Cold & Flu season has arrived

The season's first yucky bug is making its way through the Mendelsberg casa right now.  Thursday night I got sick with a terrible case of stomach flu / food poisoning that kept me in bed all day Friday.  I tried to stay away from baby J which left the burden on Brian to take care of him.  I am still feeling under the weather 4 days later with nausea, headache, weakness, and exhaustion.  Brian woke up with a sore throat and headache.  Jacob woke up with snot yesterday and had several messy diapers, so I think everyone is under the weather but apparently all beating to our own virus!  Let's hope we all get well and don't pass our respective viruses onto each other. 

You sure do realize how hard it would be to be a single parent in times when you are so helpless.  Thursday night and Friday I could not have taken care of Jacob if I had to.  I would have had to have help.  Even Brian being healthy can only handle so much of being a sole provider and taking care of the house while I was sick.  We're lucky to have a pretty good routine down and we're lucky to have each other, and especially little baby J :)

Jacob is growing like a weed (what's new!)  He hasn't been weighed since his appointment, but he is outgrowing many of his 3-6 month outfits (at 4.5 months old).  He is getting stronger every day.  He is starting to sit up on his own very briefly and he'll even pull himself up to a seated position if he can grab your arm or a pillow to help pull himself up.  He's really reaching for things now too.  In his jumperoo he will reach for the toys around the jumperoo now and his feet can just about reach the floor!  When I was so sick all weekend I took a few baths for my achy body and we would put Jacob in too (might as well bathe him while we're at it).  He loved it, like a big pool for him, but warm!  He laid on his back and just kicked and kicked and smiled and had the best time.  He doesn't even get too mad when you take him out, he's just very content around the water all together!

We have started solids!  We started last week with some baby oatmeal and did it a few times, but Jacob would cry and not swallow any of it, so we took a few days rest.  We got him a new highchair a few days later, and put him in it yesterday.  He was content to sit in it and play with his toys for quite awhile (in baby language quite awhile is 30-45 minutes).  We fed him some baby oatmeal in the chair and he's actually starting to swallow some of it.  We may try avocado in the next day or two to see if he likes that any better than the oatmeal. 

Jacob's first taste of oatmeal last week, not such a fan yet!

4 months old!

On the 1st of this month, Jacob had his 4 month birthday.  Time is going so fast! 

A few days ago, he had his 4 month check-up at the doctor.  He is passing everything with flying colors.  He was in a great mood for Dr. Emily smiling and kicking his legs.  He weighs a whopping 16 pounds already!  His weight is 75%.  His height is 90% and his head is 50%.  So we have a big boy on our hands!  He got 3 injections and an oral vaccine, so my sweet boy was cranky and slightly feverish for 24 hours afterwards.  Glad to have that behind us. 

He is already rolling over from his back to his stomach!!!  This makes me very nervous as the second I put him to bed at night he arches his back and promptly flips over onto his belly to sleep.  The first few night I would go in and flip him back over, but he always flipped back over again.  It was a losing battle.  Most mama's would be so proud their baby was meeting a milestone so ahead of the curve ball, but it made me very nervous.  I have been worried about SIDS since before he was born, and SIDS risk doesn't decrease significantly until 6 months of age.  I always assumed that's about the time he would start rolling over, not at 3.5 months!  The pediatrician said as long as he's doing it on his own, he should be okay.  I am so glad we have our breathing monitor on his bed even more now.  It helps me get at least a little sleep at night, although I still wake up frequently to check the video monitor.  The video monitor and the breathing monitor are my two favorite things we have for him, they definitely give me peace with things! 

We definitely have a mobile boy now.  Last week I put him on the couch like I have always done and turned my back to load up my pump for work.  Next thing I hear THUNK followed by screams.  When I turned around he had rolled off the couch and was face down on the hardwood floors!  I felt like a terrible mommy.  I hadn't even walked away, just turned by back for a minute!  Thankfully our couch is pretty low to the ground and he was okay and calmed down after a few minutes of holding him.  We have learned our lesson.  He is either strapped in his nap nanny, swing, or if I'm right there, on the couch with pillows blocking him, but even that is not very safe anymore!  I am anxious for him to start sitting up so I can put him on the floor on a blanket or something as another option. 

 
Jacob loves grabbing his feet right now.  You can see in his 4 month picture he is grabbing it.  He is starting to really stare at his toys and put them into his mouth.  He's less into his pacifier now and more into toys in his mouth or his hands. 

He also loves his doggies.  He will follow them with his head around the room and he giggles when they come lick him.  He is also very much a daddy's boy right now.  Brian is home with Jacob 3 days a week when I'm at work, so they spend a lot of 1:1 time together.  Here is the most adorable picture I took of my two favorite boys last night.