Yep, mah baby's all grown up and is now 4 months young. When he's rested, he's quite the little ham. He loves smiling at mommy and daddy and just started to roll over! When he's not rested, that's a different story. He is definitely still high maintenance, which is why I'm writing this a few days late. Between holding him to sleep, holding him awake, and holding him...um, all the time, I haven't had too much free time to do anything beyond basic necessities.
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| I'm going to make some serious money off of this kid's face. |
He has, however, improved! Now I can occasionally lay him on the ground (hopefully when the kitties aren't around) and he will talk to me while I do something. Or I can put him in the Bumbo seat and he slumps forward to suck on his hands. It's adorable. The reason that he's become so much more of a joy in my life is due to the discovery that he needed an adjustment. Literally. It seemed like for no reason at all, Ben hated being flat on his back. He always gave me grief whenever I made him lay there, for diaper changes or whatever reason. His cries were strange, a pained one, that seemed to never be soothed. Finally, my amazing mother in-law recommended taking him to the chiropractor. She knew of one who had a lot of experience with young babies so out of desperation, we gave it a shot. It turns out that 2 of the vertebrae at the top of his neck were rotated and pinched down on some nerves, causing inflammation and giving poor Benjamin the equivalent of a constant migraine. No wonder he was a crabby patty! After just one adjustment, he was a completely different baby. He slept soundly in my lap for about 3 hours that day and the next day, he didn't even complain about laying down at all. We went to visit my parents for Columbus Day and they were wondering what happened to that crabby baby I was always complaining about. I left him at home, I told them. What I learned (even though it's pretty obvious) is that birth is tremendously traumatic on a baby's body. A lot of problems that adults carry with them today are most likely something caused from birth. Thankfully, Ben is getting treated young before any major damage occurs and now all of his future siblings will receive the same preventative treatment!
Some things that Ben really enjoys include: being naked, boobies, Skyping my mom, baths (see, being naked), tickles, blowing raspberries on his belly, grabbing things (especially mommy's hair), walks in the Baby Bjorn, and being naked. The whole naked thing is pretty adorable, but I can see our heating bill slapping us across the face for that one. Ah well. No one said having kids was cheap. I'm glad that I wont have to invest in an electric blanket this year, which is a bonus.
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| After a nice long walk! |
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| Skyping with Gamma! |
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| Sitting up in the Bumbo! |
It's been a fabulous 4 months with my handsome little man. He's still a baby, but he's not a baby...if that makes any sense. After much struggle with getting him to seek some independence and allowing me a break or two a day, Aaron and I decided that he was ready for some sleep training. So far, he's only known sleep as an "attached to mommy's boob" type of situation. Well, that can only go on for soooo long. Plus, we have a beautiful new crib going to waste in the nursery. It's about time someone besides the cat sleeps in it! I'll write a blog about the whole thing, because I feel like conquering the sleep obstacle is something that's either a fairytale or just a well kept secret. I'll bet $5 that if the age-bearing people on this earth really knew more about the reality of not sleeping for months on end, we would die out as a species. I know we will see a victory but I want other people to know all the sides of raising a baby, including the ugly and messy ones. Lucky for Ben, he's crazy cute, so at least he makes up for it.
