Kai's First Christmas

I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew that Kai's first Christmas would be one that he wouldn't remember, but I hoped to capture as many memories for him as possible. It was really amazing and I can only imagine what the years to come will bring. Christmas made me all nostalgic this year, thinking about what life was like when I was a kid, when I believed in Santa. I have so many fond memories of Christmas as a kid. Whether it was the glass Christmas lights hung on our tree that I so loved or the projects that I did in school that would help me count down the days to Christmas. I remember Christmas Eve was amazingly fun with my huge family. I remember going home from my Aunts house on Christmas Eve and my dad would religiously tell my brother and I that he saw Rudolph's nose beaming in the night's sky. I especially remember the feeling of waking up Christmas morning and running down the hallway to the living room and seeing the presents sparkle under the tree...

Bentley Claiming his territory.

to be continued...

Kai's 4 Month Check Up

Kai had his four month checkup this week and I am proud to report that he is 16lbs 8oz, 25.75 inches long and his head is 16.75 inches in circumference. He is growing like a weed.

Over the last couple of weeks I've really noticed his transition from an infant to a baby. If that makes sense to anyone. He's really coming into his own and his personality is really shining through. He has a contagious smile and his giggles are worth a million bucks. He is really starting to hold objects and reach for them. He has actual interest in playing with toys. He can sit in his swing or bumbo for awhile and actually enjoy these things. He's very strong and loves to kick his legs. We are enjoying every minute of him. I feel that I am starting to get into a groove...but I am sure that since I just typed that he will shake up our world soon and will leave me feeling insecure.

I am still breastfeeding and thankfully was able to improve my milk supply some. I started taking fenugreek a couple of weeks back and while I am still not the milk producing goddess like I imagined myself to be pre Kai, I was able to improve milk production. Also, thanks to my wonderful network, I learned some techniques to improve milk expression from the dearly dreaded pump. I am still tweaking this though and hopeful that I will be able to yet still improve my milk production and expression--stay tuned. When I was at the pediatrician earlier this week with Kai, she mentioned to me that sometimes milk production can improve with the next baby.  I'm wondering if anyone out there with multiple children that have breastfed noticed this? I'm hopeful this is the case. She described this as if it was like your body was already primed and ready to go.

Kai was suppose to have a couple of shots this week, but I declined them at this visit since he's been sick. I think the pediatrician was somewhat annoyed with me, but I really don't care. I have my strong opinions on vaccinations in the first place, but since Constant and I agreed to vaccinate Kai with an alternative schedule that we both feel comfortable with, I didn't think it would hurt him to hold off a couple of weeks until he was back to normal. I guess I just find it odd that it would be OK to vaccinate a baby when they were sick. As the nurse pointed out, "as long as they don't have a fever" we can vaccinate. Then this nurse politely lectured me about cleaning Kai's gums after he got a bottle. Are you serious???  It's amazing at work how I can be interrogated and speak eloquently on Missile Defense without seeming squeamish, but when it comes to my son's Doctor's apt's and checkups and things of this nature it makes me feel anxious and inadequate. I'm also amused by the fa sod that some of the Nurse's have when they question you on the growth and development of your child. The Nurse told me that Kai should start to say Mama and Dada any day now. Now I know my son is advanced and just accepted his full scholarship to Harvard, but this just seemed a little advanced. So I pushed back and questioned the seriousness of her statement. "Well, I am just saying, this is something that you will notice in the future". No shit Sherlock.


Couldn't you just get lost in those eyes?

Kai is 4 Months Old

It's Saturday morning and I am sitting here thinking about all of the things I need to do this weekend and I remember that I haven't written in my blog in nearly a month (Thanks Katie for the friendly reminder).
I am hoping that one day soon I will get into the motherly baby groove where I can graciously tackle all of the items on my to-do list and still have time to cook dinner and looked put together. I am hopeful.

Kai James was officially four months old yesterday. 4 months old. Wow, where does the time go. He's getting to be such a big boy. He's roughly around 16lbs. It's amazing how many changes we see from week to week and even day to day. He's still very serious, but pops a smile much easier now and giggles quite frequently. His cheeks are growing equally as fast which makes it harder for me to see any sign of a dimple.

I didn't think it would come this early, but we had an "incident" at school earlier this week. I actually had to sign an "incident report" and all. One of Kai's friends dropped himself and a toy on Kai's forehead leaving a minor scratch the size of my middle finger on his head. He's recovering quite nicely..teehee. I am glad my baby is fine and that the school took the incident seriously, but it's sort of a little silly to see how much of a production was made...I am sure this will be the first of many scrapes and "incidents" we deal with. The first thing Constant said when I when I told him was "which kid was it". As if that really matters..the kid that did it couldn't have been any more than 6 or 7 months old. *chuckle*.

It was a very big week of memorable moments this week at school. On Thursday I got a note on Kai's daily report that he was flirting with Ava. They were both doing tummy time facing each other and apparently Kai was smiling and giggling and yes, FLIRTING with her. What a tramp Ava is...she's a new arrival to the school and already enticing my son to flirt with her! I can see where this is going.

Here are some Christmas Photos of My Santa Babe. Love this guy!!!!