If You See Something Resembling a Shark in a River, Don't Fret. It's More Likely to be a Small Submarine Operated by Thieves

Last week I said we were going to the doctor for Jones' 4 month well-baby check-up ... and shots ... and I said I would update about Jones after that because I would have more info.  So, as promised, an update on the boo-boo:

At 4 months, Jones ...

• weighs 14 pounds and 5 ounces
• is 23 3/4 inches long
• eats 7-8 ounces every 3 1/2 to 4 hours (we go longer and longer stretches between feedings now) and is about to start solid foods (if Mommy can ever find an evening when she's not too tired to give it a shot)
• wears a size 2 diaper
• wears 0-3 months and 3 months clothes, but probably not for much longer
• can roll over both ways and, in fact, if you put him down on the ground or in his bed on his back, he will roll over within a minute or two and then wiggle and wiggle to try to get himself somewhere, and he likes to roll over in the night and sleep on his stomach or his side
• likes, but doesn't love, his gumdrop pacifier
• likes to go swimming (whenever we take him to the pool, any pool, if I try to get out and put him down for a nap, he gets really upset, even if he's tired or hungry and would be better off getting out of the pool ... he's all about hanging by the pool, just like Mommy and Daddy)
• laughs, especially if you are laughing and smiles big smiles all of the time (the lady who keeps the babies at our church's nursery told us this Sunday that he was one of the happiest babies she had ever seen ... she said, "I can barely get him to take a bottle or a pacifier for him smiling at me!")
• will have a conversation with you if you talk to him, including cooing and squealing
• likes his jumperoo, but still prefers his playmat as his number one activity (probably because it allows him to do his favorite trick:  rolling over)

• is starting to like stuffed animals ... he just smiles and smiles at them and pulls them close if you set one down near him
• is not a fan of nap time ... he has to be really tired to take a nap, and a swing or rocking him is really the only way to knock him out, especially when he's fussing due to tiredness (we joke that he is determined not to miss out on anything)
• watches Mommy and Daddy intently, following them around the room with his eyes and turning his head to see where they are going

Jones did fine with his shots, although he did cry louder and harder and longer this time than the first time.  He fell asleep in the waiting room while we were waiting the requisite 20 minutes to make sure he wouldn't have a reaction, and I really think part of the reason for his fussiness was that the AC at the clinic was broken, so it was nice and warm in the waiting room, and my little hot-natured baby was. not. happy. about it.  I say he did fine because he didn't have any averse reaction, no fever or swelling or anything.  We went home for the rest of the afternoon and he slept it off while Mommy cleaned the house and kept an eye on him.

This past weekend we ventured outside and broke in the new jogging stroller.  We were really all just sick of being indoors constantly, like vampires.  So, when the thermostat dropped to a cool and breezy 90 degrees, we sunscreened Jones up, cut the tags off the stroller and headed off on our once-usual route around our neighborhood.  It felt so good to be out and about, breathing the fresh (if humid) air and getting some honest exercise.  Fall is my favorite time of year, but I hesitate to say things like, "Summer is on it's way out!" because I don't want to jinx it, like some sort of bizarro-Punxatawney Phil ... which is silly, I know ... just because I admit how much I'm looking forward to fall doesn't mean that fall will take that much longer (like a watched pot).  Anyway, all of that because I am really looking forward to greater temperature drops and more out-and-about-ed-ness.