A Very Merry 1st Christmas
Christmas was great. We spent it at my grandma and grandpa's in Los Banos with the rest of my mom's family, as well as Colby's mom, step-dad, and sisters. Reid never had a shortage of people to hold and play with him. He was an easy baby and a lot of fun, as usual. That is, until we sat down for Christmas dinner. He cried hysterically for a few hours. It was pretty stressful for Colby and me. I thought he might have just been tired and overstimulated from all the action and his routine getting a bit screwy. When massaging his gums calmed him down, we thought maybe it was teething pains. Overall, though, it was a great first Christmas! Here are some moments captured of Reid opening his first gift on Christmas Eve...

I think Reid liked the wrapping paper!

Santa's Little Helper
Reid assited me in some last minute Christmas present wrapping today. He turned out to be very helpful, functioning as a scotch tape dispenser & bow holder. =)

Sunrise
As usual, the sun was just coming up as I was finishing Reid's morning feeding, however the sky had an abnormally gorgous glow. I woke Colby up to see it, considering he's the reason I ever notice that kind of stuff at all. The three of us stood at the window in admiration as I explained to Reid that he's got to learn to appreciate this kind of stuff if he wants to get all the chicks when he grows up. =)

Rolly Polly -Part II
Topic: New Developments!
Our rolly polly continues to put those curves to use. He has started to roll from his back to his belly now!

And now that he has enough hand coordination, ALL things go in the mouth!

Santa Photo
When deciding whether or not we would do the whole Santa photo thing, I had to consider whether we would be confortable making Reid believe in the myth, or would we tell him the truth and allow him to be the kid who ruins it for all the other kids? All I know is that every year I really enjoy looking at the photo display at my Grandma's house of my brother and me with Santa, going all the way back to our very first Christmases. I was really curious to see how Reid would do with his first Santa photo. Would he be a screamer, a smiler? I should have known...

Grandma Debbie took these of Reid with the santa hat she made for him.

With Grandpa Gary...

4 Month Well Check
Topic: New Developments!
At Reid's check-up today, he weighed in at 17 pounds, 13 ounces! The doctor's only concern with Reid's health was his cradle cap, concluding that he is an overall very healthy baby!

What Happened??
Topic: Reid's Sleep Pattern
For the past 6 weeks or so, Reid's been consistantly sleeping 9-10 hours at night, but over the last couple weeks, he's started waking at 3 or 4 am and not going back to sleep until I'd feed him. The doctor said he may be going through a growth spurt. I re-read through my book on Parent-Directed Feeding to try to figure out how to handle it. I learned that, rather than letting Reid wake me up in the morning at whatever time, I should be waking him at a regular time each morning to stay in charge and to help stabilize his metabolism. I also read that I should pick a weekend when we have nothing to do to re-train Reid to sleep through those hours. It definitely took more work than just getting up and feeding him, but after a few nights of getting up a few times to put him back to bed, he's since started sleeping through til his wake-up time again. What a relief!

It's a Jungle Out There!
Went to a friend's 2-year-old's birthday party at The Jungle. It was a bit overstimulating for Little Man, but we got some great pictures...

Making Our Rounds
This past weekend we drove down to visit Reid's Great Grandma Judy & Great Grandpa Joe in Los Banos. Reid loved gazing at the Christmas tree lights, waking Grandma at 7am each morning, and playing airplane with Grandpa. He was also very helpful in decorating Great Grandma & Great Grandpa's house for Christmas by acting as a farland dispenser...

Could It Be?
Topic: New Developments!
After consulting with some fellow moms and with Little Man's doc, it is likely that Reid is already teething. I saw a bit of blood swirling around in his mouth a couple days ago, but dismissed it, thinking he had clawed at his mouth with his relentlessly growing nails that I can't seem to keep up with. He's been uncharacteristically cranky lately and seems relieved when I rub his gums. Plus, he's been salivating like crazy and has been attempting to pull anything and everything within his reach into his mouth. Sometimes I think I see little white buds on his lower-front gums, but other times I think I'm just crazy. The doc said that, as the teeth will start to surface, the gums will swell, and this can occur and reoccur for months. She recommended those water-filled refrigerated teethers to assist the teeth in cutting through.

Look What I Found!
Topic: New Developments!

Grandpa Steve & Grame J Visit
Last weekend we visited Colby's dad, Steve & step-mom, Julie in Phelan (southern california desert). We took the scenic route and broke up the trip with some outlet shopping along the way. Little Man did great and the visit was wonderful.

Rub-a-dub-dub
Topic: New Developments!
During Reid's routine bed time bath tonight, he took a sudden interest in the water. During the entire bath he would intently grab at the water, seeming to wonder why he couldn't hold onto it!

Rolly Poley
Topic: New Developments!
Reid rolled over for the first time today! I was alone at my mom-in-law's, scrambling to pack up some of Reid's stuff. I lied him on his tummy on the couch, pushed the ottomans together just in case, and stepped away for no more than a couple minutes. When I returned, he was on his back. I stood there a bit stunned then exclaimed, "Oh my God! You did it!!" I flipped him over, and said, "Ok, do again." And sure enough, he did. I ran to get Debbie's camera and flipped him over a third time, but he just got mad. =)

Happy Halloween!
Reid and I joined his Auntie Quincey & Auntie Audrey's homeschool group on a trip to visit the local convalescent home on Halloween. All the kids went in costume, so Reid followed in suit by sporting his billy goat costume. He was a hit. My heart melted as I watched the affect he had on people who didn't even know him.

Little Man weighs 16 pounds, 6 ounces at 10 weeks old! What a stud!

For Those Following Reid's Sleep Pattern...
Topic: Reid's Sleep Pattern
So it's been a couple weeks since we've implemented the earlier bed time for Reid, moving it from 11pm to 8:30pm. While it's been difficult to sacrifice the uninterrupted sleep from 11pm-6am, it has paid off. When we first moved it, Reid started waking up at 3am again, but with some work & training, we got that 3am wake-up to gradually move to 6:30 am! The 9-10 hour nights of Reid sleeping have been bliss for us. Colby and I get some alone time before we go to bed and the uninterrupted sleep continues to refresh us for the next challenging, yet amazing day with our Little Man.

Reid discovered his hand today!
Topic: New Developments!

2-Month Check-up
Topic: New Developments!
Reid weighed in at a whopping 15 POUNDS! This puts him in the 98th percentile, which Colby translates as Reid being able to kick the butts of 97% of babies his age. He's already fitting into a lot of his 6-month-sized clothing! He measured 25" in length and his head measured 16" in circumference. The doc reports that Reid is a very healthy baby!

Bubble Butt - Part II: The Aftermath!