Locke: 4 Months Old

It has been a busy, overwhelming month of moving and projects.  But I did manage to take pictures of Locke for his 4 month birthday (in the driveway of our NEW HOME)!  The last month has brought some subtle changes for our baby.  He is definitely bigger and has moved into 3-6 month clothes and 6 month sleepers.  We won't have an official weight on him until his doctor's appointment next week.  He is stronger and he has gained good control of his head and neck and is learning to coordinate his hands and mouth.  He will reach out and grab something and bring it to his mouth to chew.  He has recently found his feet and loves to pull his toes into his mouth. :)  Locke continues to be a bit of a mama's boy, but has significantly improved at taking a bottle from Daddy -- which makes our days at home go much more smoothly!  Locke is still sleeping in the nap nanny or swing in our bedroom and typically makes it through most nights usually from 10pm to 6 or 7am without waking up.  (Yes, I know how lucky I am.)  He currently loves his stuffed elephant teether, Mommy's blankie, and is starting to warm up to the baby Einstein jumper.  We have been to the pool at least once a week this summer and Locke does great in the water.  He doesn't really like being in the car -- especially when we're stopped.  He is laughing a lot and smiling a lot, but mostly he is busy studying the world around him with those big brown eyes.  This little man is so easy-going.  He makes us all smile.

UPDATE: At his 4 month doctor's appointment, he weighed in at 16 lb, 14 oz -- nearly 17 pounds!!  That puts him well into the 75th percentile for weight.  She also feels like he will probably be cutting teeth anytime now.  Yikes!

Morning cuddle time...

All dressed up for Papa's birthday.  I look like such a big boy!

How do I eat this elephant?  ONE BITE AT A TIME!

I love my feet!

Brothers

The Moving Blues...

Moving sucks.  There, I said it.  Don't get me wrong, we are thrilled to be in our new home.  But the actual moving process is not enjoyable.  At all.

Now that we are in the new house, we are surrounded by boxes and slowly trying to unpack and settle in.  Since Ledger has been so unsettled lately, we started with his bedroom.  It was pink and green with "princess" written on the wall when we moved in, so it made the priority list!  We decided to stay with the sports theme he had previously and matched some primary colors to his bedspread.  I love the way it turned out!!

That moment of truth when the tape comes off...  PHEW -- it looks great!

The finished project.

We have had some other little fix-its around the house too.  We applied some privacy film to a few windows that aren't convenient to have curtains on -- small windows in the garage and laundry room.  We liked the way it looked so much that we also covered the glass on the back door.  We still get the benefit of natural sunlight but we can also wander around half-clothed without giving our neighbors a show. :)

And, of course, we are trying to unpack and put things away which means that clutter and trash just seem to multiply.  Our living room and kitchen are mostly unpacked, but because it's our main living space, it is usually trashed.  So I have spent some time cleaning to try to make our home livable and presentable.

I know that the more work we do, the more like "home" this house will feel.  I am looking forward to that point when there are no more boxes to unpack... but that is pretty far away at this point... :)

Acting Up and Acting Out!

The last few months have brought a lot of change to Ledger's life.  First the baby, then selling our house, turning 3 years old, summer time (and the complete loss of a schedule), and now a move.  It hasn't been easy on him, but he's handled everything like a trooper.  For the most part.  But over the last few weeks, we are starting to see some of the acting out behaviors that we would expect from a 3 year old.

First, I found him hidden in the corner of our house scribbling on the walls, wood blinds, window sills, and (of course) his legs with a Sharpie marker that we were using to label moving boxes.  The crisis was averted when Magic Erasers came to the rescue and cleaned up any evidence of the treachery.

Can you see it there on his leg?

...And on the wall, and box, and blinds?

A few days later, he used an ink pen to "decorate" our living room lamp shades.  Chris tried to use this as an excuse to get new lamps, but, again, Magic Eraser saved the day and foiled his plans.  I love those magic little sponges! :)

Shortly after Ledger's artistic experiments, he tried the mother-of-all paintings.  On his face!  Chris put him down for nap time and thought he had fallen asleep, but after about half an hour he knocked on his bedroom door.  Daddy found this...

Ledger had covered himself with Desitin, the diaper rash cream and Vaseline.  He had this thick, oily mess in his hair, clothes, bed, window, door... everywhere, really.  Chris threw him in the bath tub and washed his hair about 3 times but could not get this stuff to budge.  I came home from work to nurse Locke and found a frustrated Daddy and Ledger with white hair.  I put him in the sink and washed his hair with Dawn dish soap which helps break up the oil and made his hair a lot better.  It was still very sticky, but at least it wasn't white.  Actually, his hair was "styled" sticking straight up for the next two days until we went swimming and the chlorine stripped the last of the oil out of his hair!

Before..........After

So I guess we have officially arrived at the terrible threes.  Let's hope that Mommy and Daddy can try to maintain some patience as we carefully navigate these new, defiant, waters!

It's Getting HOT in Here..

Summer has officially arrived with temperatures consistently around 100 degrees.  Ledger and I love the heat and won't let it stop us from being outside, but Daddy and Locke would much prefer the cooler air-conditioned air.  To compromise, we have tried to spend some quality time at great-Grammie's pool.  All of my boys love being in the water.  Ledger wears his floaties and can just swim and swim.  Locke never complains about getting wet and does great just lounging in the pool.  I think we have a couple of water-babies on our hands...

(Sorry for the lack of content in this blog.  We are in the process of packing and moving, but I wanted to schedule a blog or two during our move just to keep things going!  I'm sure there will be much to blog about once we get settled in our new house!)