4 months for Owen

Owen is four months old! He's 16 lbs. and 26" long. The time has gone by quickly, but sometimes not quick enough. Owen is adorable of course and also very happy as long as I'm holding him. I really don't think he would ever cry if I could hold him 24/7. Of course we all know that's not possible, so cry he does! He is very quick to let you know that he is not happy. No warming up, just straight meltdown. It's getting better as he gets older and can do more things and I know the next few months will bring a huge improvement in that area. We already put him in the stationary entertainer and I was prepared to put a blanket around him for stability, but he didn't need it. It was amazing! He had total control over his balance and never flopped around once. He can even stand on his legs and lean over to chew on stuff. High needs babies are a lot of work, but they are also so amazing! He has been grabbing at things for over a month now and I mean seeing something and grabbing it in his hand before I can move it. If you put it in front of him for more than a second, then he's got it in his hand. He's also had his first food! He was going crazy one day at lunch and I couldn't stand it anymore, so we gave him some rice cereal and he went to town on it. Now if I could only get him to sleep! He seems to be more interested in playing than sleeping, so he goes to bed for 20 or 30 minutes and then wants to get up and play. So bedtime has been a VERY long process! I think he went to sleep and woke up 7 or 8 times in a 2 hour period tonight. Not the easiest thing to deal with when I'm trying to put 3 other kids to bed. The past 2 nights he actually slept from 1/1:30 until 7:30, which is a HUGE improvement! Hopefully he'll at least keep that up, so I can stay somewhat sane while we work through going asleep and staying asleep at bedtime.

Hudson is 2 (But he thinks he's 6!)

Hudson turned 2 a month ago, nothing like being right on top of things. He is both hilarious and exasperating at the same time. The terrible 2's have definitely hit us hard! These are the things he cannot do without throwing a fit...Oh yeah, that's everything! The problem is, he thinks he's 6. He runs around with Cullen and Aiden like he's the same age they are. He talks, walks, and whines like them! It's quite entertaining, except when he discovers he's not their age, then we have a meltdown. Hopefully when Owen gets a little older, Hudson will become buddies with him and get to enjoy being HIS age.
His 2 year well child checkup went well. He only had to have 1 shot and he didn't even cry! However, in his zeal to keep up with Cullen and Aiden, his weight gain has slowed down. He was in the high 20% for his weight and the mid 30% for height.
He is still a great little helper! He loves to throw trash away, unload the dishwasher, give Owen his pacifier, put books away in the bookshelf and get dishes out for snack. He's also become quite the linguist! He has learned so many words so quickly, that we can't keep up with him. He does well with some suprising words like avacado, tomato and hockey. Watching them learn and grow is so exciting and it never gets old!

Weighing In

Owen had his 2 month checkup on the 23rd of Nov. He was 13lbs. 5 oz. and 24" long. He was up in the 95th% for height and the 89th for weight. He did well with his shots and everything else looked good. He is getting a little better about entertaining himself and really enjoys the boys playing with him. He is tickilish and is almost laughing. The sound is there, but it's not flowing yet. He loves to chew on his hands and has gotten his thumb in there a couple of times. He will finally take a pacifier every once and awhile, but definitely does not prefer it or really want it. As of 12:08 am on Wed. Dec 8th he has been sleeping in his own bed for almost 2 hours. I've had to help him out a couple of times, but this is a huge breakthough! He is such a restless sleeper that he constantly wakes himself up and can't get back to sleep, so hopefully we can overcome that soon and get some rest. Hudson and I played with Owen on the floor tonight and Owen held a couple of toys and even got one into his mouth. He is really starting to appreciate things going on around him and I was even able to make him laugh several times tonight by being silly. Oh I see the light at the end of the newborn tunnel and it looks good!

Hudson's Repertoire

Hudson has picked up several more lovely phrases from his older brothers. The best ones are "Not me!" and "I don't want that". He's also saying "re,re" for read and "eat". He loves to brush his teeth and goes into the bathroom and says "t,t" and gets very upset if he doesn't get his toothbrush fast enough. Of course, everything has to be done himself. "I wa"(walk) to him means walking all by himself without holding hands, so that is a constant battle. He has also picked up a little bit of attitude too. When he doesn't get to watch tv, he says "Oh man" and walks around pouting and yesterday he rolled his eyes when Owen woke up after a very brief nap. He is quite the ape when it comes to Cullen and Aiden too. It's so funny to see him watch them and then try to imitate them. The other night Cullen was laying on the floor with his arms crossed under is head and Hudson looked over, saw him laying down, laid himself down, looked at Cullen again and then tried to cross his arms the same way, but all he could figure out was how to cross his arms over his chest. Fortunately a very good habit he's developed is picking up. Before he goes to bed at night he picks up the toys in the living room and he also likes to put his books away in his bookshelf when he's done reading them. He also loves to unload the dishwasher and is usually handing me dishes faster than I can put them away. Don't know how long it will last, but I'm going to enjoy it while it does. He is doing very well with Owen and even helps out by rocking the car seat or bouncing the bouncer when Owen is crying. I'm very lucky to have such a great little helper!

Owen's A Little Person

Owen is becoming such a little person already. He's been smiling and cooing for a couple weeks and tonight he discovered the mirror on his bouncer and was smiling and cooing at himself. It was too cute! He is definitely the most smiley, vocal baby we've had and I don't think anyone else was interested in the mirror. I'm also amazed at how interested he is in his brothers. He actually turns his head to look at them. He's also moved to size 2 diapers and size 3-6 month clothes. If he doesn't slow down, he'll be in 6-9 months before he's 3 months old. Gotta go! One armed typing is getting old.

Cullen and Aiden