Four Months

Tomorrow I'll officially be four months old. Dad says he's pretty impressed with himself that he's kept me alive this long. He's kidding, though. I think.

I have my doctor's appointment on Monday, which means I have to get more shots. I did NOT like the shots last time, so I'm gonna make sure to take some Tylenol in advance to help stave off the pain. Dad unofficially weighed me yesterday (by standing on the scale while holding me and then standing on it by himself) and I'm somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 pounds. He also has to be really careful carrying me in and out of my room, because I'm long enough to play havoc with the 30-inch doorjamb now. Yeah, that's right, I'm a big kid, and I'm doing some big kid stuff.

Last night I started rice cereal. Mom wanted to wait until I was six months, but I just can't stay asleep on breast milk alone anymore. I was a little too hungry to put up with learning a spoon the first time, but tonight Mom and Dad caught me before I put on my crabby panties and I ate almost two ounces of milk with about four teaspoons of cereal mixed in. It would have been better if I could have sucked on the spoon, but you can't have everything. It seems to be doing the trick for sleep -- last night I did three hours at a stretch again, where this week before I'd been waking up hungry about once an hour.

I also busted out with my first real laugh tonight. Dad was blowing raspberries at me while he was changing my diaper, and it was enough to send me over the edge. He got so excited that we ran into the living room (where Mom was on the phone with Nona) to see if I'd do it again -- and sure enough, I did, on the phone even. They were all excited, but heck, I just thought he should know I appreciate his silly jokes and faces.

Dad took me out every day this week. Monday we went for a long walk with the puppies, and I sat forward in the Snugli for the first time. It was a little tricky, because the top strap should have been a little tighter and so I wobbled around a little bit and rubbed my cheek on the part that should have stayed folded down (and would have if the strap was tight enough). Also, Dad forgot the puppies sort of like to pull on their leashes. Still, we're going to try it again. We did a little bit of shopping Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and I came out of a trip to Kohl's with a new stegosaurus friend (who we named Stella). Today we just went for dinner at Chili's, but that was still nice -- I got to sit next to Mom and spend more time with her.

Next week I'll have an official height and weight measurement for all my fans. Be prepared to be shocked, I think.