19 weeks old

Calvin had his four month check up this week and is doing great!  He is 17 lb 3 ounces and 24.75 inches tall.  He tolerated his shots better this time, but still had a pretty rough afternoon.

Current research in the allergy field says to feed high frequency allergens often between four to six months to hopefully build up immunities and prevent a severe allergy.  So, we are jumping right in with the big eight allergens.  We are just doing little taste off our fingers of each one each week.  So far he's had fish, peanut butter, and plain yogurt.  Just a small taste of each, but no reaction.  Now that he's had a taste of food, there is no turning back...he's in love!  I let him try some squash today at lunch and then at dinner I made him some baby cereal.  Looks like tomorrow I'll be making up some baby food for him.  I've got a trial kit of the kiinde foodii so I'm hoping that's going to be a good way to get a bunch of food in the freezer and feed him on the go when needed.

Trying out the jumper.

Eating cereal

Eighteen weeks old

Calvin is starting to get attached to a stuffed animal.  He fallen in love with an elephant head on a blanket.  It helps him to keep calm(er) in the car and helps him fall asleep.  He likes to hold it by his head and sometimes chews on it.  I'm trying to get him to like other similar ones too so that we aren't in trouble if this ones goes missing.

Calvin has also discovered his exersaucer this week and is loving it.  He was getting quite mad anytime we tried to lay him down in his play gym this week and was pushing up and using his legs quite a bit.  He loves being able to look around and see what's going on when he's in the exersaucer.  He plays with a couple of the toys, but mostly just uses it to see what brother is up to.

He's not a huge fan of being in his stroller for long periods of time.  He will sit in it while Caleb rides around the block or for maybe 20 minutes while we play outside, but after that he wants held.  This made for an interesting trip to the zoo.  I don't have a picture, but imagine this...Calvin in the Moby on me, me pushing the stroller, Caleb running around and doing a really good job of staying with us all while there were 16 busses of school aged children there for field trips.  Needless to say, we didn't stay too long and I'm not sure which one of us needed a nap the most!

Calvin also got to try swimming this week.  And like typical second time parents, we didn't bring the water camera so we only got a couple of pictures before Travis got in.  I wouldn't say he loved swimming, but he tolerated it.  He stayed in for about 35 minutes and then he started to seem cold.  He does still love the bath though!

Seventeen weeks old

Calvin had a pretty exciting past weekend.  He got to meet his new cousin, Sarah, and he slept 8-9 hours three nights in a row!  What a nice Mother's Day gift he gave me.  He slept from 8:00 until either 4:00 or 5:00 the last three nights.  The first night I was up from about 2-4:30 waiting for him to wake up and waiting for any news about the new baby, but the other two I have slept as well.

In other news, Calvin also rolled over back to front today.  He's only done it once, so we will see if he does it again.  He can pretty consistently get himself on his side, but only made it clear to his tummy once.

He's also really into his hands this week.  He will sit with his hands clasped together and just stare and stare at them.  He's getting pretty good at grabbing a toy that's within his reach and can bring it to his mouth to chew on.  He's also starting to be interested in putting some weight on his feet. 

So tired and ready for bed

All the great grandkids

Ready to go to swim lessons

With cousin Sarah

Loves to stare at the octopus

Enjoying the library

Hey Mom, why are you sitting back here with me?

Caleb didn't want him to play with his trucks.  

Sixteen weeks old

Likes:
- escaping his swaddle.  He usually doesn't break free until 6:30 in the morning, but one he has, it's full blown giggling.  I heard giggling coming through the monitor at 4 am yesterday and sure enough, there was a free little boy in his crib.
- sucking on his fingers.  He hasn't mastered his thumb, but if he starts to wake up before he's ready or if he's trying to put himself to sleep, two fingers go right into his mouth.  This and rubbing his own head are driving us nuts!  Another one of his self-soothing things is to rub his own head.  No matter how often I trim his nails, his head is scratched constantly.  He rubs his little fingers on his head as he falls asleep or sometimes even in his sleep.
- diaper changes.  He still loves to have a dry diaper and will give us the biggest smiles when we change him.
- his mobile.  If we turn that on as he's going to sleep, he watches it intently until his little eyes drift shut.  We usually crank it up and he's asleep before it's done playing the second time through.
- baby carriers.  He will tolerate the stroller for a while, but he prefers to be carried.  We tried out this  one yesterday and both loved it.  Haven't tried it in the pool, but it was much cooler for summer wearing.  Calvin enjoyed a 90 minute nap and I enjoyed only slightly sweating while wearing him in 80 degree weather.

Dislikes:
- bottles...Calvin has decided bottles are his arch enemy this week.  He took only 7 ounces each day at daycare (he was there three days this week) and went to bed without one both evenings in the last two weeks I was gone.
- being in the car.  I really thought we were over this one, but the past few days it's been full blown screaming the entire car ride.   Mom, Dad, and anyone else who was forced to travel with me as an infant, I sincerely apologize for my car screaming days.  If we can time it perfectly where he is a little tired, but not too tired, he will fall asleep after a bit of fussing, but if not and you find yourself in the car with us, we recommend quality ear plugs.  As Caleb put it, "I not like babies who cry."
- staying up late.  This boy is TIRED early and does not want to stay up late.  He is typically in bed by 7:30 if not before.

So serious on our walks.  Starting to hold on to his toys!

Warm enough for shorts!

Morning exercises

Bath time with brother