Turn into this one?
Our little boy is Growing up! We don't want this to happen undocumented as he is changing so much so fast. It is crazy to thing that he is already 4 months old! He is really starting to develop more of a personality. It is really fun to watch.
He is a very verbal baby. He talks all the time! Mostly ohhs, ahhs, and dzzzz with lots of drool and bubbles. I have heard a da in there every now and then, but it is just one of his noises (at least I have to tell myself that to remain hopeful that he could still say ma first :)). He talks to mom and dad a lot, but we are not his only audience. He performs the best for his hands and his feet! It is really cute, but yes undocumented. We need to be better at pictures and videos. Brad is convinced we will do this better if we get i-phones.
Other things as of late are that I have noticed when I get him out of his crib in the morning, or after a nap, he has often turned his body 180 degrees or more in the crib (not from back to stomach...Thank goodness, but from the head of his crib to the foot of his crib). I am not quite sure how he does this. I think it has a lot to do with how he plays with his feet as he is falling asleep, and his uncoordinated hands and arm movements to get himself calmed down. He will also roll from the side of his body to the other side also, to try and find his binky if it falls out. He doesn't cry to much for us to put it back in, but tries to get it himself. We like to see that he is becoming more independent.
He is starting to hold toys in his hands. He doesn't put them in his mouth quite yet (although he does that a ton with his blankies), but he just holds them and stares and talks to them. He is fascinated by them, and he will pick them up himself if they are in his sight.
He laughs like crazy at certain things like when we blow raspberries on his tummy, when we take his shirt off and get close to his armpits (he is like both parents in ticklishness), when we sing made up songs from daddy and mommy, us smelling his "stinky" (but not really stinky) feet, blowing in his face, and doing superman and airplane.
Overall, Thomas is a very good baby. He puts himself to sleep just fine for naps and bedtime. He had a two week stretch of sleeping through the night, but about a week ago he started waking up more again. I think it is a combination of us going out of town and getting him off schedule a little bit, and going through a growth spurt. We have had a couple nights since then where he has slept well, but it is not a recurrent pattern yet. Hopefully soon! He also can keep himself entertained. He is very patient. I feel like I can take him anywhere and not have to worry about my baby fussing too much. We do hang out here a lot so he can get his naps, and so we can play. I am grateful for his good nature, and hope that will continue throughout his life.
Unfortunately Thomas has had an abscess on his bum for the last 6 weeks or so. It went away for about 10 days, but then came right back. At the beginning of February we noticed it, and took him to the doctor. We go to a group of pediatricians and typically see a different one each time we have a last minute appointment. The first doctor looked at the abscess and thought that we should take Thomas to the Pediatric E.R. at a hospital out here in Raleigh. It is actually a really great E.R. unit for kids. The staff is great, and they had the cutest little hospital gown for babies. It was adorable to see Thomas in it, especially since he was as happy as a clam. Here is a picture.
The doctor sent us there because it was a Saturday, and he just wanted to get a second opinion so we could rule out anything serious. He also said because of his age, he wanted to be careful (Thomas was just under 3 months at the time). It made me nervous, but Thomas didn't have a fever, and he was really happy, so I wasn't too worried. They looked at it, drained it to get a culture but couldn't get enough of the drainage, and gave him a topical antibiotic ointment. That didn't really work.
Here we are 6 weeks later, and Thomas has had four more rounds of antibiotics, probably about 6 different doctors visits and it is still there. The problem is they can never get enough of the puss out of it to see what antibiotic to treat it with. Augmentin made it appear as though it had gone away, but now it is back. We tried a different antibiotic, but now we are back on Augmentin. The doctor is going to look at it after 10 days, and hopefully it will be good and gone.
Although it is an annoyance, the abscess and the antibiotic haven't left Thomas unusually grumpy or uncomfortable. We are grateful for that.
Brad had Spring break last week. We were lucky to go to Maryland to spend time with Andy and Julia and their darling new baby girl Miriam. We went for her blessing, and also to just hang out and spend time with them and Paula and Loel who were in town. It was a lot of fun. We had a great time, and were so glad to be there.
Here are some pics from this get-away
After Paula and Loel spent time in Maryland, they came here to North Carolina to spend time with Brad and I, and Heather and Eric and their kids. We had a blast! Loel and Paula helped us out a ton while they were here. Loel put up some shelving units in our pantry, and helped us with other handy tasks like putting up a file shelf thing and stuff.
Paula did 90% (or more....I just don't want to look like I didn't do anything) of the cleaning while she was here, and helped me organize Thomas' clothes, my closet, the pantry and other cupboards in the kitchen and etc. It was nice to have her help and company while we did these things, and to have advice from somebody who is better and enjoys it more than I do. I like to be organized, I just don't enjoy doing it.
While we were organizing Thomas' room, we found this hat I made for him before I had him. We tried it on. It doesn't fit as well, but it sure looks cute on him.
While we were there, we had a picnic lunch. Here is a pic of Thomas and Averie at lunch.
We also decided to have Loel take some Pictures of the three of us while we were at Heather's house one day. Loel took some great pictures, and it was also nice to have Heather there too to give us ideas for good spots to take pictures in, lighting, and etc. Paula also did a great job playing crazy clown to get Thomas to smile. Heather was nice to let us use her backyard, let me borrow her boots because I forgot my black shoes, and helped me find a nice lip color for the picture. It turned out really great. Here are some pics of that photo shoot.
I just wanted to add this last picture of Thomas as it is so adorable. Brad put this outfit on him because he thought it was so cute, as did I. It is just a little too big still, but it will fit him soon enough.
Just for a little info on Brad and I. Brad is still working 20 hours a week at Quintiles, and taking classes full-time, and doing research. He has been extremely busy. It has been a little hard for me, as I get bored and lonely sometimes, but I need to get used to it because I know we will have times like this in our lives. I have been able to make some great friends out here that I go for walks with, hang-out with during the day, exchange babysitting, and etc., so that helps.
Spring Break was really nice, although Brad was still busy, just not as busy. I look forward to the summer when he can focus just on preparing for his qualifying exams, and work 20 hours a week. That should free up some of his time so that he can spend even more time with Thomas and I (He makes a point to spend time with us, even during this busy time of our lives).
Well, that puts us up to date. Thanks to Paula's iphone for nearly all the pictures posted this post, and for Loel and Heather for taking our family pics.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!
