Too Big For His Britches!!

Are you sitting down for this?? Can you believe that at 4 1/2 months old- Maletch was officially wearing size 12 month clothes!! Yep, that is correct! He is growing SO fast- I just can't keep up with his clothes!

I was a little worried that he might be getting too big- even though that went against everything I've read- AND he is not fat at all either. But just to be sure, I asked the doctor if I needed to "watch his intake." The nurse and Dr. BOTH answered at the same time, "in harmony," and confirmed what I've read in all the books- they say to let babies at this age control their own intake- that babies will only eat when they are hungry- and they will stop when they are full. And that allowing them to do so- allows them to intake more when they need it for their growth spurts. Which I've found to be completely true because, every once in a while, he will want to eat 50% more- for just a few days (12oz bottles instead of 8oz)- and he grows a ton right afterward!
Then the doctor went on to assess his growth in comparison charts to other babies his age and looked at his rate of growth from his own birth weight/height and did everythng but a cartwheel in excitement! He said, "Maletch is THRIVING!" and gestured by giving him two thumbs way up!

I am still trippin' about his size 12 month clothes- and I didn't tell you the craziest part- some of his size 12 shirts are too small already- especially getting the neck-hole over his head- because, as the doc put it- "He has a big noggin." Hehe! So he is almost ready for 18 months in shirts (at 5 months old)!! Maletch is built like his Grandpa Ebel- he is VERY stocky (with REALLY ripped arm muscles- which probably sounds funny- but I'm serious and I will try to get a picture of his arms) and he has a VERY long torso and very short legs!

As I mentioned I am having a hard time keeping up with his clothes- if you are calculating- he has gone through 5 (that's FIVE) sizes in 4 1/2 months! OK, that means each size has lasted less than a month! By the time I got everything he needed- from jammies, to comfy (around the house) clothes, to dress up for company clothes, etc- all home and washed & put away- he couldn't fit them anymore! And I kept sounding like a broken record, "Ok, he just had another big growth spurt, so I'm sure he's gonna slow down now!" But he's never slowed down- he has had one huge growth spurt after another! We are so glad that he is growing so fast and we are very surprised because we didn't expect him to be tall (or big for his age)- seeing as John and I are NOT (and we weren't as babies either).

Clothes shopping for him is a challenge too! I have to buy shirts that have extra large neck-holes or polos that have a more generous collar opening or button-ups. Then for his britches- you know how they make 2 styles of shorts for boys- either short-shorts or long shorts... well short-shorts are long shorts on him (which look great) and long shorts look like capris on him- but since he is a boy- they really look like "flood-water" pants :) And pants- well, they are just WAY too long- by like 3-4 inches! So I've been lucky in the summer because he is mostly in shorts but coming up next month when it cools down- I'm going to have the fun task of altering all of his pants or he will have to wear them cuffed. I just bought some of that iron-on hem tape, so I can hem them up and keep taking them down as he grows. It seems like just when he fits pants in the length- he's outgrown them everywhere else.

We are predicting he will REQUIRE size 18 months clothes BY his 6 month birthday (next month). I think he's trying to catch up to his big cousin Myah (who is a year and 3 months older!) This time I hope to be prepared and have that size "fully stocked" before next month because the last few sizes came SO QUICKLY that we weren't prepared. Funny because it kept happening so fast- that there was about a week at each size change that we were in denial- "it couldn't be true since he JUST moved up a size that he ALREADY needed another size"- so we just blamed it on the particular outfits' "cuts." So by the time we realized he actually needed bigger clothes, sadly, we ended up having to squish him into small clothes while trying to make the time to scramble the stores to find what he desperately needed- only to get home & wash everything- and find that he outgrew that size too! So, although he always ended up with TONS of clothes- it was always too late and he didn't get a chance to wear most of them! It has been so stressful because it seems like I'm always behind the shopping game- so THIS time I'm making a new "Game Plan"- although we JUST finished "stocking" his 12 month clothes- I GOTTA get back out there! (I know- I probably don't even have a month!) It has felt like such a waste too, since so much he never got to wear- so all we can say is that his younger brother is going to be HOOKED UP! :)