Four Month Schedule

We've reached four months!  Let's see what that means to our schedule:

9:01pm - Baby fell asleep
           9:40pm -  Zach and Avery tucked in
          11:30pm - Mommy goes to sleep after a couple of hours of mindless iPad time

2:02am - Baby is loudly talking, no crying, just talking in a complaining tone
2:34am - Baby is back asleep after nursing and diaper change
          3:20am - Mommy goes to sleep

4:09am - Baby lets out a couple of sharp cries that wakes Mommy up but everyone goes back to sleep

6:53am - A couple more loud cries but eyes are closed
7:05am - Baby back asleep after nursing (no diaper change); Mommy crashes in guest bed
          7:17am - One of the smoke alarms is beeping in the house waking Mommy up
                It mysteriously stops beeping but Mommy decides to wake up for the day to do some cleaning
                It wakes Zach up too and he goes to read library books
          8:26am - Daddy gets up
          8:41am - Avery gets up; breakfast for kids & coffee for parents

9:17am - Mommy checks on baby to find him awake but not crying
               Diaper change and tries to feed him but he doesn't want it
               Kids come in and the baby is smiling and talking with them
         9:49am - Daddy takes the kids out to do some yard cleanup; Baby protests them leaving
               Baby plays with mobile in bassinet; Mommy changes baby's sheets and does load of baby laundry
10am - tried to nurse baby but he's not willing and stops after only 4 minutes
            Baby plays on floormat while kids get ready for Zach's soccer game

10:30am-12:30pm - Zach's soccer game.  Fourth game, third time busted out crying.  This time because Phil was yelling too much at him.  Avery plays with the older brother of one of the players.
     ~11:15am-12pm - Baby napped in stroller
         12:45pm - Arrive home.  Mommy hurriedly heats up some leftovers for lunch while Zach takes a shower and Daddy throws Zach's uniform in the wash for a quick rinse.  Baby plays in bassinett.

1pm - Kids eat lunch.  Mommy feeds and changes baby.
          Mommy eats lunch while Daddy gives Avery a quick shower.  Baby is back down on floormat while Zach reads on the couch next to him.
         1:40pm - Daddy takes Zach to go take his soccer team pictures and then library to return books.
                Mommy blow dries Avery's hair and sends her to nap in Mommy's bed
1:50pm - Mommy reads with Baby in Nursery, then nurses for 5 minutes so Baby sucks to sleep
2:08pm - Baby asleep; Mommy quickly goes to nap with Avery

2:50pm - Baby crying; Mommy nurses
3:12pm - Baby falls back asleep
                Daddy and Zach returns; Zach works on Chinese homework

4:18pm - Avery and Baby wakes up; Diaper Change; Lots of Talking
               Avery reads to Baby
               Zach practices piano; Daddy plays with Baby

5:16pm - Nurse
                TV relax time with grapes as Mommy folds and puts away laundry
                More heated up leftovers for dinner; Baby in swing while we eat
                Mommy holds Baby while Daddy eats; Daddy starts baby bath
                Kids talk to Grandpa on phone; Mommy cleans up

7:09pm - Nurse
                Daddy reads to Kids
7:40pm - Baby Asleep
          9:40pm - Kids in Bed
                Mommy hungry and eats big bowl of cereal, watches a movie on TV with Daddy

11:40pm - Wakes up Baby to Nurse and Diaper Change
12:05am - Baby Asleep

3:33am - Nurse & Diaper Change
3:51am - Baby Asleep

7:06am - Baby Wake Up

4th Month - Sept 3 to Oct 2, 2015

PICTURE OVERLOAD WARNING!

For Labor Day, we decided to head up to Tahoe with Uncle Alex.  Zach had a nice bike ride with his cousins on the trail.  The rest of us did a bit of hiking with baby in the stroller.

Then we headed to the lake for some fun at the playground.

Baby was just fascinated with seeing everything and perfectly content being held.

September also means the beginning of weekly Saturday soccer games for Zach.  His team name is the Blue Ninjas.

I don't know much about soccer but I don't think you're supposed to stick your tongue out like that.  Here he is practicing with his assistant coach who also happens to be an old volleyball buddy of Mommy and Daddy's.

And here's his team getting a pep talk from the coach.

Zach's first game and he busted out crying when some kid kicked him in his shins.

Also in September is Daddy's birthday!  The kids got dressed up and we had a nice brunch in Palo Alto.

Then it was more fun for the kids as we visited CuriOdyssey.

They met some frisky sea otters.

And then they played at the playground.

It's got a play structure shaped like a castle!  And there are dragons in front.

That night, we had a little family dinner with Uncle Alex.  And, of course, there was cake!

I think this is our first family picture with all five of us!

Conner loves tummy time!  He gets all smiley.  Only problem is he gets tired and he's fighting to keep his head up.  Then he gets grumpy.

He's also starting to grab toys with his hands instead of just knocking them with his fist.

And, on the subject of hands, he's also started to play with his hands.

And, boy, can this baby talk!  When he's in the mood, he'll talk for the whole time he's awake which is about 1-2 hours.  There's also a couple times now that he's slept 8-9 hours at night!  But then, it quickly went back to waking up 1-2 times a night.

Part of Zach's weekly homework is to read for 80 minutes.  Here he is reading to Avery and acting out the story.

This was a hand-me-down seat.  It's meant for babies starting around 4-5 months old when their core is strong enough to sit.  We tried it on Conner and realize he's already outgrown it.  The tray barely closes around his tummy and his thighs.

Too bad cuz he looks like he's very interested in that toy.

Again... I don't think his pose looks quite right.  Shouldn't he be leaning forward?

And what's with the tongue?

Second game and.... he busted out crying again.  This time, someone kicked a ball up and it hit him in his stomach.  No one else has cried so far.  It was really hard for us to try to be nice to him this time instead of telling him to "suck it up."

This is what Avery's doing while Zach's playing his soccer games.  Each week, one parent brings snacks.  This week was watermelon and Avery is chowing down.

End of the month and we celebrated Zach's birthday with a small get-together.

See a common theme here?  He really wanted that Pikachu hat for his birthday.

3rd Month - Aug 3 to Sept 2, 2015

Right before Conner turned 2 months old, Daddy and Zach went back to Taiwan for Great Grandma's funeral.  Mommy had her two babies to herself for a week and a half.

A couple of days after Daddy left, Mommy came down with a 103 degree fever.  The next day, she went to the doctor after dropping Avery off at preschool.  The doctor said she had developed mastitis, basically an infection of the breast probably due to a clogged duct.  She was prescribed antibiotics for a week.

I had mentioned we were going to discuss baby poo so here goes:

Since Conner turned two months, his poo schedule has dramatically changed.  Before, he would go just about every day.  Then, all of a sudden, complete stoppage for a week.  He didn't seem uncomfortable or anything so Mommy waited until his 2-month checkup to see what the doctor would say.

At his 2-month checkup, he was diagnosed as extremely healthy at 13 lb 5 oz and 23.5" tall.  When asked about the poo issue, the doctor said that it was very unlikely for exclusively breastfed babies to become constipated.  Some babies just have a longer poo duration, she's seen one that poo every 12 days.  So, Mommy waited.

Since then, Conner has poo just about every 10-12 days.  Sometimes, he'll have 2-3 days of poo after the lengthy period, but then will go back to nothing for another week.  When he does poo, it's yellow (which is normal baby poo color) but the consistency is very sticky... like soft peanut butter.  Since it doesn't seem to bother him, we're just going with it and seeing if it changes.  As I write this post, he's at his 4-month mark and nothing has changed.

Ok, off the poo topic....  On a brighter note, Conner started talking!  Also, he goes about 4-5 hours at night.  This is AMAZING for a tired mommy with two little ones.  Even the night feed/change is easy since he stays mostly asleep and goes right back down.

Also this month, Zach started 2nd Grade!  How time flies!

Mommy also decided Zach could use some more activity so she signed him up for youth soccer.  He's in a team with 7 other boys ages 6-7 and he's the tallest.  That doesn't mean much though because he definitely need to develop his competitive streak.  Practice starts August 27 and first game is September 12.

Towards the end of the month, Conner has started sleeping without a swaddle and going 5-6 hours between his nighttime feeds.

He's also started swatting at toys with his fists so it's time to bring out the playmats.