4 Months!!!

HAPPY 4 MONTH BIRTHDAY OLIVER!!!

I can't believe that it's been 4 months already.  Man what a long 4 months.  It seems like ages ago he was new and screamin all the time and quiet even when screaming.  Now he's got a scream on him that you can hear downstairs!

4 MONTH VACCINATIONS

Today he got his shots, the 2nd round of what he already had last time.  He was so miserable after the last shots I was dreading this like the plague.  But nurse Kelly on the block had said that now that his body is older and a little more used to the shots since eh's already had them once, maybe he'd handle them better this time.  And he did.  I also am a little more wise and experienced of a mom too, and I know now that when he has shots we have to treat him like he's sick and keep everything really low-key, don't invite guests over, darken the rooms, lots of tylenol, and lots of sleep.  At 2 months maybe part of the problem was that he was over-tired and over-stimulated, ya know?

DOCTOR

We booked it a month in advance to get Dr. Hyrcelak but she wasn't the one who showed up.   It was a doctor we've never had before who's really young and as Kelly said when I described her, she was a total "book doctor."  She denied that Oli was teething without even looking at him because "babies don't teethe till 6m", she didn't take much time with him at all to see if he was tracking or sitting or standing or anything...  Anyway I was so mad when we left!  Oh well.

MILESTONES

Well Oli's a good boy.  Just like he's supposed to, he's grabbing and holding onto things, swatting at his mobiles, tryin to hold his bottle and turn pages in his books, pushin buttons on his toys, and giggling and all.  He is also trying to sit up and is gettin closer to being able to crawl; he gets that he has to use his knees now and he's holdin up his chest, so he'll get there in good time.  He flips from his side to his tummy and from his side to his back, and from his back to his tummy.  but I've never seen him flip from his tummy to his back.  And flipping in general seems to require energy and effort Oli prefers not to exert anyway.

WORK

I'm going back to work these days.  I've been working for 2 weeks now, and I leave at around 3pm and get home at around 8:15p.m., so I'm gone 5-6ish hours.  I couldn't have done it before now, and I couldn't do it more than I'm doing it, but this is just the right amount at just the right time.  It sure doesn't make much money, but since we don't have to pay a babysitter cuz Grandma Carol's watchin him, we do come out on top financially at least.  And I enjoy the job and the people so I feel like we're coming out on top anyway even though it pays so little and the commute kinda sucks.  I do love starland.  At times it drives me nuts but really on the whole it's a great place.

MOVING?

We want to move into a bigger place and I wanna leave Chicago.  Actually i wanna leave illinois cuz of the weather and man it's just a boring landscape here-- but for now this will do.  It IS nice having in-laws downstairs so I can leave Oliver with them when needed.  Phil's mom has sooo turned around since he's been born!  It's a remarkable transformation.  I mean she used to be so...  glum.  She'd just sit there like a slug and hold him and say "why are you crying?" when he cried.  It drove me nuts.  Now she walks him, reads to him, plays with him, and yesterday I can't believe it-- she actually did the Oliver airplane!  She got down on her back and put Oli on her knees and did an airplane with him.  It was amazing.  Phil's dad always encourages us to send Oli down to be with her and now that she's better at making him happy, I am happier (and more likely) to do it.  And now I like my free time to do other things...  usually relating to Oliver anyway haha scrapbooking, making youtube videos, cleaning the apt of all of his clothes that he's so rapidly outgrown...  He's over 18lbs now!!!