James is 19 weeks old! Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween everyone! It is James's first Halloween, and to celebrate we dressed him up like a bee and went over to our friend's house for dinner and trick-or-treating. James also turned 19 weeks old yesterday, so we took some pics of him in his costume to celebrate (there are more in the Fifth Month album if you need more pics!):









During the day today we carved the pumpkin we had gotten from the pumpkin patch.






Then we went over to Mark and Jenny's house this evening to eat a feast of pumpkin-shaped pizza, macaroni and cheese, and hot dogs. They dressed their 1.5 year old son Henry up like Sherlock Holmes.


And, after a photo shoot, we went trick-or-treating! James was pretty tired so we only went to a couple houses.




We had a great time, and James was especially good this evening. He didn't fuss at all even missing his evening nap. He also was ridiculously cute in his bee costume!

He hasn't done anything particularly new this week except laugh a bit more and be able to support himself better in his upper torso. He's also grasping things and bringing them to his mouth more and more (which means we have to watch what is near him to grab!). We've been enjoying playing with him and watching him roll over more often. :-)

So now the "holiday season" has officially started, and as I heard the radio station I usually listen to play Christmas songs today (instead of Halloween ones), I almost started to hyperventilate. I'm not ready for Christmas, because at Christmas James will be 6 months old! Oh my goodness! It's just going way too fast...

Oh well. Happy Halloween!!

Upside down...

I went in to get James for his 4am feeding last night... it's dark in his room and I don't turn on the lights to keep him in "sleep mode." Well, I noticed that he had jammed himself into the side of the crib, so I picked him up and moved him to the center of the bed. It was then I realized he was not only all the way to the side, he was totally upside down! He had rolled over to his tummy and couldn't figure out how to get back. Too cute! :-)

Gotta run, His Crankiness is up from his nap.

Fourth Month Video

It's done! It's here! And it's a tad bit shorter than previous months!

James is 18 weeks old!!

James is 18 weeks old as of yesterday. He's getting much more animated in his facial expressions and his voice. He's not really doing anything new besides being able to support himself better. He can kind of sit for a second or two before toppling over.

Sleep wise, he is getting slightly better. He generally gets up 3 times per night... twice for feedings and once just because he misses our company. But he generally doesn't get up for the day now till 7 or 8am, which is a definite improvement over 5am. He's also going down easier to sleep, only crying for maybe a minute or two instead of 30. This is a HUGE relief, as bedtime/naptime has been a nightmare for the past few weeks.

James is also growing sooooo fast. Even though he's only in the 45th percentile for height and weight, he is outgrowing his 6 month clothes and headed into 9 month clothes. Part of this might be because he wears cloth diapers, but I think most of it is because he has a really long torso. Sadly, the hand-me-downs we got from Levi and Asher in this size are mostly summery clothes, so James only has 3 or 4 long-sleeve shirts! Oh well... he'll just have to grow into some of his 9 month clothes that have long sleeves!

Here are some pics we took today to celebrate him being 18 weeks old:





18 weeks!!

4-month doctor's appt

James saw the doctor today for his 4-month well baby visit. He is healthy, weighing in at 14lbs 7.9oz (45th%) and 24 3/4" long (also 45th%). His head was a petite 16 1/4" (25th%). All in all he looks pretty good. I did ask about the purple/blue dot on his head that is not a bruise (he's had it for weeks), and she said it might be a hemangioma and that we should watch it. I had to look up what a hemangioma is...

"Hemangioma: This term is used to describe a variety of blood-vessel growths. These flat or raised lesions can be large and disfiguring or small and not very noticeable.

Hemangiomas affect about 2 to 5 percent of babies and are more common in girls, preemies, and twins. Twenty percent of children who have hemangiomas have more than one.

Hemangiomas occur mostly on the head and neck, and, unlike other birthmarks, they can grow rapidly. They usually show up during the first six weeks of life — only 30 percent are visible at birth — and grow for about a year, usually getting no bigger than 2 or 3 inches.

Then, without treatment, they usually stop growing and begin to turn white and shrink. This reversal process can take three to ten years. While many hemangiomas leave normal-looking skin in their wake, others can cause permanent skin changes.

A deeper hemangioma (formerly called a cavernous hemangioma) appears as a lumpy bluish-red mass. It grows quickly in the first six months and is usually gone by the time a child reaches his teens. Such hemangiomas are bluish in color because the abnormal vessels are deeper than those in the superficial hemangioma."

I hope it isn't going to get bigger and that it goes away soon. It's hardly noticeable right now...

Other than that and some immunization shots, James is doing well. I have a feeling he will get cranky in a few hours though when the shots kick in. Oh well.

James is 4 months old!

James turned 4 months old today. I can't believe it. He is growing so fast I almost can't catch up. Yesterday was the first time he took an interest in Sophie, his giraffe teething pal, when he grabbed her and tried to stuff her whole head in his mouth. I think he is teething because he LOVES to gnaw on that darn giraffe and his fingers. See?

He's also been pulling on his lower jaw a bit as well.


To celebrate James turning 4 months, we took a trip to the pumpkin patch at Thistledown Farms.

The weather was beautiful, warm and sunny.

After purchasing some tickets in the market area, we headed through the covered bridge toward the wagon we'd take to the pumpkin patch.


We took a hayride down to the patch, James wide-eyed and taking it all in the while way.


Another couple with kids was with us, and they had a newborn and a one year old... the one year old wailed the whole way there and the whole way back because he was terrified of the tractor and bumpy ride! He was ok though. I thought for sure it would have been James that cried...

When we got to the patch, we took some pictures and checked out some pumpkins. James adorned his pumpkin hat from Great Grandma Carroll for the event.












We then climbed back on the hay wagon and enjoyed another bumpy ride back to the market!



There we bought our pumpkin, a mini pumpkin for James, some apples to make into baby food for later, and some cider for me.


It was naptime, so we headed home. But when James woke up from his nap, he was all too happy to pose with his pumpkin!

James, 4 months old!!


And so his fifth month begins!

James is 17 weeks old!!

James turned 17 weeks old yesterday! New developments this week include:

Laughing for the first time
Rolling over back to tummy
Bringing objects to his mouth once in awhile
Waking up at night just to be social
Grabbing toys that interest him
Moving around in his crib a lot
Chewing on his fingers and grabbing his jaw while drooling... maybe teething?

We made the mistake of trying to go to church today right when James needed to go down for a nap. We are now paying for it by James being crabby all day and screaming from being overtired. :-( HOWEVER, James did sleep from 2:30am to 7am (!!!) which is a first. I'm going to chalk it up to a fluke for right now and see how tonight goes. I never know what to expect from James...

Here are a few cute shots from this week:

Reading with Daddy


Playing with his balloon


At the Saturday Market


In the Bumbo




17 weeks!!