John is Five Months Old

John is five months old today. In a way I cannot believe he's so old already. In another way, it seems like he's been part of our family for so long.

To celebrate, he's wearing a 9 mo.(!!) sized outfit! (He can still wear 6 mo., but definitely not 3 mo.)

John weighs 16(!) pounds now and has started eating "solids." At his four month check-up, the doctor said he was ready to start, but I didn't believe her. Haha. James didn't start until six months, and I had the same schedule in my head for John. Which would have him starting after we get home from our trip to the beach and my reunion. After discussing it (and me shedding a few tears about my baby growing up too fast) Dan and I decided not to feed John right away.

After a week or so it seemed like he wanted to nurse all. the. time., so we whipped up some rice cereal, got out a silver spoon, and shot some video footage. This was dinner time on a random weeknight early last week, btw. It was a disaster as John was rather tired and cranky. Okay, we'll wait. But the incessant nursing demands continued, so Saturday morning I gave it another shot. Success! (this video is from this week, not Saturday morning)

He's been having the rice cereal twice a day pretty much every day since then! On to barley and oats soon!

Mobility

So my little baby is getting mobile. He spins, he rolls (tummy to back AND back to tummy; not a 360 though), and he impresses his big brother with his pushing up.
Tonight he's even moving around in his bed! I've tuned in on the monitor and found him in a few different positions! (these grainy photos don't really show the variety very well; he's rotated around a bit.)

Musical Beds

The past few nights we've been playing musical beds. John is sleeping well, but not as well as he did a week and a half ago (when he slept through the night for one week). He goes to sleep between 7 and 8, then sleeps until at least 12.

Anyway, on Tuesday night James came into our bed just as John was waking up for a middle of the night feeding. I fed John and came back to my crowded bed only to hear John crying again shortly thereafter. I ended up sleeping with John in James's bed.

Last night I woke up at some point in the middle of the night, surprised that I hadn't been woken by John yet. As I turned to check the monitor, I found James beside me! When John woke up a bit later I ended up sleeping with him in the chair for a few hours before getting up to go for a run.

On the way to school this morning, I had the following conversation with James--
Me: So, you came to our bed last night.
James: yep.
Me: I was surprised when you were there.
James: Did you hear me come in?
Me: No, I woke up in the middle of the night, and there you were.
James: That's because I was quiet like a ninja.
Me: (laughter)

John's new voice

Within the last week, John has developed a new communication skill. Screaming. Like someone is pulling off his fingernails. It's delightful.
Sometimes he screams to say he's tired.
Sometimes he screams because he's hungry.
Sometimes he screams because he's uncomfortable.
And sometimes he screams because he's happy. Really. Smiling away and screaming. Good times.

Backyard Fun

Tonight we broke out the (very) old hibachi and grilled hotdogs for dinner. Then we roasted (extremely large) marshmallows for dessert. I love our family and our house!

Happy Half Birthday!

James is four and a half today. He's rather pleased about it. This morning at breakfast I said, "Happy half birthday, James! You're four and a half!"
He gave me a big smile and replied, "Am I going to go to Hubbard School now?"
Here's a picture of him proclaiming his age this evening.

Soothing

John discovered his thumb about a month ago. He rediscovers it periodically, and finds great comfort when he does. Of course, I worry that he'll develop an addiction, but if he does, hopefully it won't last tooooo long.
He does look awfully sweet sucking his thumb, doesn't he?

Another Jamesism

It's 48 days until the Olympics, in case you didn't know. And that means we'll be watching lots of television here.

Today I had NBC on in anticipation of the track and field coverage, so we caught the end of a men's gymnastics competition. James was (rightly) impressed with the routines we saw.

When James saw that the athletes on tv were now runners, he complained, "But what happened to the gymtastics?!"

Good one. It was fantastic gymnastics.

Morning Dialogue

This morning at the breakfast table, James and I had the following exchange:

James: Mommy!  You and John have on the same outfit!

Me: Yep.  We are both wearing dark blue.

James: But his has little white guitars on it, and yours doesn't.

Me: True.

James: And John has a bib necklace, and you have a gold and Tinkerbell necklace.


**Tinkerbell is a Jamesism for diamonds.  Because they cause "Tinkerbell" to fly around a room with their reflected light.
And I looove that he called the ever-present bib a "bib necklace."
Love. that. kid.

Mulch fest 2012

So today we celebrated Mulch Day. This is the day on which we tackle the gigantic mountain of mulch we had delivered and fill in our landscaping in the front yard. We got most of it completed today. We plan to knock out the rest of it tomorrow then get some topsoil delivered in order to reclaim some of the flower bed area as well as improve the grass situation overall.

Snuggles

One of the best things about the second child is that you know. For instance, you know it's actually easy at first (they can't move; they just need milk and sleep). You also know that every stage, good or bad, is short.

Right now I know that it won't be long at all until John won't fall asleep in my lap, so I am going to sit here and bask in the cuddles.