Finley at 3.5 months old!

Finley news at 3 and a half months old!! he is a chubaroo! no doubts about that. I am not sure exactly what he weighs but is definitely in the 15-17lbs category. He has recently had a huge growth spurt (in the last 2 wks) and has gotten longer too. About 3 weeks ago he was quickly outgrowing the last fo his 0-3 month clothes so I have started cutting the tags off & washing all of the 3-6 month clothes that various people bought for him and I supplemented by getting a few sleepers from the 2nd hand baby store in town. He wore half of these clothes for only a week or 2 and some of them are already too small! I am shocked how fast he suddlenly grew. About 1X at the beginning of each new month he seems to have a growth spurt that is noticeable even on a day to day basis. It has made me cry several times b/c he is so wonderful and cute and huggable but he is growing too fast for me-I can hardly look at him enough before he changes.

A big day happened at Papa Bob's and grandma Joy's-Finley rolled over for the 1st time. It was on NOV 18th during the big important UM vs Ohio state game. Aunt Sudi was there as well. I was in the bathroom and I heard all this yelling-I just assumed it was b/c of the football game-nope when I came out they all yelled "he rolled over"! We were all amazed. He was having tummy time showing off and then he just suddenyltucked one arm and threw his head and over he went. he was very proud of himself and the grandparents, dad, & Sudi were delighted that this "1st" had happened right in front of them!

In general Fin is VERY active when he is on his back or his tummy. He loves to kick kick and kick-he kicks hard and prefers to kick someone or a pillow near his feet-I think it helps him feel how hard he is kicking. He also tries to roll over from back to front but has not yet accomplished this. He arches his back and throws his arms over to the side and kicks his legs but has not yet figured out how throw his hips over. It won't be long though b/c he is so strong. I think he would probably be doing it already if he wasn't so bg all fo a sudden. His chubbiness might be just the thing that we needed to slow him down a bit. I was starting to fear that he would be crawling before Xmas! God help us if that happens.

We put up the Xmas tree the wekendafter T-giving. We used bright colorful lights and ornaments this year instead of my usual "au naturale" theme. I decided we could do the colorful thing this year in honor of little Fin. He adores looking at the bright lights in the evening. He has also started watching TV-especially football and soccer with his dad! we think it is too much TV already but he just loves it-so we try to put on some baby shows instead of soemthing boring like the news. It's amazing how those baby shows really make him excited-even at this young age. he gurgles and squeals at the colorful letters and animals. also we try to keep the TV OFF as much as possible so he does not get addicted YET.

Fin loves music too. He is so aware of the colors and noises in the world around him. This really started happneiing at about 2 months old. Now we try to keep some classical music or jazz or gitar music playing b/c he really seems to appreciate and respond to it. He also enjoys sitting in his papasan chair on the kitchen table whilke I cook dinner. He seems to enjy the bright kitchen lights and the smells & scnets of whatever I am cooking-he also likes to watch me movea roudn and chop veggies.

Fin is a very happy baby. He sleeps well and is very talkative and social to his Dad & I and in the evenings when we are visiting friends & relatives. Evryone loves how interactive he is and he does not mind being passed around to various people. He giggles and goos for almost anyone. However in the last month or so he has started to insist on being put down on his back to kick and move and squeal and show off all of his movements. During tummy time he is able to lift his head 90 degrees easily and in general he is holding his head up quite well when he is being carried. So much so that we are able to use the Ergo baby carrier in front position and the sling in kangaroo position so he can see out & about around us. He very much enjpys the various baby carriers that we have-he definitely likes to be close to me but whe he wants out he lets me know very vigorously by wiggling and yelling and insisting on being out down. He definitely has no trouble expressing exactly what he wants.

Fin has many different sounds that he is making now-squeals, laughs, goobers, ooos, coos, aahhs, 2 syllable noises, lip raspberries, yells, squeaks, grunts, mmmms, spit bubble making. The last 4 days he has started drooling more and sometimes chewing his pacifier instead of sucking it-he has also had diarrhea so we think he is starting to teethe. All of his poops have been yellow liquid so I thought it would be hard to know if he had diarrhea but he usually only poops 1X a day so when he started having 4-6 poops a day we realized this must be diarrhea. otherise he is nt acting sick or fussy so I think the increased poops i just a symptom of teething which I had read could happen-this seems to be disputed by "experts" vs MOMs but I think I am going to have to side with the moms.

Also Fin has learned to use his noises and cries in a more manipulative way. He yells purposefully instead of cries and he has very distinctive cries for being hungry or having a dirty diaper or wanting attention or wanting to be picked up or put down or being tired-it is amazing.

Fin is still sleepig at night very well. I think this is due to the co-sleeping. I am not going to become a preacher about it to everyone but it works for us and that is all that matters.

He has cradle cap pretty bad some days but since he has so much hair on the top of his head-the gross little scales are pretty much covered up and no one notices. I do my best to shampoo his hair and remove the little scales but they keep coming back. othrwise his skin has been perfect. He has a great tan-yellow complexion that everyine admires. He never got baby acne-just a few pimples around 4-6 weeks old. he often scratches himself on the face and this really bums me and his dad out. we try to keep his nails cut short to avoid scratches but sometimes the nails grow so fast we don't notice until he has a big bloody scratch by his nose.

Fin LOVES to get his diaper changed and to be NAKED! yes he gets so excited when he is on his changing table. he loves the little mirror mobile above the changing table but he also like to get his clothes OFF. He gigles and squirms and smiles and coos and kicks and kicks and wiggles with happniess. He is really sensisitive to over-heating so many times when we have been visitng people, he'll start crying and we've got to get him out of his clothes-down to his diaper or his onesie then he is happy and he kicks and wiggles and smiles and talks to whoever is paying attention to him.