Theo at 4 Months Old

I can’t even believe that Theo is 4 months old already! Time flies by a lot faster once a baby is here, instead of growing inside. It was a year ago that we found out I was pregnant, and here we are with our sweet boy that just makes life perfect. I can’t even put into words how much I LOVE motherhood, and I think that Mason would say the same about fatherhood. We are so lucky to have the best baby ever. I think he’s the perfect combination of Mason and me, not only in looks but already in his little personality. We’ve been so busy with our schedules and enjoying Theo that we’re (believe it or not) way behind on posting pictures and videos to Facebook and YouTube, so I’ll try to post some new ones in this post.

I’d have to say, that babies are changing constantly, but I’ve noticed the most changes in personality between months 3-4. Theo is doing soooo much and it’s just awesome to see what his little brain and body is capable of.

That Little Body: We don’t go to the doctor until Feb. 6^th for our official 4 month weigh-in and shots, but we took Theo in a week and a half ago (he had a cold- boo) and he was weighing 14lbs 10 oz. and I’d say he’s about 26inches long. Little dude needs to shop at the baby Big & Tall because all of his pants are turning into high-waters. He’s pretty much out of all newborn clothes, except he has two newborn onesies that are Chico brand and they still fit. He’s mostly into 3 month or 3-6 month clothes. His eyes are still piercing blue and he’s got a great head of light brown hair. No teeth yet, but he’s drooling more frequently so they are on their way. He’s also a great conversationalist these days.

He’s holding his head pretty steady now and is very strong and can hold his weight if you hold him in the standing position (although these are two things he’s been able to do for awhile now). When he’s on his tummy he can lift his head 90 degrees and follow an object up and down, and side to side. He’ll also support and lift his chest off the ground while on his tummy. A few weeks ago he discovered his little man parts South of the Border and his hand was instantly gravitating there anytime he was getting changed- which wouldn’t have been a huge issue except it seemed like it was always when he had a poopy diaper. Luckily (with some teaching from Dad) he’s moved further south and is grabbing at his ankles and toes. He thinks it is so funny to pull his legs up and grab on to his toes. He has rolled over from his front to back but only sometimes. I honestly think he has figured out how to make his body stop from rolling over because he’ll start and then grab onto the blanket he’s laying on to steady himself. Again, on his back, he’s found that he can roll onto his side and then fling his legs about to rotate 360 degrees, so rolling over isn’t a huge interest to him yet. Which works for me, since when I wake him up in the morning he’ll be facing a different way than when I lay him down, but he’s not face-planted into the mattress.

Yummy in the Tummy: Theo eats a diet solely consisting of breast milk- YAY for both of us. I give Theo props because he hasn’t really had any reflux problems or any digestion issues…although he does let me know when he doesn’t like what I’ve been eating (too much chocolate mainly). He rarely spits up and usually if he does it’s because we are forgetting to burp him because he’s chugging down his bottles. He eats about 4-6 ounces when he wakes up and before sleep, but other than that he has about 4 ounces every 3 hours. He likes to put his hands on his head while he eats, and put his hands on the bottle. If you take the bottle away when he’s not done, he’ll reach for the bottle and move his head forward as if to say, “hello, I am NOT done.”

Props to me, because I’ve stuck with pumping since day one and continued once I went back to work. It’s been a bit challenging and frustrating, but we had to buy a second deep freezer because I’ve already got almost 3000 ounces stored up for when I decide that I want to stop pumping. We aren’t sure if we are going to rice cereal or go straight to “solids.” We let Theo sniff our food and he totally seems interested, so we might start pureeing some veggies and seeing how he likes them, but I don’t want him to chunk up too quickly. He’d probably eat a steak if we let him.

Hush Little Baby: Theo continues to sleep 8-10 hours most nights. He has had a few occasions where he’s wanted to wake up in the middle of the night for feedings, but his middle of the night play sessions seem to be over. He usually goes to bed between 10-11pm which works for us, and Mason wakes him between 7-8am to go to school. Just this past week we’ve switched him from swaddles to sleep sacks. Another product we thought was silly-until he fought and refused the swaddle one night because now he likes to move in his sleep and have access to his arms. His startle response is mostly gone now, so we’ve let him stick with the sacks since he is still managing to sleep through the night.

Tricks: I already mentioned his attempts at rolling over, and moving 360 in his bed. He also likes to stick out his tongue and get a response from his viewer. It’s pretty funny. He’s also really smart about figuring out his toys. We have a little green mat which has a hanging toy bar above him. Two of the toys make noise, one of which is a ball that must be spun to make the noise. After 1 day of showing him how to hit it and make the noise, he figured it out. That then became too easy and he had to figure out how to do it with his toes. He can also take out his pacifier and get it back into his mouth. He’s also figured out the art of wiggling his body. He’ll be sitting in his recliner chair and if he isn’t strapped in, he’ll wiggle to the bottom where he likes to let his feet dangle. I’m sure I’m forgetting something.

Favorite Pastimes: Theo likes taking walks and he can sit-up for the most part in the stroller now. He stays awake more on walks and plays with one of his favorite toys, Fred the Firefly. Mason laughed when he saw how I had configured the stroller with so many toys. He also loves taking a bath. We just removed the insert this month, and he likes sitting up in the tub. He can kick a little and hold a toy now while getting a bath. He’s even gotten to float around if Mason takes a bath with him. He also goes to Day Care (aka School) now and he’s quite the charmer. They asked me last week if he ever cries loudly…they said, he’s just such a good baby, and I can’t agree more.

So much is going on, and I’m sure there will be just as much to report in the upcoming months. It’s all going sooo fast- but we are enjoying every moment of our time with Theodore.

Where's my Rubber Duckie?

Theo got too big for the little insert in his baby bathtub, so this was his first bath (a few days ago) without the insert. It's as if he's saying, "bathe me mother."

Back to Work

I’ve talked before about all the reasons I decided to go back to work, and the hard feelings associated with that choice. I had to go back to work on December 7^th to be a judge for Senior Projects. I worked until the 16^th, so it was just enough days to get back into “school mode” and then have a long break to be with Mason and Theo. My mom came to town to watch Theo when I went back in December which was VERY nice and helped make going to work less difficult. I knew Theo was in excellent hands, and he was having a great time with Gram.

Over winter vacation I got lots of questions about where Theo would be when I went back to work in January. When I respond with daycare I usually get the following reactions.

1. Oh? You aren’t staying home with him. ie. what a terrible person you are to leave your child with someone else.

2. That’s good. Day care raised my children really well.

3. You’ll be okay. Theo will be fine.

Heavy Sigh, I just really started second guessing my decision again and again, and started to worry about it more and more. The waterworks began again at different times during the car ride home and definitely lots on Tuesday when reality hit that the next day I was going to have to bring Theo to daycare and let him be with someone else all day.

Fortunately, it’s worked out so far that Mason’s taken him every morning, and I pick him up between 4:00 and 4:30. The first day I was at work I was so busy. I of course thought about Theo, but the end of the day came quickly. When I picked him up the first day he was in the middle of being fed and they let me sit and finish feeding them. There were a few tears and basically I bawled the entire night once I got home. I didn’t like seeing someone else feeding my baby, and I just felt like I was terrible for not being with him. That was the last day of tears. Theo really seems to enjoy going to school (as we now call it). Every day I come in there and he’s playing (sitting in the chair or swing) and babbling with the workers. I think he’s a fan fav! I’m feeling a little better about it, and I’m grateful that the days go by quickly and that I’ve been given the gift of time management so I don’t have to work on school work at home on the weekends.

The Great Trek North

We had to sit on pins and needles waiting to see if Mason’s leave would be approved for holiday travel. The squadrons are required to have x amount of crews in the local area that would be ready to fly if need be, yet most families like to take time off during the holidays. It’s pretty much the only time Mason ever takes leave and as a result he has quite a few days stored up. There was also the problem that his squadron had just returned from deployment so many families were on R&R and wanted extra leave attached to that. We never assume that leave will be approved so we didn’t buy plane tickets like that like some people we know. We pretty much knew driving would work out better for us anyways. It all worked out and we were approved to take leave from December 16^th-January 3^rd. And thus begins, the great trek North.

I had a half-day teacher work day on the 16^th and my mom was still in town (leaving that afternoon at noon) so we packed the night before and Mason spent Friday trying to pack the car. We tend to shove a lot in the car on road trips mainly because we can. This time however, we needed to consider being able to crawl in the back seat in case Theo needed food or attention immediately. pumping equipment, pillows, snacks, the diaper bag, and Theo’s milk all needed to be readily accessible during the drive. Originally we thought that we might be able to lay the back seat down on one side so we’d have more of a “bed” to sleep on, but we had too much stuff. I got home, scarfed down some food, did a quick pump and we were on the road by 4pm.

Now I know my husband. He had been almost crawling out of his skin with excitement to get home, be on a break, and introduce his family to Theo. This meant, as much as we probably know stopping is a better choice on the drive, we would be driving straight through. And we did, all 17 hours. And when I say, we, I mean I drove 3 hours in the beginning and 3 hours towards the end, and slept a lot in between while Mason pressed on the other 11 hours! Theo was an AMAZING traveler! He fell asleep around 3:30 and we put him in the car. Luckily he does really well in the car and doesn’t seem to mind his car seat. We stopped around 7pm for a stretch/feed dinner/grab food/change Theo break and when we got back in the car theo went to bed for the night. This was another reason why we drove straight through. We arrived around 9am on Saturday, just as Theo was waking up so I crawled in the back and fed him and as soon as we arrived at my parent’s house Mason hit the hay. I followed shortly while Theo played with Gram and Grandpa. Keep in mind we showed up at their house just 20 hours after my mom had left our house, where she had been for two weeks.

We spent the next 15 days visiting relatives and friends. Too many to name, I started to and then decided just to let that alone. When we weren’t visiting or sleeping, we were definitely eating our shard of Giordanos Deep Dish Pizza, Buffalo Joes, Jamba Juice, and Thai. Diets start in February. Theo was a trooper. We had him in the car A LOT. Because he’s so adorable he was held a lot too, so at the end of each day he just wanted to lay down on the floor and kick and wiggle. He’s so active these days. And, despite the HOT summers of Shreveport, I think I’d take that over having to keep my babies warm in the freezing cold all of the time. And really it wasn’t even that cold. We only saw some snow flurries on the drive up- come on weather gods- some snow would have been nice.

We spent Christmas Eve at Mason’s grandparents house and enjoyed a Beef Burgeon dinner with ice-Cream cake for dessert. Cousin Griffin didn’t seem to notice Theo too much, but they did get along well. I think next year will be fun when Theo is able to run around with Griffin. I think that Mason’s Grandma really enjoyed being able to snuggle with little Theo, I mean after all, who wouldn’t enjoy that? Theo was spoiled with gifts by Mason’s family and came home with lots of fun new toys and clothes.

Christmas Day we spent at my family’s house opening presents and lounging around. We went out for a few hours to Lincoln Park Zoo to walk around with mason’s family and then headed back for brisket dinner with my immediate family and aunt and uncle. It was also the last night of Hanukkah, so we lit the candles as well. The day after Christmas we headed further North to Cedarburg, WI for my family’s annual Christmas Party. I think there were around 31 of us there and that wasn’t even the whole side of the family. Growing up we always got together with cousins and aunts/uncles so that’s a hard part about living far away. Anyone can come visit us in Louisiana anytime.

We had a very busy time. As Mason said it was lots of visiting and not quite a sit on the beach vacation. But we’re really glad to see everyone, although I’m not sure if we are going to be as willing next year to travel that long with a 1 year old. It’s a LONG drive. We drove in two days on the way back which worked out well. It was nice to be home on the 2^nd since we didn’t go back to work until the 4^th. It gave us time to unpack, spend time with just the three of us, and get ready for the upcoming weeks.

Now we’ve just been back in the grind of work, play time with Theo, sleep, repeat. Some days are harder than others, but mostly we’ve got a great little system worked out for our family.

Theo at 3 months

Gosh, I stink at keeping up with Theo's milestones.

At three months we didn't really do a height and measurement since we didn't see the doctor, but Theo's getting longer. He has officially grown out of his Newborn and 0-3 month clothes. Some 3 month outfits fit him while others are in the too small pile. Theo's hair has thickened back up and is very blond-brown. He's still got beautiful blue eyes like his Daddy, and we're hoping they stay that way.

He's smiling more and more and just starting to grab on to toys (when he turned three months). He is changing so much everyday.

There will be more at the 4 month posting. A lot of his new tricks have happened between 3-4 months, so I'll save it for a better, more comprehensive Theo check-in at 3 months. I need to hire someone to keep track of all the things I can never find the time/remember to write down.

Funny Kid Stuff

They think I should feed them:
One of my students decided that I should bring her a ham and egg croissant from McDonalds. She told me this Friday, and I told her she'd have to text to remind me (not that I was really considering doing it). So Monday I show up, having completely forgotten about it, and she says, "Ms. Kehs, where's my croissant?" I said, R, you didn't text. Needless to say it's Thursday and I've had 3 texts this week in the morning telling me to stop and get her a croissant...each with a funny little twist. Tuesday she was shocked that at 7am I was already almost at school, Wednesday I wasn't driving and she still texted too late. This morning she texted at 6:10 which is when I told her I leave the house but I didn't plan ahead to make a stop before picking up Robert for carpool...maybe tomorrow R, maybe tomorrow.

After completing a grammar lesson about how a lot is two words and no alot:
A student turned in a paper where they used alot. I commented on how not 10 minutes prior had we gone over this, and that he should be applying what I'm teaching him in his writing. His response, "well, when I text it automatically spaces the words for me."

On naming my child:
I have a new picture of Theo as my background that shows up on my SmartBoard each day and one student and I had the following conversation:
"What's your son's name? That is a son, right?"
"Yes. My son's name is Theo."
"What's his whole name?"
"Theodore Lawrence."
"Does he have a last name?"
"Yes. Kehs, like me."
"Oh." "Well, all you need now is two more kids and you can have all of the chipmunks..."

First day of Freshman English:
A student walks in and looks at the seating chart on the board, "oh maaaaan, this class is already hard."

After Reading the short story The Lady or the Tiger, which has a cliffhanger ending:

What! I want to kill that narrator. I hate this story. It’s so dumb. Why would the narrator do that to us?! Ugh, I’m frustrated. Is this a joke?