3 months old

Elliott is 3 months old already! Time is really flying by, and I'm in my second week of just Elliott/mommy time. He is such a cuddly baby and I'm trying to enjoy it as much as I can.

Size

According to our scale at home, Elliott is 13lbs 6oz. Definitely quite a bit bigger than his brothers.  The 0-3 Carters onesies still fit well, but he grew out of everything else that's 0-3 about 2 weeks ago. He has long limbs and his pants looked like capris and shirt like 3/4 sleeves. plus some of the pants were too tight around the belly. 

Eat-Sleep-Play

I'm over the moon to say that Elliott has not gotten any formula in the past month. He is breastfed all day, usually about every 3 hours, and we give him a 4 oz bottle of breast milk between 8 and 9. He then falls asleep between his bottle and 10 and sleeps until sometime between 5:30 and 7am. He has been doing this for about 3 weeks now and its pretty awesome. He is slowly starting to fall into a nap schedule during the day. On the weekdays, sometimes he doesn't go back to bed after eating (I wake him up to eat at 6), and sometimes he'll sleep until I have to take Riley and Logan to the bus stop. He usually takes a nap around 9 or 9:30. Then he catnaps the rest of the day.

He loves his toy turtle and his swing. He goes crazy grabbing things and kicking chimes in his activity gym, but he never seems to want to stay in it for more than about 5 minutes. What he really loves, more than anything, is playing with mommy. Singing songs, patty cake, gingerbread man, he loves it all. He's so happy and smiles and laughs at mommy. He likes to watch everything, especially his brothers.  Like his brothers at 3 months, he will hold anything we hand him at this point and grabs hair, jewelry, shirts, and even skin.

Personality

Elliott is a happy, smiley kid. Its easier to get a smiling photo of him than his 5 year old brothers. He coos when he's happy and makes the cutest little noises. He loves, loves, loves attention and rarely cries. While he is less fussy than Riley and Logan at his age, he is a bit more demanding, as he wants to be held a lot more. He will fall asleep in his car seat or swing, but to go to bed at night wants to fall asleep in mommy's arms. He is such a mommy's boy. He will stop crying from just hearing mommy's voice. 

Likes:

Mommy!!!! Sucking on his hand, eating, his pacifier, his turtle, the swing, the car (except when he doesn't), being held, laying on his side, having his diaper changed, being talked/sung to and played with, sleeping with his arms spread out, watching his brothers, and napping on mommy.

Dislikes:

Waiting for food, his chair, being alone/no one paying attention to him, and tummy time.

New this month:

Laughing, holding/playing with toys, grabbing objects, and sleeping through the night.

Penguin LOVES Elliott. Whenever he is laying on the floor, she insists on laying next to him. And I mean right next to him. Like  touching. She likes to lick and sniff him and doesn't mind at all if mommy leans Elliott against her while she is laying down.

 Elliot has been all over the place this month. The funniest was his first time in Mema and Pepa's pool. Mommy was holding him and he must have been pretty relaxed, because within 5 minutes, he was asleep!!

She tries to cuddle him so close one day she ended up half on top of him.

He took his own pants off...just like Riley used to.

Is there any sound better than a baby giggling?

2 months old

 Elliott turned two months old yesterday. I can hardly believe it. He has got to be the most easy going baby ever.

Size:
We cant believe how big Elliott has gotten! At his 1 month appointment, he weighed 10 lbs even. At yesterday's 2 month, he weighed 12 lbs, 3 oz, and measured 22.5 inches long. He is at the 48th percentile for weight, 26th for height, and 19th for head.  He seems so huge, since he's so much bigger than his brothers were at this age. He is so stinkin' cute though. Elliott fits well in 0-3 month clothing, but has started to grow out of some of the sleep and plays  due to his length.

When he was a few weeks old, we had to start supplementing with some formula. After a growth spurt ended, things somehow managed to right itself, and now he gets little to no formula. I'm pretty excited about that. He typically only gets formula either when we are somewhere I can't feed him, or when he is extra hungry, about 0-4 oz per day.
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Fussiness:
Again, there is no fussiness. Elliott is awesome.
He still doesn't really cry, except when he is hungry or has a poopy diaper. He loves to cuddle, especially with mommy. He has a particular way he likes to be held (on his side, facing mommy and holding onto her shirt) and relaxes immediately when held that way.  His sleeping had regressed for a while and he was waking up every 2-3 hours, which was pretty rough. In the last few days he's been sleeping 3-5 hours, which is awesome!

 Appearance/personality:
We call Elliott chubby wubby because he has chubby cheeks and chubby little limbs. His hair is coming in nicely and we still aren't sure what color his eyes are (a brown grey color) although I think eventually they will be brown. He has fantastic neck control and  loves to look around. He has been cooing and had his first social smile yesterday. He has been laughing in his sleep a lot lately. It is so crazy cute. He really is the happiest little boy


Likes: Eating, cuddling with Mommy, the car, being in daddy's carrier, his pacifier, lights, and moving in general.
Dislikes: Being hungry, being cold.

Riley and Logan are still loving on their baby brother! They insisted in getting in his 2 month pictures!

Elliott is one month old!

Today is July 11th. That means that Elliott is already one month old! Time has really been flying by! The past month has had its ups and downs, but honestly they have been mostly ups, because Elliott is a really good baby!

Size:
Elliott weighed in at 7lbs 12 oz when he was born, but then lost weight, as all babies do. Thing is, by Friday he was still at 7lbs 2 oz, so we had to start supplementing 3-4 oz of formula a day. Then he picked up some weight, and started wanting to eat more. After being a slave to his eating demands for a week, we decided to start supplementing more, so now he gets a mix of breastfeeding and formula. He seems pretty happy about it and according to our home scale he has been packing on the pounds and is about 2 lbs heavier than his birth weight! We cant weight to see how he measures in at his 1 month appointment Friday.
     Elliott started out in newborn clothing, but grew out of the sleep and plays in a week and a half due to his length. He was longer than the others to start and any sleep and play without feet looked like capris from the day we took him home, so it wasn't surprising that before long he couldn't straighten his legs in the footy ones. He has grown out of most of the newborns onesies (and gerber 0-3), but some of the 0-3 clothes are a bit big.

Fussiness:
There is no fussiness. Elliott is awesome.
He really doesn't cry, except when he is hungry and we are not fast enough, or when he is cold from a diaper change or bath (or sometimes diaper changes in general). He is very chill and likes to cuddle, although there are times that he just wants mommy. He sleeps well in his crib although we haven't quite fallen into a sleep schedule yet and that is messing with mommy's sleep.

 Appearance/personality:
Elliott has much darker hair than his brothers did and is starting to rock a mullet - he has significantly more hair on the sides and back of his head than top. Like his brothers, the furrows are plentiful when he wrinkles his brow and he has good neck control. His hands are always up and when held, he holds one hand up to his face like he is getting a glamour shot. One major difference between him and his brothers is that he definitely is far more aware of his hands. He is super grabby and was sucking on his thumb when he was less than 24 hours old. His control isn't always good, and sometimes his hands get in the way, but sometimes he puts his pacifier back in his mouth.

Likes: Eating, Mommy, the swing, the car, being in daddy's carrier, and moving in general.
Dislikes: Being hungry, being cold, diaper changes, baths, being swaddled

Riley is in love with his baby brother. He loves to kiss and cuddle him, hold him, have Elliott grab his finger, and help out by getting mommy and daddy supplies or being on "pacifier duty" in the car.

Logan told us for months before Elliott was born that he only likes puppies and not babies. I'm happy to say that he has since adjusted very well. At first he liked to look at him and to have Elliott grab his finger, and to tell people to wash their hands and whose turn it was to hold him. Then he became very protective of him and started admitting he was cute (although not as cute as a puppy). Last night he asked to hold him and today he put pictures of Elliott in his room! He also loves to be on pacifier duty, when Elliott looks at him or holds his finger, and helping out mom and dad.

Penguin is not phased at all by the additional to our family, although she does prefer to sleep with Logan or Riley rather than with Mommy, Daddy, and Elliott.

Mommy and Daddy are in love with their three boys!!!

And then there were five!

The littlest Sweeney, Elliott Parker, was born at 8:08 pm on Sunday, June 11th. That means that he is one week old today!

Our family has been trying for another kid for quite some time, and we are over the moon that after 2+  years and 4 miscarriages, our rainbow baby is finally here! Riley is completely and totally in love and Logan, well, he is coming around. He stands firm in his stance that puppies are cuter than babies (although I don't think anyone contests that) but has been spending more and more time watching Elliott and wanting to be near him (as long as no one points it out).

Being mom of a newborn again is definitely stressful, and I forgot how awful it is to get so little sleep, but he is the best baby I could ever ask for, so I really can't complain. I'm sure I'm jinxing myself for the future, but so far, he doesn't fuss and rarely ever cries. He is totally chill and wonderful to snuggle with. Sooooo much easier than having two newborns, not that I'd trade them for the world.

Wow, I'm pretty terrible at posting!

Well, Christmas has come and gone, as has the entire month of January. The boys are ever changing! They are still pretty tiny and were just over 22lbs each at their last weigh in, which was about a week ago. According to our likely inaccurate wall measurements, Logan is about an inch and a half taller than Riley. If I remember correctly, Riley was 30" and Logan 31.5". They have been eating like teenagers lately, so we are expecting a spurt! They are currently in 12-18 month shirts and pants, although the pants are a bit long. Riley has some pants with suspenders now because 12 month pants are too short, but 18 month pants waistbands are too wide! What a peanut.

Logan is the verbal learner of the two. Since before Christmas he could count to ten without assistance, name multiple shapes (circle, square, triangle, octagon, star, oval), and knew his colors (red, orange, yellow, blue, green, black, white,  purple, grey, and brown). At this point, he can identify the number 1-9, and knows most letters. When he sees a letter, like "I", he says "I, igloo". He loves to name animals and the noises they make, push cars around the room, read books, and color. He is majorly into coloring, which is why we went to the Crayola Factory yesterday!

Riley is the more hands on kid. He has been opening doors since around Christmas and is a master at megablocks and puzzles. He knows his shapes as well and is learning his colors and letters. He also enjoys naming animals and their sounds. He loves to tickle and be tickled - probably because he loves to laugh! He is the comedian of the crew and is fun to be around. He can be very sweet and is generally good at sharing, even giving up his toys to make his brother happy. He is an oxymoron - he is more patient than his brother but more daring and wild! Riley loved his sesame street cars and trains and also enjoys coloring, but not as much as his brother!

Here are a few pics from the past few months!

Riley meeting his future wife, Greta.

We do not love snow. Its cold.

Peepsfest on NYE

Logan got his face painted!

Riley got Elmo's eyes painted on his cheek!

Christmas at the Sweeney house - reading with Aunt Ninna!

Another white Christmas! 2 for 2!

Calling Dr. Riley! (Christmas with the Sassos)

Dr. Logan needs to go back to med school...