Da Kaleb and His Bear

I totally forgot to add the most adorable thing... we've had two little teddy bears in Kaleb's crib since he was born. More for decoration than anything, but lately we have been using one of the bears as a cuddle toy when Kaleb is put down for a nap. He has a hard time sleeping without a pacifier in his mouth and if we don't give him the bear, his hands will rip the pacifier out and he will get restless and not sleep. Anywho, so the other day, Ammon went in to get Kaleb up from his nap, and as he picked him up out of the crib, the little bear came with him. Kaleb had a vice-like grip on the little bear's arm it was dangling at his side. So SWEET!!!!

Kaleb at Four Months

We finally had another doctor's appointment to get the stats on Kaleb and... (drum roll please)... he is now 18 pounds, 14 oz. (97th percentile) and 26.5 inches (90th percentile). He is our big little boy. We are getting to the point where we are considering putting him in the "Up to 30 pounds" infant car seat since he is getting so close to his "up to 22 pounds" limit on the one we're using now. Our doctor reassures us that the more active he gets, the more his weight will stabilize, but I will believe that when I see it. Especially since neither of his parents' wieght stabilized till they were adults (HA, that's a joke, son). As it is, he is still wearing half of the clothes he was wearing at 2 months.

In fact, the picture below is at three months:

And this is him at four months:

A funny little thing about Kaleb lately is his recognition. He now knows who mommy and daddy are (or at least that we are his two peeps), and so whenever someone else holds him, and he notices Ammon and me apart from him, he starts to cry. (sorry, grammas!!) The doctor said that reaction is more normal at 6-9 months... which means it's probably gonna get worse before it gets better. OY!! In addition to that, Kaleb seems to recognize that I am a source of food and has often taken to very purposefully sucking on my face or neck or arm if it's available. Kind of funny! Thankfully I am nursing less now since I'm working and I plan to have Kaleb weaned by the end of the month so this won't get into a bad habit!

Kaleb has really blossomed this month as far as his physical abilities. He really enjoys tummy time now and has even rolled over a few times both from his back and from his tummy. Burping has become a lot more difficult since he will straighten his body in protest whenever he is still hungry. So now I tend to burp him while he is standing.

Plus, as I mentioned in my last post, Kaleb is starting to sit on his own. Below is the link to our latest video of him. He is more slouching on his own than sitting, but you gotta start somewhere. You will also notice the drool, which has doubled this month. His sleeping and napping have been pretty eratic over the last few weeks also, so I'm hoping that means a tooth will be breaking through soon... but I'm not holding my breath.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl5OiWpgOOo

Post Media Blackout Update

As I mentioned before, we went a week without any media (radio, tv, internet and movies) for an entire week (except for those two movies that happened to be on at a relatives house while we were there) and I have to say it has really impacted us. Here are some of the things we learned or experienced:

1. We CAN turn the TV off if there is nothing interesting on. Now that the blackout is over, we have the tv on about 1/8th as often as it was before. I used to have it on all morning with all the usual news programs and then we would have it on almost constantly from 3pm until 9pm. Most of the time it was just on for noise. This past week, we watched our favorite show The Big Bang Theory, a few episodes of Mythbusters and then one morning of Regis and Kelly. Now we actually turn the TV off if we're not watching it. Go figure.

2. I like my husband a lot more when there's no media around. That whole week, Ammon didn't really act differently, but if there was something he did I didn't like, I handled it a LOT better. Although... it may have helped that I didn't have to repeat myself a bunch cuz the TV wasn't distracting him ;-)

3. Kaleb is a lot of fun! He really likes to watch tv, so I tended to let the tv placate him (even at this age, isn't it horrible!?!?!) But media-free week forced us to entertain him a lot more and play little games with him. Now I can't nurse him in front of the tv right before bed because he will not settle down for the night. The tv is just too interesting to him.

4. I HATE 1000 piece puzzles!!!!!! I started getting into puzzles that week, but now I'm sure I want to stop at 750 pieces or at least not get a 1000 piece puzzle that is a painting. All the brush strokes make all the tiny pieces look the same!!!!

5. I CAN beat Ammon at a strategy game. Othello. Nuff said.

Some other tidbits about our lives:

I REALLY like my job, and the manager and co-workers seem to like me. I have torn feelings every morning I work, having to leave my adorable baby, but I feel this is where I need to be right now. Plus, it has been a great boost in my self-esteem to have an external "project".

Ammon is still having a hard time finding work. He is applying like crazy at all kinds of random places, but he has gotten no responses... not even for a seasonal position. Let us know if you hear of anything.

We caught mouse number seven last night. Thankfully they never go near our food that we can tell. ARGH!! It's so crazy nasty!!!