4 Months Old
It seems like it was just a few short days ago that I was writing about Cyprus’ 3 month birthday. Â Now here I am making a 4 month update. Â To say that time is flying would be cliche, but it would also be true.
The truth is that I am immensely enjoying having a baby around. Â I love having a little warm body in bed with me to keep me warm. Â I enjoy the part of babyhood when the baby is still exclusively nursing. Â It makes for a very portable little human who can be fed anywhere, anytime.
I was telling Julie today that I think that I enjoy the stage Cyprus is in now the most. Â He is very talkative and alert but he still sleeps a lot. Â He has some mobility but not enough to get him into any trouble. Â The world is new to him and he can be entertained by ANYTHING. Â He loves to watch me spin because it is so darn interesting to see the wheel go around and around and around.
I made an interesting discovery one day. Â He was pitching a royal fit, and Jared and I could not figure out the problem. Â I stripped him naked and placed him on the floor and walked away. Â Apparently, that was the key. Â He promptly stopped crying and he played happily for the next hour. Â That is now my go-to solution when he is extremely unhappy, and it works every time.
Our friends gave me this chair to use. Â I really like it. Â Now that he can hold his head up, he sits in the chair and it helps sit him up. Â I use it in the kitchen while cooking. Â I just put it on the counter next to where I am and what I am doing. Â He likes to be able to watch all the action (and occasionally put his hand in the mixer bowl).
I made another amazing discovery. Â Apparently, he can be put down when he is asleep. Â I do not know of one single time that I was able to put Daphne down while she slept. Â Cyprus, however, happily stays asleep–sometimes for hours when I put him down asleep. Â It is really nice because it means that I can then get some house things done. Â He is really cute to watch while he sleeps.
He is starting to put up more with his sister. Â Daphne is learning to be more careful with him. Â I think she sees me playing with him, and she doesn’t realize that I am being incredibly careful and gentle with him. Â He is starting to get to the point that he finds her entertaining. Â Sometimes he does not want to have anything to do with her and he will scream to the high heavens if she tries to kiss him. Â He discovered a workable mechanism to be left alone is to grab and hold on to her hair. Â She HATES when he pulls her hair, so it keeps her from getting to rough with him. Â He looks thrilled with this play huh?
Cyprus really likes to be in a sling. Â I put him in the Moby wrap ALL THE TIME. Â I did finally put my pouch slings away this past week because he has outgrown them. Â My favorite quick go-to sling now is the ring sling. Â I think we look good together in it.
I made a matching set hat and legging set out of angora and wool. Â It is hand dyed the color of the Mediterranean sea (his name is Cyprus after all). Â I put him in the set all the time because of how adorable it is on him. Â He loves how soft and warm the angora is.
This baby looks good in stripes. Â This is a particularly good application of that principle.
He can roll over from his back onto his tummy, but he is still stuck there. Â When he plays alone for a while, his clue that he is done is when he rolls over. Â He immediately cries and fusses when he ends up stranded on his tummy. Â He will eventually learn to roll back, but I like my partially immobile baby still.
I just like this photo. Â I don’t have a lot of good ones of him and I. Â He looks so thrilled right?
We went out to Jared’s 10 year reunion at Delphi in October. Â Jared had a lot of fun showing off his new little gem.
He even made some time for some daddy play before a presentation.
I went with the kids to a big consignment sale in Hillsboro last month. Â Even though I don’t NEED anything for the baby, I did get a few stripped outfits. Â I love this jumper. Â It was brand new, and it is 100% knitted cotton. Â Very soft and lovely. Â Only after he had worn it for the 4th time did I realize that he looks like a little jailbird in it.
The stripes appear again.  I got a teething necklace for him because he is showing some teething signs.  He is big into chewing on everything he can get his hands on and chamomile is great at calming him down when he is having a hard time.  The problem with the necklace (even though it does its job very well) is that people now automatically assume that he is a girl.  ARGH.
I never would get a nice warm shower in the morning if I didn’t just take the baby with me. Â Every morning he goes into the shower with me and spends the entire time cooing and enjoying the warm water run down his back. Â Then I wrap him up in a towel and he continues his cooing while I get dressed for the day.
Toys are starting to become interesting to him, and it has been fun to pull out some of my old favorites from when Daphne was a tiny baby.
I have nothing to say except that that is one handsome baby.
He is even handome while sleeping. Â I still love wrapping him up really tight before I nurse him. Â It keeps him warm and snuggled while he sleeps. Â It also keeps me from being wacked and pinched while nursing (boy did that stage come quickly).
He found his FEET! Â My single favorite thing about the last month is that he finally found his feet. Â I LOVE to watch him sit and play with his feet. Â He grabs them and holds on to them and sucks them whenever he gets a chance. Â I think it is the best possible form of baby play and it is so cute.
Look at how curious he is.
He can now sit at the chair at the table with no problems. Â I put him down first and then try to spend at least a little bit of time eating alone before I have to pull him out. Â We are going for more and more time before he decides he wants to be held again. Â Daphne planted a pumpkin plant at the Ag festival we went to in April. Â I brought in the pumpkin that grew on that plant and put it on the table. Â It is now a favorite chewing toy.
He also likes to roll it around.
Daphne is finding him more and more entertaining, and she will help play toys with him. Â She is holding the monkey toy up for him to talk to here. Â Look at how intent he is at communicating.
Sometimes, on special days, I share Cyprus with Jared. Â They do guy stuff like watch bloody TV and movies. Â Cyprus is REALLY into this TV show.
This is a classic Cyprus face. Â He usually looks like this when I talk to him and he is trying to figure out what I am saying.
More stripes. Â I love how he always has to be grabbing onto everything, if only his own hands.
Daphne keeps trying to convince me that Cyprus needs to be eating food. Â Despite all my best efforts, I have settled with letting her help him chew on hard fruits and veggies. Â She loves to share her apples with him.
I have been putting him in the cradle for some sleeping times, and I find that that the back massager works well to keep a sleeping baby asleep.
Cyprus made it to chewing on the sweet potato for dinner before I could cut it up.
Is there nothing better than a little baby in a bathrobe?
Jared’s job is to read stories to Daphne before bedtime. Â Sometimes, Cyprus gets to tag along and listen to the stories also. Â He really enjoys being read to. Â You get extra smiles from him if you put extra emphasis on the last word of every line.
And one must never forget the awesome SuperCyprus costume that I sewed for him for his first Halloween.
Or the way that he “flew” through the air on my feet.
Jared and Cyprus share a name day on November 1st–All Saints Day. Â Jared got some “bubbly juice” as Daphne calls it, and everyone got to have a nice drink. Â Even Cyprus got the bottle.
The truth is that I am having way too much fun with a baby around. Â Time is going by so quickly, and I tell myself many times a day to put down what I am doing because my baby wants to play with me.
Even as I write this, he is sleeping on my lap. Â He has been there for a little while so we are now both covered with sweat. Â I hope that I can never forget how snuggly it is to have a tiny baby draped across my lap because there is no place in the world that either of us would rather he be.