Bacon Bits: 4 months old... where is the time going!?

February 2, 2014: Jack is 4 MONTHS OLD!

I can't believe he is already 4 months old. When looking back, it feels like forever ago when I was pregnant, but it doesn't feel like I've had Jackaroni in my life for that long. This month was a huge month for developmental milestones and changes. After the start of the new year, things were moving along just fine, but Jack picked up his first cold mid-month. It was a doozie. I always heard that the first cold is awful, but this was awful, horrible, insane, exhausting and crazy. It didn't help that he got me insanely sick too!

Jack started sleeping in his crib all night long right before I went to back to school for the year. It took about a week of me sleeping on an air mattress on the floor of his room, but we finally found success! Unfortunately, when he started getting sick, that all changed. It has helped me get so much more sleep having him in his crib. And he seems to love it. I would put him to bed on his back, and when I went in to check on him, he'd be on his tummy with his butt straight up in the air. I never saw the actual roll over, but I assume he was sticking his feet in between the slots on the crib and pushing himself over. He is so smart.

Butt in the air, don't care.

Right as he was starting to get sick, Maggie and Trey came to visit us from Memphis. We had an awesome time! Jack loved loved loved Auntie M and Uncle Trey. He got lots of awesome gifts and snuggles. Even though it was the beginning of his cold and wasn't sleeping much, he was a trooper the entire weekend.

After Maggie and Trey left, both Jack and I took a turn for the worst down Cold Avenue. I'd compare it to the Skid Row of colds. I've always been a complainer. But this was bad. Every year, I get a cold in January... but this was TERRIBLE. I'm going to blame it on the little one. Not that he had an unusually strange bug, but he wasn't sleeping at all, which means Mom wasn't sleeping. Taking care of a very sick baby while sick as a dog might have been one of the worst things ever (second to the stomach bug I had when I was 20 weeks pregnant and I thought I was dying.) That next week was rough. I only went to school once that week. The next weekend was my birthday and the girls and I were going to go out for a girls night, but that got postponed until I was in a slightly better than dying position. (I'm not sure I've entirely recovered...)

Marc took me out for dinner on my birthday and had Allie come over and babysit, and we had the best time! We went to Fogo de Chao and ate more meat than humanly possible. I had to go stand outside in the cold due to the meat sweats after my 8th portion of rib roast... The asparagus was an inch in diameter. It was really crazy. I think about it often. Anyway... we went out to a bar afterwards and had a great time, it was very easy to be out knowing Jack was with Auntie Allie. He adores her.

Jack's doctor's appointment went well. 4 months was a huge month in development for Jack. He rolls, talks, squeals (which I think is his way of laughing for now), he eats a ton, is starting to play with real foods (more on that next month...), is on a good sleep schedule, loves to be out in the fresh air... he's so enjoyable and I am so lucky. Love this monkey. He didn't gain much weight because he was a) so sick and wasn't eating much, and b) is so active, he's using up his calories rather than stocking them up. His doctor said she normally sees this around 6 months, but he is developing pretty early, so she isn't surprised. Oh, and he's already teething.

Speaking of - I have a strong dislike for monkeys. They really weird me out and I can't really describe why I am not fond of them, I just am. Yet the word 'monkey' always comes out when I talk to Jack. What's up with that?

Here are some of my favorite 4 month pictures :) ...sorry for the overload...