Four Months

 

Our little man will be four months next week, and since we'll be on vacation when that happens, I'll give a quick update of what he's doing at 3 months and 27 days. (Just watch, now he'll start talking tomorrow just to spite me...)

He's not going for his four month check-up for another couple of weeks, but I think it's safe to say he's a bit of a chunk. He's mostly in 3-6 month clothes, but he's not swimming in the 6 month stuff. I like to get as much wear as possible out of the stuff, so I squeeze him into it as long as possible. Speaking of getting wear out of things, he owes his cousin Luke a few sets of PJ's that he's ruined by pooping out of his diaper at night. Contrary to his appearance in this picture, he's pretty good at tummy time. I think I took this after he rolled over.

Speaking of, he started rolling onto his stomach the day he turned 3 months. He prefers to sleep that way, or at least on his side. He hasn't gone tummy to back yet. He's still a thumb sucker. He's not spitting up as badly, but he's drooling like crazy. He's also bringing everything to his mouth. Maybe we'll see teeth soon? He's gotten really good at reaching for and grasping things.

  

He's eating 5 times a day. Sometimes he'll go 2 hours between feedings, sometimes 4. It's largely dependent on how and when he sleeps. He's consistently taking at least one solid (30 minutes or more) nap in the morning and afternoon (afternoon is usually closer to 2 hours). Traveling - and having an older sister with a social life - has impeded his schedule. He's still doing well at night, falling asleep around 7 and sleeping until 7 or so.

He's really a pretty content little guy. He's generally happy as long as he's clean, fed, and is able to see someone's face. He still loves his sister and is starting to "flirt" with strangers when we're out and about. We've gotten more laughter out of him, but I haven't been able to get it on film yet. This is the closest I got. He was BELLY laughing before I got out the camera!

He's such a special little guy and we're blessed and thankful that he's ours.

Dress-Up

Brooke's not a super girly-girl, but she does enjoy dressing up on occasion. Lately she's more into dressing up in my clothes than her own, which I think is pretty cute. 

  

She calls this one the "wedding dress."

 

And Miles is not immune to her dress-up games.

Week of Lexi

 

 

Last week, Lexi turned 4 so we headed down to St. Louis to celebrate with her. (In case you were wondering, Miles still HATES road trips. So that was fun.) She had a family party on Tuesday and a "friend/cousin" party on Saturday so the kids and I stayed the whole week.

  

Saturday's party was complete with play-dough, ice cream cake and fun in the pool. Brooke had a great time and is ready for her birthday...in 3 months.

 

 

 

On Wednesday, my parents and I took the girls to the zoo while Miles stayed with my Grandma. The good thing about going to the zoo when it's 104 degrees is that almost no one is there so we got to do anything we wanted. The bad thing about it is that it's 104 degrees. 

  

  

Of course a ride on the merry-go-round was in order. I may have mentioned this, but Brooke's never met a merry-go-round she didn't love.

The girls with Grandma and Papa T.

We also spent some time visiting my great-aunt Esther, known to the kids as "Auntie." 

She had milk and cookies ready for the girls.

We also spent some time with my grandma.

Of course there was lots of family hang-out time.

 

Krissi and her parents watched all four kids while I took Matt to the airport. Don't they look angelic?

Luke LOVES Miles, or "Baby!" as he calls him.

...and Brooke loves Luke.

 

 And of course we had to have a little photo shoot with all the kids. Here are some of the highlights.

Friends

I love this shot. Jamie took it. I've offered her a position (non-paying, of course) as our full-time family photographer.

Back to the subject at hand - I like to think that Brooke is pretty good at playing with other kids. She's especially drawn to older girls, but she's getting better and better at engaging with kids her own age or even younger. The other day, we went over to play in the sprinkler with the girls that Jamie nannies for. The other girls spent a fair amount of the time fighting/pouting, but Brooke was all about the sprinkler.

 

Fun fact #1 - Brooke remembered the names of all three of the girls Jamie nannies for after meeting them only once at least a month ago. Fun fact #2 - Brooke is very hesitant to walk outside barefoot ever since stepping on a bee at my friend Joy's house...I guess that fact is a little more sad than it is fun.

Speaking of Joy, her son Tye and my friend Jen's daughter Grace are some of Brooke's besties.

There's a little more parallel play than engaging going on at this point, but we're working on it.

Two cute girls and a little stud-muffin. It has all the makings of a "90210" episode.

Comparisons

In looking through the most recent batch of photos that I uploaded, a couple that I had taken of Miles looked very similar to ones that I'd taken of Brooke.

 

 None of them are the best shots of the kids, but I think it's safe to say the two of them look alike.

Happy Birthday, Grandma Audie!

Matt's Grandma's 80th birthday was a couple of weeks ago and we went over to her house to celebrate. Brooke's always up for a party. Especially when there will be cake and ice cream, which was the first thing she asked for when we arrived.

It took a few shots to get both of the kids looking...and looking happy.

 Grandma Audie did her part and looks beautiful in all of the photos.

Seriously, Brooke? I shouldn't complain. It's sweet that she loves him so much.

Family shot.

Uncle Dave (one of Brooke's favorite people), Kevin and Emmie with the Birthday Girl.

Helping blow out the candles, natch.

The kids and their great-grandma. I don't think Brooke had heard Grandma Audie referred to as this before so when I was picking out her card and Brooke was decorating it, she kept having me repeat what it said. She seemed to find the title "great-grandma" very entertaining.

 
Happy birthday, Grandma Johnson!