4 Month Stats

We went for Owen's 4 month well-check appointment this week.  We had to see another doctor because I waited so long to make his appointment that I couldn't get in with our doctor until the second week of January!  I tend to put things off these days. My to-do list is getting longer and nothing is getting crossed off.

The best way to describe the doctor that we saw without being mean, would be to say that he was verrrrry set in his ways, extremely old-fashioned and had been doing this for so long that it seemed like he was basically reading from a script, asking his routine questions that he asks at every baby well-check appointment and going through the movements as quick as he could so he could move onto the next patient, just to do it all over again.

I went in with a few questions that I was really anxious to have answered.  After about two minutes I realized I would not have the answers when I walked out. In fact, I would be more confused and frustrated that I was when I arrived.

He thought I was swaddling Owen because it was winter time and he was cold, not because he pulls out his pacifier, waps himself in the head and cant seem to settle himself down without the swaddle. 
His suggestion to help Owen keep the pacifier in his mouth was to somehow get a receiving blanket and put it through the hole of the pacifier and somehow mash it up to his face so he could find it on his own....yeah, I have no idea either.  Don't doctors usually tell you not to put blankets in the crib with a baby? He thinks that the reason he has starting eating again at night is because he needs to start solids, even though everything I have ever read suggests waiting until 6 months. 
I guess the only good information I got from the appointment was that Owen is healthy and hitting all the developmental milestones right on time...and that's what really matters.

Anyway, here are his 4 month stats:
Height: 24 inches, 65-75%
Weight: 16 lbs, 85-90%
Head: 50%

He is our big boy!

He has learned to roll over from tummy to back and is working on back to tummy, he almost has it!  Apparently there is something called the 4 month sleep regression....and we are knee-deep in it!  All the progress we made in the sleep department seemed to go straight out the window in the last two weeks.  But I think we are finally making progress again and its getting better.  If I continue to write about it, I may start to cry, so Ill leave it at that.

It seems that no matter how much or little he sleeps during the day, he is still the cheery little guy we love so much!

We have started going for an after dinner walk each night to look at the Christmas lights in the neighborhood.  Eli really enjoys it and we get a kick out of all the things he says on our walks.

All of a sudden Eli is saying EVERYTHING. And speaking in sentences, and becoming extremely independent, and makes us laugh all the time.

 I do believe we are in the terrible twos. It isn't so terrible, but man, he is wearing us out!  The energy. The independence. The tantrums. But goodness he is sweet and pretty funny!

He loves looking at the lights and points out the same burnt out light in one of our neighbors yards and is very concerned about it every night. 

Pure Happiness

Every time I look at these pictures all I can think of is pure happiness.

Pure, unfiltered, innocent happiness! I want it to last forever.

Ethan came in town for two whole weeks this month!!! Eli has a new best friend.  "Effie!!!!!"  I think Rachel even got a little jealous of the excitement Eli showed for Ethan every time he was around. 

I grew up with my Aunt Carol living with us.  She is 10 years younger than my mom and she lived with us until she got married, she was like a big sister to us.  She taught us our manners, took care of us, and made sure we never, ever, ever chewed with our mouths open!  And although Ethan and Rachel don't live with us, I hope that Eli and Owen feel just as close to them as we did to Carol growing up, and they teach them a thing or two.

We got to see Ethan almost everyday that he was here.  It was wonderful!  I have always said that he is one of the most patient people I know.  I guess he learned that he had to be growing up with two bratty sisters! 
On the first night of Hanukkah, Ethan and Rachel came over to play and celebrate with us.  Ethan raked up a huge pile of leaves in our front yard and played in them until it was dinner time. 

It was so wonderful to spend so much time with him.  We are counting down the days until his next trip home!

So Much to be Thankful For

Three years ago- Thanksgiving was care-free, we showed up, drank some famous punch, maybe a bloody mary or two, ate until we could barely walk, hung around the house until the sun went down and then came home and went to bed.

Two years ago-Thanksgiving was still pretty care-free, showed up very pregnant, drank water, and ate only what didn't smell like it was going to make me throw-up.  Came home, and fell asleep as soon as I could find a comfortable position in bed.

Last year- I was tired on Thanksgiving. Why? I was pregnant again, only I didn't know it. I had a 10 month old.  Thanksgiving became less carefree.  Celebrating holidays with kids is more fun, but so much more work and planning!  Passed Eli off to every other person that walked by that wanted to hold him, making sure he ate, and napped was such a chore.  It was a glimpse into the next few years of celebrating Thanksgiving. 

This year.  Oh.  Exhausting.  But still wonderful, and still my favorite day of the year.
Let me go back a few weeks.  The AC at my parents house did some serious damage upstairs.  The ceiling was basically peeling off in certain rooms, the carpet had to be completely pulled up due to water damage in two rooms, the walls in the bathroom and my room had to be replaced, new tile was put down, new cabinets were put in in the bathroom. Oh, it was a mess.  It was determined that two new units were needed in the house.  After all, they were the original units put in in the early 80's.  So, of course why wait until after Thanksgiving, right? They started on the new ac units on Monday.  This may not seem like a big deal, but this meant there were about 10 men, who looked like they were sumo wrestlers, were in and out of the house, in and out of the attic, replacing not only the actual ac units, but all of the insulation, and the guts of the vents (I don't know the proper lingo here).

Had you been in our house just 24 hours before our guests arrived, you would not have believed that our house had been in such shambles.

Oh, and on top of that, I got sick Tuesday night and felt like I had been run over.  Wednesday Blaine went into work early and we headed to my parents house to help get the house ready because the AC guys were still working and there pieces of celing on the floor, boxes everywhere, dust and furniture all over the place!  Only, the only help I was was laying on the couch, sniffling, while my mom made me tea.

That afternoon, we headed to the fire station for a pre-Thanksgiving chili dinner.  I pulled myself together as best I could to make it through dinner.  Thank goodness there were others there needing to love on a baby because the minute I walked in the door, Owen was held by everyone but me, it was great!  And of course everything that Eli needed to entertain himself was right in front of him--firetrucks, cute girls, and a giant chalk board.

But we had a good time and ate some good ole' tamales and chili, you know, traditional Thanksgiving feast!

Thanksgiving at our house is almost like Groundhog Day.  Its always the same, only we make a few tweaks from the year before to make it better.
The turkey fry, followed by family and friends trickling in around noon, eating, drinking, more people showing up, more eating, game watching, and more eating.
The day felt like a jugging act.  Put Owen down for a nap, feed him, put Eli down for a nap, feed him, Owen goes back down, Eli is up, Owen is up, Owen is hungry, where is Eli?  Who has Owen?  Owen goes down for a nap, feed him...you get the point. 
Eli had no problem finding playmates.

There were kids (ALL cousins!!!) everywhere, but of course some of the older kids were more interested in their electronics!

Owen was able to have some bonding time with Ethan, or Effie as Eli has named him and I think all in all it was a great first Thanksgiving!

There was a bunch of game watching

Lots of eating

And a lot of hanging out with family...

Of course Thanksgiving is all about being with family and there was no shortage of that this weekend! 
Friday night all the cousins who lived south of the river gathered for pizza and hanging out.  Of course all cousins were invited but it just so happened that only us Southies came.  Between us, there were 5 boys under 4 so they all had fun stealing toys from each other! 

We kicked off a new tradition of going to the Chuy's Children Giving to Children Parade the Saturday after Thanksgiving. 
Lucky for us, we had the perfect spot to watch the parade!

As a side-note, have I introduced the store cat on the blog yet?  This is Mariposa, she is in charge of critter control at the store, she lives there and hangs out in the front window during the day greeting the customers.  Customers know her by name and stop by for a quick pet all the time!

Since Blaine headed to work that morning, I decided to brave the parade alone.  Luckily I had the store to throw all my stuff down in,  and use to feed Owen in!  And although Rachel and my dad were both working, they couldn't resist just staying inside.

My dad even brought out a ladder so Eli could get a really  good luck at the parade!

I remember parades being really exciting as a kid.  As an adult, not quite as exciting. I even tried to convince Eli that the parade was over half way into it but he was on to me, so we stayed for the whole thing.  He even cried when we left it was so much fun!  And judging by his 3 1/2 hour nap, he was pooped!
Following tradition, Sunday morning was pollachinkas!  If you want more details on this, you could probably just go back and read my post from last Thanksgiving, its pretty much the same story every year.  But there were two new faces this year, Owen and Miles.

Here are a few more pics of the fesivities.

Happy Thanksgiving!