4 Months Old

Michael had is 4 month check-up on Monday. I can't believe he is already 4 months old. He is such a good baby, we have really enjoyed having him in our family. Here are his stats:

Weight: 14 lbs 7 oz (38th percentile)

Height: 24 inches (16th percentile)

Head: 16 inches

This month Michael had learned to laugh, talk a lot, play in the jumper, go on bike rides with Dad and James, play with his feet and roll over from his tummy from his back for the first and only time.

Surfs Up

We have been in sunny Florida this week and are having a blast. I will post all about it when we get home. For now one cute story and one cute video.
On the way to Salt Lake on Friday morning we stopped at Sonic for breakfast. James was excited for "chicken nuggets".
Doug: "Wow, that's a lot."
James: "Why?"
Doug: "Because $10 for breakfast is a lot of money."
James: "That's right!"

This video is from the second day we went to the beach. James didn't want to play in the water so he played on the beach far away from the waves. At one point he went over to the family sitting next to us. He stood and looked at the lady for a while then grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her chair. Then he sat down in her chair. This kid is not shy at all! So the next time he went over there I wanted to get a picture of him sitting in her chair, but this is what happened instead.

Soon he started paddling and standing up on the board.

Golfing and More Bed Time Problems

*note about the finger paint: once it cooled it was way to thick, so I added some water and it was a little lumpy. I put it in the blender for a little bit and now it is perfect.*

James's new favorite thing to do outside is Golf. He always gets Dad's "sticks" (clubs) out of his bag to practice, and of course he has to do what Dad is doing. So first we practiced driving. I don't know why but he always hits left handed, even with his right handed clubs.

Dad's clubs were a little too big, so Doug made James his own set. Right now he only has a 4 iron and a 9 iron. Next we had to practice his approach. It still needs a lot of work and I'm not quite sure if he even knows where the hole is. Next we will try putting!

Now for more bed time problems...

James had never been afraid of the dark, one night we forgot to turn his light off and went in to find him asleep with his blanket over his head. One night this week I woke up to hear James crying in the middle of the night. So I went in and laid down with him for a while. Every time I moved my hand, even just to scratch my face or something he grabbed it and put it back around him. I had to lay in his bed for 45 minutes. The next night Doug was putting him to bed and he ran down the hall and when he got to his room he stopped, clearly afraid to go into the dark room alone. As soon as we shut the door he started crying, so we left his closet light on, and have had to do that every night since. So yesterday I bought him a night light. He was so excited about it he didn't even cry for another story. So I shut the door and about a minute later I hear him crying. So I go back in his room and he is sitting on the floor holding the night light in his hand, crying because it is completely dark. I think I have had enough sleeping problems with James that the rest of my kids should be easy!

Michael is growing and playing more all the time. He is so happy and he loves his Dad the best! A lot of the time I can't even get him to eat because he is too busy looking at his Dad.

"Want Paint"

James's newest obsession is painting. He asks several times a day to paint (saying the word paint as if we lived in the South). Usually he wants my craft paints but normally I put him in his chair with a thing of watercolors. If I have time to supervise then he gets his finger paints. He doesn't like to spread the finger paints around and constantly asks for more. So I was pretty excited when I found this recipe for finger paints. I bought some containers to keep them in, but if I had some baby food jars then it would have been free. OK not really free, but I already had all the stuff to make it.

1 cup water

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Food coloring

Mix the water, cornstarch, and several drops of food coloring together in a saucepan. Heat and stir the mixture until it thicken, about 5 minutes (mine only took 1 or 2). Let it cool. Store in a covered container. Use the paint for finger painting or as an almost dripless easel paint. If the mixture becomes too think, add water until it reaches the desired consistency.

I only did half of the recipe for each color.

Playtime

Michael has been growing so much lately. He loves to be put on his play mat and is often grumpy until I put him on it. The other day I came to find him rolled up on his side playing with a toy. Soon he will be rolling over! He is definitely more content then James was to just chill, James was already rolling over. It is kinda nice to have a nice calm baby for a change!

James on the other hand continues to get into everything. Today I heard him crying but could not find him. I finally located him wedged behind the TV. I really didn't think there was enough room for him back there but he made it work!

Usually when I go to wake him up from his nap this is what I find. He always takes the mattress off his bed and then falls asleep next to it, or under his bed. What a stinker!

Finishing Projects

I have a ton of projects around the house that I need to finish, so this week I decided to do some of them. This is probably my favorite so I thought I would share. I have been trying to think of some good quiet activities for James to have that he would actually enjoy. So I have made a few folder games, which he likes, then I saw this pattern block activity from Melissa and Doug. So I decided to make my own.
I bought a small magnetic white board and some magnetic paper and printed pattern blocks. I also printed some pictures on plain paper. I found these cute Berenstain Bears paper dolls here and decided to print those too.

They turned out great, so I hope he likes them!

I also finally painted this stool I bought a long time ago.
And finally finished the curtains for Michael's room.

A Perfect Morning

Today I had an almost perfect morning. Michael slept until 7, which means I actually got 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, which hasn't happened in over 3 months. So even though I still has to wake up at 7 I feel more rested than if I had slept until 8 or 9. Then James has been in a very good mood, which hasn't happened for a few weeks. He has recently decided to live up to the name "terrible twos" which has been no fun for me. He even asked nicely to go to the park today. And finally Doug surprised me with a gift card for a 1 hour massage. Which is not only nice and relaxing, but I get to spend that time alone! Usually the only time I get to myself is when I run to the store quickly before Michael needs to eat again. What a great morning! I also get to look forward to an actually date tonight (also away from the kids!) for our anniversary. I can't believe we have been married for 4 years! In four years we have:

• lived in 4 different houses/apartments


• got a dog


• lived in two different states


• lost a dog


• had 2 kids


• bought a car


• bought a house


• Doug graduated college and got his dream job


• I have had 3 different jobs and enjoy the one I currently have the most


• built a Temple (Doug's dream job)

I am excited to see what the next few years have in store for us!