4 Months Old!

Victor is 4 months old already! He is back to his old giggly, happy self now that those two teeth are about halfway in. He still gnaws every now and again, so it's either those two teeth finishing their entry, or he may be starting some new ones. It wouldn't surprise me!

He likes eating the cereal; however, as you can see, he's not very good at it yet! Tonight I tried it again, but he ended up with cereal all over his fists, neck, cheeks, in his nose, eyes and ears. He did very well at making quite the mess! He'd get so excited when he saw the spoon that he would giggle and shove his fist in his mouth!

He is also very good at doing pushups. So I made sure to catch him doing one tonight for you!

Daddy and Victor

Ryan can get Victor to just cackle. My batteries died, so by the time I ran upstairs, got new ones, and came back down, Victor was winding down. But you can still hear a few giggles.

Victor has been a very happy boy these last few days. He loves to laugh. He also loves to watch Derrick and Eve play. He's enjoying his walker - as he gets to stand up. He's almost sitting by himself. Such a difference between the other two kids (super chubs) and Victor (thin little guy!). He's so much more mobile. He's rolling over like a pro (working on rolling from back to stomach) and loves to sit up like a big boy on your lap (no laying back whatsoever!).

Oh Derrick.

So, I'm doing the dishes, and Derrick comes up to the kitchen all excited asking me to come and see what he did in the toy room. I'm like - HE CLEANED IT! I was ready to give him some $, and this is what I found. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I asked him why he did that - he said he wanted to see everything.

Add this to the To Do List. Jeepers.

To Do List

Don't read this. It will only make you depressed. I'm putting my to do list on here so I can actually get something accomplished. Any time I write it on paper, I lose the paper :o) Can't lose the internet! Well, I guess you can, but nevertheless...Here goes...

Basement
1. Pick up legos and put away so kids can't ever play with them again.
DONE 2. Put toys in the correct bins or toy box.
DONE 3. Vacuum.
DONE 4. Pack up toys I don't want in this house any more.
DONE 5. Do laundry - especially the baby poo filled ones (baby poo ones are done!)
DONE 6. Take down the clothesline.
7. Clean toilet.
8. Clean out cooler.
9. Take out garbage.
10. Wash windows.
DONE 11. Organize Movies (put DVDs back in cases)

Kitchen
DONE 1. Do all the dishes.
DONE 2. Put all the dishes away.
DONE 3. Clean off the counter.
DONE 4. Clean out the microwave.
5. Clean out refrigerator (D cracked an egg in it and I missed a bunch of it)
DONE 6. Wash tablecloth.
DONE 7. Sweep floor.
8. Scrub floor.
9. Clean out oven.
10. Wash windows.
11. Put away papers in basket.
12. Organize spice cupboard.
DONE 13. Clean coffee pot.

Bathroom
1. Clean tub again. (We finally got the drain to work!)
DONE 2. Put clothes in laundry room.
3. Clean floor - esp. the cereal I found behind the toilet yesterday when I took garbage out?????
4. Clean sink.
DONE 5. Clean toilet.
6. Clean shower curtain.
7. Wash windows.

Kids' Room
DONE 1. Organize clothes into right storage bins.
DONE 2. Throw summer clothes in laundry room to wash.
3. Donate clothes that I don't have room to store.
DONE 4. Pick up toys.
DONE 5. Put books on bookshelf (is it really that hard NOT to pull all the books onto the floor everyday???)
DONE 6. Wash the kids' beddings.
7. Wash windows.
DONE 8. Put bedding back on kids' beds before bedtime!

Our Room
1. Put all the laundry away.
DONE 2. Wash our bedding.
3. Organize the bookshelf (there's no kids books on them, why do they have to pull ours off the shelves too!?!)
DONE 4. Organize the movies.
DONE 5. Vacuum.
DONE 6. Take plastic off the windows.
7. Wash windows.
DONE 8. Put bedding back on our bed by bedtime!

Living Room
DONE 1. Pick up blankets.
DONE 2. Pick up stuff and throw away.
DONE 3. Vacuum.
DONE 4. Organize shoes - put old shoes in storage bin to store.
DONE 5. Throw out boxes.
DONE 6. Water the plants.
7. Clean out area to the side of the couch (don't ask).
8. Wash windows.

Personal
DONE 1. Set up appt for Victor's FOUR MONTH checkup!
2. Set up appt for D's KINDERGARTEN checkup!
DONE 3. Print off copy of a student loan.
DONE 4. Fax off that copy of the student loan.
DONE 5. Call Bridget
6. Transfer points
DONE 7. Get paperwork together for MACS
8. Stay sane.
9. Call the student loan people.
DONE 10. Call bank on property.
DONE 11. Call bank to set up time to figure out mortgage for new property.
DONE 12. Have a fun evening with Ryan :o)
DONE 13. Find my planner so I can write all this stuff in!
DONE 14. Download pics from Mom.

Ready...Go...

First Time Fishing!

D's first catch! A 6" weed :o)

The fish was "THIS BIG!"

Daddy making sure D is casting correctly.

We went fishing with all the kids yesterday! After three casts, Derrick had it down! He fished with Ryan for about an hour and a half! He was so cute. Ryan called for my attention (I was walking on the shore with Eve) to look at him and D on the dock. Here's the conversation he told me about...

D - Daddy, I think I have a fish.

R - Oh yeah? Keep reeling it in. (Not thinking he actually had one)

D - Look Daddy - there's my fish!

Ryan looked and he had one! Unfortunately, as they were bringing it out of the water, the bass flip-flopped around and broke the line! Derrick was so sad that he lost his pink worm.

I told Derrick he should call Papa and tell him what happened. He said, "No! Papa would be so sad!" So he didn't call him. But I did - it's such a cute story :o)

Eve was ok with all the fishing. She was more into walking along the shore and looking at all the half-eaten fish that birds have caught and whatnot. We found a turtle egg! I pointed it out and she was like - COOL! And picked it up and threw it out into the water! Little stinker. I wanted a closer look at it!

Victor slept most of the time. It was nice being the only ones on the shore, so Victor slept in the truck with us a few feet away. It was SO windy - the water was incredibly choppy. So it was hard to fish.

Ryan caught a lure that his friend lost a few days earlier! Ha ha! How ironic.

Another Video

Victor giggling.

Videos

Pics

Sort of can see his two teeth, right up against his lip.

Such a happy boy now that the teeth have broke thru!

He's such a good boy!

Super happy!

He was in a good mood tonight! He is starting to gnaw again, so my guess is tooth #3 will be arriving in the next 2 weeks. Yay. But he gnawed on my shoulder a bit while I rocked him. He loves to be sung to. So I did my best :o) Put him to sleep within minutes!

Tooth #2!

AH! He's got two teeth now! It has been a VERY long night and day. He does not teeth well. He screamed so much I finally called the doctor, but there was nothing else we could do. However, we'll give Ambesol a shot, but other than that, nothing consoles him. He was screaming so bad that he was shaking :o( At about 1pm today, he finally gave up and slept. Oh that poor little guy. We actually took a few walks yesterday and today, but even then he's not so happy. I just want my happy little boy back!

The older two have LOVED being outside the last few days. We had a picnic at the park yesterday for dinner, and they slept GREAT last night! We went for a short walk today and they blew bubbles as they walked. It was cute. There is a house 2 blocks away that burned down, so I took them down to see it to show them what happens when people play with fire. I obviously have no idea how it burned, but as a mom, I'll use it to enforce them to never play with fire :o)

X-ray Results and Rolling Over

I just put Orajel on his gums :o)

He's not a big fan of the taste of Orajel!

Happy Boy!

It's official - he's rolling over like crazy!

I also finally heard back from the doctor. Victor's x-rays came back normal, but since there is still the clicking sound, she wants to do an ultrasound just in case the x-rays didn't catch something. So we'll go in for those on Monday.

First Tooth!

IT'S FINALLY HERE! Victor has been drooling and cranky on and off for many weeks now. Today, he was giggling and just unbelievably happy again. I stuck my finger in his mouth, like I have done almost every day, to rub his gums and I felt a tiny, sharp corner of his first tooth!

We got our new dryer last night. Did our first loads of laundry (I'm DAYS behind) last night, and this morning, I threw another load into the dryer. Our whites. When I took them out after work, they were multicolored. One of the kids put a handful of color crayons in one of my socks, and a bunch had fallen out :o( Our brand new dryer is now colored on the inside also. I hope I can get the crayons out of the whites, especially the baby quilt Mom had made Derrick before he was born. Our first two kids used it, and I was cleaning it so Victor could use it now. *Sigh*

OH! I also went upstairs to get Victor this morning, and he was laying on his back. I'm like - I don't remember putting you on your back! (All three kids have slept on their tummies) He had rolled over again! So it's official, he's becoming mobile!

Easter at GG's

Eve eating her finds. Derrick eating his finds.

See, I know how to find eggs. Finding one egg, and seeing another at the same time!

Little baby butt crack :o) Unkie Matt - SNOW!

Evie and Cousin Kaylie - Eve did their "makeup"

Easter Egg Decorating

Goofy boy

Crazy girl

Eve's eggs

Derrick's eggs

This is their "mean" faces

They enjoyed making eggs!

We decorated eggs yesterday! The kids thought it was pretty cool when I wrote on them and then dyed them. I was so worried they'd spill the dye all over, but they did very well! They were so excited to crack them open - they said they wanted to eat the treats inside! Ha ha! They had a rude awakening when it was just a hardboiled egg inside and no chocolate! :o) They honestly thought that the eggs were like the plastic ones filled with treats. Too cute!

Formula and X-rays

I took Victor in to see the doctor. She switched his formula, but not to soy! Yay! He HATES soy formula - we had been giving that a try the last few days, with no luck. He screams for hours, and then gives up and goes to sleep. :o( I gave him the new formula today to see if he'd take it - not a problem! So I hope this helps get rid of his diarrhea. I also am cutting back on the amount of cheese I eat (*sigh* *tears*), broccolli (is that spelled right???), cauliflower, tomato juice (not a problem - ick!), and orange juice (don't drink it either!), onions, stuff like that. We'll watch him over the next week to two weeks (my guess is I'll check in two weeks) to see if things have changed. He has not spit up yet today, so that's a good sign!

Since we were in, she checked his left hip. It still "clunks" a little bit when she moves it around, so we did x-rays to see if it's coming out of place or what's causing the "clunk". All I have to say, is they should have nurses hold down babies, NOT MOMS! Oh he was screaming and his legs had red marks on where I had to hold him down (since you're not supposed to move when getting an x-ray). I know I wasn't hurting him, but he was ticked off! We'll find out either Friday or Monday what the x-rays say. So say a prayer that Victor's hip is just fine/will heal on its own, as I do not want to have to have him put in a brace or cast! Can you imagine a 3-month old in a cast?! He's not supposed to go in a walker or exersaucer, which is fine - we don't have either one right now! I do have a free one coming, but I guess we'll have to wait to put him in it for a short time.

PS - he's now 12# 5 oz. He gained 2 pounds in the last 5 weeks! I still can't believe how not-chubby this little guy is! Derrick was over 12 pounds by 2 weeks! But Victor is just a lean little guy :o) Super cute if I dare say so :o)

Tickles

Oh Ryan had him just giggling! And I had to run upstairs and get new batteries. This was the best one I could catch on camera. But it's still cute.

Whoa! Where have you been?!

Ok, so it's me that's been slacking :o) I've actually had quite a busy week. But here's a few new pics for you!

Tomorrow we'll be caving in and taking Victor to the doctor. We'll be discussing his formula. He only gets one bottle a day on average, some days two, some days none. But he's not taking it so well. We have a strong incling that he can't handle dairy. Looking back, I believe Eve was too and that's why she was such a hard baby. She has eczema, and it only flares up when she drinks a lot of milk. And Victor is starting the crying fits Eve used to have, and has a slight "rash" on a part of his cheek. He's had some "poo" issues. He also started spitting up in the last couple of weeks, which he had never done unless he ate way too much. Last night I ate a lot of cheese, and this morning, he pretty much spit up all he drank. :o( I called the doc today, and she said to put him on a lactose-free formula for a week, and if things don't get better, she'd need to see him. Well, that's the formula he's been on, except for one day when we ran out and we used a different sample. So she wants to see him.

Do you have any idea what it's going to be like for me to not be able to eat dairy! I'm from WISCONSIN! But, it's probably a blessing in disguise, like everything is! So we'll keep you updated.

Grabbing Things

Victor has mastered grabbing onto his toys that dangle in front of him! Well, only with his left hand. But it's a start. We've been working on this for a few weeks. Today he just sat and concentrated until he could grab onto that toy! We need to get him a little walker, as he is only happy when he is upright. I'd love to do an exersaucer, but those things are huge and with all those crazy things to look at, no wonder kids these days have ADD! I'd go crazy looking at all those obnoxious colors all over. Anyways, we sold our walker 2 summers ago when we thought we were done with babies, and we really had no where to store it. Now I want it back, bcuz it's the perfect size for our lower level! Oh well, maybe it'll go on sale soon. :o)

PS - I also got to rock Eve today before she went to bed (hey, she was up for anything to not have to go to bed for a few extra minutes!). It was kind of nice. She's a good cuddler. However, it also brought back some not-so-fun memories of her as a baby. :o( But she's bigger now, and so much better to be around!

PPS - for those of you that didn't know this - Mom and Marcie have been traveling around Austria for the last few days. Mom still won't be home until sometime next week. That would be so much fun to do! I really hope Marcie goes to Germany next spring to study so I can come and visit her! I've always wanted to go there - see where my great-grandparents came from. I'm pretty much 100% German, however I do not have any of the German traits - like stubbornness :o)