Added 4 pictures to the 4 -5 Month category.

Tristan went to bed around 3:30 this morning. And got up at 12:30 this afternoon. Nice long stretch of sleep – we should entirely stab and drug him more often.

Er, well, yesterday was his 4-month checkup; he got yet another round of shots/oral vaccine. He didn’t seem to like the flavor of the oral stuffage. He actually took the first shot without even flinching, but seemed rather unhappy after the second; but just for a short time. BTW: Kaiser Permanente sucks. It took us ~2 hours waiting for said vaccines. Thankfully Tristan was being sleepy through it.

So, Tristan’s still a big kiddo, but he’s actually thinning out quite a bit – he’s juuust short of 16 lbs. now (bigger than 70% of kids his age), but two months ago he was 13 lbs 9 oz (bigger than 90% of kids his age). Maybe he hasn’t entirely inherited our figure 😉

Along with the typical skills a 4-month old picks up – such as:

• Raises himself up on straight arms to look around
• Grasps and plays with rattles/toys
• Laughs out loud / squeals when happy
• Smiles spontaneously
• Recognizes parents

He’s picked up a new talent: we found him this morning with both legs in one leg of his pajamas. Given that we didn’t put him to bed that way, I’m kinda curious how he managed it. I’ll chalk it up to his puntypaws!

5 new videos added to the 3 – 4 Months gallery.

On Christmas, Tristan hit the 4-month mark! Go Tristan go! (not literally, though, since his daddy JUST changed his diaper).

We’ve been better with the pictures than the commentary – what a shame! We’ve had his “First Christmas” photos up since Christmas day; not that they show much other than him looking cute. At 4 months, he’s still too little to really understand cause and effect or be taught to do things like open packages. He got lots of lovely clothes and toys from both sides of the family and he thanks you all!

His Christmas present from us was an Exersaucer that looks really distracting but it’s stimulating as all hell to Tristan. And we think it’s beginning to teach him the basics of cause and effect – he’s starting to understand that hitting the button makes the music and lights turn on, so it seems. On a very basic level, anyway.

Tristan’s 4 month doctor visit and shots are coming up on Monday. Hopefully the doctor endorses the starting of solid foods, especially since I will need to work on introducing him to formula again at some point within the next two months anyway and I want to work on all of that at about the same time.

We just got the mattress cover today so we need to figure out how to put it on properly. We also got a red dragon brocade Mei Tai carrier that’s sort of a cross between the structured backpack like carrier and the Moby wrap. In any event, it’s neat to carry him around in dragon print!

Otherwise, Tristan is getting very giggly and seems to be a generally happy baby. He’s still not trying to roll over fully anymore but he rolls onto his side to sleep at night. He’s also very interested in sitting up and will try to convince us to prop him slightly so he can practice. He’s been taking his naps in the playpen and sleeping in the crib that’s in our room. Sleeping at night has been a bit touchy, as we’re figuring out that the magic ingredient that makes him go to sleep is food, and we’re supposed to not rely on food to much to help him develop good sleeping habits. We’re also trying to learn when it’s appropriate to let a sleepy baby cry (well, fuss) it out or when he needs more attention. There’s a certain tone of cry that I can ignore because it sounds like griping, but most of the time he cries I am compelled to see what is wrong with him immediately. I hear that the must-respond thing is hormonal on my part and that some of his cries won’t be due to unfulfilled needs starting soonish if not already.

In any event, I hear a giggle-baby!

28 new Christmastastic images added to the 3 – 4 Months category.

While Tristan has been sleeping through some of the nights (like last night), during the evening he seems somewhat difficult to satisfy. He’s ended up taking nearly (or actually, perhaps) 7 ounces of milk in a feeding about once per day. Of course, he’s coming up on the four month mark and that means starting solids for some babies, so perhaps that means he’s ready.. or perhaps he’s just making up for the nights he sleeps through (though when he sleeps the night through he tends to want his feedings closer together during the day, too).

After this evening’s feeding, he got fussy fast after his feeding and we determined that he was still hungry. His standard feedings are still 4.5 ounces in prepoured bottles. After he drained both of my reserve bottles (2.5 more oz on top of the feeding) he was still giving us signs of being hungry. I tried to put him on a boob and that was a monumental failure – let’s just say it frustrates both of us to tears. So I broke out a 2 oz bottle of formula after James and I discussed how to proceed next. After all, he is going to need to drink the stuff in a couple of months.

Anyway, Tristan sipped at the bottle and made the most expressive “ew, what the fuck!?” face, rejecting the formula. Then he passed out in my lap. Trying to drink formula must’ve been exhausting to him.

Tristan is 3 months and 3 weeks old. His next month-turning is just around the corner – on Christmas, to be exact. I have no idea where December has gone, honestly. I’m looking at my general correspondence and it seems to date to the end of November. The workload has been sort of heavy lately (Empyrean Dragon as well as the work that is life) and I’m just getting a breather now. Imagine how life feels when a “break” means there’s time to clean the kitchen!

So, for a few days Tristan was a rollin’ fool but he seems to have forgotten how to roll. In some ways, I’m glad for this, as I’m terrified to find him face down in his crib before he’s able to get out of that position easily. I still haven’t ordered the mattress cover but now that I have a few minutes, I should really do that. Anyway, he does seem frustrated when he plays on the floor and that’s a shame. But I am confident that he will get back to rolling when he’s good and ready.

His biggest amusement seems to be my head. When I lean over him, he grabs for my hair and face and looks as amused as he can get. But he’s not showing a whole lot of interest in toys yet. There’s some recognition that toys are playthings and he will grasp a rattle if you hold it out to him, but he doesn’t seem to independently seek out toys and gets overstimulated rather easily.

We got him a playpen (or as it’s called in modern-day English, a playard) but he doesn’t particularly like to play in it. He’ll nap in it, but he gets pissed off if we put him in there wide awake. We decided to get it so he’d have a place to punt around and roll over that doesn’t have litterpaws tracking over it all of the time, but so far it’s just a downstairs bed.

We also got him a high chair (slightly different design) so that we could start the “feeding real food” process when he’s ready. So far, he seems somewhat amused by it or pleased that he can watch us eat. He does seem interested in what we’re eating, but we still haven’t gotten to the point where we think he needs solids yet. We’ll see at his next doctor’s appointment if it’s advisable.

Tristan has been sleeping well, maybe even too well, as he sleeps through the night about every over night and then sleeps after that feeding until well into the afternoon. It’s not as disturbing if we realize that we tend to have a shifted schedule compared to the rest of the world, where everyone goes to bed around 1 or 2, including baby. However, in the evenings he’s been fussy and we can’t figure out just why. We thought he might be teething but there’s nothing to indicate that he is at this point, and everything else about him seems fairly normal.

Anyway, he seems to be asking for a meal!

26 new pictures added to the 3 – 4 month gallery.

I’m sure that this wasn’t the first time, knowing him, but I caught Tristan having had rolled over today while I was wrapping Christmas stuff. Unfortunately, I didn’t see him in the act, but unless he teleported his butt over his head, he definitely rolled over. He’s been rolling from his back to his side in his crib at night (that he’s been sleeping in only a little bit worse than he did in the bassinet, by the way) but always woke up on his back. What he does is swing his legs, puntypaw-style, to get the momentum to flip up to his side. He hasn’t shown much aptitude for rolling or the like from his front yet – he still tries the Cobra yoga pose whenever he’s on his tummy.

Scratch that. I just saw him roll from his front to his side. And James, who is minding him while I pump, said that he’s been rolling in portions and he has some video of it. I suppose video is to be posted soon!

Lately Tristan has been showing off his interest in grabbing/grasping things. Of course, there’s hair, but he also can pick up toys and wave them around now. We finally started putting toys more in his reach after being reminded that babies should be grasping at his age, heh. The cutest and most punkass thing he’s been grabbing lately has been his bottle. He puts his little hands around it and holds it, but when I stop directing it, he aims it in any direction other than the proper one to be able to drink from it. I’m anxiously awaiting the point where he is able to hold and drink from his own bottle, mostly because I think it’s cuter than hell.

In other news, Tristan has become very attached to his daily sling rides and they are always the cure for a randomly fussy baby. We walked around the park today (the one in the center of the complex, for those of you who have been to visit) with Samurai, who stayed home from work today because James had a dentist appointment and for some reason, they don’t allow puppies in there. Said park walk perimeter is 1/3 mile, by the way. We met two other moms with babies – one with a 2-month-old in a stroller and another with a 15-month-old walking/running around and very interested in Samurai and the other dogs who were out. Seeing the 15-month-old makes me so eager to see Tristan that age – I know they’re easier to manage as little babies but I’d rather have the critter with a personality that will interact with me.

Oh, and I moved the crib into our bedroom. The screws didn’t seem to be loose or lack integrity, so I’m not too worried. We still have to put the mattress and bedding back in, so he can actually SLEEP in the thing, but we’ll do that soon enough. I’m highly considering purchasing a plastic wrap for the mattress, as there is a lot of speculation that toxic gases are the cause of crib death and the wraps prevent this. It’s likely hype, but I’m of the mind that the precautions we take buy us much peace of mind. In any event, the crib mattress was new and he hasn’t even slept on it for more than about 4 hours total, so it’s probably not growing anything funky. I must also mention that it’s very interesting to partially dismantle and reassemble a crib while being alone with a baby!