Here we are at the bginning of week 21, which means Max has finished week 20.  I’ve moved him back to a 3 hour schedule.  I did this because his wake time lengths aren’t 2 hours yet, which puts him sleeping between 2.5-3 hours between wake times- that’s just too much day time sleep for him, when he turns around and sleeps 12+ hours at night.  So, we are tweaking maybe a 3-3.5 hr schedule.  The onyl downfall with this is he really isn’t hungry at 3 hours, so he doesn’t eat very well …  It’s just something I am going to need to tweak; I will let you know how it goes next week!

Eating
Max is eating pretty well.  He likes solids, but he still needs the major calories provided by the formula, so I try to do formula first now, then solids, followed by offering more formula if he wants it.  Solids just don’t provide as many calories and he needs all those calories to grow and help his brain development.  Like I mentioned, he is eating every 3-3.5 hours and seems fine with that, but I know he can go 4 hours easily.

Sleeping
Lately, Max has been napping pretty well.  I think he may be getting past that terrible wonder week 19, so his sleep is back to being more routine, thank goodness!

Development
Max is becoming more interested in his feet, but mostly only when he is naky.  I guess then he can actually see and feel them, so it makes it more fun.  Thinking back, Lexie was a naky baby a lot more than I let Max be naky.  Not sure why … maybe he needs more play time without his clothes on.  =)  This would thrill Lexie, she is always trying to take his clothes off (as well as her own).  He is shrieking and talking more, and really wants to sit up more.  He can lift his entire chest up from laying flat, and gets so mad that he can’t sit up.  Thinking back to Lexie again, I had the glider in the living room when she was this age, and I sat her up in it a LOT.  The seat is at an incline, so she didn’t have to risk falling out of it.  I should probably let Max do that some so he can build his back muscles more.  He is also doing SO much better on his belly now, and can push up with ease; while on his belly he holds his head up so well, and looks around.

We went to the dr for his 4 month well child visit; he is just under 16lbs and I think 25.5″ long.  He is perfectly healthy.  The dr said he has great head control.  She suggested I start trying to scrub off the plaques of cradle cap, and continue using head and shoulders.  She prescribed some hydrocortizone cream to apply.  I’ve never heard of this?  But we are going to start using it today- she said it is like eczema and can really itch.  So, we are going to see if that helps.  The dr. also suggested since he isn’t nursing, that maybe we try the prevacid again to see if that helps.  So here comes a long explanation for a short point, stay with me:  Just before JTom left his job in Hot Springs, the company changed insurance.  We have this insurance until the first of Feb.  With this new insurance, Max’s prevacid is not covered; it is $132 a month.  Honestly, with the way we budget we don’t have $132 for prevacid.  We are already paying $36 a can for his non-dairy formula, and he goes through one can every 6 days!  So for now, there will be no prevacid ….  JToms new insurance with his new company will start March 1, so if it covers the medicine, we may try it then, but for now Max can just be on a nursing strike and I will pump.

Lexie Raye
Lexie is just growing leaps and bounds every day.  She knows her left from her right, and has for a while now I just keep forgetting to post it.  She can identify many states, I may have mentioned that before.  I am working on uploading the video to YouTube so I can share it with you on my blog.  She is obsessed with being naky- she refuses to wear clothes at home most of the time, and I don’t make her.  It’s easier for her to go potty by herself, and it means less laundry for me.  =)  I do try to get her to at least where a shirt, but it doesn’t stay on long.

She is getting better at gymnastics; she can do small jumps on the balance beam (with help keeping her balance) and some small sweeps.  She LOVES the doing the bar, and her forward roll is perfect.  She likes for me to take down the hall mirror and put out the yoga mat for her to play.  She likes to watch herself … typical girl.

We read her devotional daily, usually before nap time.  Our mornings are a little hectic with Daddy gone.  But, he has been home this weekend and it has been wonderful!  She loves having her daddy home and behaves much better; I think him being gone for so long is just emotional for her and the only way she really knows how to express that is by acting out.  She has been talking back and not listening very well since he left.  I figure this is also an age thing.  So we are just working through it.  After JTom was home for about a day, her behavior got better.

We are really starting to get to crunch time on the move.  We have a few companies coming to do quotes for the move, then we will turn those in to JTom’s company so they can do the financial end of things.  Then next week I will start really packing up things for us to take, that we don’t want the movers moving.  The following week, we will close on the house (Feb 15th), JTom will come home that Saturday (Feb 16th), we will have the movers here the week of the 18th, and hopefully be in the house in Nebraska that week.  Whew, it’s going to be fast, stressful, and a lot of work. Once it is done, we can really start settling in and getting comfortable with the new neighborhood and town.  The sad part is, we can’t take the chickens.  The bylaws for the neighborhood specifically say no poultry; there isn’t a law against it in the city so we were going to take them and jus put up a fence, hoping no one would really make a fuss.  But, the problem there is we can’t put in a fence until the ground thaws in spring …. so for now we are going to get rid of the chicks.  =*(
What’s even worse, is we lost 2 girls.  I am very angry; the neighbor’s dog got under the fence and came in our yard while the chicks were free ranging, and he killed two of them.  He got one red, and one barred girl. I think JTom is more furious than I am.  So, we are down to 6 chickens.

Anyhow, back to the move ….  all things are contingent on us closing on the house Feb 15th.  Hopefully everything will go smoothly (we are praying!), all the papers are/will be together, and there aren’t any glitches or major bumps in the road.  I refuse to get super super excited until everything is signed and done on the house, because if it gets moved to the end of Feb, we will be a part that much longer.  =/

Anyhow, so this is our 20 week update.  I will try to get some pictures posted soon.