3 Months

My Sweet little Eli turned 3 months a few weeks ago. Due to the fact that he was 6 weeks early his adjusted age is now almost 2 months (since this post is a few weeks late).  I have to say that Mr. Eli is the absolute best baby!!  He is just the sweetest, most laid back little guy.  He is very content unless it is time to eat!  I have to brag on him because this month he went from being solely a bottle fed baby (breastmilk) to a nursing baby.  I was doubtful that we would be able to make the shift so late, but a week before we left for vacation I decided to give it another try (the idea of washing bottles and pump parts in a hotel sink for a week was good motivation).  I was shocked at how great of a little nurser he was!  He has proved to be such an adaptable little guy and we are so proud of him. 

1 month

2 months

 Eli started sleeping through the night at about 8 weeks (I told you he was the best baby ever)!  Generally he is sleeping from 9:30ish until about 6:30ish.  It is great to sleep again!!  He has started having longer awake times during the day, but still usually takes a nap between each feeding.  He has recently started giving us big smiles and is cooing a lot.  I must say that this seems to make all of my worries go away for the moment. 

At his last check-up he was 11lbs 6oz.  That is only the 3rd percentile for a 3 month old, but is much higher on the preemie growth curve.  His head circumference jumped a little on the growth chart.  He gave us quite a scare when the Neuro got an inaccurate measurement.  They pretty much had us scheduled for a shunt on Wednesday.  I called back and finally figured out that they were looking at the percentile number as the actual cm measurement.  Anyway it made a big difference and after I had cried for about 3 hours over this, I was very relieved to learn that it was a mistake!  If you pray for Eli, please pray that his head would continue to grow as it should.  We are praying we can avoid a shunt.  We are currently checking into all of our options in case we have to go down that path.  He will have a sedated MRI in a few weeks.   

This was a big month for his little feet.  He went through two sets of casts, had a procedure on his heels and graduated to some new boots and bars.  I am sure you can tell how much straighter his little feet look in comparison to his 1 and 2 month pics.  We have spent a lot of time at our ortho in the past few weeks. 

Eli is so loved by his big sisters.  They both love on him ALL THE TIME!  If you try to talk to Eli in front of Eliza she will boldly tell you, "No my E-li"  (pronounced with a short e).  It is so funny because she is normally so shy.   

Eli went on his first vacation to the mountains. 

Tummy time, tummy time and more tummy time. 

A sweet little smile

These are his shoes (we call them his snowboard)!  He originally had to wear them for 23 hours a day.  At his last visit they said he can go to about 18 hours a day now.  It is nice to get to take them off some now.  He hasn't seemed to mind them too much.  He will most likely wear then for a long time during the night to help keep his feet in the correct position.  So far so good.

Eli has some big appointments in November.  I must admit that I feel fearful over these, esp. with the holidays ahead.  We covet your prayers over his kidney's, bladder, head growth and always his sweet little legs.