3 & 4 Months

I started a 3 month post on my phone last month, but somehow it got deleted and I never got around to getting it done.  Lots of changes for Drew in the last few months.  Here’s a bit about our awesome little guy…

Drew had his four month checkup today and here are his stats:

Weight:  16 lbs, 3.5oz  (62.84%)

Height:  26” (81.87%)

Head:  17.01” (88.12%)

I still cram him in a few 0-3 outfits, partially cause I'm not ready for him to grow up and part because we have very few clothes for him.   When Jason was little most of his clothes were hand-me-downs from Justin's sister and we gave them back to her when he'd outgrown them. 

Today the pediatrician told me that when you stroke the bottom of a new baby’s feet they stretch out their toes.  When he did this to Drew Drew curled his toes under.  The pediatrician then proclaimed Drew is no longer a new baby – I told him I didn’t want to hear any such thing.

Justin and Drew at soccer – This is one of my favorite outfits (his little big man striped shirt that he’s been wearing in dozens of pictures), but it’s a 0-3 month and it’s time to accept he’s outgrown it

Wearing size 2 diapers, he could probably still fit in size one, but the size two diapers are cheaper per diaper at Costco then the smaller size. 

Smiles when you change his diaper, doesn't matter if it's in the wee morning hours or if he's half sleep.  In his first few weeks of life changing his diaper almost always made him cry, so a grateful change.

While nursing he moves his free arm around a lot, unless he's sleepy he's moving it pretty much constantly.  So when I'm using a nursing cover he gets it all bunched up in his face or pulls it off to the side

Drew is starting to get more distracted while eating if there is too much going on

Reaching out for the toys in his swing or bouncy chair  

I took this picture of Drew asleep in the swing a few weeks ago cause it had been over a month since he's fallen asleep in it.  Even better is that he's done it multiple times since. 

Justin and I went out to dinner recently with Drew and he actually "played" with a small toy for a little while to entertain himself.  Of course he was perfectly content in his car seat until our food arrived and then he wanted to be held. 

He's a smiley baby in general, just a happy easygoing baby. 

Would rather be in the Bjorn than his carseat or stroller

If you want to see Drew really cry then take him to Wal-Mart.   I don't think I've had a trip to Wal-Mart where he hasn't freaked out and I've needed to take him out of his car seat and either hold him or put him in the Bjorn.  I think I've figured it out though.  With his car seat in the cart it’s really loud and bumpy for him especially when I'm in the parking lot or when entering a store.  If I carry his car seat into the store them put it in a cart when we have smooth ground he’s fine.

Drew has advanced to being forward facing in the Bjorn.  If I think he’ll fall asleep I still have him face me though.

Still takes a bottle on occasion, the freezer in our garage is full of milk from his first month+ so we have quite the supply.   We’ve got a few nights this week where Justin will have him so hopefully he’ll still take a bottle :)

Another of my favorite outfits

Likes to stand on his feet and is getting stronger

Is cooing more and more, he "talks" a lot and we love to hear him laugh

Still in the bassinet portion of the play-n-pack, Drew is 26 inches long and the bassinet measures 24.5 inches.  Lately I’ve been laying him down on a diagonal so his head doesn’t get smashed up at the top.  Clearly, having him sleep in a bed smaller than himself isn’t keeping him from growing so it’s probably time to move him to a crib.  Oh, but where do we put him??

As I've mentioned he's a great little sleeper, I try to avoid the whole "how's your baby sleeping" conversation with the other mothers of babies at church cause I feel bad I've got it so good. 

Asleep on the couch (August 21^st)

This morning he woke up around 5:30am to eat (the few nights before that he skipped an early morning feeding and went a full 10+ hours).  I laid him back in his bed, but he was jabbering so much I knew he wouldn’t fall asleep.  I told Justin it’d been several weeks since I’d brought him into bed with me so I wasn’t sure he’d snuggle up with me and go back to sleep, but to my surprise and delight he did.  I took this picture three weeks ago, the day before school started, when I was sick.

I’ve had a cough since that day (THREE weeks!) now Drew’s coughing too – his first cold.  Hopefully his cough doesn’t last as long as mine has.

Like most babies Drew is sporting quite the bald spot on the back of his head.   

As usual for me, the fourth month mark means I too am losing hair, thankfully I've got plenty that no one would notice (except Justin who helps keep our shower drain from clogging up)

Drew brings us so much happiness and joy.  He is such an awesome little guy.  

The picture above of Katie & Drew on couch watching TV which reminds me of one of my favorite pictures of Jason holding Katie in Lake Chelan during the summer of 2010

We recently took out the Bumbo chair for Drew.  I can’t believe my baby can sit in this already.

Just look at that smile!

Beside himself with joy!

Nicknames include:  jujubee, drewbee, bubee

Budding Artists

If you recall, Carly took an art class last summer from her piano teacher.   When the opportunity came up again this summer we decided it would be something fun for both girls. This past year Abigail has really gotten into drawing and has filled a whole sketchbook with drawings she has copied from art books we've checked out from the library.   They each took a class in July that was once a week for two hours.   I signed each of the girls up for a different class so we wouldn't have two of the same paintings.  The artist their paintings were inspired by was Ben Will from Portland.   We were on vacation during the evening art gallery where all the students paintings were displayed, so I didn’t get to see the girls paintings til a few weeks ago.  They both did a great job!  

Abigail still had a few touchups on her painting after the last scheduled class, so Kori had her come over to the house to finish up.  What was only supposed to be an hour turned out to be a full, fun-filled day for Abigail.  Abigail used to take piano lessons from Kori so they know each other pretty well.   Kori asked if Abigail could go with her into Seattle to pick up the art supplies for the August class.  I was going to be in Auburn all day having lunch with friends (while Justin worked from home) so it worked out for us. I thought Abigail was going along to help Kori with her young kids, but it turns out Kori just thought it would be a fun experience for Abigail and she adores my daughters.  Kori took Abigail out to lunch at Lola, one of her favorite Seattle restaurants and sent us this picture of Abigail enjoying her lunch.

Afterward Abigail got to visit the studio and meet the artist whose paintings were used as inspiration for the next group of students.  Abigail had a great day and it's fun to see adults enjoying your kids so much that they want to spend an entire day with them.   Abigail is a pretty special young lady. 

Back to School

We got home from camping very late on Monday night, which left us just one day to get cleaned up and ready for school to start bright and early Wednesday morning.   Unfortunately, I woke up Tuesday feeling terrible.  We managed to get unpacked and through TEN loads of laundry, but I was wiped out and pretty low on patience.   I wanted to do everything I could to prepare the kids for a wonderful first day, but it was hard when I was feeling so crummy and wasn't able to do everything I'd hoped. The idea of waking up at 6am the next morning didn't help me feel better. We're used to late summer bedtimes and sleeping in till 9am.  I tried to keep it together though and when Abigail asked if I could braid her hair for her first day of middle school I happily agreed.

So I've got a middle schooler.  To be honest it doesn't feel as strange as I thought it would.   Abigail is ready and excited about middle school and she's got a great group of friends at school.  Last year she only had one other LDS girl in her grade.   With the addition of an entire grade from another elementary school going to her middle school Abigail now has over ten LDS girls in 6th grade with her which is awesome!  She's come home excited about all the different activities she can get involved in.  So far she likes her classes and teachers and I'd venture to say the class she is most excited about is art.  A great start to what I hope will be a fun year for her! 

Abigail catches the bus at 7am!  Unfortunately the bus stop isn't very close and there's only one boy nearby that walks there so we really miss having other kids for her to walk with.  Justin walked with her the first day and he's been able to drive her on the way to work the other days.  

Jason and Carly leave the house an hour later.  Carly also wanted her hair braided.   I seriously need to learn how to do cute hair for my girls.   Carly got the teacher she was hoping for.   Her teacher taught science and social studies last year to all the 3rd grade classes so they already know each other which makes it comfortable and fun from the get go.  Carly has been looking forward to today since it will be her first time attending her High-C class.

I've had to wake Jason up most mornings.  He hasn't been nearly as excited for school as I'd hoped.  He hasn't complained about it, but I think it's a long day for him. I didn't know anything about the first grade teachers at the school but when I ran into a friend at the meet the teacher activity she told me both of her kids had Jason's teacher and that she's the best!  An added bonus is that his class has a student teacher – can’t hurt to have another adult to help teach all those six year olds.

The boys at the bus stop

Carly and some of her neighborhood friends

I know it's only been a few days but I already miss having the kids around.  Katie and Jason are great little playmates, thankfully Katie also plays great on her own, but Jason is missed.   Another big adjustment for me is not having the girls around to help with Drew.  They got out of school for the summer right after my Mom left after being here when Drew was born, so this is the first time I've been on my own.  No longer can I hand him over while I get in the shower or run a quick errand. Strange how different it is without them here. 

When we got home from walking Jason and Carly to the bus Katie found herself a couple empty folders and after she stocked them with paper and pencils she declared she was ready for preschool.  Too bad we’re too cheap to pay for preschool - she would absolutely love it!

Labor Day Campout – Alta Lake

A friend in our new ward has planned a campout every Labor Day weekend for the last three years and includes nine other families.  The ten families basically stay the same year after year unless someone can’t go or a family moves away. We were invited last year, but we’d already made plans to go camping with some of our Auburn friends to Kalaloch. I was glad that in January when she started to make plans for this year's campout we were still included on that short list. I was really looking forward to spending a few days getting to know these fun families even better.

Sommer reserves a group campsite each year and it’s been at a different Eastern Washington recreation destination each year.  This year she decided to try out Alta Lake State Park.  Justin took Friday off and we were on the road around 11am, a little later than I had hoped, but the timing worked out perfectly for our anticipated lunch at Cafe Rio in Wenatchee. We were the first to arrive at the campground around 3pm and were impressed.  There was a huge green grassy area surrounded by trees and a cute little stream running through it.   We picked out what we thought would be the coolest (weather-wise) campsite and proceeded to set up camp.  Five other families joined us that evening and the rest arrived Saturday morning.  We spent that evening setting up camp and enjoyed a potluck dinner.  The rest of our dinners and breakfasts were provided by two families working together on just that one meal (we provided our own lunches).  I can’t even imagine how crazy it would have been to pack and prepare all of our own meals all weekend.  This arrangement worked out perfectly and there was always plenty of food for everyone to get their fill.

Carly has been asking me for months if she could carry Drew around in the Bjorn.  I finally let her – she’s such a great little mother, but wasn’t too keen on getting her picture taken – I’m glad Justin was able to help me out.

We spent all day Saturday at the beach.  One of the families has a boat and took groups of kids out tubing and wakeboarding all day.  Those of us not on the boat hung out on the beach or in the large swimming area.

Usually when the boat was coming to shore to switch out kiddos all the kids would sit on the tube on the ride in.

The weather was in the 90’s, which is hot, hot, HOT for me so I was happy to stay in the shade with Drew.  

Drew once again was amazing.  We committed to this trip way before Drew was born and while we’ve camped with young babies before without a problem I feared I could have a more difficult baby or that he would wake me and everyone else up at night.  Not at all the case.  He went to bed each night about 9pm and woke up once in the early morning to eat and went right back to sleep.  I was worried he would have a hard time sleeping in a cold tent so I kept a little beanie on him at night so only his hands and face were exposed. 

About half the families attended church at a small nearby branch on Sunday.  Drew and I stayed back and when Justin and the kids got back from church we spent the afternoon hanging out at camp with some of the other families.   The kids had lots of fun playing in the stream and building dams.

I didn’t have any Internet service all weekend which ended up being quite refreshing.  It was nice to relax, visit with friends, and be completely unplugged for four days.  The major bummer was that we couldn’t have any fires.  Camping without a fire just doesn’t feel right.  It’s especially disappointing at night when the adults would typically sit around the campfire at night after all the kids are in bed.  We still stayed up late visiting and playing games, but I definitely missed the campfire & smores (the plus side of that is that we didn’t smell like smoke all weekend).

Monday morning we packed up then spent all day at the lake.  Camping with a baby was a little tough cause there really wasn’t a place to lay Drew down to nap so I usually just held him… or if he was out cold I could try to lay him down.

We left the lake close to 7pm and after another stop at Café Rio for dinner we got home close to 11pm.  That gave us just one day to get out of summer mode before school started.  I wasn’t ready at all, but it happened anyhow.