Lately babycakes has been keeping us very busy. We had Will’s 4 month check-up on the 20th of July. He measured 25.75″, 15.59lbs, and had a 17.2″ head circumference. This places him at the 79th percentile for length, 64th percentile for weight, and 86th percentile for head circumference. I think we trended into a major growth spurt right after his appointment. From what I understand, this is a pretty normal occurrence around 4 mos. There have been a couple of days where he ate the extra bottle I sent to daycare PLUS a bottle of formula! Hungry little hippo. I have been questioning lately if he is trying to cut his first tooth. One thing is for certain…the drooling is endless. There are other symptoms as well…lots of gnawing, a slightly stuffy nose for a couple days, extra poopy diapers, a bit fussier than usual, unpredictable appetite. I guess I won’t know for sure until a little pearly white shows up. (I know full well I could be totally wrong and we might not see a tooth for months).
We have had a fairly busy couple of weeks. We spent a day several weekends ago in Logan, visiting the grandparents and seeing the family for a wedding reception. We took a family trip up Logan Canyon. Will woke up from his nap and cried for the last 20 minutes of our 2 hour drive. When we finally got to our parking pull-out, I tried to feed him and he pulled the typical distracted 4-month old routine. The wind was too breezy, the traffic was too noisy, and there was generally too much going on to eat. Then he was PISSED to go back in his car seat and ride back down the hill. Jason tried his best to distract him, but the conclusion was we won’t be going on any extended car trips any time soon. Wouldn’t you know that once we got back to the ranch, he SMILED for great grandma and grandpa. Little bugger.
The reception was very nice. It was held at the groom’s parents’ home. They have a very nice large backyard and the weather was almost perfect. The Simon cousins made crepes and helped organize the whole event. It went off beautifully. Towards the end of the night Will was so tired he was chewing on his fist like crazy and the key to keeping him happy became perpetual motion, which grandma Marion was more than happy to provide. It has been a long time since we’ve gotten dressed up as a family. Thankfully we took a few pictures to document the occasion. We came home with new entertainment for William in the form of a helium ‘get well’ balloon that Maydene received during a recent hospital procedure. The balloon provided entertainment for days. Jason looped the string around Will’s foot and he would kick and watch the balloon dance in the air. Such simple entertainment!
The weekend after the wedding reception we had a work picnic and a baby shower to attend. The work picnic was up in Park City, and Will managed to cat-nap both directions in the car. He was a good picnic guest and generally happy the whole time. He did have a bit of a cold though, so I left him and Jason home while attending a baby shower for my good friend Carrie, and her cute little 3 week old Owen. What a little peanut. It is funny how fast you forget that they are that small.
Will has been running us through our paces for the past few weeks. His sleep schedule has been sporadic, and the increased messy diapers have continued leading to his first case of diaper rash (lucky us). He has recently started taking a major interest in any type of food we are eating, so I think it is time to start some rice cereal. At first I was planning to wait until 6 mos, but he will be 5mos next week and I don’t think I can hold him off much longer. Also, I am hoping that a little solid food before bedtime might help him sleep through the night. For the past month he has been waking at least once per night. Lately I can’t tell if his messy diaper is waking him up, or if he is just hungry. I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that we add solids and everything evens itself out soon. I want my good sleeper back! I’m going to call his pediatrician Monday just to pick his brain.
This past week we got to see Misty and Curtis, and Will’s two 
Boston cousins–Lia and Mika. They are so cute together, it is too bad they don’t live closer. Will enjoys playing with other kids and babies. He probably gets a lot of that at daycare. Misty has her girls on a schedule I envy, but with our time at daycare it is just impossible to be that consistent. Will and Mika are about 2 1/2 weeks apart. Mika is a bit more petite so she makes Will look sort of chunky. She also just discovered how to roll places, while Will still rolls to his tummy and gets ‘stuck’. The next time we see them is at Christmas, and they will all be so much bigger!
The garden hitting full swing. We have a few new tomatoes to eat each day, and the sweet corn is tassled. There are 2 pumpkins that are already turning orange, and a several green ones as well. The carrots continue to grow, and the sunflowers are in full bloom. What does all of this green grass and garden greatness take? WATER. I feel like we’ve been watering the yard more than ever. We have gotten smarter about watering however. Since we don’t have automatic sprinklers, we got a rain gauge and measured how much water our various watering devices put out in an hour. We’ve been trying to water longer and deeper but less frequently, and I think it has paid off.
In a couple weeks we switch back to fall hours at work for the school year. Summer has been nice, and it has been great work just 4 days per week. Fall hours will bring some changes to our routine. I will work the same total hours, but they will be spread over 5 days instead of 4. I will have two long days, two short days, and a regular day on Friday. Jason will do the daycare pick-up since I will stay at work a bit later in the evenings. I wish more daycares were open past 6:oopm. We are still waiting to see if our current daycare will have a spot for us in October and as I look at my other options, most of them are much more expensive, with hours that aren’t great for my schedule. Our current daycare isn’t perfect, but it is cheap, convenient, and flexible. We will wait and see what happens.
At the end of the month my brother and his girlfriend are coming to visit Utah again. We are planning an epic tour of southern Utah. I was not crazy about hauling a 5 month old on a bunch of 4 hour car rides and I didn’t want to stay home with him while everyone else went travelling. Marion and Lee are in Denver for the week at a conference, so we compromised and are flying my mom out to Utah to look after him. It will be my first overnight away from him (2 nights actually). Thankfully I have a pretty solid freezer stash of milk, and I will HOPEFULLY be more relaxed knowing he is with my mom. I’m really looking forward to the little vacation…I haven’t seen most of southern Utah since Jason and I were dating. Hopefully it is not too hot. My mom is looking forward to it also and I hope William behaves himself. We have 2 1/2 weeks to turn him into a perfectly behaved angel. 🙂
Our next trip to visit WI has been planned for September. Will will be 6 months old when we visit! Time flies. We’re doing OK at getting him to see my parents. We video chat daily, and have had in-person visits at 2 weeks, 2 months, 5 months (my mom), and 6 months. I think we will try to get there in January (10 months) again also.
That’s the end of my news. I will add some family pictures as soon as I get them from Heather. They may be in a separate post depending on how long that takes.
Take Care!
S.~