(Pictures added, but may be more later... :)
I have some fun stories of Connor Rolling around in my head, so I thought I'd share them here... Just a warning, this can get long-winded, so feel free to skip it if you want. :)
He has the best smile ever! Most of the time he has his eyes glued on me or Ron, and will smile whenever we look at him. But sometimes he'll be watching the other people around him. It was so cute at his 4 month checkup yesterday (BTW, 15 lbs 12 oz, 26" long). He was watching the nurse with a kind of half-smile as she was explaining something to me about the next milestones (which he's already reached most of them). As soon as she looked at Connor, he busted out this huge grin with a little squeal and scrunched his shoulders up with his hands pulled together. He did this 2-3 times in a row. SO CUTE! :)
He is one smart little dude. EVERY TIME I put him on the changing table his legs go up automatically and he looks at me. I give him all kinds of praise and he loves it! Well, today he decided to play a trick on me. He pushed his legs out straight when I was trying to get his diaper on and pressed his thighs together so I couldn't squeeze anything through them, let alone a diaper. After I finally wrangled the diaper on, and got his jeans on him, he flipped his legs up like he was ready to get changed and then he looked at me. :) Silly boy! I laughed.
Ron is so great with Connor. He has to grab him every time he sees him, even if only for a few moments. Last night, we were asked to go help decorate for the ward Christmas party. (For those who don't know, we are on the activities' committee. And, our ward puts on HUGE parties). Connor was being passed around, as babies tend to do. So, when Ron arrived after work and came in to the primary room where we were setting up, he scanned the room, honed in on connor and made a V-line for him. "Can I steal him back from you?". Why of course, that is your right as a father. :)
When connor is going to sleep at night, we have a little routine that I love as much as he does. First, he drinks his last bottle of the day. He usually doesn't finish it, so then I'll put his jammies on. (We'll give him a bath 2-3 times per week, but usually Ron likes to do that.) We'll have one last little play time and then I take him into his room and put on some mellow music. Sometimes it's Baby Einstein's lullabies, sometimes it's primary songs, sometimes it's the lullaby CD Ron got with the "Daddy's Tool Bag" diaper bag that he got for Father's day this year. Anyway, the music lets him know it's time to start winding down, and I sit with him in the "rocking" chair in his room. It's not really a rocking chair, because the room isn't big enough to fit it. It's an office chair that swivels and rocks, and works great in the space! I use the twin bed for a leg rest, usually. Once we're in the chair, he'll either finish his bottle or suck on a paci while I rock him. He's usually asleep within two minutes. On the days he doesn't sleep right away, I'll put him in his crib after ~10 minutes of rocking. He never cries. (never!) But, you can sometimes hear a "thud, thud, thud" on the baby monitor. I turn on the video to find him picking his legs up to a full 90-degree angle and slamming them down on the mattress. He's in one of those sleep bags (otherwise he would kick his covers off and freeze all night), so it's like a big squishy blob that is making these loud "thud" noises. SO cute! He's not fussy, so I leave him alone, and he goes to sleep pretty quickly. I'm hoping he doesn't go through the power struggle stage where he refuses to go down, because I love this ritual! :) (p.s. the blanket he's using was made by grandma Linda and was put on AFTER he fell asleep. Rest assured, though, it was kicked off by the time he woke up.)
In the morning when he wakes up, he never cries. never. I wake up to hear a bunch of noises -- mostly grunting and these dolphin-like sounds. and some more "thud"s. :) If he's really hungry, he may start fussing as I'm changing his diaper, but I'm convinced he is happier if he eats with a dry diaper. (He usually doesn't poop at night -- only during the day). When I come into the room to get him, he sees me coming across the room and lights up with a huge grin, pulls his hands to his mouth and coos. Then he gets all excited and kicks his arms and legs around to greet me. When I pick him up he turns into this little cuddle ball and just nuzzles into my collar bone. I LOVE IT.
I love how mellow Connor is in most situations. We got shots yesterday at his checkup, and I tried to distract him with a paci and some baby chatter in his face. I could see in his face when he got the first shot, but no fussing! wow. With the second shot, though, the nurse said it would sting a little. and it did, and he cried. But not for long, he's a little champ! When we went out to the lobby to schedule the next visit, one of the other 4-month old babies was there, and she was still crying hysterically. I count my blessings with Connor every day!
