Our 17-pounder!

Logan weighed in at 17 lbs on November 28! Believe it or not, he's slowing down on weight gain. He gained most of his weight between 2-12 weeks old. His eating habits have changed and he spacing out his meal times and doesn't take as long to nurse. He's also enjoying yelling and screaming followed by smiles and giggles. I think he likes to hear himself make noise. Sometimes he goes on and on grunting and groaning and screeching until you look at him and then he breaks into a huge grin. There's no doubt he's found his voice and knows how to use it. I think he's really amused by all the sounds he can make and he's not afraid to show off!

He's also following a better nap/sleeping schedule. I've never really kept track of exactly when he takes naps because they basically were non-existent and I didn't want to get my hopes up. He'd also wake up about 3-4 times during the night, so I never got more than 2 hours of sleep a at a time. However, when I went back to work about 7 weeks ago, things started to change (for the better, thankfully!). Now he almost always falls asleep around 9pm and will wake up at 2 or 3am for a night-time feeding. Then he'll wake again sometime around 5am so I can feed him before going to work and still have time to get ready before heading out the door at 7am. Of course on days that I don't work I don't mind if he wakes up several times in the night because I don't have to get up at any certain time. However, he usually sticks to the same sleeping schedule and we're up early no matter what day it is. As for naps, he's started to follow more of a routine with those, too. Usually he'll nap around 9 or 10am for 30-45 minutes and then take an early afternoon nap for about 2 hours (the longest of the day, woo-hoo!) and then one more nap around 5 or 6pm for about 30-45 minutes. It's nice that naps are more predictable now so I can actually get some things done around the house!

December 19 is his 4-month well-baby check-up and he'll get a second round of immunizations. It's so hard for me to see and hear him cry from the pain, but luckily it passes quickly and he's so young he won't remember. I'm anxious to hear what the doctor has to say about him developmentally. He's such an alert and attentive baby. He tries to bat at toys but he's still working on coordination--usually it's by accident that he can grab something in front of him, but he can hold on to it for quite a while. When he found his hands (meaning when he realized that the were attached to his body), he'd clasp them together, lift them up his face and stare at them cross-eyed. It was quite amusing. He's also sitting up well with assistance. He actually prefers to sit up rather than lay down and will try to lift himself up, especially when reclined in his car seat. We're also working on tummy-time for upper body strength. He usually can do a few baby push-ups and then he gets frustrated and would rather lick the floor than lift his head. Speaking of his head, he is gaining good control of that and can now face forward in the Baby Bjorn carrier. He really likes to be able to look out at everything and it's certainly good exercise for me. There's nothing like strapping a 17lb weight to your chest and walking up and down the basement steps to take care of laundry. Not to mention doing squats while trying to pick up things around the house. Soon enough I'll lose the last 10 lbs of the weight I gained during pregnancy. Carrying Logan is quite the aerobic workout!

Oh, Logan just awoke from his morning nap and is vying for attention. We'll catch up again soon!

-rebecca