Welcome, cousins!

What an exciting month it's been for our family!  We welcomed two new cousins.  

Daphne Mariner Smith was born on September 10  - 11 days late, just like Owen!  She is a delicate beauty who isn't afraid to let you know what's on her mind. I was lucky enough to spend my first night away from Owen with Daphne, Tera and Brett when she was about a week old. We are so excited for our visit with Daphne and her parents this coming weekend - can't wait for the cousins to meet!

Wyatt William Butler was born to Scott and Kate on October 11 - also a late arrival! He was almost exactly the same size as Owen when he was born and is growing fast! He seems to be a little confused about day and night, but pretty chill overall as you can tell from this shot.  I imagine Owen and Wyatt will find lots of trouble to get into together over the years! 

Our family may be a little non-traditional, but we couldn't ask for a better one!  

4 month update

We are a couple of weeks late in writing this update - Owen will already be twenty weeks on Tuesday! Being back at work has made every moment with him more precious to me, so I haven't devoted as much time to the blog. I'm also trying hard to really be in the moment with him, rather than always feeling like I've got to snap a photo for facebook or the blog.  But, we are still excited to share his progress and pictures, and to have a record to look back on, so I'll do my best to make time for it.  I promise Owen's cuteness will be worth your efforts to keep checking back.

Owen got an excellent report at his four month check up.  We got a new doctor; our first one, whom we loved, got married and moved to North Carolina.  We were sad to see her go but so happy for her and the new doc seems good too.  He may be younger than we are! He's a Hopkins trained pediatrician though, and has his own two year old, so I've got confidence in him.

Owen measured in at 14 lbs, 4 oz, which put him in the 22nd percentile, and 24.5 in, in the 18th percentile.  His head is still apparently full of brains, measuring up at 85%! His percentiles did decrease quite a bit since two months, but the doctor didn't seem concerned as Owen is still continuing to grow and is a healthy range.  We never really expected him to be a giant considering our small statures.

Soon after I returned to work, Owen moved into his own room.  He had learned to rotate around on his back, and we'd find him sideways in the co-sleeper, sort of wedged in!  We had him take a few naps in his crib, and he made the transition with no problem.  He loves the mobile that great gramma Jackie chose for him, and watches it's birds spin around intently before falling to sleep each night.  He goes to bed around 7:00, and usually sleeps until somewhere in the 3:30-5:00 AM range. Kyle's been great about heading downstairs to get him and bring him up to me, then I nurse him and he usually stays in bed with us until we get up after 6:00.  I cherish this snuggle time with my boys before work!

Owen has become much more verbal this month.  He gave us his first real giggle during a visit to gramma Pat's house, and has just recently started to laugh more consistently. A good game of peek-a-boo never fails to produce a few belly laughs.  He has also started to "sing" or coo a lot, both in response to us talking to him and while by himself in his crib or car seat. He also seems to have figured out some cause and effect logic...we often hear a little fake cough when we have turned away from him for too long!

He has started to reach for things and has improved his grasp significantly.  It is amazing how quickly an object makes its way from our hands to Owen's hands, and into his mouth! This month I have become increasingly happy about my decision to cut my hair, since he loves to grab at other women's long locks.

He does very well with "tummy time" and enjoys it well enough for 10 minutes or so.  He can hold his head up high and push up well with his arms. He is so close to rolling over!

I've read that the first three months are like a fourth trimester - the baby still needs to be comforted as they were in the womb, and is pretty sleepy and needy most of the time.  Although Owen has been pretty alert from the beginning, we have definitely noticed his transition out of that stage this month.  He clearly expresses his opinions now and is so much more capable physically.  We are so proud of and in love with our little man!