4 Months Old!

We have a 4 month old as of July 15! I probably will say this a lot but I can't believe how big he is getting.

Charles is now 26.5" tall and weights 14 lb. 1 oz. A tall guy like his daddy.

He still wears size 1 diapers, however he probably will be moving up a size soon. He just graduated into size 3-6 month clothing.

Charles is rolling now. He first rolled back to front on June 20 and rolled front to back on July 15.

He loves to chat and laugh, especially to James. You can really see how much he loves his big brother.

During this past month we have switched him the formula. Mostly because I wasn't making enough milk for him. He started nurse for at least 2 hours and still wasn't satisfied. He also went from sleeping great at night to waking every 1-2 hours again. At first I thought it was a growth spurt but it went on for two weeks. I know there are other options I could have explored to boost my supply but I had to make the choice that was best for all. Breastfeeding for me was hard, stressful and very tiring. I struggled with it more than I enjoyed it. From infection after infection, to just about all the other unpleasantness that comes with breastfeeding I was knew it was time. I still nurse in the morning and nurse or pump in the afternoon and evening. Since making the switch, we got our happy, very active little guy back. He sleeps great again. I compare pictures from the end of June to now and I can tell he wasn't getting the nutrients he needed. I know breastfeeding is the best but sometimes it just really isn't. I'm a firm believer that a fed baby is what's best whether it is from formula or breast.

On July 14th we went to the Oakland's Children's Hospital for a complete hearing diagnostic. Charles had failed in his right ear the newborn hearing screening both as an impatient and an outpatient after his birth. He was referred to the children's hospital for more testing. It was a two hour test which he had to be asleep for. He made it through just over an hour and a half before waking up and wouldn't go back to sleep. We have to go back next month to finish. The results from the test so far are good. He hears great in his left ear and what they could test on his right he hears great too. So we just have to finish and see if there is any loss. But at least regardless of the outcome he won't need any hearing devices right now. Great news! Now just hoping for more good news next month.

Pictures from the day in Oakland:

Mad at me for keeping him awake on the drive to the hospital.

Asleep and ready for the test.

We stopped at the Oakland Temple afterwards.

And then went into San Francisco to Baker Beach.

Sleeping after the beach.

Charles is 3 Months!

My baby is growing up too fast.

This past month Charles went on his first road trip. You can read about it in my previous post.

He doesn't nap very well unless he's being held. However he sleeps pretty well at night with about a 6 hour stretch.

He eats a lot, every 2 hours. While Charles eats he loves to play with my hair. So sweet.

Still in 0-3 month clothes, though he's starting to out grow some of them by length.

I keep trying to give him a little nickname, but James always says, "No, his name is Charles."

James loves to give him kisses and rub his head. James still get upset when I feed Charles, but it is getting better.

And then he got hungry. LOL!

Utah/Wyoming Trip

In May we took a trip to Casper, WY so that Tracy could attend a regional Geological Society of America conference. He decided to leave a few days early so we could spend some time in Utah.

The drive to Utah was forever long, especially with having to stop every 2-3 hours to feed Charles. We arrived in Salt Lake late at night. The next day enjoyed some time at City Creek and had lunch with my little brother.

He enjoyed playing games on his tablet through most of Nevada.

Wide eyed Charles took the whole road trip experience in
and did pretty well the whole time.

How James had fun during one of the many stops to feed Charles.

The hotel we stayed at in Salt Lake and this fun window seat
 that James quickly claimed to be his bed.

We must sit here and watch the trains.
While we were sitting here, he suddenly said he had to go see the planet museum.
I was surprised he had remembered the planetarium after almost a year since we last went.

We spent some time at Tracy's parents' house. Charles also got to meet his other Grandma and one of his Aunts and a cousin who is about 9 months older than him.

James found more Cheveron cars at Grandma's and Grandpa's.
He even ended up bringing the big truck, the bus (behind him), and other car home.
Grandma loves to spoil him.

One of the days in Utah, Tracy had the opportunity to watch a huge block of Utahraptor bones get moved into their new home at the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. (News article on the move.) He will be studying the Utahraptors for his PhD project. 

Tracy with all the people in charge of the work that has and will be done on the Utahraptors.

Of course, while Tracy was doing his thing James, Charles and I got to go through the museum.

James saw this and with out missing a beat said, "That's a squid."

Learning all he can, so he can talk paleontology with daddy.

Getting a picture with the BIG T-Rex.

After 4 days in Utah we made our way to Casper, WY. It wasn't too bad of a drive, but Charles wasn't too excited about spending all day in the car again. So I spent majority of the ride in the back seat with him.

Swimming at the Hotel we stayed in at Echo, UT before the drive to Casper.

Charles and I hung out by the pool while the other two swam.

Sleeping on the way to Casper.

Being silly and loving his new blanket my mom made him.

Once we arrived in Casper, we found a dine in Pizza Hut and enjoyed dinner.

The hotel in Casper had a fun pool with slides.

and a floating alligator.

Tracy did his conference thing. I tried to find ways to entertain James. We couldn't really do parks because it rain almost the whole time we were there and it was cold in the 50s (Very cold to us Californians,)  We did enjoy a lot of cable TV in the hotel room. James quickly learned what watching TV meant and we just had to watch whatever was on. He loved the surprise of what was going to be next!

We did venture out and checked out the Mall and the Tate Museum.

James immediately ran up to the T-Rex Skull, then said,
"OK, I'm ready to go back to the hotel now."

Somehow I managed to get him to check out the rest of the cool things they had on display.

Charles was very intrigued by the mammoth below.

James saw rabbit bones and made a rabbit with his hand (moving the ears, his thumbs).

I'm weird and thought the surveyors scope and the drill bit needed to be photographed.

Over all Casper was a pretty nice, fun little place. We enjoyed a dinner the last night there with some of Tracy's Paleo friends/colleagues at a very delicious Mexican restaurant, Guadalajara. 

We then spent a long two days driving home.

Sleepy James. Somewhere in Wyoming.

Nevada boredom...

James really loved the Salt Flats!