... and Happy Mother's Day, and Happy Birthday to G-Pops, and Happy 5th Anniversary to the Longs, and Happy 12th Anniversary to us. Happy happy happy!
[Editor's note: I started this post a few days after Maddox turned 4 months. It's taken me until after he turned 5 months to post it!]
At 4 months old, Maddox is weighing in at a stout 19 pounds. He has dropped to the 95th percentile. (2 months ago he was off the charts.) He is such a happy little boy. Except when he's not happy -- and then he's REALLY not happy. But I think of him as my little Buddha baby. Fat, happy and easy going. He brings joy to me every time I look in his eyes. Except when I'm looking at them for the 2nd or 3rd time in the middle of the night. In all seriousness though, I feel like he has radiated a sense of calm and well being ever since he sprouted in my womb.
He is getting pretty good at holding toys in his hands. He's started to discover his feet. I love watching him. He will grab for and stare at his feet like "Woah man, check out these things. Far out!!!" He often assumes what is referred to as the "happy baby" position in yoga-- one foot in each hand, and a big dopey grin of accomplishment on his face. He hasn't turned all the way over yet, but when he's laying on his back he likes to stick his feet up in the air and flop them over to the side. He's happy for longer and longer stretches playing on his tummy and in the exersaucer. And sleep hasn't been too bad. He usually eats around 8 PM, midnight, 4 am and 7. A few times a week he may go for a 5-6 hour stretch but it's not so consistent.
We started him on cereal this week. His doctor said at this stage of the game it's really just about getting him comfortable with the spoon and working on getting over his gag reflex. His first two tries at cereal were pretty much what I expected: a cute, messy affair in which most of the cereal ended up on his bib, high chair or me. I was quite surprised on Day Three, however, when he ate 6 tiny bowls of the stuff. He would've kept going if I hadn't cut him off. I've set his daily intake at 3 tablespoons of dry cereal mixed with 4 ounces of formula. Sure seems like that should be plenty. And of course I was hoping that the cereal would lead to some longer sleep stretches at night, but I'll give you a guess at how that went. Funny how hope springs eternal, though past experience should dictate otherwise.
Roan is doing great. She remains an awesome big sister. She is learning to practice patience when both she and Maddox need something at the same time. The other day I had to make her wait to get a snack because Maddox was fussy, hungry and tired. She took her crying out in the hallway, helped herself to a graham cracker and cried to herself while she waited for me. It broke my heart and made me proud at the same time. I told her that I know how hard it can be to be the big sister sometimes, since a long, long time ago I was the big sister when Aunt Jen was the baby. We got a nice dose of mother-daughter bonding that day.
Things are starting to wind down at school. When we expressed concern to her teacher that Roan doesn't seem all that into homework and reading lately, she said not to worry about it. "Their brains are full this time of year. They're ready for a break." Roan seems to agree. We've been filling our free time with trips to the park, digging in the front garden, and baking cookies.
Since I've become such an infrequent poster, a lot has happened since my last post. For one thing, Roan celebrated her 4th birthday. Grandma and Lolli came into town to share some time together. We had a lot of fun. We had her party at a bouncy house place called Up Up Jump. She had requested a rainbow cake, so we whipped one up from scratch together. Since all the kids insisted "I want a rainbow on my piece!" for her birthday celebration at school I made rainbow cupcakes, so each kiddo could have their own. Grandma stayed with us for this trip, and she totally spoiled us by keeping Maddox every night. Every SINGLE night. She even taught us a few tricks that have made a big difference in getting him to sleep longer stretches. Thanks Mom!!!
Here's a slideshow of photos from Roan's birthday and the moms' visit.
A couple weeks after that was Easter. Josefa and Charles flew in and spent the weekend with us. The weather wasn't the greatest, but we made the best of things and had an egg hunt in the front yard for Roan and Logan. Here are some more photos.
One last thing. This pic of Logan sporting Roan's chef hat is just too cute not to post! Love my little nephew!
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