How cute is he?!

Our little guy, trying to sit up

This was actually taken at the same time as the last photo posted. It was going to be the tooth photo, but once it got online, you couldn't see the teeth well enough. It's just so cute, I had to post it anyway! He's figured out that he can kind of prop himself up to a sort-of sitting position with his pillow. He's pretty good at it. He's growing up so fast, one baby step at a time.

We took in a kitten yesterday. The cats were thrilled, John was oblivious. Our neighbours have this horrible habit of taking in kittens when they're tiny and cute, abusing them until they're out of that cute stage, then abandoning them. This is the latest victim. One of her four spawns of Satan put it out on the roof before the whole family left for the entire day. The poor thing was screaming all morning, stuck there, exposed to the elements with no food, water or shelter. To make matters worse, it was a very cold, windy, rainy day. Even our cats didn't want to stay out, let alone on a rooftop with no shelter from the wind. I knocked on their door several times, but they weren't home, so Mike got out his ladder, and got the poor little thing down. We took it in, fed it and let it sleep on the radiator until they got home that evening.

Some people just shouldn't have pets. Luckily, she now realizes she's one of them. She's actually trying to find a new home for the cat. She has to work now, and managing a full-time job and four very poorly behaved kids is enough. (Turns out she's splitting with her husband, who's the most abusive of the bunch, so she had to take a job.)

Mike thinks I should offer to watch her kids for her, if her Mom can't, so she can keep her job. It is honourable that she's working instead of collecting welfare, like so many other people here do. But her kids really ARE the spawns of Satan. They're the worst behaved kids in the world! Two of them broke into our car once. They're constantly throwing their toys onto our roof, or over the fence into our backyard. They trample our grass. They skateboard on our front path. They're so horrible! I SO don't want to offer. I'm really bad with even well behaved kids - they'd eat me alive!

Speaking of well-behaved kids, John is doing great! He's taking more of an interest in food now. Last night he grabbed my fork right out of my hand. He waved it around, lunging at the pork chop on the end, before flinging it on the ground. A few minutes later, he picked the fork right up off my plate and tried to stick the end in his mouth. It was longer than his arm, so he couldn't reach it. He just kept hitting his head with the tines, mouth gaping open. Note to self: feed the kid BEFORE I eat. Though I don't know if it was actually hunger, or just him trying to imitate us. I think the next time we do cereal, I'll hand him the baby spoon and see what happens! Maybe he'll feed himself - or maybe he'll just need a bath! Either way, it would be fun!

I'm actually holding off on the cereal for a bit. He NEVER gets diaper rash, but has a doozie case of it right now. I pulled out the cream Doc West recommended when John was born - Barierre (rymes with derierre, he said, so I'd remember the name.) I also got some medicated stuff, with zinc oxide. I've tried leaving him open to the air, changing more often. It's just not budging. It looks so painful and raw. It appeared just after the last cereal, and he did get a very mild rash the first time we gave him cereal as well, so I'm a little concerned. I want to clear it up, so I can see if it happens again the next time. If so, I'll call the Doc to see what we should do. Who's allergic to rice? Maybe it's one of the additives, or maybe this is normal. Mike just thinks I'm stalling, but I don't want to plow ahead with something that's not good for him.

Chomp chomp!!!

Those two pearly whites

I've definitely enjoyed my time as a human pacifier - breastfeeding was by far the best choice for us. It's a cure-all for the fussies, a fast-track to the groggies, and I can even catch a nap while he eats. However, I can do without my new role as human teething ring.

As cute as they are, those little teeth HURT. He doesn't bite all that often, but enough to be a problem. The first time, I understandably yelped. John laughed. I decided not to respond like that again, in case he made it a game to get that sound out of me. I've accidentally yelped since, though, but now it usually makes him cry and stop eating, which is no good either.

Switching to pumped milk in bottles crossed my mind, but we both hate bottles and I despise pumping, as anyone who's seen my sorry stash of milk can tell you. Besides, I actually enjoy breastfeeding, so calling it quits is a last resort.

To get some help, I made a pilgrimage up the mountain to see the lactation consultant. (She's been hired by Public Health to lurk around the Sears nursing room.) She had some ideas - she suggested pushing his face into me. It shocked the heck out of him, at first. Mostly it just made him really sad, so that wasn't the answer for us. I broke out my copy of "The Womanly art of Breastfeeding." Not a single mention of biting babies. Desperate for more help, I checked out the La Leche League's website, where they had LOTS of ideas. (Why on earth didn't they mention them in the book!?) I've been following the advice, and so far, so good! The biting has decreased, without having to hurt him or his feelings. There's hope for John yet!

As long as the biting stops before those top teeth show their their little heads! Things could get severed, if they're as sharp as the two he's already got.

Anyone thinking he's looking pudgy these days is right - his chins are multiplying fast, he has a little pot belly, and he's sleeping much more than normal. I think he'll be slim again in a few days, but about an inch taller.

Tummytime!

Ready for his close-up. Sorry for the blur - just think of it as one of those dreamy camera effects.

A little tummy time after breakfast this morning 

An oldie but goodie

John and Dog, just chillin'

I hope you guys don't mind me posting older photos. They never get old to me.

We had a pretty laid back day today. Mike needed stuff for work: we went to Mark's Work Wearhouse to buy him undershirts, came home with a winter coat instead. A typical shopping trip with Mike. It was needed, though, so I can't say anything without sounding like I want him to freeze to death on top of a telephone pole. Which I don't. For the most part.

It was the only shopping trip I've been on where customers didn't come talk to me, or play with John. I don't think a single person noticed his cute little shoes. They saw us and scattered. Actually, one guy smiled and waved at John while he thought I wasn't looking, but as soon as he realized I had caught him in the act, he beetled off to look at workboots. Why are guys like that? I get accosted by little boys all the time who want to look at John. Little girls could care less, but tween boys have this fascination with babies. I wonder if something changes along the way, or if it's just this generation of kids, being raised to be family oriented men and career-driven women. I guess we'll know in about 15 years.

John of course giggled the whole trip. I wish I could see the world the way he sees it. He's having more fun than anybody.

He can see!

John is catching up on his morning nap - we've just returned from Mac to see the eye doctor.

Turns out, this was just a screening visit. Everyone sees the big doc, but the screen determines how long you wait to get in. Without the receptionist's pity, John's visit would have been next July, which tells you how well he did. However, the receptionist didn't think that was very fair, so our appointment is in January.

Obviously, the screening went well. John's eyes are actually in perfect allignment. The laziness is just an optical illusion. His bridge is flat, which it is for all babies his age, and he has large folds of skin on the inside corners of his eyes, which is also normal for his age, and they work together to make it LOOK like his eyes aren't lined up properly when he looks to the side. In reality, he can follow and focus just fine, and his pupils move in perfect unison. As his face matures, a bridge will rise up, that skin will pull back and that illusion will vanish.

She said it's pretty typical, nothing to worry about. She noted that he probably did have a legitimate wandering eye when he was younger - lots of babies do. All that remains now is the illusion, so to an untrained eye it looks like the problem is still there, just in a less severe form.

John did really well, especialy considering he would normally be asleep then. He seemed to really like it - she had a little light, and got him to follow different toys from side to side and around the room, while she checked his eyes with the light. I think he followed because she had a light - to heck with the toys.

The next appointment will be a routine eye exam - if she had seen anything that concerned her today, it would be very soon, and more involved, but his will just be routine. He'll get drops, so the doc can check for any eye diseases, and she will check to see if he needs glasses. Sometimes the eye strain of needing glasses can cause a lazy eye, but his is just an illusion, not a real lazy eye, which is why it isn't urgent to have it checked. Though she did warn me that he will probably become near-sighted as he grows older, due to genetics.

So all is well. The receptionist discovered his teeth the hard way. She was playing with his hand, when he grabbed one of her fingers, rammed it in his mouth and bit down. Hard. She yelped; he laughed at her. That's my boy.

Again, his Robeez were a hit - everyone loves them. Send me some of your business cards if you put them online for mail order, Mom and Dad. His stroller got a couple of compliments, too. Moms think the big wheels are cool.

A tiny part of me is sad his eyes are fine. Doc West said he'd probably need a patch to correct the lazy eye, so I was going to take a picture of him wearing it, with a caption like " Arrrrr...wee pirate John." Oh well!

Child's play

Just how DO you play with a baby?

Mike had the afternoon off, so we all went to check out the Early Years Centre. I have to say, it was kind of dissapointing. To start, they had no toys in the lending library. They had a play area for infants, but everything was designed for babies who can sit up.

So what on earth do you do with a baby who can't sit up yet? Itsy Bitsy Spider is getting aweful tired for me, even though he still loves it. They had exersaucers there, but by the time the nurse finished talking to us, John was getting too groggy to care about it. He's normally so perky and active, so it was disappointing to have him be such a big lump when he finally had something new to do. He just glazed over, as colourful smily faces bobbed in front of him. We didn't stay long.

It'll be awesome once he's older. Like in two months, when he can actually play with the toys. And it'll be even better as he grows up. The one closest to us has use of a pool and a big gym, all free, which will be lots of fun later. They have big sand and water and paint stations. It's like a big kindergarten class, in a way.

We spent the whole time being lectured on early literacy, which kind of annoyed Mike, the world's biggest champion of early literacy. Talk about preaching to the choir. But we got the early literacy kit, which we were supposed to get at John's birth, so that was nice. It has a book, and a tape and video with nursery rhyms and things. They recommended the mother goose program, where you learn lots of songs and more games like Itsy Bitsy Spider, which would be nice. It sure is getting tired, no matter how much it makes him giggle.

On the upside, his Robeez Shoes were a huge hit. Everyone there loved them and asked me where I got them.

We have a big day tomorrow. We finally have an appointment at Mac with the eye specialist. His lazy eye isn't very lazy anymore, but Doc West thinks it's still important to have it looked at, so he gave them a call to speed up the process for us. Lucky us, it's scheduled for a regular naptime, but it took three months to get this appointment, so I'm not complaining! Should be a blast!

Trick or treat?

Our little bug

Alright, I know Halloween was like, a month ago. But we weren't able to take photos then. So, here he is in all his fake-fur glory, John as a ladybug for his first Halloween. We didn't trick or treat, of course. We sat out on the porch with him to hand out candy. He was a huge hit with all the parents! Most of the kids we got this year weren't much older than him, so they didn't fully appreciate the cuteness. Everyone thought he was a girl, but we didn't correct them. We didn't want anyone to think we were weirdos for dresing our boy as a ladybug. But it was the last costume in his size, so ladybug it was. He could have been a honey bee, but it was too big on him.

He was pretty toasty in there, so he slept for most of the evening. When things started to slow down, we took him for a walk down the street, to show him off to all of our neighbours.

So what do you think? Show this one to the girlfriends? Maybe pass it around at the wedding? I see some bribe potential with this one, for sure.

If anyone wants these sent directly to them, just place your order by e-mail.

Yummm....

Mmmmm...yummy....

John had his second taste of rice tonight. It didn't go quite so well. The first time it was so runny, he was basicly eating milk off a spoon. He discovered that it was really fun to blow bubbles in the cereal as it hovered just outside his mouth. It resulted in a spray of milk with each bite, which he thought was pretty funny. This time, we went a little thicker to make it more like food and he didn't seem to appreciate the change. He spit it out as fast as Mike could shovel it in there. Note the spoon sitting below the chin, to catch it as it falls. (And yes, that IS cereal in his nose.) Note the why-are-you-doing-this-to-me glare. By the look of disgust with each bite, this stuff must taste pretty vile.

weight update

At four months, John was a whopping 17 pounds, 3 ounzes, 64 cm tall. And the cutest baby alive, to boot.