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Miles had his 4-month well-baby check today.  He was supposed to have his immunizations, too, but it turns out that it hasn’t been 60 days since his last round, so we have to wait until next week.  So he got a brief reprieve.  His stats:

- Weight – 15 lb., 12.5 oz. (50-75th percentile)
- Length – 25 in. (25-50th percentile)
- Head – 17 in. (50-75th percentile)

So he’s still a little on the short side, compared to his weight and head, but not too bad.

Miles started daycare last Monday, with a woman who watches him in her house.  She has a 2 1/2-year-old daughter and she also watches a four-year-old girl two days a week.  So far, that’s it, so he’s getting a lot of attention, which is great.  He seems to like it there and he’s close enough that I can go over on my lunch hour to feed him and put him down for his afternoon nap.  He’s not getting a lot of sleep there, but I think that he’s still adjusting to being there.

Speaking of sleep, in the last month, he’s begun sleeping through the night.  He’ll go down to bed around 8:00 and most of the time we have to wake him up at 7:00 the next morning to eat and get ready to go.  It’s wonderful and you’d think that I would feel more rested, but I don’t.  I think I just sleep so lightly, listening for him.

He still loves to lie on the floor and kick his legs, but now he also will grab at his toys that are there.  He really likes to be read to, especially books with bright colors, like Dr. Seuss books.  He seems so serious much of the time, watching and studying everything that we do, like he’s just storing it all up in his head and trying to figure out what it is that we’re doing.  Either that, or he’s thinking, wow, do these people realize how stupid they look when they try to make me laugh?

He’s getting much stronger, which is not surprising, considering how much he kicks.  He can support himself pretty well and he’s really close to rolling over from his back.  He still hates hates hates being on his tummy, even for a short period of time.  I think it’s because he can’t see anything from that angle.  So it’ll be interesting to see how he reacts when he does roll over and finds himself stuck there.  Maybe if he does it himself it won’t upset him as much?  I hope so.

We haven’t started him on cereal yet, though I think we might next week.  He’s really hungry in the evening, and sometimes he’s so hungry he won’t even attempt to nurse, so maybe giving him cereal at dinnertime will help.  We usually put him in his bumbo right on the table while we eat so he won’t feel left out, so I’ll probably just feed him like that.

Lately, he’s been chewing and sucking on his hands.  It almost seems like he’s teething, but the doctor said that she didn’t think so.  We actually noticed him sucking on his hands during my ultrasounds, and he was trying to suck on them as they were cleaning him up after he was born, so I think he just likes to do that.  He’ll actually spit out his pacifier and stick his hand in there.  I keep thinking that he’ll find his thumb and that will be that, but the few times he’s managed to get just his thumb in there, he’ll pull it out and tuck it under so that he can try to fit his whole fist in.  So far, his hands are the only thing in his mouth, but I’m sure it won’t be long before he’s sucking on toys and whatever else he can find.

Oh, and Miles definitely loves to be naked or as near to naked as he can be.  If he’s fussy at all, all you have to do is unsnap his sleeper or take off his pants and he’s happy.  I’m sure that this summer he’ll be that kid running around in just a diaper.  As a side effect of all of this nakedness, he’s noticed his feet.  One day last week when he was in the tub, he lifted his feet straight up and just stared at them, like, what are those things?  Last weekend he reached down and grabbed at one foot.  I imagine that it won’t be long before they’re in his mouth, too.

One thing that I wish he’d grow out of is the reflux.  It’s a constant thing, but because it doesn’t seem to bother him and since it’s not affecting his weight, we have to just let him grow out of it.  His doctor said that we’re right at the peak of it, and that it should start to taper off a bit, especially once he spends more of his time upright.  I can’t wait.  A couple of weeks ago, I went through three shirts in a five-minute period.  And Greg has had that happen, too.  Not to mention his own outfit changes.  He’s already had to be bathed twice at his daycare because he projectile vomited all over himself.

It’s so amazing to see him learn something new every day, and he just seems to be growing up so fast!

Below are some pictures from last night, and his four-month picture with Percy the Penguin.

4 months old

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Miles and mom snuggling

Miles and Leah watching TV

If you’ve been visiting our site over the last few days, you’ve probably noticed that it’s been different every time! We’re trying to choose a new look for it, getting away from the cool-but-difficult-to-update look that Greg designed and instead choosing a template. Only we can’t seem to find one that has all of the elements we’re looking for, so we keep changing it. We’ll probably change it a few more times until we find something we’re happy with.

Below are some pictures of Miles in his jumperoo and some other random photos. He’s still a little too small for it, so he doesn’t jump in it, but he seems to like being able to look around when he’s in it. Also, make sure to check out the video of him giggling at the very bottom. He turned four months old on Friday, so we’ll be posting his four-month stats after his well-baby appointment on Wednesday. He’ll be getting more shots at this appointment, which we’re not looking forward to, poor little guy.

Miles at his first hockey game

Enjoying his new sled

First time out for a sled ride.

Teaching Miles how to play XBox360

Miles sucking his hand.

Too tired to move.

Miles looking cute as always.

So it’s 2010 already. 2009 was certainly an exciting year for us, what with buying a house and having a baby. Our house is still in a state of progress, so maybe in 2010 we can finally get some things up on the walls. And we’re going to have lots of fun with Miles this year. Who knows what’s in store for us in 2010?

For New Year’s we headed down to Nahma to a party at the hotel. Dayna watched Miles while we headed out to celebrate the new year. A lot of Leah’s family were around for the weekend and it was nice to see them all. We also opened presents with Leah’s parents. Miles got a ton of presents, including a big wagon with wheels that can be swapped out with skis. It probably won’t be too many more years before he’s riding it down the hill in front of our house.

Below are a few pictures from the weekend.

Last Tuesday night we headed down to Greg’s parents’ house for Christmas with his family. It was a lot of fun and I feel like I ate and ate and ate a lot of good food. Greg’s mom made cheesy potatoes because she knows how much I love them. I also ate way more dessert than I normally do, and it was wonderful. I love dessert.

It was Miles’ first Christmas, though he slept through most of the gift opening. I imagine we only have a few more Christmases until he’s waking us up in the middle of the night to see if it’s time to open presents yet. I remember waking up my parents, thinking it had to be time, only to find out that it was 11:30 at night.

Santa managed to find Miles, though, and he got some blocks, a baby photo album (that’s a photo album for him), and a GloWorm (I had one when I was little, so I told Santa to bring him one). He also got a lot of gifts from everyone else, including a couple of teddy bears, some cute outfits, and a cover for his car seat to help keep him warm. His Uncle Steve got him a Lions jersey with M. Kretovic on the back of it.

Greg and I got some wonderful presents, too. Greg is anxious to try out his ice fishing stuff, though I think he needs to wait a little bit longer before heading out on the lakes. I’ll be trying out some recipes from my new crock-pot cookbook. That will come in handy when I go back to work next week (I still can’t believe I go back next week already. Too sad.).

Miles, of course, entertained everyone. He was very good and liked meeting all of his uncles and his aunt. He was a little fussy during Christmas Eve mass because it was way past his bedtime and he was hot, so I had to take off his cute vest and just walk him in the back of the church until he fell asleep.

The weather was also pretty prominent on our vacation. Freezing rain on Christmas Eve caused a lot of local churches to cancel their services. We were supposed to head up to visit Greg’s grandma on Saturday, but the weather up her way wasn’t the greatest, so we ended up going bowling instead. When we headed back home yesterday, we ran into some pretty snowy weather. Between that and needing to stop to feed Miles, our trip back took 10 hours instead of the usual 7.

Miles also had a bit of a meltdown in the car just as we were almost home. He cried the last two hours of the trip, just tired of being in his car seat. I think we’ll be traveling at night with him in the future, because he was great on the way down. He fell asleep before the bridge and slept the entire way there.

Below are some pictures from the Kretovic Christmas. Thursday we’ll head down to my grandma’s house for New Year’s and Christmas with my family.

Because Miles doesn’t have a 3-month well baby appointment with his pediatrician, I figured out his weight by standing on the scale with Miles and then alone, and by measuring him with a tape measure. So these are all approximate.

- Weight – 14 lb. (50th percentile)
- Length – 23.5″ (10-25th percentile)
- Head – 16.5″ (50th percentile)

So unofficially, it looks like his weight and head have slowed down some, but he’s still on the short side.

In the last month, he’s become so much more active and alert. He reaches for things now and tries to grab them, especially the toys that dangle above him on his activity mat. He’s figured out how to turn on this music toy he has that just has a giant button that you push. And I’ve noticed him watching TV a few times, too. He was watching the Packer game this past weekend. (See, I knew he’d be a Packer fan!)

He loves music. He likes to listen to his music toys, and he likes to be sung to and whistled at. I’ve been trying to remember songs to sing to him. So far, he seems to like “You Are My Sunshine,” “Old MacDonald,” and “This Old Man.” “Old MacDonald” can go on forever when you starting adding in all sorts of weird creatures, including a pizza delivery man. (”With a ‘here’s your pizza’ here and a ‘here’s your pizza’ there…”)

He does not like being alone when he’s awake. He likes to be talked to and he’ll squawk if he’s lying there and you’re not paying attention to him. When I’m trying to get things done, I sometimes have to wear him around in his carrier so he’ll be calm. He also isn’t a fan of naps. Well, that’s not right, he loves to nap, but he doesn’t like napping alone. He’ll be deeply asleep but as soon as I lay him down, he wakes up. He loves to be cuddled while he naps, which I love, too, but it makes it hard to get anything done. He also hates tummy time. As soon as you put him on his tummy, he starts fussing and eventually cries. He won’t even try to push himself up, but I’m not sure if this is an indicator that he’ll be a late crawler or not.

He still isn’t too smiley and he’s only giggled a few times. He tends to let us know that he’s happy by kicking and waving his arms like crazy, which he does all the time.

Last weekend at church while I was holding him, he was determined to get Greg’s attention. Miles kept staring at Greg, grabbing his shoulder and jabbering until Greg would look and smile at him. Greg and Miles play together every evening after dinner and I think Miles really looks forward to it. He always wants to see Greg as soon as he gets home and watches him the whole evening.

I can’t believe I have to go back to work after New Year’s. I’m going to really, really miss him! It’s been so nice to be with him and see all of his development and growth. I can’t imagine how sad I’ll be if I miss being there for his first word or his first steps. Well, better not think about that now. I still have a week and a half left and I’d better appreciate it.

I took some pictures last week of him in his Christmas outfit, which are below, and also his latest picture with Percy the Penguin. Merry Christmas to everyone! We’ll post some pictures of his first Christmas after we get back from downstate.