Four Months Old

Adam is officially a four month old.  I won't say that time is flying by because I say that every post.  But it is.

We went to the doctor today and the doctor said he is looking great.  He gave us the green light to start rice cereal anytime between now and 6 months.  Adam was much happier to see the doctor than his previous visits - he was all smiles until he got the two shots (one in each leg) then he got a little sad.  This was also the first appointment Owen tagged along to.  I was a little worried about how to juggle both of them and be able to hear the doctor, but a portable DVD player with The Wiggles did the trick.  And actually, while the doctor was examining Adam, Owen was right next to him listening to every word.  The doctor even let Owen wear his stethoscope and listen to Adam's heart.  And, when Adam was done with his shots, Owen kissed his boo-boos.  So cute. 

Yesterday was the first day Adam had 100% formula.  I've been weaning him for the last month and he's now drinking 6 ounces of formula every 4 hours.  At night, he has been sleeping about 6 hours for the longest stretch and that's only been the last week or so.  He is sleeping in the pack and play next to our bed and he generally sleeps on his tummy for the first four hours and then stirs which is my cue to turn him over to his back and he'll sleep another two hours that way.  Then he'll take a bottle and sleep another 3 hours or so.  We've been going to sleep around 11pm and waking up at 8am.  Not bad!

He's not very scheduled during the day yet, but since we are now on a nice bottle routine - I'm expecting the sleep routine to follow.  However, having Owen around really messes with his routine (compared to when Owen was this age - there were no two and a half year olds to disrupt his sleep schedule.) 

He's still a very smiley boy.  We have heard a couple giggles but those are harder to get out of him.  He LOVES his big brother.  If Owen is in the room, Adam will be staring at him and smiling. 

Car rides have become much better.  If he has a full belly, he usually falls asleep in the car or will be happy to play with his butterfly toy.  What is it about the four month mark that makes them happier in the car?

He is a rolling over fool.  You can't put him on his back without him flipping over to his tummy.  He can roll from his tummy to his back, but it's not nearly as easy for him.

He is getting very good at holding objects, but he isn't quite sure what to do once he has them.  If there is something he wants within reaching distance, he'll easily grab onto it and then he sort of spastically moves it to his mouth.  But, then it seems like he doesn't necessarily want the toy in his face but can't figure out how to move it away. 

Adam is generally a very easy baby!  He still likes the yoga ball, but he also would be happy to just be held and walked around.  I spent the day at my friend Allison's house yesterday and was so happy to just sit on my lap and take in the sights and sounds of a new environment.  And when he was tired, he just put his head on my chest and fell asleep.

So here are the official four month stats: 

• Weight: 14 pounds, 12 ounces (45th percentile)
• Height: 25.75 inches (78th percentile)
• Head: 16.6 inches (47th percentile)

Happy Birthday, Adam!!!!

Owen's Special Day

Today was Owen's "Special Day" at preschool.  Basically, they do "special days" instead of birthdays so the kids who have summer birthdays can have a celebration at school the same as everyone else.  I decided I would ask our friend, Tracy, if she could babysit Adam so the day could be 100% focused on Owen.  I thought that would make it even more special for Owen (and selfishly for me, I would be able to enjoy it more too.)

Luckily, Steve was home today as well so Owen got both Mommy and Daddy!  However, everyone was either sick or on vacation at school so there were only about 5 kids there - but it didn't matter.  All Owen cared about was the "pupcakes" and I drove all the way to Bellevue to make sure he had them for his celebration today. 

He loved his special day.  He got to jump over the candlestick first...held the classroom frog...wore a crown of glitter...got to have "corn" (Pirate Booty) for snack...everyone sang "happy special day to you"...blew out a candle...and ate a pupcake with sprinkles.  Couldn't ask for a better day!

Moody Bunny - Happy Easter!

I have to be honest, this Easter was a little bit of a letdown.  75% of us were sick, an infant made preparing for the Easter Bunny on Easter's Eve very difficult, and to top it all off - we made the poor decision to let Owen eat all the candy and cookies that were in the hidden eggs for breakfast which completely sent him into an unrecoverable tail spin for the rest of the day.

However, for the 60 minutes it took to hunt for eggs and open Easter Baskets, it was pretty darn fun.  Nana was visiting Michael, Kelly and Audrey in Maryland, so this was the first immediate family only Easter.  And, it was Adam's first Easter!  We had been talking to Owen about the Easter Bunny for the last few weeks and I think he *kind of* gets the idea.  Easter morning he woke up and was ready to get all the chocolate he was convinced the Easter Bunny was bringing him.  As we found the first couple eggs and he cracked them open, he got really into the hunt! 

Side note: One of Owen's favorite bedtime books is about a bunny on an Easter Egg scavenger hunt.  After he finds each egg, the next clue reads: "Well done, Bunny!  Hop Hop Hop.  Now off you go to where the ...."  This was playing over and over in my head as Owen searched the house for all the hidden eggs. 

After the hunt, we opened baskets.  Owen got some Thomas trains, a Curious George stuffed monkey, some books and crayons.  Adam got a couple toys and rice cereal and spoons!  He is excited to crack into the box in the next week or so after his four month checkup...Big boy!

After the baskets, Owen melted down.  Steve and I enjoyed our Christmas Eggs.  Owen melted down.  For lunch, I made some Easter Bunny pretzels which I think turned out pretty cute.  We ate them with queso dip and mustard.  Owen melted down.  Then it was nap time and that pretty much ended the festivities.  Hopefully next year when Adam can help look for eggs, we'll all have a better day!

Felipe, Meet Your Competition.

Steve demoted Felipe (our beloved landscaper) to one visit per month in an effort to cut costs.  This means Steve will now have to take on some of the mowing duties.  Owen felt bad for the old man, so he pitched in too.  What a little helper.

Adam, Meet The Sun. Sun, Meet Adam.

Our first day of sun and above 60 degree weather means Adam was able to experience the warmth of the sun on his tiny little body for the first time. I think he likes it.



Mama Kisses

Blanket Surfing

My little grommet.  Looks like he's about to pop up and hang ten, right?  Or maybe he"s just trying to prone out?  I wonder if he's a goofy foot?  Whatever he's doing...he's pretty cute.

My Little Parrot - A Rude Awakening

We all know kids mirror their parents.  Their words, their actions, their emotions.  And we have found ourselves surprised at things that come out of Owen's mouth that are a direct copy of things we have said out loud either to him or to others.  Usually it's a reminder to watch what we say, because he doesn't miss a beat. 

Like my previous post where I felt like I needed to write down cute little Owenese words and phrases before he stopped saying them, now I feel like I should write down funny phrases that he says that I know are a direct copy of things we say to him.  Even if I'm not exactly proud of myself.

- Playing on our new cordless phone and shaking his finger at me: "Just a second, I'm on the phone."

- Taking the computer mouse out of my hand: "Let me check something real quick."

- At a traffic light behind a car: "Goooooooooooo! Arghhhhhhh."

- Calling me from upstairs: "Hey Babe!  Baaayyyyyyyaaaaabe!  Hey Babe, come upstairs!"

To be continued...

First School Photos

Wow.  This is a perfect example of how Owen seems to have aged 10 years over the last 3 months.  His preschool class did school photos a few weeks ago and I have been (im)patiently waiting for them to arrive.  Steve took him to school that day and his report back to me was that "Owen did great."  I have no idea what that means, but I took it to mean that Owen did not trash the photo set and at least sat where he was supposed to sit for the pictures.

Knowing that I can NEVER get Owen to look at the camera and smile - I had just hoped that he wasn't making too much of a goofy face in the picture.  I was blown away when I opened the envelope today at school.  We got him to pose, look at the camera and smile!  And twice since he did it in the big class shot too!  Now please answer me, how is my little boy in school photos?!?!?!?

A Cute Twofer

Can you fit a 2 1/2 year old who is in the 98th percentile for height in the same baby bathtub with his brother? 

Yup.

Rock And Rollin' Over

I thought my blogathon last night was going to be enough to catch me up and give me a blog break for a bit, but when a milestone happens - it must be blogged!  I mean, if it deserves its own STICKER in the calendar, it definitely deserves a video and a bloggity blog.

Here is Adam rocking and rolling over.  I love that both my boys like to do things the hard way.  Both did back to front first - both did it at 13 weeks! 

So far, Adam only does it when he is mad.  You will see that I had to hide behind the couch a little so he would think I was leaving him (otherwise he would just lie there and smile at me.)

Crapstorm

Even though this is my blog and I can swear if I want to - since I am using this as a pseudo-baby book, I feel weird about using foul language in my posts.  However, if there was any day to swear, today would be it.

Also, I would guess that my brother would be surprised at how little I have written about poop in this blog.  He thinks I talk about it too much, so he might have expected me to write about it more.  Well today is the day because it has become extremely blog worthy.

Owen, poor Owen, has been a little "backed up" for a long time now.  About a week ago there was a complete system fail and nothing was coming out for a few days which resulted in him refusing to eat which resulted in a trip to the doctor.  The doctor confirmed he was backed up (or as I like to call it - "constey") and prescribed Miralax. 

We got a few doses into Owen right before Steve left on a four day trip and then the first day I was home alone with the kids - the flood gates opened.  The first day, I was so happy to see that the medicine was working I didn't mind all the clean-up.  Plus, Nana was over most of the day so we were able to juggle diaper changes.  The second day (today) was NOT my favorite.  Owen had a total of four baths today all due to me not being able to contain the "situation" with just wipes.  Adam was not super happy with all the baths because that meant he was sort of tossed to his bouncy seat each time Owen needed a diaper change.  So today was filled with poo, bath, screaming, more poo, more bath, more screaming, again - poo, again - bath, again - screaming, one more poo for good measure, one more bath for good measure, and lots more screaming.  Oh and let's not forget the laundry.

So is this something I should blog about?  Maybe not.  But I had to live through it and now I feel like sharing because it was pretty gross and sharing makes me feel like I didn't go through it alone.

On the plus side, I brought my camera upstairs during Owen's 3rd of 4 baths and got some pictures I really liked.  I love how my camera is so good at freezing water in motion!  And I'm not going to say out loud that the picture of him spitting water out of his mouth is kind of symbolic for the whole reason he was in the bath in the first place.  So maybe sharing these cute photos will distract you from the story a bit.  Maybe.

**PS: You'll notice two big scratches on Owen's face in some of these photos. This is because Owen has been taunting Pearl over the last few weeks with many, many, many warnings from Dad, Mom and Nana that Pearl would eventually get mad and bite and/or scratch him. But, Owen either didn't believe us, understand us, or thought that if she went after him - he'd be quick enough to evade her attack. Not so. She made contact yesterday and he was not pleased. I thought that would teach him to leave her alone but tonight he was back at her. I'm not sure what to do at this point?

Mummy Loves Me

But not enough to put me in seasonally appropriate hand-me-downs.

April Fools!

Today is April Fool's Day and I am so happy that I finally, FINALLY "punked" Steve.  I've never been able to fool him about anything (because I'm a horrible liar) and today I finally did it.

I asked Michael if he could Photoshop a picture of a fake dog onto a photo of Owen's chair we keep in our living room.  He said yes and the photo to the left is the finished product.  I emailed it along with a semi-believable story to Steve.

Steve knew I was having lunch with my friend Rebecca today, so I decided to use her as my lie because I had absolutely no reason to leave the house today in order to stumble upon a puppy and Steve would have known that.

So here is the email I sent to him and that he fell for - hook, line and sinker.

From: Laura S
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2011 14:28:17
To: Steve S
Subject: don't kill me

Sooooo...Rebecca came over today and apparently Hans brought home a puppy last week and they can't keep it because their cat is going crazy. She brought it over today to show me and Owen was so cute with it, I told her to leave him here and we'll "try" it for a few weeks.  His name is Spikers, but we can change it. :)

He just seems so at home here!!!! Charlie is in love.

Steve called me and after I told him that he got punked, he actually seemed disappointed!  But a puppy is seriously the last thing we need right now and I can't believe he thought I would have taken that on when I can barely handle the living creatures we have now.  I'm preparing for next year's retaliation.  It will probably be a real puppy.

Three Months Old

All I wanted out of Adam's three month photo was a smile - and I got it!  As Vicki on the Real Housewives of Orange County says, Whooo-hooooooooo!

No obligatory stats this month because we get to skip the doctor this month.  He seems to be growing though (if you couldn't tell from his cute little leg rolls) because we have officially retired the 0-3 month clothes and we are now into the 3-6 month size and to be honest, they are pretty snug!  I did tear up a little retiring those clothes because the first time I put them into the retired bins, I thought to myself "better put these away because I might get to use them again."  This time I thought, "should I save or donate because I probably won't get to use these again."  Sniff.  Sniff.

Anyway, moving on...Adam is a very cute three month old.  He is very smiley and we are very close to laughing.  We are using the yoga ball less and less, but he still likes it to fall asleep with.  But, when he's not tired and not hungry - he is content to sit on your lap and look out at the action.  He LOVES his family.  When he is cranky with Mom, all he has to do is look over at Dad or Owen and he is all smiles.  He is starting to hold big conversations with Mom and Dad too - lots of imitation when we say "ohhh" or "eeeeee."  Our bedtime routine now consists of a recap of our day and it's one of the highlights of mine.

Speaking of bedtime, arggghhhhh....this boy does not like long stretches of sleep.  I'm giving up an hour of sleep tonight to catch up on this blog, but boy is it a precious commodity.  I'm hopeful things will change soon - at least before I go back to work!?!?

Month #2 is in the books and we're on to #3.  I can't wait to see what is in store for us...I haven't been disappointed yet!

My Baby

Today at preschool I brought my camera to try and make up for the six or so months Owen missed this school year.  I discovered that at the end of the year, parents are supposed to create a memory book for their child made up of their art projects, photos and collections from the school year.  Since Owen is lacking in art projects, I am going to try to take a ton of pictures and make up for lost time.  This photo isn't the most artistic or beautiful shot, but I love it.

Sometimes I catch myself looking at Owen and thinking, "when did he get so grown up?"  I'm sure I'll think that a billion times more as he grows up but right now I'm in awe of the changes I've seen over the last few months.  This particular photo illustrates how a mundane, everyday task like washing your hands at the sink seems so amazing to me that now he's mastered it.  3 months ago, I was wiping his hands with baby wipes and now he's marching himself up to the sink, turning on the water, squirting the soap, washing his hands, rinsing his hands and turning off the water.  The only thing I help him with is getting his towel for him but it's only because he can't physically reach it!

Things like complex sentences, potty training and preschool are now part of our daily routine.  Tantrums are bigger and badder than they have ever been.  Emotions like embarrassment and pride are now felt and I recognize them immediately just by looking in his eyes.  Naps are becoming shorter and sometimes not at all.  Bedtime stories are becoming longer with multiple paragraphs per page (Curious George is currently our favorite.)  His preferences for food, toys, activities and pretty much everything else is becoming QUITE clear - especially with his ability to voice his opinion.  I have heard "Mama no talk." twice in the last two days now when I have been telling him things he didn't want to hear.  He loves routine and for things to be the same as the time before...Debi babysat for him last night and it was a nice feeling for me to leave him with someone new knowing that if I forgot to leave clear direction on how things should be, Owen would let her know.  This turned out to be true when I returned home after Owen was in bed and Debi told me she left his bedroom door cracked after she put him down and he called her back up to remind her to close it.  He is now directing us in the car which way to drive to certain places (the park, the trains, cookies at coffee houses and the street where all the speed bumps are near our house.)  When he wakes up in the morning or after nap, instead of crying we hear him calling our names.  This is just a sampling of things that were not happening even three months ago and now are just routine. 

Because he's growing up so fast, I have been hanging on to all the things that make him seem younger.  Especially his Owenese vocabulary.  Here are some of the things he's still saying that make me smile every time I hear them.

• Hebbey-tot-ter (helicopter)
• Pupcake (cupcake)
• Muffin Man (play-doh)
• Ah-choo (kleenex)
• Crunchy (carrot)
• Alligator (elevator)
• BeeBeeBean (well, he used to call his bunny BeeBean, but he changed it to Bunny a long time ago - I've since convinced him that Bunny's name is now BeeBean, so it's come back but he is now calling him BeeBeeBean.)
• Back-up Bunny (the name of the extra Bunny we have that we use when BeeBeeBean is in the wash or accidentally left in Dad's car.)
• Ding-Ding (railroad crossing)
• Captain Dinosaur (Captain Feathersword on The Wiggles)

Stop growing up so fast, Owen...it's killing me. 

Jack and Diane (I Mean, Adam)

Adam's first "friend" is a boy named Jack.  Jack's mom is a co-worker of mine who I got to know better when we discovered we were both pregnant around the same time. 

Jack is about 2 weeks older than Adam.  Now, since we are both on maternity leave, we get together once a week for a "play date" (which is more for the mommies than the babies because really, babies don't play.) 

But here they are looking like best buddies.  Only thing cuter than one baby is two babies.

Cradle Holy Cap

So, Owen never had cradle cap.  He had flaky skin when he was born, but never on his scalp.  Adam has had a pretty major case of it but it hasn't flaked at all.....until today.  I've never really seen cradle cap before, but Adam's head was covered in what looked like kind of scabby skin that just wouldn't come off.  I was fine to just leave it alone because you couldn't see it through all his hair and it didn't seem to bother him at all.

Today though, all that scabbiness exploded into a headful of huge flakes that could not be combed, brushed or shook out.  Well, that's not really true - I could comb out a ton (my bathroom sink was completely covered in them) but they just kept coming and every pass of the comb would just knock a whole bunch more loose.  I kept saying to myself, "Babies aren't gross, but this is REALLY gross."

So when Nana took Owen down to Kent Station this evening  for dinner and trains, Adam and I ran to Babies R Us for some emergency cradle cap treatment.  It is basically lotion that you are supposed to massage into the scalp and leave on overnight and wash out in the morning.  Well, guess how hard it is to massage lotion into a scalp covered with thick, luxurious hair?  You just have to use 3 times the amount, but it can be done.  Not without a little cell phone photo documentation though.  It definitely doesn't seem to bother him!

Grasped An Object?

I keep a daily calendar for Adam's first year just like I did for Owen.  It comes with these little milestone stickers like "first tooth" "said da-da" "ate solid food" -- and I hate them.  I hate these entries in their baby books too.  Because....when kids start doing something, it's usually not very convincing at first and I never know if it "counts" enough for the books.  Rolling over and walking is sort of the only thing that is black and white. 

Right now, I'm looking at the one titled "grasped an object."  Adam has been spastically reaching for things lately and if his hand happens upon something graspable, he grasps it.  But it's not like he's seeing something he wants and going out to purposely get it.  Do I say he's grasped an object?  Or do I wait until I hold something out to him and he takes it from me?  Whatever...I'll just blog that he's kind of grasping things and then it's documented.  Here he is trying to get a piece of his cute little giraffe toy.

Brudders

Owen has been getting extremely good at stalling before bedtime.  He usually is just throwing out darts to see which one sticks.  Tonight, he asked if Adam could get into bed with him.  I think he was expecting me to say no, because when I said, "sure!" his face looked simultaneously confused and excited.  This resulted in him sprinting upstairs, letting me get his pajamas on him in record time, read a quick book and then scurried up his crib wall and leaped into bed.  I put Adam in there with him and they were so stinking cute, I had to take some pictures.

Joke was on Owen, though, when he realized his stall tactic put him in his crib so there was no getting out once photo time was over. 

You have much to learn, young grasshopper.