4 Months

Well Briggs you're now 4 months old and growing like a little weed!!  You seem to change almost every week and are mastering skills and learning new things.  You are FULL of smiles and giggles which is awesome and you are just the happiest baby!!  Of course there are times that you cry or get upset, but that usually means your tired or hungry.  Not much else gets you going.  You love to laugh at us when we sing or dance for you and you also like it when we do patty-cake, the tommy gun, or anything else that makes you wiggle!!  Your smile is fantastic because it's not just a smirk, it is an OPEN mouth, WHOLE face smile!!

You are now 24 inches long and weight 15lbs 4oz, next week you'll go for your 4 month check-up and we'll get the official stats!!  You are such a chubby little guy with big, kissable cheeks!!  You continue to love to sit up and stand and pretty soon you'll be holding yourself up on your own. 

Mostly you are wearing 6 month onesies and 3 or 6 month pants.  There is a bin in your room where we toss clothes that are too small, and it's filling up fast. Bibs are now an essential part of your wardrobe as you are always blowing bubbles, drooling, or spitting up.  Daddy says you have rabies and you always seem to think that's pretty funny!  You are using your hands more lately, batting at your jungle gym toys or grabbing and hanging onto them.  You like to grab your clothes, my clothes, my hair ... pretty much anything in reach!  You are always pulling at your bib and covering up your face.

No matter where we put you, you strain your neck to find the TV.  It doesn't matter what is on!  I try hard to put your back to the TV so you won't watch it, but Dad likes to turn you so you can see it!! 

You have been getting better at sleeping and are now usually sleeping 9 - 9.5 hours and sometimes as many as 10 hours!  Most nights you start getting sleepy by 7:30 and are in bed by 8pm.  Then you'll wake up sometime between 4 and 5:30am for your breakfast and then snooze a little until it's time to get ready to go to school.  Most days you catch a nap on the way to school and then you're ready to go!!  You've been doing great at school and seem to just love Ms Amanda, Ms Tarria, Ms Stephanie and Ms Casey.  You give them all lots of smiles and are so well behaved for them!  You've been eating really well at school now, usually eating about 4-5oz at each feeding and one day last week you ate 7oz.  Geez piglet!  The girls in the nursery are always telling me what a good baby you are and that you are just happy!  Ms Stephanie told me that sometimes she forgets you're there because you are so content to just chill in the swing or chair and just watch all the action.  I'm really hoping that your personality will stay this way!!

Your eyes are still BLUE, BLUE and I sure hope they stay that way, they are gorgeous!!  You have definitely lost some hair since you first came home.  It's thinned out a lot on top and you even have a bald spot on the back of your head from spending so much time laying down!  It's still pretty blonde, but at the very base of your neck the hair has darkened to more of a dark blonde. 

At school, they say you like to snooze in a swing and don't ever take a pacifier, but at home you usually nap in your crib and like a pacifier sometimes until you fall asleep.  On the weekends you really LOVE to snooze with mom or dad rocking or cuddling with you, this is usually when you take your longest naps.  I'm convinced it's because you like the heat!

This weekend Grammy Pam and Grandpa Bob came to visit.  It was nice weather so we sat outside and watch Grammy as she did some much needed yard work.  You loved it outside and really seemed to be watching everything that was going on, especially the dogs playing!  It was just a little chilly out, so you wore your Carhartt hat and you looked soooo cute!!

Happy 4 Months Briggs Boy!!

Growing Up SOOOOO Fast

5 weeks, 10 weeks, 16 weeks

3 weeks, 6 weeks, 16 weeks

Starting School

The last two weeks have been an absolute whirlwind in the Black household!

January 2nd marked the date that had long been looming, the day that I returned to work and Briggs started school at Clemson First Baptist Child Enrichment Center (CEC).  In preparation I had some anxiety about a few things:  1. Getting us out the door, 2. Briggs adjusting to the school schedule, 3. Ensuring that the teachers knew everything they needed to know about Briggs and that I brought all the right accessories, and 4. Pumping at work.

Getting out the door has certainly gotten better with several days of practice!  Lately Briggs wakes up around 3am to eat, so with the new schedule I have been waking him around 6:30am to eat again.  Then I hand him off to David for burps, diaper change, and school clothes (some mornings this has been up to 3 outfits) while I continue getting ready.  The goal is to get out the door between 7:15 and 7:25.  The first week I never left the house before 7:45am!  Luckily my work is understanding, so no biggie!  This past Friday (the 13th), Briggs threw a little curveball into the schedule and slept 9.5hrs, waking up at 5:30am!  It was a great treat and I'd love for that to be our new schedule!!

First week at school had some cold mornings!

Briggs adjusting to the school schedule has also improved with days of practice.  Throughout the day, the awesome ladies who keep the nursery keep a running report card on each of the 7 babies.  This allows me to go home knowing when and how much he ate, slept, and even an exit (diaper) report!  At first, Briggs didn't eat much and didn't sleep much.  The ladies were very impressed that for his age he will nap in his crib, but they have perfected that when he wakes, he'll sleep more if he is moved to a swing.  As of Friday, he was finishing all his bottles and taking some good naps!

We post the reports at home, keep us all on the same page!

I didn't have much anxiety about the separation or missing Briggs, I was downright (and shamefully) excited about going back to work.  I certainly learned over our 14 weeks at home, that I am not cut out for the stay at home mommy thing.  Even though the ladies in the nursery obviously have WAY more baby experience than I do, I was nervous about them knowing what all his grunts mean and just how he likes things.  David came along with me the first day of school and we were like dorky freshman at a new high school.  At first we couldn't find our classroom so we had to walk a few halls and then finally ask for help!  Once we found his room, we hung around for about 20 minutes learning the drop off and pick up procedures and telling Ms Amanda a little about Briggs.  I struggled to back out the door and leave, I kept feeling like there were things I should tell her.  I guess it was good David came along or I might have stayed an hour!

Ms Amanda & Briggs - Week 2

Pumping at work is just as bad as I thought it would be.  The first day went ok, but by the second day I was getting busy and already working right through pumping times.  So, I needed a routine.  Now I have an alarm set on my phone twice a day and these 10 uninterrupted minutes are now the time when I get to play with my new iPhone!  Sure facebook is fun, but I am totally addicted to Words with Friends now!!   It definitely is an inconvenience when I'm in the middle of something, but I know it's totally worth it for Briggs man!

Forget turning his back to the TV!

Now something I didn't have too much anxiety about was keeping up with the house and THAT has turned into the bigger issue!!  The first week I had planned well and had dinner ideas and supplies set and ready to roll, it was the first weekend when things went awry! 

Last Friday David called me at work to say he wasn't feeling good and was headed home.  By the time Briggs and I got home, David was in the bed with a fever.  I immediately Lysol'ed the entire house and busted out some Clorox wipes to tackle every surface.  I quarantined David and moved Briggs and I to the back bedroom.  By the time I put Briggs down, I wasn't feeling so great either.  To put it nicely, David and I were certain that we'd gotten food poisoning from the Mexican restaurant where we'd eaten his birthday dinner on Thursday night.  We struggled through the weekend mostly laying around and hydrating.  By Monday, I was back to 90% so I headed back to work.  When I dropped Briggs off, I started telling Ms Amanda about our weekend.  Turns out, we weren't the only ones who thought we'd been poisoned ... a stomach bug had obviously attacked!!  THANKFULLY, the only symptoms I ever saw in Briggs were some extra dirty diapers.  He stayed his normal, happy self through it all and was even nice enough to let mommy sleep!!

Briggs in the Johnny Jump Up

Now this weekend I luckily have an extra day off for MLK.  I'm going to need it!!  I'm headed out today to restock our groceries and meal plan for the week and then to tackle cleaning this house!!

Now some videos that make me smile!

 

David and Briggs are WAY to cute when they spend time "talking" with each other!

I love Briggs' face at the start of this video, then he gets a little shy!  He LOVES putting weight on his legs, so it was no surprise how much he liked his bouncy even if we had to do all the work!!