Baby's First Cold

Anthony had his first cold and seemed to get through it okay.

My first week back at work, I got the cold. Next week, Bob had it. The week after that... I think it was Bob's fault.

While his nose was runny and he was sneezy, Anthony was in amazingly good shape. He was eating well, sleeping well, and generally in a good mood.

Then came Saturday night, he was FUSSY and wouldn't sleep anywhere but in my arms. I was worried we'd have to bring him into our bed, which I really don't like doing. Fortunately, I managed to get him to sleep and moved him into the crib.

Then Sunday morning he was running a very slight fever. (1/2 degree into fever range). Between the fussiness and the slight fever I was worried he was getting an ear infection. But, by Sunday night he was chipper again, so off to daycare he went!

I really enjoyed my bath!

Anthony really seemed to enjoy his bath today. It started slowly, he looked pretty startled (as always) when he discovered he was wet. But, he warmed up to it pretty quickly, smiling and kicking his feet in the water.

My New Friend

Anthony made a new friend last week. My girlfriend Elly came home from Florida with her son Ciaran. We went over for a visit, and I got to hold Ciaran while Elly made his bottle. Fortunately, Anthony didn't seem to mind hanging out. It was double-decker babies!

Its funny, while Ciaran is certainly a big boy (he was born at 10 pounds!), he is soooo much lighter than Anthony.

Of course, he also just feels like a younger baby, too. He is 3 months and 1 day younger.

Dinner Guests

My former housemate (she hates it when I say old roommate) Janet and her husband Dick came for dinner last night. Bob made rotisserie chicken on the grill. (Santa Claus brought him the rotisserie attachment for Christmas.) It came out astonishingly well! Fortunately we made two chickens so we have one for leftovers!

Oh yeah, Anthony was pretty good that night, though not as good as he sometimes is.

Chubby Little Boy

Anthony has some of the most delightful little rolls of fat. He's got the little crease at his wrists and each of his fingers has a dimple at the base. His thighs are enormous, too!

I weighed him a few days after he turned 3 months and he came in at 16 pounds even! That's right, he doubled his birthweight in just over 3 months.

His weight gain is starting to slow, though. He's actually drinking slightly less formula than he had been--30 ounces instead of 34-36. And, since he weighs more, his gain would have slowed even if he was sticking to his hearty meal schedule.

I'm looking forward to seeing how big he is at his 4 month check-up in two weeks!

Back to Work

Obviously this photo has nothing to do with my return to work. I love the smile though. And that same smile greets me every day when I pick up Mr. Anthony from daycare.

So far, work has been going very smoothly. I've dropped down to 80% time (and unfortunately 80% pay) so I can have more time with Anthony. I am enjoying being back, I enjoy my work!

Day care is going pretty well, too. Anthony smiles at his teachers every morning and appears to be getting settled in. Its been 2 1/2 weeks and he's still healthy. I got sick two weeks ago, and Bob caught my cold last week, so we're really, really hoping that Anthony doesn't get it. So far, so good, though.

Favorite Games

Anthony's current favorite way to play is to sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes". Of course, the real fun in the game is Mommy making his hands wave around. The singing is fun, too!

Not a Newborn Anymore!

Well, clearly he's not a newborn, he's three and a half months old!

I found myself pondering some of the changes I miss:
The way his whole body would fit when he lay in my lap
How he would desperately root into my elbow looking for dinner while his bottle was poking him in the other cheek.

But then, there are things I don't miss:
The SCREAMING that accompanied every diaper change (being naked was really, really awful)
Rocking and rocking in the middle of the night as he had to be sound asleep before being put back down. (He outgrew that one by two months, fortunately. Now its bottle, diaper and back in the crib.)
Waking up multiple times a night. Technically, Anthony is sleeping through the night as he can go 7 hours. But, that's not literally STTN. He'll be there soon enough, though.

Playtime

Is this fun or what???

Got my Bear Blanket

Anthony is in the habit of clutching and playing with his burp cloth when he's done with his bottle. While its kind of fun to watch, I really don't want his "transitional object" to be a burp cloth. We're getting in the habit of swapping in the bear blanket that Jayne gave him instead. The edges and the backside are satin, so it should feel good in his hands.

Three Months Old!

Can you believe he is three months old already??

How has he changed?
Truthfully, I don't think he looks that much different than he did at two months. I'll try to weigh him on Monday, but I don't think he's gained too much more than a pound. (Its about time that his growth slows, otherwise he'll be an elephant when he starts kindergarden.)

But, he can do so much more...
1. Smiling. He loves to smile. He will return your smiles and he will spontaneously smile when something amuses him. (Daddy singing the Rubber Ducky song, for example.)
2. He can purposefully grab things. He has no interest in grabbing rattles, but he will absolutely grab someones hand. He can also grab some of his toys.
3. He's figured out how to make some of his toys go. That was fun watching him go. Anthony's favorite toy for over a month has been his play gym with the blinking star that plays music. Its motion activated and he just figured out that he can kick it and make it play. That is exciting! He can also grab the hanging toys on his Jungle Bouncy Seat and make the music and lights go there, too.
4. Squeal in delight. (I hadn't realized that was a separate milestone.) That blinky star makes him sooo happy!
5. He's got pretty amazing head control. We started riding him front facing in the Bjorn and he did great.
6. He can support his own weight standing, he's gotten really good at that.
7. He thinks the baby in the mirror is absolutely fascinating. If he smiles at the baby, the baby even smiles back.

What he's on the verge of doing:
1. Giggling, he does it once in a while but not consistantly. Either that, or maybe I'm not funny enough.
2. Pushing himself up with his hands. He'll do it occasionally, but not consistantly. Generally, if I put him on his tummy he'll stick his fist in his mouth. (Its much easier to do that on your tummy, the fist is limited to where it flies.) Then when he gets tired of sucking his fist he'll start screaming that its time to flip over.
3. Sleep unswaddled.

What he might be considering:
1. Teething. He is drooling up a storm!

First Day of School

Anthony has his first day of school this week. We have him enrolled at a daycare center not too far from the house. He's slowly getting settled in. First day he didn't nap well, second day he didn't eat well. He should adapt pretty quickly, though.

The teachers all seem really nice and they greet him by name every morning when he arrives. He's pretty much the youngest kid there. Everyone else we've met are girls, so he should have a girlfriend soon.

Visiting Friends

On our way back home from visiting Anthony's grandparents we stopped to visit our friends Jeff and Charlotte in Arroyo Grande. (We seem them every year, some years in Omaha, others in California.) The kids were just fascinated with the baby. They all took turns holding and feeding him. Kelly even helped him get dressed in the morning.

It was nice spending New Years Eve with friends, even though we didn't make it 'til midnight. We decided that celebrating East Coast time was just fine with us!

We've got a great picture here of Anthony sitting on Charlotte's mother's lap. Isn't his smile sweet!

Happy New Year!

I am awake and ready to see the New Year! I may have slept through midnight, but here I am ready to have fun!