4 Months Old

It's been a great weekend.  Last night, we had the opportunity to see a dear friend of mine.  The boys finally met their "Auntie Natalie."  They fell in love with her; the feeling seemed mutual.  The older boys mentioned her quite a few times today.  Jesse wants to visit her in N.Y. 

Today, my parents visited.  They just returned from a two-week vacation.  The boys were very excited.  They waited at the window as the time approached; they waved, knocked, and blew kisses when my parents pulled in the driveway.  They do so love their grand-parents.  This afternoon, we accomplished numerous errands and made it home just before dark.

For the first time ever, Jesse's homework (he's in preschool) took 2.5 hours.  It's amazing to me that preschool homework can be so time consuming.  On a positive (even if time-consuming) note, he's now learning to write his name.  It's a huge milestone.  Jesse has an appointment next month to formally register for kindergarten - I'm not sure where those 5 yrs went lol.  The kindergarten registration packet arrived yesterday.  We'll fill that out and bring it to the appt.  He'll have his eyes/ears checked there - then it will be official.  I can't believe he'll be off to K in September.

James is two and exemplifies "terrible two."  He's sweet, lovable, sociable, and funny...but oh-my-goodness, he can be maddening!!! 

Josiah has had a great weekend.  He's eating really well.  I'm able to sleep, generally, 5 hours at night before he needs to eat again.  So, I'm tired but adjusting well.  I can tell he is more comfortable.  He's breathing easy and full of smiles these days.  He's four months old today.  I'm so proud of this amazing little boy <3.

Tomorrow, EI comes to work with him.  We'll meet the EI RN tomorrow, as well.  We're fortunate to have this amazing team working with our son, who are constantly cheering him (and us) on.  I'm hoping to give him a few minutes of belly time tomorrow.  I hope he can tolerate it.  We're 17 days out of surgery, so I'm hoping his comfort level will allow it.  The faster he can return to belly time, the faster he can start to gain strength in his neck (he still needs full support of his neck/head).

I've been reviewing the great DS developmental chart to get a feel for where he stands right now.  By the age of four months, according to the chart, DS kids:

• smile when touched and talked to (yes!)
• smiles spontaneously (yes!)
• recognizes mother/father (yes!)
• follows object with eyes, in circle (haven't tried that yet - will mention to EI worker)
• reacts to sounds (yes!)
• vocalises to smile and talk (yes!)

Ok, good!  Aside from not trying the 'follows object with eyes, in circle' - he's doing all of the above.  That's great! 

We don't have a lot planned this week and, for that, I am grateful.  Of course, I'm forever trying to accomplish other projects.  They will all be completed.....I simply refuse to stress out about it.  Meanwhile, tomorrow is Monday and our amazing adventure continues......