Checking In

 I wanted to check in and give an update on Orien at nearly 4 months! Time has flown. I can barely remember life before our little guy.

Weight:  XXL!! Haha. He's probably about 16 lbs. He weighed in at 15 lbs two weeks ago.  The nurse just laughed!

Length:  Not sure. He's in the 50% still I think. 

Eating:  STILL eating every THREE hours!! Little piggy. He averages 6 oz/feeding. And averages 4 oz of spit up/feeding :) Doc said he'll probably be a spit up baby til about 9 mon. Lots of extra laundry for me!

Sleeping:  FINALLY...some progress. He usually goes down at 8pm, sleeps til 1-2:30am (woohoo!) and wakes up for a feeding, then wakes again around 4-4:30am ready to play! Haha. So we're still working on that last part. I remember the days when every hour he was waking up and feeding every TWO hours. So we've come a long long way. I can say LETTING HIM CRY was the key :) Next baby, we'll be pros!!

New milestones:  He's been talking for a while, but now he does it NON stop! He's a chatter box. The doc was impressed and said he's chatty for his age, which is great. I've read/talked to him a lot since day one - hopefully it's helped! He's starting to say "Da" a lot and "Hay!", but he has no idea what he's saying haha. When I say "I love you" over and over, he tries to copy. It's too cute. 

He's getting pretty coordinated with his hands. He chews on them nonstop (and drools). He hasn't actually reached out for anything yet, but if you put something near his hands he grasps on to it! And holds on with a death grip. He loves pulling mommy and daddy's hair. 

His neck and back muscles are getting super strong! Maqui has been working with him a lot on this. Whenever he's laying down or in his car seat or swing, he tries to sit up, but isn't quite there yet. But when you hold his hands he lifts himself ALL the way up to sitting position! Yay!! We sit him up as much as possible and he loves it. He loves watching Leah the most. 

Another fun milestone is seeing him laugh out loud!!! It's the best. We haven't heard any big belly laughs yet, only little giggles. It's the cutest sound ever.

Challenges:  The major challenge I would say right now is fighting his constant rashes. I swear he has the MOST sensitive skin in the world. He has heat rash on his head, face, (very badly) under neck and on his arms constantly. He has lots of cradle cap (dryness on head). Drool rash on chin and chest. Mystery rash below belly button. And severe diaper rash right now with little white bumps :( We're working with the Doctor now how to get rid of it. Good thing is none of them seem to bother him - mostly just upsets mommy. 

Status on Mom and Dad:  We are loving loving every moment! After four months of getting not much sleep I'd say we're doing fairly well. We've really gotten into a routine, especially in the evenings. We like putting him down around 8 or earlier so we get some quality time every day. Otherwise we'd have zero. To maintain a healthy, growing marriage it's a necessity. Orien has Brett wrapped around his little finger! And I have never been SO in love with someone! Life is great.