aiden + mommy four months update!

(to give an idea of size, that is the same picture frame shown in my 28 week bumpdate)

four MONTHS

I'll be doing monthly updates like this for Aiden's first year. Aiden is currently 19 weeks old! Things have been understandably a little busy the last while, so forgive me that I'm not on any kind of blogging schedule for now. (: 

Here's how our fourth month has been!

MOMMY

Body:
My tummy skin is still kind of "squishy" but its regaining its elasticity with time. It definitely doesn't have quite the truffle-shuffle potential it did a few months ago. Most of my jeans still do not fit...despite being as close as I am to my pre-pregnancy weight. I think a big part of it is that my hips are still a lot wider now than they were before I had Aiden. That's where my jeans always get stuck, anyway haha. My hair loss has finally slowed down! It really wasn't going to be long before I went bald...ha! My hair in a ponytail is about the size of a quarter.... It used to be the diameter if you touch the tip of your pointer finger and thumb together. Poor, poor, Balderina. In other news, thin curly wavy frizzy hair is a lot easier to deal with than thick curly wavy frizzy hair. Finally, my hair cooperates with as much tenacity as a three year old coming down from a sugar high.  It used to be much worse.
Marlyssa's post-partum hair: 1. 
Marlyssa's pre-pregnancy hair: 6,549. 
Hey, you gotta start somewhere.

Exercise/Weight loss:
Total pregnancy weight gain: 36 pounds
Total weight loss: 29 pounds
Weight to lose for pre-baby weight: 7 pounds

I'm not really sure how this weight came off since I haven't been making the time to exercise very often lately. I've been doing lots of heavy lifting around the house and keeping really busy though. It finally feels like I'm getting close to being back to my normal weight but still none of my clothes fit me properly. For all my fitness geeks, I know it's because muscle is more dense than fat and...suffice to say you lose muscle while pregnant haha. But my biceps are back in full force! That's what happens when your newest kettle bell constantly increases in both weight and wiggle-ocity. This week the weather is supposed to be nice so I'm hoping to get to the beach more with Aiden. We got him a baby floatie so now he can "swim" with me! (:

Emotions:
This month things have been emotionally up and down. Sometimes the best way for me to explain it is that it's a feeling of being out of body and watching yourself fumble something and seeing yourself scramble and try to catch it before it falls. It's this "holding your breath and hoping for the best" feeling. I'll have this panicked feeling at times like something bad is going to happen and all I can do is wait for it to pass. I guess you could say my anxiety has kicked into high gear... so I'm trying to push myself to get back out of my comfort zone again instead of doing the easy thing and staying in my comfortable little bubble. ...Hence trying to get out to the beach more before the frozen tundra of the North that makes Helsinki look like Arizona in July sets in. That's Minnesota for you. #helpme I've been using the word "Hawaii" in daily conversation with Jason and am hoping for a "Pavlov's dogs" kind of effect. 
Wish me luck.

AIDEN

Height/Weight:
At four months, Aiden is 26 inches long and 16 pounds even! He is in the 81st percentile for height and he is in the 57th percentile for weight (:

Refresher course:
+ At three months he was 25 1/2 inches long and 14 pounds 10 ounces
+ At his two month check up he was 24 1/4 inches long and 13 pounds 7 ounces
+ At one month he was 22 inches long and 10 pounds 8 ounces
+ At birth he was 20 1/2 inches long and 6 pounds 14 ounces

2 weeks / 7 weeks / 15 weeks / 20 weeks

Hair/Eye color:
His eyes are still blue. They almost look like they're getting some of the gray back and still, sometimes I think I've seen other colors poking through, but I have no idea if they are actually changing or if it's just lighting/reflection or some other baby wonder (: His hair has grown in much thicker on top now (and longer too!) Now it definitely looks brown like mine where it's thick. But if it's combed it still looks sandy blonde. And it still has red tint in sunlight (: Now that it's getting longer, we're starting to see some texture! His hair has a bit of a perpetual wave to it and it gets wavier if his hair is damp. He's been getting some bald spots around the sides of his head where he didn't go bald when he was a itty bitty newborn, but it's not that noticeable because the hair on the sides of his head is thin and light blonde anyway haha

Routine:
This has changed a whole bunch! And it can easily change from day to day to a degree. I think it has to do with him teething. 

Sleeping:
These days, Aiden wakes up at 6am and that's usually when he's up for the day. Some days he might sleep in until 7, but most of the time he's awake and babbling to the ceiling long before then (: He takes his first nap between 9 and 10 and it lasts about an hour. Then he takes another nap between 2-4, which, depending on how much his gums hurt can last anywhere from 20 minutes to two hours....and then he may or may not have another nap after that in the late afternoon, but it's often a short one. Then he's asleep for the night around 9:30. This has all been pretty hit or miss though - this is just his most common sleeping schedule. Since he's teething, sometimes he'll have hardly any naps one day, and then sleep a ton the next day to make up for it. 



Eating:
Nothing new here! Although in the last month, he has really taken an interest in watching us eat. I have a big water bottle with a nozzle that I drink from throughout the day, and if he's in my lap and I'm holding it, he will try to bring the nozzle up to his mouth! And he has rarely had a bottle in his life so it's not like he would think it's "mommy's bottle". He knows you put it to your mouth and you get something our of it - he's a smart little cookie! 

We've let him take a few little sips of water and he likes tasting it. It's so cute! I ordered him a high chair so that he can sit at the table with us while we eat instead of being in his little rocker on the floor. And of course for when he starts eating solid foods (: He hasn't started solids yet, but when we do I'm excited to try making my own baby food (:

Clothing sizes:

Okay. I don't know how this kid does it. But he is tall. Like I said in the last update, I was moving Aiden out of his 0-3 month clothing that week and into his 3-6 month clothing...and once again...the footie pajamas are the first thing do not fit him! He's so long he had the feet stretched out of the 6 month sleepers from day one that they were in his dresser. And this was back when he was 3 months still! There are a few pajamas in the 6 month size that run a little longer than the others and they fit him perfectly right now for length...but I imagine it won't be long before he's got those ones all stretched out too (: The rest of his clothes fit him fine, and even his pajamas fit him around the belly and all...they just aren't long enough for him!

And I know it's supposed to be "Summer" and everything, but we live in Minnesota so...there was an entire week this month (yes, in August) where Aiden was wearing heavy fleece footie pajamas to bed. I saw the temperature drop to 45 degrees one day...yes, in August. You know how they say, "It's always 5 o'clock somewhere"? Well... it's always Winter somewhere in Minnesota. haha

Developments:
+ He has rolled from his back to his tummy to his back again a few times. He would have been able to roll over like this a bunch of times already, but usually his own arm is in the way and he gets stuck on his belly haha
+ He can stand, supported by holding one of our fingers in each hand, or with no hands and leaning against our legs for several minutes at a time.
+ All toys, blankets, etc go from his hand, straight to his mouth
+ He laughs a lot more frequently! You have to work for it, but he will laugh a lot a few different times in the day if you try. (:
+ As of this week Tuesday, I can see the top of one of his bottom front teeth. When I was feeling around his gums, I thought I felt a sharp corner...but I'm not sure because I haven't felt it since. I wouldn't be surprised if Jason comes home to a baby with a tooth this week! -Update: In the hour(s) since writing the above development, that tooth has broken through his gum! Aiden has officially cut his first tooth at 4 months and 13 days old (: (August 11th, 2015)

This was soon after I discovered his tooth poking through his gums (:

+ He takes his pacifier out of his mouth and studies it trying to figure out how to put it back in. He's done it all by himself a few times! Usually it ends up being sideways or upside down, but he's getting there!

+ He has sat up on his own a few times completely unassisted! But for now he's better at sitting using his arms out in front of him to form a "tripod" (along with his legs) to hold up his torso. He's still a little too wobbly to sit entirely on his own (:

+ If he's on his tummy he can inch around. If he's on his tummy (or back!) he can turn himself clockwise/counterclockwise around on the floor. I can leave the room and come back a minute later and he's turned himself 180 degrees!

+ He's starting to get a little ticklish (:
+ He can do raspberry noises with his lips and he will sometimes copy sounds that we make first.
+ He sucks on his toes more than he sucks his thumb

General Preferences: 
+ Sleeping in our bed and babbling when he wakes up...which is usually what wakes us up (:
+ Everything goes in his mouth haha
+ Snuggles with mommy or daddy
+ He likes playing at his activity gym and reaching up for the toys that are hanging from it
+ Being outside and in nature. Grass, sand, water (: He loves it! 
+ Sipping water from my water bottle 
+ Seeing himself in a mirror
+ Laughing!
+ He love-love-loves bath time! We still co-bathe at every bath (it's too hard on my back to bend over a tub and try to hold a wiggly, slippery baby). Now that his vision is getting better, he likes looking up at the ceiling above the bath tub. There's an old window pane filled with antique mirror glass on the ceiling above the tub and when the lights are on and the tub has water in it, it makes this golden, shiny effect. It's really pretty (: And it totally fascinates him!
+ He likes to stand and feel like a big boy (:

+ Story time - he loves Piglet...and he kind of looks like him too (: Piglet was my favorite Winnie the Pooh character growing up (:
+ Playing peek-a-boo! He's finally getting old enough that you can "disappear" and he will expect you to be there (usually) when you come out and say "boo!" a couple seconds later.
+ He loves when I sing to him (: This is awesome because I'm not a good singer. It'll be sad the day he realizes I'm not haha! But I enjoy singing him lullabies and finding new ones to sing to him. After all...sometimes you spend a lot of time singing to your baby to get them to sleep...it's nice to have a variety of songs instead of singing the same lullaby over and over and over and over.... (: 
The other day, we were in the truck and I started singing a tune to a song because Aiden was getting a little fussy. Jason began singing too, I'm assuming thinking he was singing the same song as me:

M: ...Are we singing the same song?

J: I don't know. Probably not. What song were you singing?

M: Well, when I was a kid I had a koala...

J: Ok, then no.

+ Speaking of songs, he loves country music! I don't listen to music very often and when I do it's usually my workout playlist (which is not country, haha) and one day by chance we figured out that country music really calms him down if he's fussy. We've tried other genres to see if it's just music in general that he likes, but nope. It's definitely just country. Jason and I both like country music so it's kind of funny that he does too!

These two watch country music videos together while I get ready in the morning (: 

Aiden's all dressed up in his Sunday best! haha

+ He likes going for "rides" on your shins/feet as you lay on your back

+ He likes being "tossed" in the air
+ Being a goofball 

Before we had kids, I wondered how silly the kids of two goofy parents would be...and now I know.

What we've been up to:

+ Aiden went for his first "swim" this month since we have a baby floatie for him now. It took him a few minutes to get adjusted to the water temperature and the feeling of floating, but once he was used to it, he loved it and was just babbling away! (:
+ We had family pictures done with Jason's side of the family

+ Celebrated Jason's birthday
+ Aiden got his first lawnmower, four-wheeler, and semi-truck ride all in the same weekend

+ Playing in the sprinklers on the trampoline
+ Said "see you later" to Jason's brother + family as they moved to Oregon...we don't do "good-byes" around here... (:
+ Going to the beach lots even if we just end up playing in the sand (:

+ Planning some projects around our house that I hope we can get started soon! (: 
+ While Jason was doing some landscaping recently, he found himself a wasps' nest.  I'm not sure how other people's husbands go about such things, but mine went at it with an entire can of WD-40 and a lighter. ...Followed by lightly pouring gasoline over it and laying on the ground in an army-crawl position with a lighter and a few big whoofs of flame. And it was only when he had done all this that he discovered our neighbor across the street, a firefighter, was watching the entire thing happen. 
We're normal.

And now, an ode to my people. 

---

As always, you can check out more of our adventures (with frequent updates) 

by following me on instagram - @marlyssa

Happy four months, Smookadillie. I can't believe you'll never be so small again in your life that you'll have no teeth. Well, at least not until your 118th birthday. Mommy and Daddy love you baby! Don't ever stop smiling.

 You are our ray of sunshine on a cloudy day!