Four Months

Four months into our sweet boy’s life and he continues to amaze me every day. He’s gone from 6 pounds, 3 ounces of squishy newborn to a 12 pound, 11.4 ounce bundle of energy and joy. He loves to play with his daddy and I, his laugh and toothless smile melting our hearts every time. I will honestly miss these toothless days when he gets his first tooth. Though I’m sure I’ll fall in love with his toothy grin, too. The squeals that come from a good bounce on the bed are priceless and it is impossible not to feel instantly happier when hearing them. The sheer number of expressions this baby has is amazing. I might be totally biased but I think he’s the most expressive and most hilarious baby I’ve had contact with.

Since his birth, our focus has been to enjoy each stage of his precious life as we are in it. Though it’s easy to think “I can’t wait until he crawls/walks/plays t-ball,” there’s no limit to the fun things he does now. He’s currently trying to put everything in his mouth, including his hands, our fingers, his stuffed dragon, and the toys on his play gym. He tried rice cereal for the first time yesterday and I think that once he gets the hang of the spoon, he’ll enjoy it. He does pushups during tummy time, like a true Rabon. Though he still gets up once at night to eat, he’s generally an easy baby. He had about a week there that he slept for 7-8 hours at night and I hope that we’ll soon get back to that.

He’s gotten over his aversion to diaper changes and putting clothes over his head. Now he giggles and smiles as we do both. I hope that he’ll soon do the same with burping, which is currently public enemy number one (though it’s likely he’s more upset that we “took his food away” instead of the act of burping itself).

At his four month well-baby checkup, he aced all of the developmental checks. When the doctor checked his grip, she couldn’t get her little mug back from him! He can track well with his eyes (especially when Daddy walks by!) and holds his head up like a champ. He’d stand all day if I would hold him up all day. He rolls over from belly to back (mainly to escape tummy time) and can roll from his back to his side. It won’t be long before he goes from back to belly. It seems like he masters a new thing overnight sometimes.

He still loves music and he and I have started listening to the classical station on Pandora. He likes when I move his arms like he’s conducting the orchestra.

In the last month, he’s traveled through 7 states, 3 airports and many vehicles to meet his family. We’re so blessed to have so much family and so many friends who have prayed for him since before he was born and who will continue to speak into his life as he grows.

 

While we were in California, we had some family pictures taken. I’m so happy to have these to look back on and remember this special time in his life and our lives. He’s such an amazing addition to our family. Seeing the way Stephen loves Jonathan makes me love my husband even more. And Jonathan just lights up when he sees Stephen. It’s such a precious bond that they have! With Stephen working and me staying home with Jonathan, it’s been really important to me that they get special time together. He’s definitely a Daddy’s boy!

 

 

I’ve finally come to the point where I’m ready to work on myself after having a baby. Stephen and I have devised an eating and workout plan for me to get back in shape. I’m putting it out here into the world so that I will have accountability. Hey, that’s how I got through my juice fast, and even how I went skydiving even though I was kind of scared. Once it’s out in the world, I can’t chicken out. Speaking of chicken…

Our diet will be heavily chicken-based. Chicken, rice, veggies, salads, baked potatoes and grilled foods. I have a cheat day built in (Mondays are softball and we usually eat out with the team afterward). We’ve actually been eating this way for about a week now and so far so good. Though keeping chicken interesting should be the biggest challenge. I found a fajita seasoning recipe online that we tried yesterday and liked, so I’ll be on the lookout for more seasonings, rubs and marinades that are healthy. Suggestions are welcome! I’m also giving up soda for the 90 days, so no more of my beloved Dr. Pepper that I’ve become accustomed to postpartum.

For workouts, Stephen is programming a regimen of Crossfit-esque workouts that I can do in our home gym and that are designed for my skill level . It’s pretty handy that Stephen and Dan have transformed our garage into a Crossift mini-box. We have an olympic lifting platform, a barbell with weights from 10-45lbs each, boxes for box jumps, a pull-up bar, rings, jump ropes, a 20-lb. wall ball, and hand stand pushup area. Not that I can actually do all of those, but they’re available. The mixture of cardio, lifting and body weight movements should help me to get the results that I want. What do I want? Sure, I want to lose the last of the baby weight. But more than that, I want to be healthy and I want to be fit. I want to be able to keep up with Jonathan as he grows and to feel better in my own skin. The plan is to do WODs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, rest on Friday, do WODs Saturday and Sunday with a rest day on Monday (also due to softball). The plan is to do a 90 day program, with check ins for weight and measurements after each 30 days. I’ll also do the same workout each 30 days to see how I’ve improved. 3 days in and although I’m quite sore, I’m feeling good. The nice thing about this system is variety. And since I don’t know what my workout will be until it happens, it keeps me on my toes.

Hopefully in 30 days I’ll have lots of good progress to report.