Smiley Face

Just when I thought it couldn’t get much worse…Luke was up last night around 11, 2:30 and then 6.  I think it is because he has not been eating well during the day.  He has only been eating 3-4 ounces at a feeding rather than his normal 5-6 ounces.  I don’t know why he isn’t eating and sleeping well because he seems fine otherwise.  I wish I knew how to fix it.

For the past couple of nights (and at least twice a week) I have been getting up twice at night with Luke.  He will sleep until around 1 and then be up again around 5.  It is amazing how this one extra night waking can make me feel devastated the next day.  It makes me wonder how we survived getting up 4 times a night not all that long ago.

So, I thought I would go ahead and post Luke’s 3 month update 9 days late (sorry, I have been sick for an entire week).  The good news is that the colic seems to be gone.  He still has an occasional period where he will get himself into a hysterical fit, but that is rare and doesn’t last long.  I would say he now has normal crying behavior for his age rather than colicky behavior.  Our lives are all much more peaceful and pleasant as a result.  Luke enjoys sucking on his hands and fingers and sitting in his bouncy seat.  He loves his big sister Brooke and lights up whenever she is around him.  Most nights he is sleeping through the night (from around 8 pm until 5 am).  Luke is holding up his head well and has started to work on his rolling over skills.  When you see Luke smile, you can’t help but smile back at him.  One of the funniest things he does is crane his neck around to see the tv if you feed him on the couch while watching tv.  Brooke had no interest at all in the tv at this age, so it is funny to see how different Luke is.  Maybe we will get some use out of those Baby Einstein DVDs that Brooke never cared for.

Screamer returned today reminding us why he was given this nickname.  Just to remind us of the not so wonderful days of yore, Luke was in full screaming hysteria for a total of almost 3 hours today.  But at least it had been 4 good days since the last fit, right?  It is not much of a consolation at this point.

Luke is twelve weeks old today, and there have been a lot of changes since the last update.  First, the colic is finally improving as they said it would at this point.  The screaming has drastically reduced in the past two weeks.  He does still have colicky screaming fits, but they are not as bad and not every day.  It has actually been 2-3 days since his last hysterical fit, which is a great blessing.  And even nicer is that the constant screaming has been replaced by a lot of wonderful coos and smiles.  We never expected that the discontent and unhappy baby would one day greet us with so many smiles.  Luke has a gorgeous wide grin that is infectious.  You can’t help but return his eager smile.

Sleep is also getting better.  Luke now only wakes up once at night to eat.  He is generally in bed by 8:30 and sleeps around 7 hours before waking for a feeding.  Then he is up again to eat around 6 am.  He can sleep anywhere between 6 and 10 hours at night, but most commonly we can expect a 7 hour stretch.

Luke is also starting to eat more.  We got rid of the small bottles and pulled out the big bottles last week.  He is now eating 4-5 ounces at each feeding.  It’s hard to believe he will be starting cereal in another 5 weeks!  He is holding his head up better every day and really starting to show signs of growing up.