his back.  So that would wake him up a few times.  Then, he wanted to roll to his right.  Again, took a few days but he just started rolling to right today.  So now, he's an ambi-turner.  Yay.

I'm not sure what his stats are because he doesn't have a check up until next month.  But he's almost too big for size 2 diapers.  At least his thighs are, haha.  At night, we put him in the size 3 and they fit fine.  Gotta use up the rest of those size 2s though.

Bacon is getting a lot better with his hands.  He's able to reach out and grab things.  And he's always trying to put everything in his mouth.

My hair is still falling out but I think Bacon's not shedding as much.  He's got a little more hair on top but it's still pretty sparse.  I think Eggy had more hair when she was born than Bacon has now.  Oh well, at least he's got a nice shaped head.  It's so round, except for a couple weird spots.  You can't really tell unless you touch it or his hair is wet but it's almost like a dent.

He's still drooling but no sign of any teeth just yet.  That's fine by me because I'm worried about him biting me.  Also, I'm going to miss that gummy smile.

Bacon is 4 Months!

My hair has started falling out.  Damn hormones.  I remember a bunch of it fell out when Eggy was about 4 months old too.  Then, I started growing all this baby hair in the front.  I had to get bangs to help hide it.  Which reminds me, I need a hair cut.  

Bacon is such a moody baby.  Whining and crying one minute, happy and smiling the next.

He has this funny face that he makes when he gets mad or pouts.

Instead of sticking out his bottom lip, he makes this fish face and a growling/whining noise.  Maybe he is jealous of his noona's and appah's big full lips.  Bacon has such a little mouth.  

Bacon gets bored easily.  If he's laying down, he wants you to hold him.  Sometimes, if he's propped up on the Boppy pillow, he'll try to sit up, like he's doing crunches.  If you're holding him, he wants you to stand up and walk around, showing him the sights.  Fortunately, we still have Eggy's old exersaucer.  He seems to enjoy it which gives us a little break, at least for 5 minutes anyway.

Haha, I put a blanket underneath him because his feet get soooo sweaty.  

Maybe that's why he hates the carseat.  Like HATES it.  Sometimes, he'll be okay if I sit back there with him and give him a bottle but it's not comfortable sitting between two carseats.  And I obviously can't do it when I have to drive so i's been real fun on the days I have work and have to take them to halmuni's.  He won't even fall asleep like most babies do in the car.  He'll just cry and scream the whole time.  One time, he cried the whole way home from ma-ma's, all 40-something minutes.  It was brutal.  And when we get him out finally, he's so sweaty from getting all worked up so I'm sure that adds to his discomfort.  But then he'll stop crying as soon as we take him out.  

We stopped giving him his reflux medication for a few days because he hasn't really been spitting up so much.  He was doing pretty good the first few days.  A little bit of spit up but the normal amount that babies probably spit up.  But then he started throwing up a lot more and it was like curdled looking.  So we put him back on.  I'll have to see what the doctor says.

Probably the biggest milestone this month has been that Bacon's learned to use his hands.  Kinda.  He's not exactly grabbing things but he'll try and reach for them.

And if we put something in his hands, he'll bring it to his mouth.  

Bacon's 4 month check up with the pediatrician isn't until Friday so I don't know his stats yet but the scale at my mom's house says he's at least 15 pounds.  I think most of the weight has gone to his thighs.  He even has cellulite on his butt!  But his face or arms aren't that chubby.  

Bacon is 3 Months!

Not really anything new to report.

Obligatory naked bath shot with strategically placed bubbles

I don't think he's anywhere close to rolling over.  That's probably because I don't make him do tummy time as much as he should.  Mostly because I don't want him throwing up from being on his tummy.  When I do put him on his tummy, he'll just lay there sucking on his hands.

Eggy appah is concerned that he's going to be a thumb sucker.

Sometimes, he tries to vault over the Boppy pillow.  He's already trying to crawl!

 

Other times, he does pretty good. 

He did okay when we put him in the Bumbo seat a few days ago so I guess he's got good head control.

He's not spitting up as much but he's drooling more. 

He's a lot more smiley than Eggy was.  If you just smile and talk to him, he smiles back.  He still likes Eggy the best.  Sometimes, he'll just look at her and break out in a big smile.  Or if she's nearby, he'll turn his head to watch her. 

But when he's cranky, watch out!  He definitely lets you know when he's not happy.

His sleep is still hit or miss.  On a good night, he'll give us a good four or five hour stretch (from 10pm to 2 or 3am) and then he'll wake up every couple hours.  Then he's up for the day between 7 and 9am.  On a bad night, he'll wake up every couple hours or so the whole night.  And his naps aren't that consistent yet either.  Sometimes, he'll nap for a good 2-3 hours.  Of course he does this when I want to go out somewhere and I'm waiting for him to wake up.  Usually, he just takes little catnaps of 30-45 minutes.

Once we started taking pictures of Bacon, Eggy wanted in on the action.  

My BIG baby

I told her to put her arm around him and she just rested her hand on his head instead. 

 

Hope everyone had a happy and safe Independence Day!  Ours was pretty low key.  MaMa's house in the morning and dinner at halmuni's.  We got Eggy some sparklers but she was over it in like 10 seconds even though she kept asking when we were going to light them.  I think they made her a little nervous so she told us to hold them instead.  

Human Pacifier

I can't let Bacon comfort nurse because he'll throw up.  He won't always take a pacifier.  Sometimes, he'll suck on my pinky but that's hard to do because he wants to be walked around and he's getting a little too heavy to hold with just one arm.
The other night he starts going for my arm, like this:

And I end up with this: 

The little sucker (literally) gave me a hickey!

The Bad and the Good

Is it wrong to call your 2 month old newborn an asshole?  I know, terrible, right?  But when it's 4am and he's been waking up every hour, your sleep deprived brain is not thinking rationally.  This past week has been horrible in terms of sleep.  I cannot wait until he's older so I can start sleep training.  Ha, I was so reluctant to let Eggy cry it out but now it doesn't even faze me.  I just hope it works on Bacon.  Fingers crossed.

Despite my grouchiness from the lack of sleep, I just about died last night from the cuteness overload.  Bacon laughed!  So adorable!  Eggy appah was trying to put Bacon to sleep but I guess he didn't want to sleep yet.  The two of them were looking in the mirror and Eggy appah would close his eyes tight, pop them open, and say, "Boo!"  And Bacon thought it was hilarious.  Now I'm going to spend all day trying to get him to laugh again.

Happy 2 Months, Bacon!

I know I'm a few days late but I wanted to wait until his 2 month check up with the pediatrician today.  

Weight: 12 lbs., 4.5 oz

Height: 23 inches

Head Circumference: 16 inches

So despite Bacon's problems with reflux, the little porker is living up to his name and gaining weight and growing well.

He's being fussy though.  Not sure if that's because of his shots or the little amount of sleep he got last night.   

I know each baby is different but it's hard not to compare Bacon and Eggy.  The only thing is, I don't really remember what Eggy was like when she was a newborn.  My memory is awful now.  I feel like Bacon is a lot fussier and cries more than Eggy did.  But that's probably because I let him cry.  With Eggy, I was so afraid of her crying that I'd scoop her up any time she made a noise.  I remember one time she was grunting in her sleep and I picked her up right away and she was still asleep.  I was so annoyed, especially because it was the middle of the night.  Anyway, sometimes I have no choice but to leave Bacon to cry for a bit because I have to help Eggy or something like that.  

And I don't know if it's because of my experience or a better milk supply but I think Bacon is better at nursing than Eggy was.  From the first time he was placed on my chest, he latched on right away.  I don't even think I needed to have his frenulum cut but oh well, too late now.  Since he's a better nurser, it really doesn't take long to feed him which is nice, especially during the night.  Also because of his reflux, I have to cut him off anyway even though the experts say you should just let the baby nurse for as long as he wants.   If I let him nurse for even five minutes, he'll spit up a ton so usually I stop after just 3 or 4 minutes.  But he's growing and having enough dirty diapers so I'm fine with that even if it means I have to feed him more frequently.  And we have to hold him up for awhile after eats so he doesn't spit everything up.  That's not so fun during the night when I just want to go back to sleep.  I've fallen asleep a few times holding him.  Yikes.  

The other thing that Bacon is doing better than Eggy did is sleeping.  Maybe.  I don't really remember details but I do remember feeling really frustrated with the lack of sleep.  Maybe I just know better now and know what to expect.  His naps are hit or miss.  Sometimes he'll just take cat naps of 30 minutes and other days like yesterday, he'll take a 2-3 hour nap.  He's not really on a schedule yet.  I just put him to sleep when he seems tired which is usually within an hour of waking.  He gets really fussy after 5pm.  It's hard to get him to go to sleep at night though because he almost always cries but it's getting better.  Once he's down, he wakes up every 3 hours or so, eats, and goes right back to sleep.  (Although last night was bad with hourly wakings.)  Eggy used to wake up and she wouldn't always go back to sleep.  But that was probably partly my fault too because I'd always rush to pick her up whenever she made a noise instead of giving her a chance to settle down.  Who knows?  Anyway, his sleep is okay for now, not great, but could be better.  Hopefully he'll start stretching those 3 hours out soon.  

He found his hands and sucks on them, preferably his right hand.  Ew, his hands are stinky too.  And I'm always fishing out lint from his fists.  

He "talks" back to us.  He's a lot more vocal than Eggy was.  

He's smiling a lot more now.  Mornings are his happiest times.  And he smiles the most for his noona.

 

Most people have been saying that Bacon looks like me.  I don't see it.  Maybe certain parts.  He has a slight dimple on his right side just like me.  The first time I saw Bacon I remember thinking, "He looks like my dad.  Oh no.  Poor kid."  Hahaha.