JAMES' FIRST FOURTH

Happy 4th of July blog readers!

We're a pretty patriotic family, and we LOVE the 4th of July! We get to sing patriotic songs at church, wear red-white-and-blue, and play with fireworks (our favorite). As per usual, we spent this holiday at the beach with some of our friends and family. James slept through the fireworks (it was past his bedtime, and he's a creature of habit these days), so we enjoyed them from the front yard this year instead of the beach, baby monitor in hand, just in case (he didn't even flinch). We did get some sun, sand, and celebrating in with him earlier in the day though...

Here is James getting his toes in the sand for the first time: (We only buried his feet, don't worry. And he did most of the work himself)

He thought the sand was great, but wasn't as impressed with the cold water. He squealed once when a tiny wave washed up his pant leg (that is a sensitive area, of course), and again when Jay dripped water on his arms to cool him off. He seemed to enjoy sitting in a shallow puddle in front of his Daddy best:

We spent the day with the Mulleins, whose two little girls are adorable, sweet, and super happy, and the Birdsongs. And you all know how much we love Jackson. The kid is just so much fun! He really wow-ed us this trip... singing songs, saying the Pledge of Allegiance (perfectly, I might add, and he's only 3-years-old), "cooking meals" with Worcestershire sauce and Paprika (yes, he said those words), and just making us laugh in general. Some of our favorite quotes from the weekend include "Mommy, I want you to do the 'sugar butt' (a dance, of course)" after he complied with her request for a recitation of the Pledge (it's only fair, right?), and "Am I full yet?" while showing his bare belly to his Mommy. How cute is that? He's going to be a superhero when he grows up you know, and his super power is going to be Spiderman. He shoots webs of sour cream. That's not weird though... Jay shoots webs of jello and Betsy uses guacamole. Go figure.

Here's the whole gang, minus John and Geoff (they were out in the waves):

Once again, the water wore our boy out! So, we let him nap in his awesome new tent, courtesy of his Grandma (thanks for protecting his precious pasty skin):

He was still sleepy as we left the beach (but dry and cool, and plenty sandy): Next stop was the Birdsongs residence for a BBQ and poolside fun. We saw all the Birdsongs (except for Greg and Dianna), and Ryan and Amber. James had another dip in the pool:

And again, he passed out as soon as we dried him off:

In fact, he slept a lot on the 4th. Here he is in another strange napping position:

And a shot with his Daddy for good measure, to end the day:

James was awesome all weekend, but especially on the holiday. Everyone thought he was pretty darn cute, extremely cuddly, quite the drool monster, and fun to play with when he was awake. Thanks James, you made us look good!

CUATRO!

James Henry Lindsay the 4th, or "Cuatro" as he is sometimes lovingly called, turned 4-months-old today! In celebration of this feat, we're posting a bunch of photos (of course). So, what are some of the things James enjoys at this ripe-old age?

Watching the wind blow the leaves around in the trees (and just being outside in general):

Baths and thumb-sucking (not usually at the same time):

Eating (and sometimes being dramatic about it):

Trying to watch TV when he thinks we're not paying attention (he's suppose to be burping):

Napping (in weird positions):

Reading ("Baby Boo" is one of his favorite books - thanks Jenny and Scott):

Playing airplane (and drooling all over whoever is holding him... note the mid-air dribble):

I know what you're thinking, he liked all these things last month. And that's true. So, what has changed about James between the 3-month and 4-month mark?

Well, the biggest and best change is that he can now sleep through the night. Major victory! It doesn't happen every night, but it's becoming more and more common (our record is currently set at 3 nights in a row). When it does happen, we get an 8-9 hour stretch between feedings, which means 6-8 consecutive hours of sleep for us (depending whether or not we adhere to James' bedtime)! It's a dream come true... Back when the baby is 2-weeks-old and your longest sleep stretch is 1.5 hours, you do wonder if you'll ever see the day... And Jay and I are finally sleeping through those nights too, not getting up to check on James every few hours. Again, major victory! The other great thing is that even when James doesn't sleep through the night, he's still in bed by 8:30-9pm, which is a victory in itself (so much better than his old 10:30-11pm bedtime), and we always get at least a 6-hour stretch out of him! Let me tell you, those 3am feedings are a lot friendlier when you've had some real sleep! So, what caused this amazing feat to occur? It could just be his age/weight that makes him able to go longer stretches between feedings. Or maybe it's the loss of his Moro Reflex, so he isn't waking himself up as often. Maybe it's the reduction in gas/tummy issues, which also helps him to not wake up as often. Or perhaps it's daycare, with the introduction of a more structured nap schedule and the added energy-zapping fun of playing with other kiddos. Who knows? But we're loving it!

The rolling is still new. Even though he could do it last month, it wasn't something he really enjoyed or did with any consistency. Now he realizes that he can do it to get a different view of the room, or get closer to a toy he wants. It's getting hard to keep him still, and we can't take our hands off him on any elevated surface anymore.

James has now officially discovered his hands and feet. We're not sure exactly WHEN he discovered his hands, we've just noticed that he really knows how to use them now. His feet were a different story though... Over the past couple of weeks we've watched him eyeing his feet, then studying them very intently every time he wiggled his toes. Now it seems he purposely grabs things with his toes (rather than reflex, as he's always been a little monkey). It's so darn cute! We're sure those toes will be in his mouth before long (along with everything else he can reach)...

The toy fascination is also pretty new. James will now grab and hold almost anything you present to him. His favorite right now is a honeycomb-like ball that his Grand Aunt Margie got him - he'll grab it with both hands and try to stick it in his mouth, and make his new favorite noise all the while (kind of an eh-eh-eh-eh, which he repeats ad nauseum, loudly). He also loves his links from Elizabeth and Janean, and a little Taggies stuffed lion that's oh-so-soft from Cathy. Of course, everything goes straight to his mouth, whether it fits or not. Silly, slobbery baby:

His "talking" is getting better and better (and more and more entertaining for Jay and I) by the week. He often chats all the way to daycare now. He talks to his toys, he talks to us (and sometimes over us), and when he sighs it's always at the appropriate moment now, which is hilarious AND cute! He's got all his vowels down, and he's slowly adding consonants. So far, we hear M's, N's, D's, W's, Y's, H's, G's, L's (which are really funny to watch because his tongue goes wild trying to get the sound out), and most recently, B's. Here is a short video to demonstrate some of his new verbal skills (you'll also notice that this boy is NEVER still anymore, not that he ever really was, not even in the belly):


He can also sit up now (in his Bumbo, exersaucer, and high chair, not on his own of course). His head is still a bit shaky, but he's getting the hang of it. Practice makes perfect, right? He's even learning to reach for toys (and toes) while sitting up, which makes the exersaucer way more fun for him. Here's our Gator fan in his Bumbo:

Also in this category, James now thinks he's old enough to stand up. Anytime we try and burp him over our shoulders these days, he plants his feet on our thighs and stands right up, butt out. Then he pushes down and sort-of bounces, like he's trying to climb us. We thought we had more time before all this monkey business started... We also thought it was far too soon for any effort towards crawling, but just today James decided that rolling off his tummy during tummy time is no longer good enough in the movement category. He now throws his legs up into the air and tries to swing his knees up underneath him, puts his butt up in the air, then pushes on the ground with his toes. We doubt he's anywhere near actually moving yet though. At least, we hope not... See for yourselves:


So, what does a 4-month-old do to celebrate his birthday?

First, we opened a savings account for him (don't mind James' refusal to look at the camera... he's still fascinated by lights and ceiling fans):

Then we took James for his first real swim (thanks for letting us use your pool Juliet)! He really enjoyed himself and we had a great time swimming with our little man. Here are a few photos from the festivities...

Here is James, all dressed up and excited for his first big dip (in his big-boy swim trunks from his Grambot):

Here is his "ahhh" reaction to the big warm "bath":

Here he is swimming with Mommy in his cool shades:

And here he is swimming with Daddy in his big goofy (yet sun-safe and adorable) hat:

All that swimming really wore him out! He was asleep in Jean's arms before she even reached the house: With all these big changes just in the past month, you may be wondering how James has changed overall since he was a newborn. This photo comparison will give you a pretty good idea. Here is James with his Daddy at 3-weeks-old and 17-weeks-old:

Amazing, right? The time is just flying on by...

(Both onesies in the above photos are from Robyn's parents, Phil and Joyce. The one on the left is size 0-3 and the one on the right is size 3-6. Matching pants included, but not worn at the time - the ones with the monkey on the butt and the ones with "chomp chomp" on the butt. We miss those monkey pants...)

WELL BABY

James had his 4 month well baby visit today (at 18-weeks-old, just a few days shy of his 4-month birthday), and his second round of vaccinations. This baby of ours is indeed well! Babies are expected to double their birthweight by 4-5 months and triple it by their first birthday. Turns out our boy is right on average, weighing in at 15 lbs 1 oz (50th percentile for weight). We also got official length (24.5 in) and head circumference (41.5 cm) measurements (both in the 25th percentile). This is great news, since James has been right around these percentiles at all other check-ups, and it's important for him to gain and grow consistently along his curve. The doctor also checked with us to be sure that he is meeting his developmental milestones on target (he is), that he is alert and active (is it possible to have too much of a good thing here?... just kidding James), and that he is a happy baby (no doubt). So, James got a good review, and thus so did we. Hooray! With all the laughing and smiling these days, we just knew we had to be doing something right...

Prior to this month's well baby visit, we read "The Vaccine Book" by Dr. Sears. The book is really informative, giving details about how each vaccine is made, what the ingredients are, whether any are controversial, how common the disease is, what the potential side effects of the vaccinations are, etc. Dr. Sears never tells you what to do, but does give his opinion after stating all the known facts (you'd be surprised at how much is still unknown), and offers multiple vaccination schedules to choose from (including the standard CDC/AAP approved schedule that we were previously following). We feel that each vaccine is important (even if the disease is uncommon now, getting the vaccine will help keep it that way), but we do agree with Dr. Sears that the timing of some vaccinations could be altered. Therefore, we have decided to follow an alternative vaccination schedule for James, basically just reducing the number of shots (and thus, the total amount of aluminum - the one ingredient that we have a problem with) he receives at a time. Our pediatrician was happy to make the change for us, but did give us some new literature (Spring 2009) from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia demonstrating that the amount of aluminum present in vaccines is indeed safe, and is effectively eliminated from the body of healthy full-term babies (to read the article for yourself, visit CHOP's Vaccine Education Center). We feel better spacing out the aluminum-containing vaccines anyway. However, please note that I'm not trying to start any controversy here - each parent needs to make the choice that is right for them and their child.

Even though James took his shots like a champ last time, he did have a bout of unconsoleable crying later that evening when the Tylenol wore off and it was too soon for a second dose. That was really hard on me (and him too, I'm sure)... I'd never heard a "pain cry" from him before (it was heart-wrenching) and there was absolutely nothing I could do to make it go away. All I could do was rock him, sing to him, and pat his back while he cried. The poor baby eventually cried himself to sleep in my arms. By the end the cries were just pitiful because he was so exhausted. And poor Jay was on a work trip, so he heard the crying over the phone and was thus even more worried, since he couldn't be there to help or to see for himself that everything was OK. We got through it though, and James was just fine the next morning. In fact, by his 3am nursing session he was back to his old self and didn't even need another dose of Tylenol.

His reaction this time around was great overall. He received just one shot (Pentacel, the combo DTaP/HIB/Polio vaccine) and one oral vaccine (for Rotatvirus). When the nurse gave him the Rotateq, he actually complained when she took it away! Silly boy. Then he complained again when she gave him the shot (it honestly sounded like he was scolding her), but there was no crying. (We go back next month for the Pneumococcal vaccine). We just finished his bath and bottle, gave him a second dose of Tylenol (he got the first right before the shot), and now he's sleeping soundly, right on schedule. What a good boy!

You can see the very crinkled exam table paper on the bottom left of this photo - James really enjoyed pulling on it with his toes and making lots of noise:

(And he got a much cooler bandaid this time - blue camo!)

We didn't have a long list of questions for the pediatrician this visit, so I guess that means we're becoming more and more confident in our parenting abilities. However, we did have one concern... a mere 2 days after we captured that video of James turning from tummy-to-back and mentioned that we hoped he wouldn't learn the other direction for a while, the little guy went ahead and did it! In the past week it has become a very common occurrence - he flips more from back-to-tummy than tummy-to-back these days. So, now we have the new worry that he'll start flipping over at night, and we all know that "back to sleep" is what is recommended for SIDS prevention. We also all know that worrying is what first-time parents do best! Sleeping in the sleep sack on his back is still the best thing for him though. His arms are free, so if he does happen to flip around at night, he'll be able to move as necessary to keep his face off the mattress. We've always been careful to keep toys out of the crib at night, we removed the crib bumpers way back when he first flipped from tummy-to-back, his sheets fit snugly on the mattress (which fits snugly in the crib frame), and we use the sleep sack rather than a loose blanket, so his sleep area really is as safe as can possibly be. Maybe he'll start sleeping on his tummy soon, as most infants prefer to do, and it will be OK. It really will.

The pediatrician gave us the option to start solid foods now, but we're holding off until the 6-month mark as the AAP recommends. Nothing but mommy's milk for James for another 2 months, then we'll start having fun with solids! Our pediatrician told us she recommends starting with rice cereal, moving to yellow veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potatoes), then green veggies, then finally fruits. So, now we know what we can start "cooking" and freezing in anticipation of that first spoonful! We plan to make most of our own baby food, so that should be a fun project over the next couple of months, especially now that the local Farmer's Market is in full swing! And in the meantime, the pediatrician is starting James on vitamins, mostly to be sure he's getting enough iron and flouride. We'll likely continue the vitamins until he turns 9-months-old, when solids become a more important portion of his diet.

Oh yeah, and one more interesting tidbit... The pediatrician was very interested in James' toes. She said they're super long and that he has an amazing amount of movement and grip. She even called them prehensile. See? We knew he was our little monkey.

OPPOSITES

I came home from the grocery store this evening during the middle of story time. James seemed even more interested than usual and was actively participating, so I was impressed. As I followed along, I learned the secret... Jay doesn't just READ the book, he adds his own personal commentary! James apparently really enjoys this style of story telling... Observe:

By the way, the book is called "Opposites" by Sandra Boynton. James got this book in a set with 3 other Boynton classics from Angela, and we love them all.

Highly recommended for little ones!

JAY'S FIRST DADDY'S DAY

I had fun picking out dad-appropriate presents for Jay in honor of his first Father's Day... a wireless grill thermometer, a few new shirts (since he doesn't often wear ties), and a mousepad with James' picture on it to use at work:

James made his Daddy a present too, and it was his very first project at daycare:

His little blue foot was almost as big as the 13-month-old's pink foot (although she is a wee one)!

James also had a couple of firsts today, now that he can hold his head up for longer periods of time... first time in his highchair (just to get him used to the idea, we figured we'd start letting him play with his spoons while we eat) and first time in his new exersaucer (thanks Jill and Marv!):Happy Father's Day to all the great dads and grandpa's out there. We appreciate you!

SKYPE!

Since James was born, we've been Skyping (video calling) with his grandparents, uncles, aunt, and cousin on a somewhat regular basis. Living so far away from family has always been hard on Jay and I, but it's even more difficult now that James has joined our team. Skyping has been a great way to help ease the distance between us all, and we've especially loved being able to see Eli grow and change in real-time (not just photos). We had a great time tonight chatting with Dave and Eli! Since we set a "Skype date", we were able to pick a time when James was 1) recently fed, 2) not sleepy, and 3) not yet ready for his bath. The result was a very happy James, full of smiles and laughs for his Uncle Davey:

BABY IPOD

James' uncle Jamie got him an iPod. Just kidding, but it's sort of the same idea, in babyland. Here is a video of James enjoying some of the Baby Einstein tunes (and lights):


And just for fun, some more cute photos of our little man. James is wearing another HomeStarRunner character here, Baby Trogdor the Burninator.

SILLY PORTRAITS

We ended up with mostly funny faces from James when we attempted to take his 3-month portraits last weekend, so we thought we'd share a few of our favorites. Here he is lounging in his Boppy:

Here he is attempting to sit in his Bumbo chair (with a pillow behind his head for support, since he can't sit unassisted yet):

And here he is looking a bit surprised:

Tonight Mommy finally got James to laugh!! (I had been getting pretty jealous of Jay...)

The boy was smiling so big at me when I was telling him that the cow says "moo" (he was "reading" his new soft book from Nikhil, which obviously has a picture of a cow on it) that I started giggling uncontrollably (I have that habit sometimes). My giggling started James giggling with real, no-doubt-about-it laughs! Of course, I laughed even harder, so that made James throw some squeals into the mix. I laughed so hard I cried. Then I thanked James for making my day. What an awesome kid!

WORKING HARD, OR...

...hardly working! (yeah, that's the one)

Today was our annual Corps Day celebration at work (and the 80th anniversary), a day when our families are invited to spend the day here on station picnicing, water-sliding, movie-watching, pony-riding, game-playing, etc. Yes, James is too young for all these things, but we couldn't resist the chance to spend a whole day with him at work and show him off to all our coworkers! He did really well. He even stuck to his "schedule" (mostly). He's exhausted tonight (as are we - the heat and humidity can really zap your energy), but we think he had a fun day.

Here he is spending the morning playing in my office:

And here he is at the picnic:

(His shirt says DAYDREAMASAURUS)

ON A ROLL

Things are getting more exciting by the day around here...

James has been grabbing things left and right:

Now that he has pretty good head control, we've started playing airplane:

He's been spending even more time watching himself in his many mirrors:

He is somehow becoming even more bendy (note that the MS Mudflap is still intact, even though most of the rest of his hair is being replaced by a lighter and fuzzier version):

And last night, he finally rolled for a second time (and in the opposite direction of that first roll over 3 weeks ago)! Unfortunately I missed it, but Jay saw it, so tonight when we did tummy time we made sure to have the camera ready (you'll hear Jay on the phone with James' Grandma in the background, and I'm cheering James on as usual):

We got 3 rolls before James tired out and needed a cuddle. Now we're just hoping that he doesn't start flipping from his back to his tummy quite yet... that's a whole other worry we'd rather not have to deal with at night right now!