The boys are seven months old now, and things have been going really well, considering the pandemic that is still extremely active.
Language
Alaric babbles so much, it’s hilarious. I feel like he’s scolding me, and others have commented that he “has opinions.” ha! We are working with him on mama or dada because he says “baba” quite frequently.
Sebastian isn’t at the babbling stage yet, but he loves to shout. His favorite is “ha!” Both boys will respond to conversation, which is really cute. Lila loves to talk to them. We’ve taught her about wait time so that the boys can “reply” as well. 🙂
Physical
Alaric rolls from his back to his stomach and vice versa quite easily. He can stay in a seated position, but he can’t raise himself into it yet. If he topples over, he flips onto his stomach or plays on his side. He attempts to crawl, but tends to bang his head down in the process. He likes to (assisted) stand and leans on furniture for a few seconds before falling down. I can officially hip carry him, which makes it a lot easier since he’s almost 17 pounds.
Sebastian rolls to either side, and I’ve seen him go from his stomach to his back, but not vice versa. If I sit him up, he usually falls forward or sideways, but at least is comfortable like that for a while. He doesn’t seem to use his abdominal muscles much, but he’s doing loads better than before. I caught him trying to sit up while laying on a boppy today. He finally puts a tiny bit of weight on his legs jd you try to stand him up, but won’t stand straight. His neck strength is good to go, and when I carry him, he clutches onto me and isn’t as floppy as before. His new thing is slapping his legs or my arms or whatever when he’s excited.
Both boys are super smiley, though it’s hard to tell in photos because the phone distracts them. They have also started eating purées! Sebastian took a little longer to enjoy the extra meal, but he’s loving it now!
Medical
Seb’s last surgery was a correction from his March 9th surgery. It was an outpatient procedure, thank goodness. When I dropped Daniel and Sebastian off I starting having flashbacks to his 3 week PICU stay. His (hopefully) last surgery should be in about a month – the colostomy let down. I’ve heard that the procedure itself is not complicated, but the healing process for the patient isn’t great. I know it shouldn’t matter, but I feel so bad at how far behind all these hospital stays put Sebastian.
Overall he’s very well, but he still has pain from his stoma every now and then. Straight formula is the main cause (so we stopped that addition) but fortified breast milk seems to be fine. When he’s in pain it’s a very sad cry to hear and see, and there isn’t much you can do except comfort him. Thank goodness it doesn’t happen every day like it used to.
Sleep/Breastfeeding
Before Sebastian’s rhinovirus PICU stay, the boys were almost sleeping through the night. Alaric was, at least. But since Seb has returned, they both wake up several times. My theory is that I am no longer producing enough milk to keep up with them both. I’ve tried big bottles before bed, dream feeds, but they continue to wake up every 2-3 hours. Some mornings I am wiped and Daniel lets me sleep in an extra hour or two (between nursing). Luckily they still nap every 2-3 hours throughout the day.
I’ve been super lucky that a couple of my friends have donated their milk to me. Even with his reflux meds, Sebastian vomits straight formula, but “fortified” breastmilk (a tsp of formula per 3oz of breastmilk) seems to work out just fine. The fortification is supposed to help him gain weight. Alaric has been enjoying fortified milk, too. He’s a little chunker, but due to my inability to keep up, he hasn’t been gaining as quickly as before. Oh, and Sebastian is a little over 12.5 pounds – yay!
Lila
Lila is great with her brothers. We constantly have to tell her to get out of their faces or quit trying to pick them up, but she’s very loving. She checks on them frequently, hugs Alaric a ton, and has been very sweet with Sebastian. She’s still hesitant with him because of his ostomy, and he just isn’t as physically stable as Alaric.
Lila definitely acts out sometimes and it’s obvious she wants individual attention. Luckily, because of the pandemic, we’ve had the time to give her one on one hangs. For me it’s either watching cartoons, doing “homework,” or physical activities.
I believe those are all the family updates going on. There’s no way I’d be surviving two babies and a preschooler without everyone’s help. Daniel is the best. He and Lila are BFFs. My parents are also super supportive – if even to give us a change of scenery. And my MIL is a saint for staying with us to care for Sebastian.
Stay safe, educated, and kind! Oh, and with all the craziness happening in the world, make sure to check the reliability of your sources. 🙂
