This week, Kelvin had to go down to SoCal to a leadership conference and so we decided that his mom deserved some R&R back with her family at *home* so would accompany him, and that I (not having childcare) would take the week off and head to Minnesota to visit some family and friends.
I was booked on a red-eye flight from SFO to Minneapolis on Friday. We got stuck in some major traffic on the I-580 in the Bay area and had to turn around to take the 101 south through the city, but made it there with time to spare and even to nap in the car :). Kelvin and Thao made sure I (and my bag, the carseat bag, etc) made it through the check-in process ok, and then saw me to the security point. We now have Global Entry which makes the re-entry process to the U.S. from abroad
much easier and also means we have "Pre-TSA" which allows us to go through TSA security points with less scrutiny. Not having to remove my shoes/jacket/computer from its sleeve and my backpack, while traveling solo and carrying a 4-month-old was
sooooo nice!!!
The flight went ok. A Delta rep saw that I was traveling alone with an infant and moved me to a row without other passengers, so we actually were able to stretch out and sleep for most of the 3.5-hour flight! The two-turned-five-and-a-half-hour layover at MSP, however, was not so fun (about a week after we booked this specific itinerary, Delta had eliminated my original earlier flight so I'm still annoyed at them about that), but Iver did nap a bit in the Bjorn and we played some at the gate on his blanket. He then slept the duration of the 1-hour flight to Grand Forks.
My Dad also flew out for the week and so we are sharing a motel room in Crookston. We go and eat meals with Grandma at her assisted living place. While her memory is very poor due to advanced Alzheimers, she does seem to enjoy seeing and playing with Iver, her first great-grandchild!
Some Iver-smiles!
She has major atrophy and can't use her left arm, but enjoyed holding him with her "good" arm
He again wore his "Off to Grandma's" shirt for the occasion
sleepy-eyed
We got a nursing aide to take some "Four Generations" photos of the four of us. I remember doing this with my Great Grandma Nina many years ago, and it is special that Grandma has lived long enough (she is almost 92) so that we get to have this memory.
Iver is just shy of four months, and he:
- probably weighs about 14 lbs. He had his 4-month-checkup a bit early since his doc and we were going to be out of town and, two weeks ago, he only weighed 13#1 oz which was in the 13% for weight and less than I thought he'd be based on how much of a piggie he is!
- he still has a great appetite and is always up for eating. He now can suck down 6-oz bottles in my work absence, and since his weight is a bit under his former 26%-curve, we are feeding him as much as he seems to want, even though that ended up being 18 oz of pumped milk (in addition to one lunchtime nursing session) in a 10-hour work day last week (yikes!). He will sometimes nurse every 1-2 hours when I'm home (and about 2 times at night)
- still spits up quite often (less with the bottle and with careful burping by my MIL) and often has a "wet milk neck"
- is in cloth diapers during the day (except while traveling) and size two Huggies at night (Molly gave us some Naty diapers to finish up which we like, too)
- he still fits in to some 3-month clothes, depending on the brand, but mostly wears 3-6 month outfits. Kelvin's mom loves to have him in baggy 6-month "loungewear" during the day to keep him comfortable, as she feels that most pants' waistbands are too tight for him :).
- is an active roller! About 3 weeks ago around 3.5 months, he became a consistent back-to-front roller and does it constantly now. He now rolls over immediately on placing him in on his back in his crib, and he sleeps face-down in a sleep sack (goodbye, swaddling). The rolling may have helped him become a better sleeper, as he:
- now sleeps in his crib at night! He still goes to bed around 8 p.m. and will usually give us a 5-6 hour initial stretch, wake around 1 or 2 a.m. to nurse, and sometimes then again at 4- 5 a.m. Sometimes he wakes at 10-11 p.m. in addition to the 2 a.m. session but not often. Sometimes he'll go back to sleep after the second (or third) feeding but often he is up. We got a whole 6-hour stretch and just ONE nighttime awakening between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. the night after his 4-month shots, which was awesome (and one more reason to get your child vaccinated!).
- naps marginally well in the crib or pack-n-play (he still likes the hammock downstairs, the carseat, or the Bjorn better), but he's getting much better. He still usually has a 1- or 2-hour nap mid morning, about a 1-hour nap
midday, a 2-hour afternoon snooze, and sometimes a 30-min catnap around 6 pm to tide him over until bedtime! He fights us less when going down for his naps but it's still a struggle sometimes. During the day, we check on him often as the stomach-sleeping still makes us nervous, but he's never been blue or looked in danger of suffocating, so I think we can let this go a bit.
- still loves his hands and sucks or chews on them constantly. He seems to have lost interest in the pacifier, which I'm actually happy about
- has sharp nails, and has a bad habit of flailing his hands by his scalp while nursing, scratching his head and prompting us to get the mittens/socks back out
- still loves getting his diaper changed (especially when well-fed), although he tries to roll frequently during this activity
- tolerates but doesn't love bathtime. He has some eczematous patches and we're trying not to overbathe him, so he gets a bath about once per week on Sundays
- will hold onto and play with some toys, like Sophie the giraffe and rattles. He loves mirrors!
- is a very smiley and chatty boy, making lots of different and sometimes high-pitched squeals and even laughs
- is pretty happy most of the time, except when getting into the carseat, when fighting sleep, or when very hungry
- is very squirmy, rarely liking to stay in one place or be held stationary on a lap for very long. He loves to move around the house, looking outward in the k'tan carrier or the Bjorn, and interacting with the world. He loves going on walks with Pepper. He rarely sits still long enough to read a book. He holds his head up well and will sit in the bumbo chair for a few seconds but then try to arch out of it. He kicks his legs often and I think will look forward to playing in a jumperoo we were given.
some more photos:
Happy almost-four months, little guy!
