Finley update

These last five months have been a blur in time. I thought the first year of Vienna's life went by super fast, but as Finley approaches the 1/2yr mark I am struck with the reality that his first year is going by far quicker. I'm a little saddened by this because I feel like I didn't even get to enjoy his infancy. In a blink of an eye he's nearly 16lbs, laughing, interacting, rolling over and reaching for our food--is he seriously that same tiny little snuggly bundle of love that joined our little family at the beginning of summer? My goodness...it's not fair how fast it goes!

I have wanted to blog about him for quite some time now...but being that time is like a whirlwind, it's been hard for me to blog period. 

If I can think of a word to describe Finley, it would 'strong.' I find this interesting because when I first got pregnant and long before I found out he was boy, the first thing I would unconsciously think of, apart from praying that the baby would be healthy, was that the baby would be strong. 

Finley, is indeed, very strong. Physically for one thing. In the first few days after he was born I remember hearing comments from people about how good his head control was. I too, was startled with the fact that my newborn had so much strength in him already. And now, well I'm not sure I've ever held a baby his age that is quite as strong as he is. His wiggly limbs have so much power to them when he moves. He loves to jump/bounce and seriously if I'm just holding him sitting on my lap and he decides to kick his legs--well, I make sure I hold on to him tight because he's come close to jumping right onto the floor in one quick movement. He also has amazing ab strength. lol. About two months ago he decided to try "sitting up" whenever I would lay him down. It looks like he's doing an ab crunch. He just lays there like that...holding his head up like he's just going to pop up to a sitting position. Goofy kid. :)

Not only does his physical strength amaze me, but so does the strength of his soul. He has had issues with acid reflux and food intolerances, and where most babies would scream in pain Finley does not. He wiggles, and squirms, grunts maybe, and as his mother I can tell when something is really bugging him--but if a random stranger saw him they'd think nothing of it. He's so mellow and tough. Granted, we've had more rough nights than good nights as a result of his discomfort, but he's just up...not screaming, which is something I am very thankful for...even if I'm not getting solid chunks of sleep. He has been known to have a fit here or there as a result of his issues, but with how much discomfort he's been in over the course of these last 5 months, he has been so strong and happy through it all. 

His acid reflux was noticeable pretty much right away after he was born. We even had him on medicine for it because it was bugging him so much after he'd eat. There were times it bugged him more than others, and it peaked right around the 3/4 month mark. We took him off of it when we realized the medicine was bugging him more than the acid reflux was, and so even though he still spits up/pukes several times a day, its getting better. I'm hopeful that he might outgrow it when he starts eating solids. 

At the same time the medicine starting really bugging him we finally were able to pinpoint some of his food intolerances as well. I had spent the course of...pretty much his entire life thus far...trying to eliminate things from my diet to see what was irritating him. I eat pretty simply, and avoid processed foods, gluten, refined sugar, and things of the sort in my regular routine. However, during the process of eliminating things that are common gas givers, I was "cheating" with food I don't normally eat more frequently than I typically do as result of traveling and being lazy. It was like an up and down roller coaster, but I had an inkling to the things that were bothering him and had some muscle testing done on him from my chiropractor and the results confirmed what I had been thinking. He is sensitive to: dairy protein (which encompasses all dairy), wheat, and white sugar. What his sensitivities entail, I'm not sure. I don't know if he'll have allergies later on in life, or if he'll outgrow them. But I do know he is a totally different baby when I avoid these things entirely. Along with avoiding anything with dairy, wheat or sugar...I also can't have tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, any citrus fruits, oatmeal and peanut butter. (The fruits and vegetables I can't have I'm hoping he will be able tolerate better after starting solids as they purely just give him painful gas verses irritating him on a different level.) You might wonder why I would still choose to nurse him with so many limitations, but to me, avoiding these foods is a small sacrifice if it still means I can feed my baby. After permanently staying off of these things (no cheating!) Finely changed almost drastically. He is SO incredibly happy. When I mean happy, I swear this boy never stops smiling. He has got the greatest smile and he sure likes to show it off. :) He also started putting himself to sleep. From his birth I always kind of felt like he had the possibility of soothing himself to sleep fairly easily but with all the things that were bugging him he just never stayed sleeping for more than 30 minutes at a time during the day. Now, I can lay him down with his pacifier and blankie and he puts himself to sleep in minutes. 

Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!

I just have to pause and soak in the luxury of this fact. Considering that we pretty much had to rock Vienna until her brains fell out until she was 18+months old just get her to sleep...the fact that we have a baby that can put himself to sleep is like a miracle. 

Seriously. A miracle.

I could go on, but I'll stop there... :)

Back to how great Finley is.

I mean, look at this little guy...

Cute, right? :)

I mean, how can you not smile back at him? :)

Finley loves tummy time, always has. He loves watching his big sister play and gets super excited to see her when she greats him in the morning or after nap time. She likes to call him "Finley Roman," which I love because I just really love his whole name. Finley also loves his daddy so much, nobody can make him belly laugh like daddy. :) Daddy likes to call him "Finny."

Fin, Finny, Fineroo....Finley Roman--is 5 months old and is such a delight to this family. He has started giving kisses--it's about the cutest thing ever. He also gives hugs and often times when I pick him up he just squeezes his arms around me like he's so happy that I'm holding him. He likes to "talk," though he's not nearly as much of a talker as his sister was at his age, but he likes to try, he also likes to growl and blow raspberries. He can roll over from his back to his stomach, and from his stomach to his back--he's just beginning to realize he can move by combining these. He tries to get up on his knees already though has yet to succeed at it. He likes toys but gets really excited about his stuffed animals. He loves to be held but is totally chill with hanging out on the floor or in his chair. He loves to listen to mommy sing and he loves to be talked to. Talk to Finley and you'll be garunteed a smile. :)

He is such a smiley sweet boy.