Sleep, Saucers, and Cereal

Charlie had two good nights of sleep last week-- waking up only twice each night, and both times going right back to sleep once he had his binkie replaced. Typically, he had been waking up once to feed, between 2 and 3 am. He even did really well with sleeping on Saturday, when he spent the first part of his night at the Piedrahitas' while I went to watch John's band play in Newport.

Last night, however, he kept us up all night. I don't know whether it was because we started him on his first cereal yesterday evening (photos to be posted on John's flickr site soon), and that upset his stomach, or if it was just his cough that kept waking him up. He had had a couple of bottles in addition to the cereal right before bed, and we had thought that would put him out for a while. But while he did go down easy, it wasn't but about an hour before he started waking up every 15 or 20 minutes.

The cereal feeding went well, however-- he seemed to really get into it. We will probably just feed him once a day in the evening this week, then start having them also feed him one sitting at daycare each day.

Charlie also has a new exersaucer at home. We put it together on Thursday last week. He really likes to sit in it-- his feet just barely touch the bottom. But he is very interested in some of the gadgets it has around the edge. Last night was the first time he pushed the buttons that make animal sounds on his own. He is adapting to it quickly. I'll post photos of that soon as well.

It's off to bed soon for me-- last night wore me out. I hope tonight goes easier.

--Michelle

4 Months Old

Charlie had his 4-month checkup last Friday. He weighed 14 pounds, 9 ounces (50th%) and was 24 and 3/4 inches long (45th%). His head was 17 inches (75th%).

He received 5 vaccinations (2 shots in each thigh, plus one orally). The doctor was not concerned with the cough he continues to have. We also got some information on starting solid foods. We plan to introduce some rice cereal once a day this weekend, and go from there.

Charlie continues to make his new favorite razzing sound with his lips, and he has also been sticking his tongue out a great deal this week.

He does not know it, but he helped cheer on Daddy's Browns this weekend (to victory over the Bengals) by laying on his Browns blanket. The poor kid does not have a chance when it comes to being a fan of sports!

The Plague

Charlie brought home the plague from daycare last week. Well, that's what John has been calling it, and it seems fitting. Long story short, Charlie got it on Thursday and suffered through Friday, John came down with it Saturday, and it hit me Sunday morning. I was home from work Monday, and then as soon as I felt I'd recovered, a major fever hit me that night, causing me to miss the next morning as well. Apparently this stomach virus was so bad and so contagious, that only 4 of the kids in Charlie's room showed up on Friday and 6 on Monday. It was tearing through the whole facility, even hitting the teachers. Neither John nor I can remember being so sick in many years.

Luckily, we recovered in time to use our tickets to the Cardinals-Reds game last night. But, somewhere between the car and the stadium, we lost the tickets. So, we ended up buying some from some scalpers, since we were already there. We ended up with seats about 10 rows behind the Reds Dugout, right by first base. Even with paying the scalpers, we paid less (in total, including the cost of our original tickets), for those seats than their face value. But we sure wish we knew who ended up finding our actual tickets! John got some good photos which I'm sure he'll post soon. (Unfortunately, this time the Cardinals lost.)

On another note, Charlie has started "razzing." This is his new favorite sound. I will try to post video somewhere to show everyone.