Torin 4 month and Mid-Nov recap

Thankfully, no more sickness since the last post. We've just had a busy mid-November. Thanksgiving is in two days?!?! Where did the Fall go?

Torin had his 4 month check-up today. All is well. He's 18lbs and 27 inches long! I thought the weight seemed high, but then checked Keagan's baby book and he was 18lbs, 9oz! Considering Torin outweighed him by 11oz at birth, that is some feat by Keagan. But that's why he earned the nickname Punkin Chunkin ;). Keagan was only 25 1/2 inches at 4 months though, so Torin may be giving Keagan a run for his money on height!

I shouldn't be surprised Torin is taller- we got the Jumperoo out this week for Torin and had to notch it up to the second height on the straps right away! Keagan was psyched to get the jumperoo out and asked if he could go in it, but was satisfied by playing with Torin in it. Torin really wants to sit up and does not appreciate being put in any kind of semi-reclined position any more. He's happy to be on the floor laying down, but hates being half propped up and you'll see his little stomach muscles straining to sit up the rest of the way. We got the high chair out for him to sit at the table with us. He isn't eating solids yet- we will probably wait until 6 months like we did with Keagan. Torin has a really strong gag and tongue thrust reflex (which contributed to him not liking the Binky I think) so we want to hold off on the solids until that dies down a bit. As far as sleeping goes for Torin- he seems to be making some progress towards self-settling and falling asleep on his own, but he's by no means doing that regularly. He has been giving us some 3-5 hour stretches at night which has been great. I can deal with getting up twice at night. It's the every hour to hour and a half waking that makes me go crazy. Luckily, he hasn't been doing that much, except when he was sick.

We had a visit from Liza the second weekend in November. That was a lot of fun. She got to see some of our favorite spots, like the Natick Mall playspace and the Boston Bean House in Maynard. She also got to come with me to pick Keagan up from school on Tuesday. I was also able to go out to dinner with her and our friend Sarah, which was a much-appreciated girly time for me :)

Keagan has been talking quite a bit about Santa this year, and we have been going to this website that has narrated "Santa Stories" which he loves. I think this is going to be a very fun Christmas for him. He also continues to expand his vocabulary constantly and is very interested in letters and words- definitely into that pre-reading stage. The other day he looked at a restaurant window and said "that says Go!" and sure enough, it says "Orders to go." He seems to have made the realization that letters in a certain order mean a certain thing, so that's great. I am sure he will be reading when he's ready. He is also doing a lot of emotional experimenting and discovery. When he feels things he FEELS them and talks about them. The good and the bad or course- when he's feeling lovey he is all over me with hugs and "I love you Mommy" and all that great stuff, and then I also get the throwing himself on the couch, head down, saying "I'm not talking to you!" Just today at school drop off he said "I'm feeling shy" and clung to my leg, which he's never done at drop-off before, but a couple minutes later he was fine. Yesterday we were reading the book "Binky" because he likes going into Torin's room and getting the baby board books and having me read them to both of them, and in this book the baby loses his binky and asks all around for it and finally says "No, no, no! Where's Binky!" and the illustration is of him crying. I look down and Keagan is crying too! Totally upset for this baby and he said to me "I crying just like the baby!" and of course I quickly flipped the page to the baby finding his binky in his crib. Oy. If I ever needed a reminder that I have a sensitive kid on my hands, there it is. Of course I had another reminder the other day when he was just getting a little too rough with some play with me and wasn't listening when I told him to settle down, so I picked him up and sat him on the couch and sternly told him what was ok and what wasn't. No mention of "time out" and not yelling, honestly, I didn't even raise my voice, I was just stern, and he BARELY kept in the tears and held it together. That goes along well with the last time I had to speak to him sternly and he was teary and covered his ears and said to me "No more bad talk, Mama." That's right. Tear my heart out, kid. No problem. He's a sensitive little guy, and I'm concerned for his little heart as he gets older and other kids trample on it. Sigh. But that's part of growing up, and Erik and I will always be here for him at home.