Funny Kids and Jack: 4 Months

 These two are a crack-up.  I wrote down some funny sayings of theirs lately to share and maybe other people will find them as funny as we do.  Before that, though, let's get a good look at Happy Jack.  He has been smiling away since about his first month of life.  Now he laughs when Brooklyn makes funny faces or when he gets tickled. He is one long string bean of a baby though!  He is just long and lean like his daddy!  His pants are often so loose around the waist that they fall off and they get all caught on his legs as he kicks and kicks.  That's the other thing...he's a wiggle worm!  No surprise there!  His brother and sister are the same way and his mother is quite the busy bee!

 His fourth month brought a host of new first for Jack including: rice cereal, rolling over both ways, and what mom calls "sleep training." I realized right around Jack's 4-month mark that he is so adorable that I never want to put him down if it means he'll cry.  It nearly broke my heart to hear him cry since he normal is so cheery.  However, I couldn't keep it up.  Try running a house with 3 small children and doing all your normal tasks (mostly dishes, cleaning, cooking, and all around being the hub of activity!) with one hand.  It's not so easy.  So finally on his 4 month mark, not intentionally though, I put him down for a nap when I knew he was tired and let him cry.  It was so hard for me because I wanted to go rescue him, see if he needed to burp, hold him, snuggle, do something to comfort him.  However, I stayed tough! The first time he cried on and off for an hour and when I couldn't stand it anymore, I went and got him out, nearly worked up into tears myself.  The same thing happened the next day, and finally on the the third attempt, it only took about 15 minutes of fussing.  It hasn't been smooth sailing ever since, but usually the fussing is not intense and not long (5-10 minutes or so, but sometimes not at all).

 I haven't let him "cry it out" at night yet though.  It's just too easy to pick him up and let the rest of us get some sleep!  Consequently I'm still up nursing him two or more times nightly.  He has not yet once slept through the night.  He's just too cute and I'm just too tired during those wee hours of the morning.  Also, I'm a little bit nervous about letting him go too long without food because he's so skinny already!  He was born big, but now he just seems to keep stretching without rounding out in the belly any! 

 This is our Ian buddy.  What a character!  He knows how to charm his mother almost as smoothly as his father does!  He tells me when I'm up wiping his bottom in the middle of the night and he's half asleep, "Mom, you're hair is so beautiful!  It's so long...and straight."  Okay, I admit that totally melted my heart.  He filled that silly little part of me that has always wanted a guy who is into hair and would say something like that!

 Here's Ian with his friends Ada and Seth Rutman.  I'll share a few more Ianisms:
When I'm saying "I love you" to Jack, Ian prompts me to include the missing but typical phrase, "Say 'I love you to pieces,' Mom!"

Ian also likes to use his toothbrush to carefully wipe off the toothpaste mustache that he acquires when brushing.  He pretends that he's shaving like dad.
When watching the opening scene of the Lion King the other day, Ian informs me about Simba, "He got blessed." What a great assimilation of experiences, dude!  Right on, I was impressed!
One of Ian's favorite sayings is, "Guess who I love?"  I always guess everyone else in the family, but of course, he always refers to the person to which the question is directed as the one he loves.
The other day after some friends came over, I asked with whom he most enjoyed playing.  His response, "I just love the girls, Mom.  Makaili's so beautiful!"  Our friend Makaili is 8 years old!
Ian's latest artistic endeavor is making pictures of the floating lights as in the Tangled scene.  I'll have to include a picture next time.
At my last trip to the doctor's office, when we get into the exam room, Ian gives me a stern look and says with raised eyebrows and a pointed finger, "be good!"

To be continued...