Little Kong: Fa La La La La

Christmas is literally right around the corner and I JUST started shopping Thursday....it is Saturday.....talk about waiting until the last minute. Needless to say Jack is not getting anything from us for Christmas this year. I can't go into a store without buying something for him as it is so he gets stuff all the time! Plus I know some other people (grama and grampa) who will make sure my peanut has plenty to open this year. Not that he will even remember or be able to open presents by himself!

Tree is up and decorated, xmas cards have been sent, I've made a million cookies of all kinds (it counts if they were for the restaurant right?!) and most importantly....Christmas music has been playing for weeks now! I LOVE Christmas music, I have it on ALL of the time....Johnny can't stand my slight obsession....but I don't are it only happens once a year! :)

Ok so I feel really bad that I haven't written in such a LONG time, I mean its been a month, I couldn't believe it when I just looked at my last post!! But to my defense things have been busy at the restaurant so I've been spending a lot of time there. Then when I finally do get home I feel like my evening is over within a blink of an eye. Basically I play with Jack for a little bit, feed him a couple times (including solids now!), bath and then bedtime.

So I have to say the transition from three months to four months with an infant is a lot of fun. I saw such a growth spurt in him, it seemed like literally every day he was doing something new and exciting. We made the transition to the nursery and him sleeping in his crib. This was not as scary as I had anticipated. I thought it was going to be so hard for myself let happen and I'd be a nervous wreck with him not sleeping in his own little bed next to ours...........BUT it was actually a nice relief. It got his play yard out of our bedroom (since that was what he was sleeping in), plus I don't have to tiptoe around as much. So I'm really enjoying having him in his own room. Plus the monitor is the BEST, it allows me to see and hear what he's doing at all times.

We went to our 4 month check up and the pediatrician gave us the "4 month talk" about how we need to move him into his own room (as we did) AND stop feeding him throughout the night. He was back to waking up every 2-3 hours at night and I wasn't sure why. The Ped said that he is clearly not starving and isn't even hungry when he wakes up, he just doesn't know how to sooth himself back to sleep yet. SO we made the transition which went really well at first. He starting sleeping for 10 hours straight!!! We'd put him down between 8:30 and 9pm and he'd sleep until morning. I couldn't believe it. I got real used to that real quick!! He did this for about a week and I thought we were in the clear but then he started waking up around 11:30pm - 12am and I would let him cry for a while but then end up feeding him because he would go back to sleep afterwards and usually sleep until morning. THEN he started not getting up at midnight and getting up at 3am for a few days. So after trying the "cry it out" method I would go in and feed him since he was not going to sleep and I am exhausted at this point. Recently he has started getting up at midnight and 3am. Last night was awful, I don't think he slept a solid hour and was still crying at 3am. This is after I'd gotten up to feed him twice throughout the night. I think he is teething, I noticed his gums are a bit swollen and I can see a tooth under the skin. He is constantly gnawing on his hands and of course Sophie the giraffe. So tonight I gave him a little Tylenol before bed so we'll see what happens. I just don't want to get in the habit of doing this just to get him to sleep through the night. I can't be the only mom out there that this has happened to. Any advice is welcomed :)

Besides the whole sleeping situation we have also started solids -meaning cereal. I initially gave him rice cereal but then he didn't poop for 5 days so I switched to oats which has more fiber. He's pooping but its not every day. Apparently this is normal especially when they have any sort of dietary change like the introduction of solids. Just this week we introduced fruits and veggies.....we tried bananas first - seriously you would have thought I was giving him poison - the look on his face was priceless, all I could do was laugh because it was so cute. He HATED it HAHA! I'm not giving up though. Then we tried carrots which he semi liked but still only a couple bites actually made it down his throat....the rest all over the bib and his face! I'm determined to start making my own baby food, I've found some pretty good recipes and "how-to" posts on pinterest. The little pouches of organic fruits that you buy you have to use within 24 hours so I ended up throwing most of it away. Same with those little jars, you have to use within 3 days. Such a waste!

More changes - my little guy has become SUPER attached to Mommy! I mean its crazy how attached he is to me, I love it don't get me wrong but I worry that it will only get worse. I had to stop taking him to my grandmother's twice a week while I wen to work because he would cry the ENTIRE time!! Like scream his head off, tears streaming down his face crying....poor guy just wants him momma. So he got his way and comes with me to work whenever I go for now. Luckily I'm fortunate enough to be able to do that and have my brother working upstairs so that he can watch him if I need him to. Once Jack starts moving around though I'm going to have to think of something else because he won't be able to be at the restaurant like that.

Happier changes - he's even more vocal and louder. He makes the funniest facial expressions. He studies my face so intently and then tries to mimic what I do. We are working on giving kisses right now. His giggles now and its hilarious, in fact he thinks I'm hilarious - LOVE this kid <3