Just Because

Rice Dream

Well, the cereal worked like a charm. He seemed to dig it (though I still don't quite get how any of it went IN him since to my untrained eye all of it wound up ON him) but more importantly, he didn't wake up screaming ravenously at 4 am, but instead woke up around 6:15 cooing. Much better. Here he is, well-rested and cute. This outfit only lasted 10 minutes by the way, before an explosion of...well, anyway. He looks cute here.

Let the Great Experiment Begin!

At something like wit's end, we called the doctor this morning to see if she had any thought on why Cody might have been, shall we say, less charming, over the last few weeks. She suggested we start him on solid food, pronto. Starting with rice cereal.

The first problem was finding rice cereal. I've never seen it in the cereal aisle. There are lots of cereals that have the word "rice" in them. Did she mean Cream of Rice? Or Rice Puffs? How are we supposed to unravel these mysteries?

Turns out, there's a cereal called "Rice Cereal." They keep it in the baby section, next to the diapers. That's a freebie.

Returning home from the Giant, we armed Cody with his baby spoon, given to him by Jackie Goldberg. As you can see, it is in the style to which he is accustomed.



Shannon took the first crack:



I took the second:



The end result was predictable.

A Joyful Noise

Hi! I went to church Saturday and Mommy was singing! The words were about making a joyful noise unto God so that's what I did. It sounds like this: "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" For some reason Daddy picked me up and we went outside for a few minutes. It was ok though, I can make joyful noises anywhere!

It is my most awesome sound ever. It's not the same as fussy shrieking. It's JOYFUL squealing. There's a difference you know. It's SO loud and SO high and Mommy says my shrieking, while cute, is ear-splitting! Wow! I like making joyful noises! Today I am staying with Daddy while Mommy goes to the office and I think I will practice my singing all day.

Codysaurus

Who Moved My Cheese?

Babies are gross. They may be cute, cuddly, sweet, funny, and delightful, but they are still unspeakably gross. Mine is no exception. In fact, he may even be the rule.

Exhibit A: Early on, Cody seemed to have a really hard time with gas whenever I would have dairy. So for the love of my son and the peace of the household, I gave up All Things Dairy. We're talking milk, yogurt, most chocolate, and my two most important food groups: ice cream and cheese. This has been going on for over 3 months. If we are out to eat and someone orders cheesecake, or cheesesteak, or cheese fries, or pizza, or lasagna, or chocolate mousse, or Fill In The Blank, I've learned to pass. I figure I can adapt to anything. No big deal. But secretly, I think the dietary situation sucks. I miss my damn cheese. So when we took CJP to the doctor last week, I was thrilled when she said she thought his digestive system was probably matured to the point where I could try dairy again. YAY!

Boo.



I'm not sure if it was the pizza, or the chocolate-covered pretzels, or what. But CJP woke up this morning (a little too early for my taste; we've gotten spoiled by this 10 hours a night thing) and was starving. He ate with gusto, then curled up in the crook of my arm to cuddle and smile. I was just reveling in this quiet moment of motherhood, just me and Cody at 5:15 in the morning, when Cody looked up at me, gave me his signature wide-open-mouthed grin, and barfed all over me. All over both of us. In both our hair, all over our jammies, all over his face, in his EAR, for crying out loud. So 5:20 found the two of us in the shower, shampooing and scrubbing (and in Cody's case, giggling and squealing with delight).

All's well that ends, well, I suppose. But I have to say, I've seen/smelled/been covered in a lot of disgusting stuff over the past four months. And my standards for cleanliness have definitely dropped. But that was the most disgusting thing that has ever happened to me. I'm thinking of burning my nightgown. Cody, you will notice, is just fine and rarin' to go. I still miss my cheese.



P.S. Cody fed FOURTEEN TIMES today. A new world record. In 14 hours, by the way. So, yeah, I got a lot done today...

Sunrise Cody

So his favorite TV show is Sunrise Earth on Discovery HD. We watch it together, fittingly enough, around dawn every morning in midst of getting breakfast, changing diapers, and whatnot.

This morning's episode of Sunrise Earth featured elephant seals in Argentina. Below is a sample:



This prompted Cody to excitedly call for one of his favorite stuffed animal friends, an elephant seal given to him by his Uncle B.J. The seal's name is Buster. The two of them sat for the rest of the episode in utter rapture:

"Thriving"

Well, we are back. Here's poor Cody's lower half...



But as per usual, that hasn't stopped him from being his sunny self!



Not yet anyway. The power of Tylenol. He was a champ for his shots, and flirted mercilessly with his doctor and his nurse. He did all his tricks -- holding his head up and grinning while on his tummy, standing, sitting (and then falling forward), kicking, sucking, chatting, batting his eyelashes, the works. And now he is hanging out with his dad, practicing his happy squeals in a variety of keys.

Amazingly, this time I overestimated his weight. He only feels like he weighs 50 pounds. But in actuality, he is a mere 16 pounds, 9 ounces. And he's grown an inch and a half to 25 1/2 inches. So Sara wins!!

His head continues to defy physics. It's huge. It's like, 17 1/2 inches or something. He's now in the 75th percentile for weight (instead of 90th) but 95th percentile for height. I think this means he has his daddy's Tall Genes. YAY! None of mom's Stumpy Genes!

Tonight will probably be rough. But apparently his 3 nights of sleeping 10 hours mean he is getting plenty of food during the day and no longer needs a night feeding. (YESSSSSSSSSS!) I should SAY he's getting enough. The kid is like a milk vampire. As Seinfeld would say, he's a BreastMan.

Happy Days

We've had a string of fabulous days. It's just so much fun to be his mama. I've worked the last two days and have come home to find Cody and Granny practicing joy squealing and singing. He loves making sound, the more high-pitched, the better. (He is my kid, so I guess it's no surprise that he enjoys being vocal.) When he gets really loud, he then sometimes gets this surprised look on his face, like, "Wow! Was that me??" He's just so funny.



AND...for the past 3 nights, he has slept from about 8 pm (which is late for him, but maybe it's the new normal?) to 5:15, then 5:30, then this morning...6:00! And even then, we have gone in to get him, because we just hear him playing happily in his crib. That's pretty impressive, since there is nothing actually in his crib to play with (because as my mom once said, his crib looks like a jail).






He's been just delightful. And three nights supposedly means a trend...but sadly we anticipate this will all change today after he gets his shots. : ( He will be achy and moany and want midnight cuddles. And we'll have to start all over again once he feels better. But that's ok. When he is 13 and saying things like, "MOM, you SUCK!" I will console myself with memories of post-doctor midnight cuddles. : )

Did I mention there will be shots? : (

How Big is Cody?

It's voting time again. Cody goes for his 4 month checkup on Thursday. How much would you guess he weighs, and how long is he?

To help your estimations, he was 8 pounds and 20.5 inches at birth. At 2 months he was 13 pounds, 9 ounces and 24 inches long.

Here's some perspective from Week One to Week 18. : )

Then...


And now...



Then...



And now...


Then...


And now...


Then...

(P.S. that binkie takes up his whole little faccia!)

And now...


Let the voting begin! I will come up with a good prize for the closest person. Something better than tissue paper, even.

A Cheap Date

Well, he has all sorts of cute toys that do all sorts of cute things. Yet today when I was wrapping a gift for a friend, I handed him a sheet of tissue paper. It was the highlight of his day. (Except, of course, for all the other highlights.) He went nuts for it and managed to shred it within about 10 minutes. Come Christmas time, I know exactly how to entertain him while I'm wrapping...

The Giggler

Between this picture...



and this one...



Cody giggled! Not one of his little joy squeaks but a bone fide laugh. It was so freaking cute. We hope he practices this new skill often.

Baby Bibliophile

I'm happy to report that Cody takes after Mom in one respect...he seems to love love love books. Of course, it could just be that he is now obsessed with grabbing anything and everything he can, and then putting it into his mouth. (Yes, Monika and Kelly, that's what she said. See? I saved you the effort.)

Yesterday we took our first trip to the library. As soon as we got to the children's section, Cody blurted out, "HHIIIIAUUGH!" (Sort of a high-pitched "HI!") in the direction of the picture books. He continued to squeal with delight periodically. I actually shushed him at one point and told him it was a library, then immediately felt like a total idiot. As if he has any idea what a library is, and why one needs to be quiet. He just looked at me and grinned back. And then said, "GULLUGGHEEEOH!!"

He's a huge fan of this one, which as all sorts of stuff to touch.



And this is from this morning. It's a book called "Everything Babies" which has tons of pictures of People Just Like Cody. He was entranced for a good long while. He was even turning pages, kind of. : )




P.S. His hair is so awesome first thing in the morning.

Somebody Give This Kid a Medal

The Lasts are suckers for the Olympics. We watched some last night, in glorious HD, and then it was time for Cody to go to bed. This has been a little tricky for the last couple of weeks, mainly because after zonking out peacefully, Cody has been waking up 30 minutes later, realizing he is alone, wanting company, and screaming. Hmmm. Apparently this is a stage. Anyway, last night he went down around 7:15. He woke up half an hour later, cried until about 8:10, then conked out...until 5:15 this morning!! A new record!! It was kind of awesome. I fell asleep watching men's gymnastics, woke up at 3:15, realized all was quiet on the Western front, and just waited, figuring he'd wake up any second. But the next thing I knew it was 5:15.



Let me just say it again, in case it never recurs: 8:10 to 5:15!!!!!!!!!

My little giraffe

Wait, is that NECK I see? We weren't sure Cody actually had one. He must feel inspired by his outfit.


And it wouldn't be complete without the Giraffe Butt picture. As you can see, CJP is sort of swimming or something. Just trying to get somewhere. Anywhere.

The Last Unicorn

I LOVE it when Daddy gives me baths! Mom is usually focused on getting me clean and stuff. Isn't this so much better?

Singing in the Rainforest

Look! Granny bought me a new bathtub that's green like a rainforest! And it came with animals! There is a teething monkey! It is AWESOME!



Mom says my belly is also awesome. And as big as a rainforest.

Cody is 4 Months Old Today!