5 Months Old!

 Baby Richard is five months old today!  After the Spring Sing all the other preschool parents were commenting on how big he's gotten and how alert he is.  When Richard first started picking up brother at preschool he was under six pounds and ALWAYS asleep.

Random thoughts about the last month…
1.  He's a rolly polly baby.  He can easily roll from back to front and sometimes over and around again.  Back to front is much easier for him.  Night finds him sleeping on his tummy.  Always.  (Once they can roll over themselves they are allowed to tummy sleep.)
2.  He's discovered the baby in the mirror.  That baby is always so friendly and happy to see him.  At Front Yard Friday last weekend he also discovered baby Leo next door.  Leo is 11 days older and was clearly the most fascinating thing Richard had encountered in a long time.  He just couldn't take his eyes off of him.
3.  He's starting to really understand what hands can do.  In addition to sucking his thumb, he likes to grab and hold the toys on his gym and bouncy chair.
4.  He has a clear understanding of who his people are and who aren't his people.  Fortunately he's generally still friendly.
5.  He's not the good sleeper he was as a newborn.  Generally he demands to be bounced all the way to sleep (except after his mid-night feeding) and he occasionally wakes up FAR too early.  Twice this week he was up at 5 in the am. He occasionally will sleep 6-7 hours at a stretch, but other nights he'll wake up every 4 hours, he's still unpredictable.  He's also still little.  Adjusted for prematurity he's only 3 1/2 months old.
6.  His bottles have increased to a whopping five ounces.  Usually he'll eat the whole thing.  (In contrast, Anthony was chowing down 8 ounces at this age.)
7.  The drool has started!

Fun with Family

Vince, Donna, Dave and Joshua all came out last weekend for Richard's baptism.  Monday morning we headed off to Happy Hollow.  It was a little chilly (and we wore out the grandparents), but we had a nice time.  Anthony and Joshua rode the roller coaster twice, enjoyed the puppet show "The Pied Piper of Cheddarswiss" and discovered that Grandpa is a bald eagle.

Dr. Anthony

 Grandma Kay gave Anthony a little medical kit for Christmas.  Anthony is very happy to use it to patch anyone up, whether they need it or not.  Richard is generally a willing victim.

  It was particularly funny at Christmas.  Grandma twisted her ankle after skiing.  That night when Anthony and Joshua learned she had an owie, they DESCENDED on her with his medical kit, ready to fix her up.  They took her temperature, listened to her heart and gave her shots.

Fun at the Park

Anthony rode his scooter on the steep hill at Cuesta Park. He was thrilled, its definitely an E-ticket ride.  Meanwhile Richard discovered a thrill ride  of his own, the swings.

First Flight

Yesterday we took Richard on his first airplane ride.  We went to Willows (north of Sacramento) to have lunch with a group of Bob's airplane friends.  Richard wasn't terribly keen on the airplane.  We started off well, with a bottle for take-off.  After he was done with the bottle Richard was a little grumpy.  Its unclear whether he disliked his headset, the vibration, the noise or was just not impressed with the whole situation.  After about 15 minutes of fussing he fell asleep for his mid-day nap.  He then slept through the rest of the flight, a very long lunch and the entire flight home.  (The kid is a good napper.)

  Meanwhile, Anthony got to be co-pilot.  For once he didn't complain about having to ride in "Daddy's stinky airplane."  He liked the improved view from the front windows and steered the plane for about 10 seconds before going back to his movie.  I'm glad he enjoyed being co-pilot as I think he's got a lot of that in his future.

Four Months Old

 Babycakes was 4 months old on the first of the month.  How he has changed.  The teeny little preemie is nowhere to be found!

  He is up to 12lb, 15 ounces (on the first) and was 23.5 inches long.  He's holding steady at 5% for weight and not quite on the charts for height.  We've been given permission to transition him from the horrifically expensive fancy preemie food to normal formula.  Of course, I'd already stocked up on formula AND the nurse had a case of samples, so we'll do another month or so on preemie food.

  Richard is still a remarkably easy baby.  Basically, if he's crying its because he's tired or hungry.  He's not very good at going to bed in his crib, but he's very good at napping on the go.  Given that we're always out and about with Anthony, that's a very good thing.

  He smiles and laughs up a storm.  He loves having his chin tickled.  He's also very talkative and can carry on whole conversations, provided you supply both halves.  He also likes having his diaper changed, it just makes him laugh and laugh.

  Besides diaper changes he likes the blinky lights on his activity gym (which he can turn on by himself), being upright so he can look around, and playing with big brother.

  In terms of milestones he can slowly roll from tummy to back.  He can put a good amount of weight on his legs when standing and pretty much has complete control of his head.  He's starting to figure out his hands and what you can do with them.  He'll use them to grab his bottle or push it away when he's full.  He'll also chew away on his hand or his thumb, though I don't think he'll be a thumb sucker yet.  He hasn't figured out how to use his hands to chew on other toys yet, but that will come.

Class People

Every year each class has a few weeks to display their artwork in the multi-purpose room.  Anthony's class made life sized people, each wearing a Children's Center t-shirt.  I thought they were pretty neat!

Heifer International

Our church is very active in their support for Heifer International.  Anthony's class bought a goat with their Sunday School offering.  A highlight of the year is the Heifer petting zoo, compliments of a local 4-H group.  Anthony was so excited that he got to hold a guinea pig at Sunday School, he had to show us after church was over.

They also had goats, rabbits and chickens, but the guinea pig was clearly the most popular.

Rolling Over

He can do it! Slowly. Very very very slowly. (Front to back).

In this picture Robert is showing Richard some advanced techniques.