Happy 11 Weeks and 4 days Justice!

Well, since I missed writing on Justice’s 2-month birthday, today I am celebrating that he is 11 weeks and 4 days old!

 

In the last month and a half, Justice has become increasingly more entertaining as he has really begun to smile and coo and “talk” to us more!  I love it when he responds to the things we do, when we discover something that makes him smile or “laugh” (more of a gasping sound with a big smile on his face).  He also loves his “kick-time” where we let him just lay on a blanket on the floor and flail all his limbs to his heart’s content!  Bath time is especially fun as he kicks and thrashes around in the water.  We have got him to hold a couple of toys in his hand while he’s throwing his arms around, but it seems he was pretty oblivious to their existence – he is mostly only fascinated by bright lights and random spots on the wall as of yet. 

      

Thankfully, he doesn’t pee or poo as much as he used to when we are changing him or taking him out of the bath, but he often ends up peeing or pooing IN his bath!  *sigh*  The last couple times, when he started peeing, instead of stopping it with a cloth, causing the pee to go into his bath water, I just let him shoot for the stars and it goes nicely over his head and out onto the bathroom floor – haha! 

He definitely has a healthy appetite and has been gaining weight rapidly – he weighed in at 13 lb. 12 oz. at 9 weeks old!  I love his chubby little rolls and round face – we affectionately and lovingly call him “fatso”.    Besides milk, he loves to chomp on his fist or however many fingers he can jam into his mouth – he hasn’t quite figured out the thumb-sucking thing yet.  He has graduated from eating every two hours to every three hours and then at night he usually does a 5 hour and a 4 hour break from feeding to feeding.  I am eagerly anticipating the day when he will be able to sleep through the night!

As for sleeping, this has been a little challenging lately because of his poor tummy issues.  Unfortunately, he still struggles frequently with gassiness or a stuck burp that seems to cause him quite a bit of discomfort and pain.  Thankfully, the nights are usually pretty good, but his daytime naps are often interuppted by a fit of gas that wakes him up, accompanied by loud shrieks and wailing and which then requires a combination of gripe water, leg-pumping, patience and compassion as we try to help him work out his farts.  Usually, once the farts have been released, he is peaceful again, but we aren’t always able to get him to go back to sleep.  Perhaps that’s why he sleeps better at night, since he’s so tuckered out from the day?  Because of his gas though, he hasn’t been liking his crib as much lately, since he seems to have a hard time falling back asleep on his own if he wakes up during his nap time.  Therefore, the swing has become a bit of a crutch for us to get him to sleep.  That, and a really secure swaddle or simply holding him in our arms the whole time.  We are trying to get him to sleep in his crib more often, but it may take us some time to make a complete transition.  I’m not sure either when we’ll need to start weaning him from the swaddling as well?

 

On Mother’s Day this month, we also had the honor, privilege and joy of dedicating Justice to the Lord!  It was a very special day, being my first Mother’s Day, having my family there with us as we made a covenant with God to raise Justice according to His Word and prayed over his life and destiny.  It seemed significant to me that on this same day it was also the Global Day of Prayer, The Call Jerusalem (a prayer and fasting event), and Israel was beginning their celebration of their 60th birthday!  On a day where so many people were calling out to God across the globe, He was still attentive to our small gathering of people as we brought our little son before Him.

   

With the warmer weather, we’ve also been able to go outside more often and take more walks with Justice in the stroller, which I love!  I kind of don’t think Justice appreciates the difference between being inside or outside, besides the sun being super bright for his eyes, but by next summer I think we’ll be able to have lots of fun with him in our yard! 

Justice also experienced many “firsts” in the last month and a half – first overnight stay at Grandma and Grandpa Thiessen’s, first playdate with Jacki Balfour and her kids Elianna and Joshua, and his first visit from Grandma and Grandpa Engbrecht from Red Deer, Alberta!