4 Months

Will is 4 months old today. I'm sure I sound like a broken record every time he reaches a milestone, but I really can't believe how fast it's going and what a little man he's turning into. He's really a baby now, rather than an infant and he's very interactive. He's grabbing for toys (and other things, such as my hair). He puts everything into his mouth, of course. Toys, his hands, other peoples' hands, bibs, blankets, burp clothes - it all goes right into his mouth. If he's sitting in his swing or bumbo or bouncy seat he watches me while I walk around the house. He smiles and laughs when we talk to him. He reaches his arms out for us. When we go for walks he looks out the side of the stroller and watches as we pass things by rather than staring at me or falling asleep. It's really amazing how aware and interactive he is now. I feel like he's right on the edge of doing a lot of new things. I think in a few weeks he's going to all of the sudden be rolling over and sitting up and babbling and grabbing his feet.

He was really cranky and hungry all of the time for 2 or 3 weeks, but has finally gotten back to himself in the last week or so. I think he was going through a huge growth spurt because it was during that time that he really started being more aware and grabbing for things.

He's still not sleeping through the night, unfortunately. On a good night he goes to bed at 8 or so and then wakes up at 4:00, 6:00 or 7:00, and 9:00. Some nights he's up at 12:30 , 1:00, or 2:00 also, though, and those really suck because then I don't get more than 2 or 3 hours of sleep in a row. That's tough. Some people say that if you start giving them cereal it helps with the sleeping. I'm just not sure if I'm ready to start feeding him solids yet, though. They say to start between 4 and 6 months, but I don't necessarily want to be on the early end of that. He's doing well and gaining weight on breastmilk and I don't see any reason to rush into feeding him anything else, especially as I've read lots of things to say that rice cereal has no nutritional value whatsoever. I'd like to limit the time he's on that and really use it just to ease him into solids before putting him on fruits and veggies (which I plan on steaming and pureeing myself). We'll see, though. He does seem to need to eat more often lately and his night sleeping is gradually getting worse so I may break down and at least try the cereal...

Thanksgiving

Will's first Thanksgiving was this week. There isn't a whole lot to report on the baby front as it's such a food-centered holiday and Will is still on liquid and turkey-less diet (although Grandma Carol continues to be irritated that I will not give him rice cereal yet).

It is kind of fun because we found out that I was pregnant right after Thanksgiving last year so it's been a year now that the little man has been in our life in some way. It's been a big year and it's kind of crazy all that has happened. My life is completely different now that it was a year ago and I've had so many life-changing experiences (being pregnant, giving birth, caring for an infant, quitting my job) it's just weird to take a step back and take it all in.

Thanksgiving was a big day for me because I successfully ran the Thanksgiving Day 10k. This was a big milestone for me in my road to getting back into pre-baby shape. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it, given all of the stitches I had and how I felt like I was starting from square one when I started running at 6 weeks. I did it in 1:06, slower than last year but not bad considering I gave birth almost exactly 4 months ago (and how hard it is to find time for myself to run and get to the gym now that I have a baby).

Running this race was also a big deal because I got to run it with my friend Elizabeth. This is the 3rd time we've trained for this race together but only the 1st time we've actually gotten to run it together. Two years ago we met in the training group for the race but got matching stress fractures (how cute, huh?) 3 weeks before the race. After our respective crutch time and physical therapy we trained again for the 2008 race, but Elizabeth got the flu on the day of so I had to run it solo. Then we couldn't train for the 2009 1/2 Pig together because I was pregnant so she did it without me. So it was kind of a big deal that we finally got to run something together. It felt great. Now I just have to be really diligent about keeping up with the running and staying in shape between now and January when the Pig training starts. I'm determined to do this half marathon, damnit. Because if all goes according to plan I'll be knocked up again for the '11 race...

The Bald Spot

So I guess it's pretty common for babies to start losing their hair around this age and Will is apparently no exception. Over the last few weeks he has begun to cultivate quite a large bald spot on the back of his head. The front and top of his hair is definitely getting a bit thinner too, but there is actually a complete lack of hair in one spot on the back of his head, presumably from him moving his head back and forth in his crib and his car seat. As you can see, it looks pretty ridiculous. We laugh about it on a daily basis. What makes the whole thing even more ridiculous looking/amusing is that he still has a tuft of dark hair at the base of his head underneath the bald spot which looks sort of like a mullet. That's right, people, my baby's got business in the front and party in the back...

In addition, the hair that seems to be growing in to replace the darker newborn hair that he had appears to be blond. Which is just totally weird. Tim had lighter hair when he was a baby so I guess it kind of makes sense, but it's still odd. His eyes are still very blue too, so basically the child is going to look nothing like either of us, at least for the first few years. People are going to think we stole him!

So the favorite pastime of friends and family as of late is thinking of funny explanations for Will's oddly shaped bald spot. Here are some of my favorites:

1. I spilled Nair on the back of his head

2. I put a piece of duct tape on the back of his head ripped it off

3. I decided to shave his head, but after taking one swipe at the back changed my mind and stopped

4. It's not a bald spot, it just looks that way because of the toupee sitting on top of his head

Good times. Hopefully the new little blond hair-lets make their way in quickly so we can stop having a laugh at Will's expense :-)

Baptism

Will was baptized this weekend on November 15th. It was a beautiful day. In the 60's and very unseasonable for mid-November. We had him baptized at Blessed Sacrament, which is where we got married and where I went to grade school. Aunt Rachel and Uncle Rich are Will's godparents. Uncle Rich couldn't be here for the baptism, though, so Grandpa Robin stood in for him.

We went to mass before the baptism and then the ceremony was afterwards. There were four children getting baptized at once. Will wore the baptism gown that Uncle Mike, Grandpa Mike, and I all wore. He was very good during the ceremony and the actual baptism. He didn't cry at all.

Afterwards everyone came back to our house for lunch. It was nice day, although Will was a bit fussy through mass and when we got home after the baptism. I've been having a lot of trouble getting him to nap lately. I think he's gotten to an age where he's aware enough of what's going on that he doesn't want to miss anything by going to sleep. But since he's not napping well he's getting really cranky during the day. I'm wondering if he's trying to cut teeth too. He just hasn't really been himself lately.

Will Does Chicago

We went to Chicago, IL this weekend for our friends Dan and Jaimie's wedding. Tim was in the wedding so we had to be there for the rehearsal dinner on Friday and the wedding on Saturday. We brought Will. He stayed with a babysitter the bride found for us both nights. I was nervous both about the car ride up and back and also about leaving him with a babysitter. He's never stayed with anyone other than me or Tim or his grandparents. Everything went great, though. He did wonderfully in the car (not surprising). We had to stop a lot along the way so he could eat and just get out of his car seat for awhile, but that just added some time and everything went fine. The babysitter was great. She was really sweet and did really well with him. He was such a good boy for her. Here's a pic of him in the hotel room :-)

Boo! Will's 1st Halloween

Last Saturday was Will's first Halloween. Of course, without teeth he wasn't able to enjoy the candy quite as much as we would have liked :-) He carved a pumpkin with Mommy during the day. It had a scary ghost on it. Then later we dressed up in our skeleton outfit and went to Aunt Rachel and Uncle Andy's house so that we could eat some yummy chili and hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters in their neighborhood. Grandma Carol and Grandpa Mike were there too.

After dinner, Will put on his chili pepper costume and was ready to hand out candy. It wasn't too cold outside so we all sat on the front porch for awhile. Aunt Rachel had decorated the porch with gourds and hay so it was very festive. Mommy and Daddy drank pumpkin beer and ate some of the Halloween candy. It was lots of fun. There were lots of trick-or-treaters, and everyone that came by said hi to Will. After awhile he got cold so we went back inside and played with grandma for awhile.

When we came home we lit the pumpkins on our front porch.