Jesse at Four Months

October 21, 2011

Dear Jesse,

You are four months old! We can't believe it! Four months is not a very long time, but it seems like you have been a part of our family for much longer.

As I type this, you are sleeping on my shoulder, recovering from your shots. They always give you a little fever, and make you fussy for the day. Poor kiddo! You were SO TIRED this morning that you only cried for about a minute, then you fell asleep before we got down the elevator.

At the beginning of this month, you started gurgling instead of cooing. You thought it was so funny when we gurgled back! Now you make ALL SORTS of sounds, especially in the morning. You usually wake up to eat at six am, then wake up cooing and talking at seven. I bring you into bed with me so we can play and doze for another hour, then we are up for the day! You are a very sweaty little boy - I have spots on my fitted sheet where your head sweated THROUGH your blanket.

Good morning, Mom!

You look so much like your dad it's ridiculous. He is just about your favorite person in the world. You get SO EXCITED when he is home! You DO, however, have my squinty eyes and wrinkled nose when you smile. You eyes are beginning to change colors - you now have a golden ring right around your pupil. I'd love it if they stay blue like your dad's, but as long as you keep smiling at me I don't care what color they are.

The wrinkle nose looks less like "I'm going to eat you!" in person.

You are much more interested in people than in toys. When someone holds a toy in front of you, you will typically bring your hands together at your chest and just stare at it - you don't swing for it like most babies I know. But if someone talks to you or make faces at you, you are just so delighted. Your hands are still your favorite toy - you'll intertwine them and wave them around, then eat them. Sometimes you choke a little on your hand, then you look at me kind of accusingly. "Gee, Mom, why'd you do that?" If you can see someone else's hands close to your mouth, you throw yourself forward so you can eat them. You dive-bomb for Dad's arm, too. Little cannibal baby.

Patty-cake is HILARIOUS. It feels so funny to have your hands move around without you controlling them! And Mom makes such funny faces. You still love any singing, but the ABC's have been pretty consistently able to calm you down if you are upset. Dad laughs at me, but if you like it, I'm going to keep singing it!

All things are better with a bear hat.

Probably my favorite new thing this month is your laughter. You laughed for the first time on September 25th, and you have been laughing more and more since then. It used to require all sorts of silly noises and faces to make you laugh, but now, if you are in the right mood, just hearing Dad or me laugh can set you off. We LOVE it. Making you laugh is the most fun thing ever.

When I babysat Caden, you were totally chill, even if he did love you a little too much sometimes.

Mmm...sharing!

You were interested that he was little like you, but much more active. When he would roll around, you'd turn to watch him. And when he got a little aggressive with his curiosity, you just shrugged it off. That's my boy! We really hope you guys grow up to be good friends.

You still have major tummy-to-back rolling skills. You just pop right over like it's nothing. You have even rolled from back to front two or three times, espeically when your dad is above you and you are craning your neck to see him. Your little kicking legs are also getting so strong. Dad will put you on his knees to play with you and you kick him in the stomach. Ha, now he knows what it feels like! Between the kicking and the back-arching, we have to be sure to buckle you into your bouncer, otherwise you end up all squished in the seat! Of course, then you can see your feet...

In general, you are my lovely, smiley baby. You still love to cuddle with me, even if you are determined to sit up. You love to sit in the Bumbo on the table and watch me dance around and do the dishes or make dinner. Such a funny mom! The other day Dad said, "I always though it was such a cliche, parents loving their kids so much they can barely stand it. Now I understand what they were talking about."

Thanks for being our cliche, little boy.

Love,
Mom and Dad

I don't care about being skinny, I want to be FIT.

Oh man. Have you ever been so sore that you can feel it when you breathe? It's an awesome feeling - it's my body's way of telling me it is changing. As part of That Weight Loss Challenge 2, I lifted weights with my mom for an hour yesterday, and did Zumba later last night when my muscles started complaining. Woo hoo!

via

After I came home, I saw that Jenna had asked, "What are you going to change?" In the hope that if I define and express my goals, I will be more accountable to them, here are mine:

1. I will weigh myself every day, and write it down. I eat more mindfully when I do this.   I know that weight can fluctuate a lot, so I will also measure my bust, waist, hips, thigh and bicep in inches every month.

3. I'll take my thyroid medicine, dang it! It's ridiculous when I get behind, and it makes me feel so crummy.

4. I will go to Zumba (or some other aerobic exercise) 3 times a week and lift weights with Mom on Mondays and Wednesdays.

5. I'll go on a long walk with Jesse at least once a week. If it gets too cold, I'll reevaluate. I feel better when I spend a good amount of time outside, and hopefully it'll help with the winter blues.

6. When I feel like a snack, I will drink 6 oz of water first. If I'm still hungry after 10 mins, I'll eat some fruit or veggies. I'll also drink a ridiculous amount of water during the day.

7. I will plan meals before I get my groceries, lunches AND dinners. I'll prepare my veggie snacks as soon as I get home so I can just grab them out of the fridge.

8. I can have one treat on Family Night. After that I will only eat treats if someone brings them to me, and no more than 2 treats in a week. If I have 3 one week, I only get 1 the next.

If I feel like cheating or get discouraged, I'll look at my before pictures, or find new inspiration for my Workout Pinterest board.  I'll reevaluate everything in 3 months.

Do you write down your goals? I know people that don't - Jon keeps track of everything in his head so well, making a list is redundant. Me, I can't remember pretty much anything unless I write it down. How about staying fit? What are your tricks?

Tricky Tricky...

Today on Offbeat Home they are talking about housekeeping realizations - things that make your life much easier and make SO MUCH SENSE once someone tells you. You know, like keeping hair stuff in a basket in the bathroom, or using your suitcase and under your bed as storage space. (Check out the comments - there's some awesome stuff in there!)

I don't even remember where I learned this trick - I think it was from the internets somewhere, but it was years ago. Basically you fold your shirts an extra time, like so:

and then store them upright. Now you can see all of your shirts, so they don't get lost in piles, and you've got more room in your drawers. Tank tops get a quarter fold, and are along the bottom of the picture. The little dividers really help, too.

What awesome tricks have you learned? Please share - I need all the organizing help I can get!

PAR-TAY!

If you asked one of my younger siblings how old Mom turned on Saturday, they would tell you she was 24 (actually, that's what we older kids would say too, since we value our lives). My dad was already going on a business trip to San Fransisco, so they decided to make a romantic whirlwind birthday trip of it. I heard there was a gourmet chocolate walk.

All of this meant that Mom and Dad were gone this weekend, and I WAS IN CHARGE! WOO HOO!

So we:

Took naps in the middle of the day,

Played with our food,

Ate cupcakes for dinner (hey, who picked in the frosting?! Oh, right...me.)
Going...

Going...

Gone! (That raspberry lemonade one on the bottom left was the favorite - so deliciously tart!)

After dinner, we plotted to take over the world,

Set fire to our homework,

And made a BIG mess! (Mom doesn't like puzzles because we never finish them quickly, so they get left out and pieces get lost. This was the only puzzle in the house that still had all of the pieces)

I am the coolest big sister ever.

All Around the Internets

Some things that I've been loving lately:

• Halloween is one of my very favorite holidays. An excuse to dress up and not have people think you are ridiculous (unless they are a Halloween Scrooge like my husband)? Yes, please! Most years I start planning my costume in August. Jessica from What I Wore has been doing a really awesome, pretty simple Homemade Halloween series, and I've been bookmarking ideas for next year. My favorite? The Hamburgler!

• Kate is giving away free baked amazingness. She loves to bake, but is being really good about not eating it, so she would like to send some delicious happiness your way! She recently made Chocolate Sour Cream Cake with Peanut-Butter Cream Cheese Frosting and Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ganache. Oh my holy Hannah.

• On a totally unrelated note, I'm doing Jenna's That Wife Weight Loss Challenge! I was already at a not-very-healthy weight when I got pregnant, and I'd like to be as healthy as possible before we start trying again. (Yes, Jon, I know, we are starting with one, and we'll see. I'm just preparing.) Jenna has been on a really inspirational journey with her own weight loss, and I'm hoping that the positive peer pressure will keep me on track. If I win, I get a photo shoot with Jenna! I really want some professional family pictures.

• I have a folder titled "When we have a home." This awesome dish-draining cabinet idea is the newest thing in it.  

Also, this:

You didn't really think I'd have a post without some baby deliciousness, did you?