4th month birthday

little z is 4 months old today - happy birthday to him!  it feels like at least 4 years ago that he was born.  i'd post a picture, but our camera is broken.  it's been broken since a superbowl party, and i have no idea where you take cameras to be fixed, nor have i had the time to even take it anywhere.  z takes up a lot of time (of course).  he's grasping things more and more, like my neck, nose, & hair.  we just tried him in his high chair on sunday, and he was pretty happy playing with toys while j & i enjoyed some blueberry pancakes.  he still hates tummy time, so we're still working on slipping that in throughout the day.  he's still doing fairly well with a nap schedule, but he's still waking up too much (for mommy!) during the night.  it's wreaking havoc on my energy level.  a month ago he was sleeping through the night - 10-12 hours at least.  now it's 7 hours if we're lucky.  he's enjoying playing in his exersaucer, and he noticed persia for the first time the other night.  we had fun watching the huge snowflakes this morning.  he sat in front of the back window & just watched & watched in facination at the white stuff falling from the sky.  

schedule

so, as of yesterday at 1pm, we're trying to put z on a real schedule of nap times & eating & playing.  we're also insisting that he sleep in the crib for the naps, as he only sleeps about 20 min in the bouncy chair.  it's too early to tell, but i'm hoping it will help with his extreme fussiness that he's been exhibiting lately.  

i'm sick.  sore throat, drainage, feeling yucky.  and this came right in time for me to have to stay home and miss a dinner i've been looking forward to.  we scheduled this more than a month ago, and i would've gotten to see friends i've really been wanting to see.  friends with busy schedules.  so j will go & bring the dessert, and i'll stay home with z.  i'd have him take z along if we weren't trying to implement the schedule...

my husband has a gift for winning raffles & drawings.  at the climbing gym, they always have a drawing at the boulder jousts, and he usually wins something.  last night he went to see a climbing movie (i call it climbing porn) at the hollywood theater, and they had a raffle, and he came home with a new t-shirt & movie that he had won.  

me?  i have a gift for getting sick at the wrong times.  my 30th birthday?  sick.  the week of my wedding (including the wedding day)?  sick.  here i am, sick again.  i'd like to go, but i don't want to get everyone else sick.  several students came to their lessons this week under the weather, so of course i got it too.  just in time for the dinner, just in time for the weekend.  i gave my students today the option of coming or skipping this week.  two are coming, two decided to cancel.  sigh.    

this week is going a little better.  i'm still short on sleep, but z hasn't been going through the same crazy crying spells yet.  i'm wondering if he just needs more sleep.  the past couple of days, his crying spells have led into him either falling asleep or at least exhibiting really obvious signs that he's tired, which end in a nap.  he doesn't nap for very long periods of time... at the most, 30 min, unless we're on a walk.  my mom has been walking with him the past two days, as the weather has been absolutely beautiful.  he usually falls right asleep whenever he's in the stroller.  i've tried to make him conform to the awake-for-2-hours-then-take-a-nap schedule, but it's never worked, so i've just been letting him set his schedule.  however, i think he's finally taking one at 10, 12 or 1, & sometime in the afternoon (perhaps a couple).  his nighttime sleeping hasn't been much better... he's started getting both hands out of the swaddling at night, and i've tried just leaving his arms out a couple times, and it seemed ok.  he's always wanting to suck on his hands - the beginning of teething.  he's starting to grab onto things more often, especially my clothing & hair.  he's not quite good at grabbing toys held in front of him.  he loves to stand, especially in front of the mirror.  and j said that he pulled his legs up when putting him in the bath - something he's never done before.  he's been doing it a bit on the changing table.  he still hates tummy time, and perhaps lacks strength in his arms... hopefully he'll build it with time.  he's really vocal when he's happy (we're not counting the crying!), and is so cute!  

i've realized i haven't (and neither has j) been keeping track of anything in the baby book.  i'm just too busy.  i'll end up making some of it up, i guess.  i'm such a bad mommy!