4 Months

Owen turned 4 months old.

It is absolutely absurd how quickly time is passing!

Every morning when Owen wakes up, 

we are convinced he has grown some overnight!

His fourth month was full of excitement.

He took his first trip to the zoo.

He didn't see a single animal though, 

so it was basically just like any other walk to him.

He rolled from his belly to his back that same day...twice!

The next day, we drove for 12 hours to Virginia beach to vacation with Jonny's family.

Owen did pretty well in the car, only a couple crying fits that ended in naps,

but hey-if I was stuck in the same position

(bar a few pit stops)

for 12 hours, I'd probably cry too.

Owen wasn't the biggest fan of the beach. 

The first two days we used a broken umbrella by digging its edge into the sand, to shield him from the sun. 

But doing that also blocked the breeze which basically culminated into one very hot, very tired, fussy and frustrated baby. 

After the second day, Jonny agreed to buying a beach umbrella and that made a great difference. 

The next two days at the beach were much better. Owen was content enough to hang out with his

NaNa and PaPa while I got some time in the sea!

I learned how to boogie board with some help from my brother in law, 

and we all got to enjoy being thrown about by the waves. 

It was a good change of pace to get out of our normal routine. 

We soaked up lots os sun and lots of time with Jonny since he is at work most days of the week. 

The way home was a crazy (but so misfortunate, it's funny) adventure.

To sum it all up,we got stuck in two hideous traffic jams,

during the second traffic jam Owen had his first ENORMOUS diaper blow out.

Which I only discovered because I tried (and failed thankfully) 

to put his paci in his mouth without looking and missed, his paci grazed his cheek, 

at that point I looked and to my horror saw poop on his face! 

All I could do was gasp, 

and Jonny just kept asking what was wrong and I just kept gasping.

So he sat in poop while we sat in traffic.

It was everywhere.

When we FINALLY got to an exit, 

a torrential downfall of rain came which soaked us all to the bone.

Owen was screaming.

He was naked in a truck stop in Poca, West Virginia

(home of the Dots, get it?...Poca Dots)

the only thing that made this better was a chubby little girl

 who came up to me while Owen was screaming with poop all over both of us and exclaimed, 

"I like your baby"

She will never know how much that meant to me 

as I was dodging stares from other women who told me with there eyes 

that I was the worst mother...ever.

Oh, I've gotten sidetracked...

back to his four month update.

He went to his 4 month check-up two weeks late.

He weighed 16.15 oz and was 26 in long.

His head circumference is in the 75th percentile, 

weight in the 85th percentile,

and length in the 95th.

The doctor says he has a good chance of being 6'3''

and that he will be eating more food than me by age 10, 

suggesting we should invest in a big fridge.

I talked to the Dr. about Owen's lack of sleep, and he wasn't concerned.

He thinks Owen might just be one of those babies who don't like to sleep,

and that would be right. He fights sleeping. He wants so badly to keep his eyes open. Always.

Everybody had made comments that he was surely 20 lbs by now.

So when I saw the scale read 16.15 oz, I was a little worried.

I asked the Dr., "Is it normal to have only gained 5 lbs since birth?"

to which he replied, 

"Well ya know, what is NOT normal is being born 11 lbs. He is just fine."

Some of his favorite things this month were, 

 Baths (again).

Looking in a mirror.

He could be crying and very upset 

but if you brought him in front of a mirror he would

give a big smile and even maybe a giggle.

My parents brought him lots of toys

that have been passed down.

He loved having new things to see and touch.

There is one toy in particular, 

it's like a car dashboard and each gadget 

sings or makes a noise.

The songs are about learning English and Spanish.

He loves it.

His toes.

We haven't listened to much Matt Redmond this month.

Except for a couple of desperate times on the road to and from VA Beach.

We got a new sound machine and it comes with a projector.

We discovered that we could leave him alone to look at the 

images projected on the ceiling and he would

"oooh and aaah" at them.

Oh, baby boy. You just keep growing. 

It makes me happy and sad at the same time.