May 2004

05/29/04

Today is Tommy's 4-month birthday.  Here are some thoughts on the occasion...

• He's a gigantic mass of saliva most of the time these days.  He usually has one or more fingers, any toy within reach, his shirt, and/or my hair in his mouth at all times.  If I leave him on the floor on his tummy with a non-absorbent toy, he usually needs to be rescued after about five minutes because the spit threatens to overwhelm him.  It's pretty hilarious in a gooey, cringe-worthy way.  He loves to have his chin wiped off, so we keep burp cloths around for frequent face-wiping games.
• He's truly ticklish now, although you can't do the same tickle too many times in one day or the novelty wears off.  His favorite tickles are kisses under his jaw, walking fingers on his back and ribs, really light surprise tickles under his arms, putting his shirt on over his head, and "making raisin bread" (roll him, roll him, roll him and put raisins in him).
• He's figured out an "I'm about to cry face" which is totally a ploy to get me to pick him up.  It usually works too.  I haven't been able to get a picture of it yet. 
• His favorite toys lately are the square with animals on it that makes animal sounds (from Grandma Sylvia), his ExerSaucer, his mirror, and his butterfly keys.
• He still likes for me to read to him, but only when he's feeling quiet.  He's active enough now that he'll roll over and get distracted if I read to him when he's feeling hyper.  His favorite books right now are Snuggle Puppy, Dinosaur Roar and Eating the Alphabet.
• We take him outside for 30 minutes or so right before bed every evening.  At the beginning of the month he was completely obsessed with the tree.  He's stare mesmerized at the play of light and wind through the leaves above his head.  Now, he's more likely to look around.  We've started calling him "Baby Who Squeals at the Wind" because if it's at all windy he squeals as loudly as he can the entire time we're out there.  He also sticks his tongue out to taste the wind every few seconds.
• As for music, his favorite song right now is Little Bunny Foo Foo.  He likes the hand motions.  He also really likes the part in Fantasia during the Nutcracker Suite segment when the Russian thistles are dancing.  Go figure!

You can't see it but the drool is dripping through the toy and pooling on his shirt.

My new haircut.

05/24/04

Naked Baby pic below -- don't look if you don't want to see it.  We've had to start giving him his bath in the big bathtub because he's outgrown the infant tub.  This mesh thingy keeps his head out of the water, but he's really too big for it too.  I don't think he's going to get a bath at all when David goes out of town for work.  The tub's too deep, my arms are too short, and Tommy's too wiggly.

05/21/04

Tommy had his 4 month well-baby visit today.  It's a week early because his doctor is on vacation next week.  He weighed 17 lbs 3 oz and is 26.75 inches long.  His growth in length is starting to outpace his weight gain, which is both good and normal.  He had to have shots again but hasn't been quite as fussy this time, just very sleepy.  Here's a picture of him in the comfort position.

Of course after his long nap, we decided he needed extra stimulation.  We went out and bought an ExerSaucer.  Here are the results.  He's happily playing now, but I give it about 5 more minutes before he gets overwhelmed.  Um...never mind.  As I typed that David picked him up and is now getting the mega-giggles. out of him.  Anyway, here are some ExerSaucer pictures.

05/20/04

Here's an additional picture of Tommy and Emma.  Lori took this one with their camera and Adam just e-mailed it to me.  If you want to see the other pictures they took or read what they have to say about the trip, Emma's website is http://brooks.spinning-ball.com/baby/ and Lori's Blog (short for web-log -- a type of online diary) is at http://e-scout.blogspot.com/ 

05/19/04

I seem to be taking a lot of pictures lately.  Hope you're enjoying them!

Grandpa Wayne gifted Tommy with this cool bear named Harry.  They're already becoming friends.

05/17/04

Here's a good one of David and Tommy.

Emma gave Tommy these cool blocks.  I thought she'd like to see a picture of him "playing" with them.  He's propped up in his crib.

Speaking of playing with particular toys, I promised Kathy Perantie a picture of Baby Epp with this wonderful duck she gave us at my baby shower back in November.  It's soft and rounded so of course he usually puts it in his mouth.

I haven't put up any updated nursery pictures in a long time, so here you go.  David is 80% finished building the last 2 shelves for the bookcase.

Another nursery picture.  Tommy is propped in the corner of the crib.

05/15/04

Emma, Adam and Lori are here!  My good friends and their three-year-old daughter are visiting this weekend.  We went to the zoo Friday.  Today Lori, Emma, Tommy and I went to the aquarium and botanical gardens while David and Adam went hiking.  Here are a few pictures.

05/11/04

After the pee fountain sprays me, Mommy puts me in the crib wrapped in this nice blanket so I can dry off and wait for her to clean everything up.  I'm very patient, although I like to chew on the blanket sometimes.

05/10/04

He did it!  Finally!  Tommy just rolled over, from back to front, all by himself.  I guess leaving him alone on a blanket surrounded by toys that are just out of reach does the trick.  I missed seeing it the first time.  I just looked over and he was on his tummy.  Of course then I rolled him back over to see if he would do it again.  That's how I got the pictures.

05/06/04

Dinosaur Baby

05/03/04

Here are a couple of great pictures we got yesterday.

05/02/04 

Grandma Sylvia is visiting this weekend.  Every time someone visits, Tommy sleeps for 8+ hours at night.  It's very strange.  He did it three times while my mom was here in April and then again last night, but not once in the intervening weeks.  I'm not complaining though!  If I get a long night of sleep a few times a month then I'm a lucky new mom.

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