McCoy James Spraggins
2 Months
This kid always has the funniest, wide-eyed look when I try to take a picture of him. Cracks me up!
Its hard to believe this boy is already 2 months old. When I say it out loud, I can hardly believe it but when I think back on the day he was born, it seems like so long ago. Its already hard to imagine life as a family of four. He is such a sweet, laid back boy and we all love him more and more every day.
Weight: I weighed him today and my scale said 15.4lbs which I believe is about 15lbs6oz
Height/Length: Not sure but we go for his 2 month check up next week so we'll find out then.
What have I been up to lately?
- He has started to smile and coo a lot more. Especially when Daddy talks to him. He is just so funny.
- He has always been a pretty good sleeper. He was sleeping 4 hour stretches as soon as he was born. Then he jumped to sleeping about 6 hours at night, then jumped to 8.5-9 hours at night for several nights, but then went back down to 6 hours stretches with all of our traveling and messed up schedules. Now that we're back home and things have somewhat calmed down, he's gone back to sleeping 8 or so hours at night.
- I always hear people say that their baby nurses for 20-30 minute each time at this age and still needs to eat 2.5-3 hours later. This child will eat for a max of 10 min and still sleep that 7 or 8 hour stretch. I don't know how he does it. During the day its not uncommon for him to only nurse for 6 or 7 minutes and not get hungry until its been 3 hours or more. He's a chunk too!
- He's had his first cold this week. His brothers and I passed it on to him. Thankfully, so far it hasn't been that bad. Just a little congestion and a snotty nose. It has made him a little frustrated with nursing but I try to suction it out beforehand and he usually still eats pretty well.
- He is still such a laid back boy. I love wearing him when we go places and getting those extra cuddles. He always seems pretty content too. The only problem it ever poses is occasionally he, being so close to his food source, he gets a little agitated and wants to eat a little sooner than expected. But I can usually hold him off with a paci for a little bit.
- He loves to stand up and sometimes even bounces. He's super strong.
- We celebrated his first Christmas! We drove from Cape Coral, FL to Troy, AL Thursday December 10th. AJ (Zarah - Zach's sister) was graduating on Friday so we have planned to leave earrrrly Thursday morning (I'm talking 3am) hoping the boys would sleep the first few hours and that we'd get there at a decent time. After all, it was only an 8.5 hour trip from Cape Coral to Troy. Zach ended up having to go in to work until about noon so by the time we got everything loaded and everyone ready to go, we didn't leave until 2pm. Worst. thing. ever! We hit bumper to bumper traffic several times before we even hit Tampa which is only about 2 hours away. The boys fought their naps the whole time so they were grumpy the entire trip. We ended up not getting to Troy until 2:30am CST which means we had been in the car for 13.5 hours. Then we had to get up early for graduation. I think we only got about 4 hours of sleep that night. Then the rest of the week involved a lot of driving and family functions for both sides which meant missed naps and schedules jacked up. By the end of our trip, we were all mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted. Although it was a really tough trip, it was great seeing family and introducing our newest angel to all of our families and friends.
- He prefers to sleep on his belly. I know, I know, "back is best" and I'm a firm believer in that. But the child won't settle on his back most of the time. He just squirms and fusses and refuses to relax. I remember last month's update I mentioned that I was having trouble to get him to relax at night and I thought it was due to gas and reflux. Now I think it was just him trying to tell me that he didn't want to sleep on his back or in the swing. One night, I had been fighting him for probably 4 hours. Gas drops didn't help, burping him didn't help. Singing, rocking, and bouncing didn't help. I tried putting him in his swing and he just cried and cried until I got him out. Even when I tried to just hold him and cuddle him, he would squirm and fuss which is kind of what made me think he was gassy. I ended up putting him in the pack-n-play on his belly and he immediately went to sleep. I laid in the bed for about 5 or 10 minutes until I knew he was good and asleep and then I went and rolled him over. He slept for I think 6 hours which was a couple of hours longer than he had been sleeping at that time. Pretty much since then, I've been putting him on his belly and he sleeps really well. Its funny because at night, he will get a little fussy. I know when that happens that he wants to eat and just go to bed. He doesn't want to be held or cuddled or fussed over. He simply just wants to get in his bed. The boy likes to sleep and I'm glad because I do too!
- He grew out of his size 1 diapers while we were in Alabama last week. We had several boxes of size 2s at home so we made the 1s work until we got home but we had to be pretty strategic with how we put them on because otherwise he would have leaks out the front.
- He is officially in 6 month clothes and could probably wear most 9 month with no problem. I pulled out a 3 month onesie today thinking it was a 6 month and was confused when I couldn't even get his arms in after I put it over his head. When I saw the size I laughed because he never even wore it lol. He has literally not worn a lot of his clothes because he's grown out of everything so fast. I remember thinking his brothers were pretty big at 2 months (they were 12lbs10oz and 12lbs7oz) but I think this chunk has them beat.
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I am constantly amazed at the love I have for each of my boys. Its hard to imagine loving another child as much as you love the kids you already have but the love just multiplies. The Lord knew exactly what he was doing when he gave us McCoy. I hope and pray that he and his brothers (and hopefully future siblings) will always be close and that they always know how much their mommy and daddy love them. It sounds so cliche and you can't quite grasp it until you are a parent but being a mommy has absolutely been the most difficult thing I've ever done yet also the most rewarding. Tonight, after I nursed McCoy, we were just laying in the bed and I was talking to him. He looked me right in the eyes and gave me the biggest grin I've ever seen him make and it literally brought tears to my eyes. I swear being a mom has made me such an emotional mess! I used to tease my mom about crying over what I thought was the silliest things but now I do it too. When my boys are happy, I'm happy.
Here's a few pictures from over the last month:
Thank goodness he is laid back because his brothers love to "pat" on him. Here they were "helping" him do tummy time by practically beating the crap out of him and slept through all of it. Look at that intensity on Smith's face and Sanford's blurry arm.
Me attempting to referee. Tummy time didn't last long that day. Now he does a lot of it either on my chest, in his pack-n-play, or while brothers are asleep.
Cuddling with Mommy with a full belly.
He fell asleep in Mommy and Daddy's bed after eating. He looked so comfy and peaceful I almost hated to move him but our bed is entirely too soft for him to sleep on his tummy. I rolled him over and I think he ended up sleeping for a while on his back. He prefers his belly though.
Here he is with Dr. Fleishman, the doctor who delivered him. We love Dr. Fleishman!
**Funny story about this photo: this was at my 6 week postpartum appointment. Zach kept the big boys while I took McCoy with me. After the doctor did his typical exam -you know, the kind where you're naked from the waist down- I asked him if he would mind taking a picture with McCoy. My parents have a picture of my doctor holding me when I was delivered and I just think its so neat having that so I wanted one of him with his doctor. Of course he agreed. Stupid me forgot that all I had on from the waist down was a paper drape so when I stood up to get him out of his car seat on the floor, the drape fell leaving my bare butt hanging out. I did my best to hold it up all while leaning down to get him unbuckled and out of his car seat with both hands. After almost losing the drape a couple of times I finally gave up. I was a bit embarrassed and said "I don't know why I'm so worried about hold this stupid drape up." lol I'm not the most modest person when it comes to doctor visits but I definitely felt like a total moron after that. But hey, we got a cute picture and I doubt he'll remember that moment so oh well.**
Taken earlier this month when we went to Bass Pro to get Santa pictures taken.
I was a tad bit worried that the big boys would be a little scared of Santa but while we were waiting in line, Zach got down with them and talked to them about him. Then he told them to wave at him and they did. Once we got up there, we asked Santa how he wanted them and he was a bit uneasy about holding the big boys AND McCoy so he asked if they could stand in front. I wasn't too sure they would stay put but we tried it and they did really well. Sanford looks like he got in a fight with a hose pipe (even though his shirt wasn't even wet), Smith looks like he's leading songs in church, and McCoy looks like he's fist pumping. When we were done and tried to leave, we told the boys to tell Santa bye and they both screamed. They didn't want to leave Santa. It was pretty funny.
Baby boy couldn't hang in church last Sunday. He cuddled with Daddy the whole time and I'm so glad I captured this moment.
Bath time!
I can't ever seem to get a picture of him smiling big but the little grins are just as precious!
This last week has been pretty rough on everyone. We all started getting sick toward the end of our trip to Alabama. By the time we got home, the big boys and I all had bad colds. Sanford got the worst of it with fever, congestion, snotty nose, lethargy, etc. None of us were feeling too hot and we did a lot of cuddling and vegging out all week. This day was particularly tough because everyone wanted Mommy and wouldn't take no for an answer. I am surprised at how happy I look in this picture because I'm pretty sure this was the day that I shed almost as many tears as the boys did. I was tired, frustrated, and just grumpy. I think the only reason I made a point to smile was because when I didn't smile, I looked like I had been beat up and smiling somehow somewhat masked my dark circles and blemishes. Thankfully I think we're all on the mend and beginning to come out of that hole.
Last month I did good by taking McCoy's monthly pictures while the big boys were napping. It allowed me to be able to take my time and not have to worry about them messing with him while I was snapping a million and one pictures. This month, Zach was at home while I was taking them so I figured "What the heck? He can contain them long enough for me to get a few shots." Boy was I wrong. Sanford pitched a fit because he wanted to "help" and give kisses and we wouldn't let him. He was furious when I took McCoy into the other room to change his clothes. I finally just told Zach to let him go and I would just make it work. I wish I had been able to get a good quality picture of him loving on his baby brother but I'm glad I at least got something. He loves his "behbee" so much and loves to love on him. He talks so sweetly to him and will even try to tickle his belly. I can't wait for McCoy to start interacting with them.
I got a little smile while I was taking pictures of him in his "My First Christmas" shirt. I just love that little grin!
