Dear McCoy: (Of four months)

Dear McCoy:

You've changed so much in the past four months. Daddy and I were looking through pictures and can't believe how much of a difference even a month can make. Well, on to the news...

Daddy has a pretty crappy schedule during this rotation. At first we thought it would just be odd hours, but then we were made aware of the goofy meetings he has on top regular working hours. So this means that he basically has to stay at auntie Connie's during the week. He really misses you during the week, but at least he gets three day weekends.

Of course, while Daddy is away, you get your first cold. Basically it's seemed to be a runny/stuffy hose and a tiny bit of a cough. You handled it well though. Then, the day after mommy gets her flu shot, she gets sick. GR. That night was full of cuddling/nappng on the couch.

You had your four month shots this week. Turns out you are a long and lean baby at 12 lb 1 oz. I've been paranoid about you beig too little because all I see are chunky babies. Ty and Dr. Leino reassured me that you are doing just great. And as Ty stated, our society has an obesity epidemic, not a "your baby is too skinny" problem. He's secretly hoping that you will be a coordinated 6'4" like the Helland boys. I guess it would be funny to have to look up to my son.

We are currently training you to sleep through the night. And yes we are using the not so popular "cry it out" method. Believe me, it hurts to hear you cry. But I also thinks it is important to give this method a try. I have many reasons to back up that I am not a bad parent for doing this method including: Babies can sleep through the night at two months-you are four so it can happen. You have slept through the night-You used to sleep 8 hours at a time-it can happen again. Families need rules, and in our house, we sleep at night-in our own beds. I do not deprive you of nurturing-I am home with you 2 1/2 days a week and focus on you a lot during those days. Something needs to be done now-habits at 6 months are much harder to break than if you fix it before. I'm nursing and plan on nursing you until 9-12months. I don't like hearing you cry, especially since I don't let you cry during the day, but I know you are just fine. If something is really wrong, of course I would be right there to fix it. Enough of that.

We brought your high chair up from the basement to get you accostumed to it. You love it. You usually just play with your monkey keys and hang out in it for a while. It's a nice break for mommy's arms!

You now roll from your back to your front. And then you get mad because you are on your tummy and forgot that you know how to roll back the other way. Silly baby!

You also got to go to your first football game. Mommy was running out of babysitting options and the weather was nice so we just brought you with. Mommy had to direct her kids for pep band and Daddy needed to play drums. You made friends with every cheerleader when you got there and then you hung out on Mommy in the snugli and didn't say a peep. You were perfectly content being outside, listening and watching everything.

You are a big talker. You have conversations with us all the time and it's hilarious.

You still eat every two hours which keeps Mommy quite busy. And you still take a half an hour to eat. Usually babies start stretching it out by now, but i think you are just on a schedule of your own.

It's not a big deal, but you still have cradle cap going on. We work on it whenever you get a bath but it always seems to come back. Oh well.

Speaking of baths, you love them now. Even when you were sick, you just wanted to soak for a while. Granted, I made the bathroom all warm and steamy to help with your cold.

You are really interested in toys lately. Of course everything goes straight into the mouth. You like to grab for toys even if they aren't going to your mouth. This morning you were sort of petting Prudy while she was giving mommy her morning kisses.

A coupl eweekends ago, Fruncle Tralle and Frauntie Claire came out to take some pictures for us. The leaves were really pretty and it was a really beautiful day. We had a difficult time getting both you and Prudy to look at the camera at the same time.

You also got to see the Staples and Schiks again. We met at Andrea's parents house and her parents were having baby withdrawl so you got to charm them for part of the night. It's always nice to be able to get together with them.

Well, I guess that's it for now.