Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We started shortly after Thanksgiving by putting up the lights.

Orrin was having a great time watching (look at those cheeks!)

The dogs weren't invited to participate
An old friend came by to help

Not sure Orrin thought he was so great!


Then we got the tree and Spot wanted to help

Orrin wanted in on the action

So we dressed him up all cute for a photo session

He was not impressed


But then Orrin read the Christmas story and learned of the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

He wanted to share that message with others, so he volunteered to play baby Jesus at church



We hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas this year!

4 Months

Orrin is 4 months old today!

His stats as of last Friday: 16 pounds 12 ounces (85th percentile), 27.5 inches (98th percentile)

So essentially he is the size of a 6-7 month old. We are already finding that people are thinking he is much older than he really is - like the lady in charge of nursery on Sunday asking if he crawls.


Some new developments:

He loves to stand up.

He babbles in multi-syllable a lot more. He sounds like he is trying to have a conversation.

He blows "raspberries" constantly. It is how he expresses both happiness and unhappiness. It's pretty funny when he complains this way.

He has figured out how to turn on his music toy (so he is at least as smart as Spot now!) by flailing his arms.

He is getting very good at grabbing things.

He is very interested in watching Scott and I eat, he will mimic us chewing.

He seems pretty close to being able to sit on his own.

He rolled over once from his tummy to his back, but not again.

He is becoming very opinionated - he knows what/who he wants and when (now!). For example, if he wakes up at night, if Scott tries to go in and soothe him, he SCREAMS! He wants mom.

Speaking of screaming... He does that a lot more now. :) He's still a very happy baby, but if he doesn't get enough sleep (which has been an issue lately), watch out!

He made it through his first cold.



I've given up on trying to get good pictures of him with the cow. You get the idea - he is huge.

And cute!!


We tried out the exersaucer today. He seemed to really like it!

Hmmm

Orrin was wearing my favorite onesie today.

It has all my favorite jungle animals, like elephants, giraffes, monkeys, lions, and,

um...

tyrannosaurus rex? (I think that is a brontosaurus there, too)

If you can't beat em....

Daisy likes to occasionally bring a shoe into the living room when we leave (this has gotten much worse since Orrin). We've given up on scolding her and started messing with her instead.

Before we left (Scott brought out all of our shoes):

This was done before we even left:

And when we got home:

That's 7 shoes!

3 months

Orrin is a lot more difficult to photograph lately - he never holds still!

My Photoshoot:

He's cute, but pushing the cow up.

Still cute, but he got the cow all the way up.Oooh, my hand...

Ooooh, the wall....Finally!

Please excuse the legwarmers - he was getting a little red so I'm trying to let him air out a little without a cover.

Developments:

He doesn't seem any chubbier, but definitely longer. We won't know his stats for another month. He is wearing 6 month size cloths now, and they aren't even big on him (well, maybe a little wide).

He can hold his head up so much better, so tummy time can actually be fun for a few minutes if there is a toy in front of him to look at.

He loves to sit upright, either with my hand on his back, or propped up with a pillow and the boppy.

He loves to hit at his hanging toys and is getting much better at hand control. He also likes to hold onto toys, but I have to put them in his hand.

He still loves to talk, he'll repeat "boo" now (with some effort). And probably other syllables but that's the one I say to him most often I guess.

He will usually sleep all night long without getting up (so from 8pm to about 7am). I like this!

We're still working on the napping but its getting better!

Orrin hasn't figured it out yet, but Spot has learned how to push the buttons on his music toy to get it to play. I've been hearing the music turn on in the other room all day today.



This is how I get things done:

This chair is on the table and he'll watch while I cook dinner.

This is how I get the laundry folded and put away. Give him a sock to hold on to and I'll get at least 10-15 minutes!When all else fails, I've got babysitters.... :)

Of course this is why I have to clean so much, I turn my back for one second and a dog is sure to find its way onto the blankets or steal a toy.



And a few just for fun:

Advice please??

So it seems that Orrin suddenly realized that he has a mind of his own. For the past few days, he is refusing to take a bottle and sleep in his crib. We've never had any problems with either of these before. It started on Friday when I tried to put him in his crib for his afternoon nap. He cried and I let him go for awhile, then went and gave him his pacifier and patted him until he settled, and left. He cried harder and I waited for awhile, and went back in to repeat the process and left again. Then he screamed - like a hysterical scream. I waited again, but when I went back in I had to pick him up because he was just inconsolable. He screamed for a few minutes after I picked him up even. He seems to be this way, he just ramps up to a point where he can't calm down. Anyway, I probably undid my nap work.
Then last night, he did the same thing when we put him down at bedtime. It took probably an hour and a half, but he did finally fall asleep in his crib. But he woke after a half hour and screamed again. So we (actually Scott) started over, but it didn't take as long to get him back to sleep. The positive is that he did sleep until 8am without waking up!
Same thing with the bottle. Scott got up with him at 8 yesterday and tried to feed him so I could sleep in. He would not eat for Scott. He didn't scream about it though (so I did get to sleep in!). He wouldn't take the bottle from the lady in nursery yesterday either, even though he was definitely hungry.
Anyone have any advice to offer?? Especially about the sleeping in his crib. We've been reading up on sleep training methods and want to decide on one to try so we are both on the same page of what to do. I'm not ready for just straight crying it out yet, he just seems to young for that. Thankfully Scott and I are both just as stubborn as Orrin and neither of us will give in and let him sleep somewhere else (at night anyway, naps haven't been as firm which is probably why its a problem).

Just for fun - here's some pictures of our fun weekend in Ann Arbor for the Delaware state game (which we didn't actually attend). I was dumb and we didn't get pictures with Michelle or Joyce, but we did get to see them too!




Orrin at his first Step Show


Tailgating on Elbel (the band practice field)
In front of the director's tower

It was cold!!
Orrin and Scott in front of the stadium


Instead of the game, we went over to South U and got bubble tea, then headed up to Howell to visit the Freemans.

Colby and Orrin
This is what happens when Kevin holds the baby

Mason and Colby
With Kevin again, I'm not sure who they are waving at


Having fun with the camera
Sara with Orrin, Mason and Colby

We can't wait to visit again!!