16 weeks! Baby's First Christmas

So it's been a month since my last update!! OOPS!!! I intended to keep it at every two weeks, but with the holidays, I got a little behind. However, things haven't slowed down during the past 4 weeks, that is for certain!

Our little guy isn't so little anymore! He had his 4 month appointment today and he is 14lbs 1oz, and is 25" long! He's in the 50th%. He is right in his size range for clothes (3-6 mo), but has some chunky little legs! He has had a little bit of the sinus crud (thanks to Mommy getting this a week ago), and is a bit rattly but is still doing well. He has his cranky bouts, but so do I when I'm sick! :0) The doc said he looks great-- Colton is right on target and has a couple of months to go before the doc recommends introducing solids.

Colton is learning new things and is constantly taking in his surroundings. He recognizes voices and faces-- Mommy (of course), Daddy, sister and brothers, aunties, grandparents, cousins. It's so cute to see his little smile when he is talked to or picked up by one of them. He is a little drool box as of the past few weeks-- I'm hoping and praying he's not getting teeth just yet. I know babies can't swallow their saliva right now, so hoping that this is just pre-teething. Colton grabs toys a lot more now, and will pass them back and forth from hand to hand. And of course, everything he can get in his mouth goes right there! He has taken to occasionally sucking his fingers... He's not a thumb-boy, he goes for 2-3 fingers at a time, and occasionally gets them a little too far back! He has also grabbed his paci a few times and shoves it back in. (Oh how I wish he'd do that at night!) He has noticed his feet a few times, but hasn't started putting them in his mouth yet. :0) He is rolling front to back both directions a lot more frequently, but hasn't started back to tummy yet. He is enjoying tummy time more, and will "play" with his toys for longer without getting frustrated. Of course, when he's done with tummy time, he just flips over. He still enjoys his jumperoo and is finally discovering all the toys on it. He likes to sit in there when Daddy and brothers are playing a game on the big tv... he has a perfect seat! Although I'm not a big fan of him watching video games on tv. :0) He has previewed a few of the Baby Einstein videos we have on the playstation, when Mommy or Daddy need to do something that requires both hands! ha. While he does like to play by himself, he still likes to be part of the action and be held. He also likes to sit up (assisted) and stands up a lot too. He gets bored just laying around! He graduated from Momma's bathroom sink to the kitchen sink, too. He LOVES bathtime.


Colton got several books for Christmas and he has taken to "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". He will sit and listen for a while to most books for a while, but there has to be interesting pictures to keep his attention for too long. He still likes his swing, and usually just sits there and chills, as opposed to falling asleep every time he swings like he used to. Speaking of falling asleep, most nights Colton is going to sleep on his own in his bed... we are working on naps-- I'd say half the time he can fall asleep on his own for naps in his bed, but the other half are either a fight, or he ends up sleeping somewhere else if we aren't home (or Mommy caves). Since he's had the sinus congestion and crud, I've been a little more lenient on this. Time to buckle down so this Momma can get some things done! He is still getting up about 1-2am for a feeding and again around 4-5am. He usually gets up for the day around 7:30-8am. I'm surviving, but sure will be glad when he can go all night, or even go longer for that one feeding. He's still taking 3-4 naps per day. Some are just catnaps.... eventually we'll get this sleep thing down! :0)

A few various pics from the past month...

Naked time!

Check out my bumbo seat!

My new Christmas Duds

Colton's first trip to Silver Dollar City

We got to take the kiddos to see the lights at Silver Dollar City right before Christmas. We had a pretty decent evening for it, and it was beautiful! Colton was really interested in all the lights. He was mesmerized most of the time!

Our Christmas was different this year, although Colton didn't know any different! The arrival of Colton's cousin, Caroline Tricia, was a welcomed surprise. Bryan's sister Rachel had her baby on Dec. 22 (she was due 12/28), so we hopped in the car and went to St. Louis to visit overnight. Colton seemed like a giant compared to tiny Caroline!

He did pretty well in the car on the way there, but we had to stop a couple of times on the way back. He does better in the carseat than he used to, but now we have affectionately named it the "seat of terror"! Anyway, Grandma Pattie stayed in St. Louis to help with the new baby, so we didn't get to celebrate in our usual fashion at their house. We still enjoyed several get togethers at my parents' house and at Grandma Donna and Grandpa Max's. We invited everyone over the day after Christmas when we got the kids to have yet another day of gifts and fun. It was nice to have a lot of time with friends and family the week following Christmas. Our friends Lori and Bobby came down from Minneapolis and we got to spend an evening together. We also celebrated my Dad's birthday and my parents' 39th anniversary. My cousin Elizabeth from NE also visited for 4 days. We had a great time with everyone!






Well, I am sure I am missing things that have happened in the past 4 weeks, but I think I hit the highlights. Hopefully I can stay on track with updates, since we have no upcoming holidays!

Love to all.