Jalen's Four Month Check Up

Today Rick and I took Jalen to his 4-month check up. He is still a very big boy! He is now 18lbs 4ozs, 27.5 inches and his head circumference is 17 inches. He is in the 95th percentile in all 3 categories. Jalen's infant car seat is only for up to 22lbs, I can't believe that I already have to upgrade his baby car seat soon when those typically last until the baby is 1 year old! He got 4 shots this time and tonight he was very fussy. He cried for about an hour before I finally calmed him down and got him to go to sleep. Poor guy.

I hope to take some more pictures of Jalen soon. Things are still a bit disorganized right now since we haven't moved into our new house.

Jalen is Four Months Old!

There has been a lot of things going on in our little family in the last month. We purchased a home in Bellevue in early August. We decided to put our current house in Renton on the rental market so I spent the rest of August packing things up to get the house ready to show. We moved some of our stuff into the new house a week ago and left some furniture in the old house for staging. Right now we're interviewing renters. We haven't moved into the new house yet because we want to do a few things to it before we move in. We're temporarily staying with Rick's parents. Rick was away for work one week in August. He's been away for a few days this week. We're not sure how much traveling is ahead for the rest of the month. It makes things hard since we're in the middle of moving.On top of all that, I went back to work full time on August 31st. I was really dreading going back to work because I wasn't sure about how things were going to be like. So far, things are been pretty good. Here's our daily routine:

5:00 am - 6:30am: first feeding of the day, depending on when Jalen wakes up. Then I put him back down to sleep.
8:00 am: I get up. Usually, Jalen is still sleeping. I pump, then get ready for work.
9:00 am: I leave for work around 9am. Jalen's Grandma gives him a bottle of pumped milk when he wakes up.
12:00pm: I come home from work to feed Jalen. It only takes me about 10 minutes to get to Grandma's from work. So after I feed Jalen I still have time to eat a quick lunch.
3:00pm: Jalen's Grandma gives Jalen a bottle of pumped milk.
6:00pm: I come home from work and feed Jalen. Then pump.
9:00pm: I feed Jalen and put him down to sleep.
11:30pm: I wake Jalen up for his last feeding of the day then he goes back to sleep. I go to bed.

Since we're staying with Rick's parents, we definitely save time on the commute so things are a bit easier. The routine will have to be adjusted when we move into our new house. Being back at work isn't as scary as I thought it would be. In some ways, it's a welcoming break because taking care of a baby is hard work. It's also comforting to know that Jalen loves his Grandma and that he is in good hands.

Jalen and the Jumperoo

We got Jalen a Jumperoo recently. It took him a little while to figure it out. At first he would just swayed around, or kind of skipped on one leg. But once he figure out how to jump on both legs to make the music come on, he just jumped away. One day, he played in it for 40 minutes!

Jalen LOL!

Jalen got into a giggle fit the other day staring into the mirror with Grandma.

Baby Talk

This is just too cute for words. Trenton came over today for a play date. He and Jalen had a lengthy little conversation!

Sporty Jalen

Here's Jalen in his soccer outfit.

Here's Jalen sporting his basketball jersey and shorts.

Jalen's grandparents threw him a 100-day party on August 18th. In Chinese tradition, 100 days is a big milestone for a baby so we invited all of our family and friends to celebrate. Here are some of the babies born this year (left to right): Jalen (5/15), Trenton (5/3), Tyler (4/22) and Katelyn (5/20).

Jalen is Three Months Old!

Our little piggy is now three months old! He's got a few new tricks now. The other day, Rick was playing with Jalen's stomach and he laughed out loud for the first time! Since then, both of us have been trying to get him to laugh by tickling him. He smiles many times a day now so the laugh is the elusive reward that both of us are after. At three months, Jalen is also doing much better with tummy time. Before he would just face plant on to the floor then whine about not being about to see anything. Now he can support himself with his arms and almost pull himself upright. He still needs lots of practice though. We've developed a night time routine for him for the last few weeks. I put him down to sleep in his crib around 9pm, then wake him up around 11:30pm or midnight to eat, then put him straight back down to sleep. He usually can sleep until 5am or 6am. His record is around 6:30am. Some nights, he wakes up at 2am or 4am, so I just give him his binky then put him right back to sleep. Since we've had this routine, Rick and I have been about to have a couple of hours of uninterrupted adult time at night, then I can get 5 or 6 hours of straight sleep! During the day, his routine is less predictable. I try to put him down for a nap about an hour after he feeds. He usually only sleeps for 30 minutes. Then depending on what mood he's in or how busy I am, I'll either hold him until he goes back to sleep or put him in his bouncer or swing to play. Jalen has also developed a very close attachment to me for obvious reasons. When he's in a good mood, he'll let anyone hold him but when he's cranky and tired, he can only be comforted by me. He will scream at his daddy for half an hour until his face is red and streaked with tears. Little does Jalen know, he'll have to learn to break that habit very soon because I'm going back to work in less than 2 weeks and he will have to let Grandma take care of him while mommy is not around.

Tickle, tickle!

Jalen asleep in his swing.

Tummy time for Jalen.

Tummy time for Jalen's daddy at 3 months old.

Jalen's mommy at 3 months old. When Jalen was first born, everyone said that he looks like daddy. Now he looks like a bit of mommy and a bit of daddy. He still has daddy's nose and forehead but he may just have his mommy's chin and mouth. What do you think?