Life @ 319: Kason is 4 months!

I can hardly believe it. Kason is 4 months old today! I remember when I was pregnant with Kason and started thinking about maternity leave. I knew that I would start my leave sometime in March and would go back when school started at the end of July. I specifically remember thinking about how far away that seemed and that 4 months seemed like so much time to be home with my baby. Man..was I wrong! It has flown by and in just a couple of weeks I will return to work. But, let's not talk about that right now!

Kason goes for his 4 month appointment on Monday, so I will update his hight and weight then. We'll see if he's still on the small side. I have this feeling he will be!

Here's some of the things Kason has been up to lately (with pictures..ha!):

Kason LOVES. . .

...Standing up! Obviously, he can't stand up on his own but he loves for others to hold him in the standing position. He's a strong little guy and I think once he starts crawling and walking our lives will be nonstop! Along with others holding him in the standing position, he loves to be held..but only if you are standing up. This is not always true, but when he is fussy he really prefers to be standing. Duane and I joke around at night during Kason's fussy time (so we don't pull our hair out) and sometimes sit down and Kason starts screaming. As soon as we stand up, silence. This kid is spoiled!

...his exersaucer! This was given to up by a family friend and I tucked it away in the basement thinking we wouldn't need it for a while. About a week before vacation I remembered I had it and thought since Kason liked standing up so much, he might love it. Sure enough, it was love at first sight! Kason loves to play and talk with all of the farm animals that are attached. He gets tired of standing after about 15 minutes, but those 15 minutes are pure joy for Kase!

...Grabbing! This kid now is well aware he has hands and loves to grab his toys, rattles, keys, toes and of course, mama's hair (hints the hair cut that took place last week). It's so neat to see him slowly understand how his hands work.

...Smiling! I can't help but think of the quote from the movie Elf..."I just like to smile, smiling's my favorite!" This little guy has a smile that just melts my heart. He's such a sweet, happy baby and although I am sad that he is no longer a newborn, it is so fun to see his personality emerge. I just can't get enough of this happy boy!

{The days of me sitting Kason in the corner of our glider and him not moving are over! I went to snap these pictures the other day and he quickly rolled forward!}

Kason does NOT love. . .

...Nighttime. After about 9 P.M. is meltdown time here at our house. Kason is usually exhausted by this time, so he takes a short cat nap. He always wakes up angry and just cries and cries. We try to hold him off until 10 and then give him a bath. Bath time always calms him down and he is all smiles the second his skin hits that warm water. After bath time I put lotions on him, read to him (if he's not screaming), nurse him, and then put him to bed. He almost always goes right to sleep. I feel like he might be needing an earlier bedtime, but I'm nervous to try it. When we've put him to bed earlier before, he doesn't sleep thru the night. He still needs that 10:30 feeding, but he's so exhausted and cranky it's hard to know what to do. When school starts I will be getting up at 5 A.M. and would love an earlier (maybe 9?) bedtime, I just hope he'll sleep thru the night. I'd rather him go to bed late then wake up at 2 A.M.! Ha! I'm hoping that when he starts cereal we can feed him some right before bed and that will help keep his tummy full until the morning. Whew, that was long!

...Sitting still. This kid is a mover! When I lay him down on his back he flails around like he's trapped and can't move. He either has to be sitting up (with the help of his bumbo or boppy), laying on his play-mat, or standing up. I'm going to lose a lot of weight once this little guy is on the move!

...Tummy time. Although he is starting to tolerate it more and more, he still gets frustrated when I lay him on his tummy. He usually scoots himself across the play mat and eventually flips himself back to his back. One of these days he might like tummy time but until then, I'll just keep trying it in small portions!