4 months - 18 weeks

Hi everyone!

So Tyler had his 4 month check up last Friday - and our suspicions have been confirmed (again) - he's still definitely a big baby!! :) He tipped the scales at 17 pounds, putting him in the 90th percentile for weight; he's 26 inches long, putting him in the 85th percentile for height; .. and I don't remember his measurement for his head circumference - but he came in at 15th percentile! ... Strange, his head has always been on the smaller end of the scale, but it looks perfect to me! At his 2 month checkup, his head circumference percentile was 25th! Our doctor said not to worry though, since he was following a curve on their chart. Maybe that's why I think Tyler's so cute - he doesn't have the abnormally large head that most babies have? Who knows...He also got more vaccinations - 4 more shots! Ooh he cried so much harder this time than last time! It was so hard to see. :( I had actually read on an online forum where a mom insisted on being able to nurse her child while he was getting the shots for comfort. interesting...

Look how chunky he is!Here the doctor is checking his mouth, she noticed his gums were swollen - teeth are definitely on the way! He has a funny look in this shot like - what's she doing!!Happy baby, before the shots...Uhoh - not so happy anymore! See the tray full of needles? :(He even had tears streaming down his face. :(

His next checkup is at 6 months - I wonder if he'll still be a big chunky baby then? Our doctor recommended starting him on rice cereal but I think I'm going to wait until 5 or 6 based on the research that I've done. Plus, I hear solids make their poop really stink, and I'm in no rush for that either!

So let's see, what's been going on. Last week was my first full week back at work! It went well - and I actually was pretty productive! I'm excited to get back into the swing of things and get my brain back in gear. Tyler is starting to get used to the nanny I think, although she was only here for 2 days last week - the second day Tyler was much better with her. My mom and grandmother helped out on Wednesday/Thursday and Friday Tyler had his appointment. I think once we get onto a normal schedule, things will be a lot easier.

This pass weekend was quite busy! Friday night I got some much needed R&R - and had dinner/drinks with friends at the new shopping center in Tustin called The District. Here's Paloma with Tyler - she is SO great with kids - I can't wait to visit her in Denver and have her babysit while Will and I hit the slopes! Ok ok, so it won't be for a while but still I can dream, right?

Hehe, doesn't this look like a family picture? Here's Tony, Tyler and Paloma.

Unfortunately, I couldn't stay out more than a few hours since Tyler has decided that he absolutely HATES the bottle and insists on nursing. Why does he get to dictate the rules!?! Sigh. But it was still a nice break to get out and have adult conversation and stuff. The day before we had tried to force Tyler to take the bottle. I am REALLY bad with his crying, I can't stand to hear him cry, and I always rush right over to soothe him. But he has GOT to take the bottle! So with the help of my mom, I closed myself in the room upstairs to work and had my mom try to feed him the bottle. It was TOUGH! We're going with the theory of "if he's hungry enough he'll take the bottle", but it sure was difficult. I fed him at 730am that morning and was only able to hold out until 3pm when I finally gave in and nursed him. In those ~8 hrs, he only ate 2 ounces from a bottle! I was so worried he was going to be dehydrated or something. I'm such a wuss. We're going to really try push it again this weekend. I've decided not to try during the week since 1) it makes the nanny's job SO much harder and 2)I can't really get any work done when I hear him screaming/crying downstairs. Sigh.

These are the most misleading pictures ever! This first picture was when he finally took those 2 ounces after not eating in over 5+ hours. I was so amazed that I had to snap a picture to believe it.This one I'm going to dream about - its all about visualization right in making what you want come true? He's actually HOLDING the bottle to his mouth (same 2 ounces as before). VISUALIZE VISUALIZE VISUALIZE.
Saturday morning we headed over to the In-laws place and spent the day there. Tyler was really fussy all day and was running a light fever (due to his vaccinations) - some infant Tylenol really seemed to help! Afterwards we stopped by my parents place and then headed home. We were so exhausted from such a long day!

Sunday morning we headed out for breakfast at Knowlwood and then made stops at Ikea and Macys. We had a little down time at home before we headed out again to take Tyler's 4 month photos at JC Penney Portraits at Santa Ana's Main Place Mall. I was actually quite pleased with his 3 month photos, and they're really cheap (compared to Kiddie Kandids and Picture People). Plus we found out that day that AAA members get a 50% discount. 50!! I had to ask the girl to repeat that a few times because I kept thinking that I was hearing incorrectly and SURELY she meant 15. Wow! Here are some pictures from that day:

Here's Tyler posing for the photographer! His sexy pose - jk! I didn't really like that she put a football in this picture, he's going to be a golfer! :)Tyler sitting in a wagon with a teddy bear! I thought it was so cute, until I saw a bunch of pictures displayed with kids and the same teddy bear...then I started wondering how many germs were on that stuffed animal and remembered how Tyler kept trying to eat its ears. ...These next two I took a picture of the photos on the computer when we were choosing prints -I know, ghetto - but I wanted to show you guys!

Today was an interesting day. Our nanny.... didn't show up! I thought something strange was going on. I called her this morning when it was already 7:45am (she's supposed to start at 7:30am) and she sounded a little strange but said yes when I asked her if she was on her way. My call got dropped and when I called back immediately I got her vm. ? I tried calling her again and again and just got her voicemail - I was starting to get really worried! I finally got an email from her mom this evening saying she had gotten into a car accident on her way driving to our place this morning! Yikes! I sure hope she's OK, her mom said she won't be able to come in this week (not sure about next week). I really do hope she's fine!

Here's Tyler's 18 week picture. I included two this time - the first one is his normal one, the second I thought was funny since he had 'I dunno??' expression and gesture. Check these out compare to his 3 week photo.
He's still biting like crazy, can't wait for one of those teeth to pop out. Or actually, I CAN wait - I just wish he didn't seem so uncomfortable though. He drools so much of course - the other day Will was holding him next to me and I started feeling dripping on my leg - he was dripping saliva!
Ok, so Tyler is spoiled. Whenever he has a #2 diaper, we don't just use wipes and wipe him clean. Oh no no. We take him to the bathroom and rinse him off so he's nice and sparkling clean! These next three are from a diaper change the other day and I couldn't resist taking some pictures of him perched in the sink in his little tub. Naked baby pictures - warning! :)

Check out his little butt!

Here we are at Macy's - I had some returns and I got to show him off to the lady who does my brows. I love him in his Bjorn, although I do plan on transitioning him soon to hopefully a ring sling! I love that the Christmas stuff is out - can't wait until the radio stations start playing Christmas music!
Ooh that reminds me, I should post a video of him turning next time! Here he is with one of his (many) toys - this one actually sings, vibrates, and crawls along a flat surface (the packaging says it encourages babies to crawl... but we'll see). We had set this one down so that it was coming straight at him!
Sleeping again - just wanted to show how intently he seems to be sleeping and grasping onto his rings at the same time!

And lastly, a video from today with Tyler in a great mood!

Until next time!