Housing

As some of you may know, we had been looking into buying my parents' neighbors' house and last weekend Oli interviewed in Bremerton so he could work in the area. Well it turns out the housing marked is crazy in that area right now and they were selling the house for way too mucH (RANDOM curtesy of LaYDen)Q. So we decided we would just stay over here. So assuming all goes well we are buying this house in Colfax. It is pretty fugly but everything is fine structurally, so we can gradually pretty it up and the price is right. It is almost at the end of a dead end street so traffic isn't a problem. The front yard isn't much but the back yard is decent sized and surrounded with shrubbery so it is fairly private. The inspection of the house is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, hopefully no major issues will show up.
Layden went to his first chemistry class with Kathy today. She told everyone he is the assistant quiz grader. Sadly his function is more the opposite of assistance. While he was sleeping I did a section in about ten minutes. With him awake I would look down 5 mins later and realize I was still on the first quiz. He is starting to actually nap. If I lay him down in the guest room after feeding when he is acting sleepy he will nap for atleast an hour. Now I just have to convince myself to do something productive with that hour.

4 months

This month will be known as the month Layden found his tongue. And he loves it.
Layden is doing well. His new noise is big-big-big-big-big. He didn't do so well on the car ride over to my parents, there was a good bit of crying and Oli sitting in the back sleeping and holding a pacifier in. Then on Sunday he took a whopping six hour nap. His average nap length prior to that was 30 min. He even slept well that night. Then on the drive home he slept almost the whole way. That trip was definitely a good idea.
Layden is getting very big, so heavy. He also has the added talent of being able to rotate once he is on his stomach. He recognizes people much better now. Sometimes he sees me accross the room and just smiles at me. It is so incredibly beautiful. If they had a drug that made you feel like that it would be so addictive.
He is so interested in everything and wants to put it in his mouth. He especially enjoys his middle two fingers of the left hand. Today Oli gave it a try but he didn't get much out of it. Layden is a pro at giving me warm fuzzy feelings. Mostly all he has to do is smile but when he smiles at my singing that is worth extra points.
He likes grammy real well. We think it is because we look so much alike. She picks him and he thinks "Yay mommy" in a bit he realizes it isn't mommy but by then he has decided grammy is pretty cool in her own right.

Tongue

Layden has officially found his tongue and he thinks it is mighty cool. He likes to stick it in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out at mommy and daddy. He also enjoys licking his toys.
I have found something I want... monkey bookends. They are awesome. They are like the one on Wonderfalls. Maybe they'll talk to me, maybe they won't. I might almost be disappointed if they don't, even though that would be a bit concerning.

Runny noses

I was all excited last week because the Chem students had an exam so I had no grading to do. Well, they have an exam this week not last week so I did have grading to do and now I have a much shorter time to do it in.
Layden is doing well. His nose is still a bit runny but otherwise he is doing good. I think he laughed for the first time today. Atleast it sounded like a laugh to me. He had a lot of fun playing "Super Baby" this morning when I woke up. The simplest things are so exciting for him. When ever I set him down he rolls straight onto his stomach and then flails about with his legs and arms in the air. Once he figures out to put the appendages down and the belly up he is going to be hard to keep up with. After a bit he gets tire of being on his stomach and not being able to get anywhere so I roll him back over. Boom, he rolls straight back to his stomach, a shorter period of time and he starts fussing again. Silly guy.
Layden and I went to drop of some quizzes and do some grading while Daddy went to the presentation of the Edward R Murrow award to Tom Brokaw. Apparently the presentation went well and it was so packed that Oli ended up seated behind the stage watching on the big screen. The grading didn't go so well since Layden was tire but wouldn't go to sleep.

Smoking

Today Oli and Layden slept and then we went over to Liz and Mark's for dinner and some cards. First we played some poker and we were on fire. Full house wasn't good enough to win, you needed 4 of a kind. It went on that way for six hands. Then we began to be a bit suspicious and I asked "Is this a pinocle deck?" Turns out, yes it was a pinocle deck. It should of tipped us off when three of us had a full house with nines (two showing). But why question when you are doing so well? Needless to say it did not go as well after we switched decks. I won the first round of poker, then Liz won the second. Then the two of us whooped up on the boys in pinocle. Just wasn't the guys night.
Layden is ever and always a joy, if occasionally a frustrating one. He loves peek-a-boo and is becoming very fond of sucking on his fingers. Recently he has begun to growl. He will be smiling and talking, then he growls. His new favorite noise.

Sick

Well Oli seems to be just about done being sick and I am almost done. Layden started being a bit sick yesterday, occasionally coughing and with a runny nose. He was very snorty last night with his nose all plugged up, poor little guy. He doesn't seem to mind too much and is taking it pretty well.
Last night he slept in the bassinet thing from the Olsons and it worked pretty well. I think part of the reasons he woke up in the middle of the night was that I would move and wake him up, so he would fuss and wake me up. He didn't mind getting moved out of the bed at all. Today I got home from dinner with Oli and set him on the floor to take off my coat and shoes, turned around to change his diaper because he was quite wet and the boy was already asleep. I think being sick is making him extra tired. Reading a book called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child I realize how incredibly lucky I am. It has a long list of various soothing options to try and says in most cases you have to always look out for drowsy signs and have set schedules, bedtimes and regular naps to avoid crying and fussiness. Lucky for me Layden isn't most babies, he is Super Baby. I didn't even really catch on to his sleepy cues until sometime last week. I could have had a fussy colicy baby just like I was.

Spiffy Watch

Oli got a fancy new watch yesterday. It is a solar powered diver's watch that isn't this one but looks just like it. Oli and I are both feeling a bit under the weather, all stuffed up and such. Luckily Layden does not seem to have gotten it yet. Hopefully it will stay that way.

Tired

Do I look tired? Because I think I look tired. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just possible to catch up on sleep. But since Layden has no catching up to do it just isn't possible. I would just let him lay in bed awake while I slept more but he is very persuasive with his kicking.
My throat is feeling worse. Looks like I just might be getting sick. Hopefully I will be the only one.
Oh yeah... Got a package in the mail today from Becky. Inside was a flyer for the Vagina Monologues in Sitka (she is in it this year, go Becky!) and two chocolate vulva's on sticks. Thank you Becky for making me laugh, they are great. Not that the little message about sexual abuse attached to them is funny, far from it. But I just was not expecting to opening the mail today to find chocolate vulvas on a stick, I just wasn't. Though it may be a bit uncomfortable when I get around to eating it. Oh well chocolate is chocolate.

Rarin'

Layden is just rarin' to go for solid foods.
I have a sore throat. I am hoping it is better tomorrow.
That's about it today.

Sewing

Layden had fun watching daddy sewing today. He thought the sewing machine was just the coolest thing ever, especially when it was making noises. It is a good thing he isn't really mobile yet or he would be getting in a lot of trouble.
Oli had his phone interview with the recruiting agent for the hospital lab today. I think it went well. She is going to pass the info onto the lab manager and if he likes it he will give O a call.
Dieter is feeling better again so he can have his 15 minutes again fng nbbvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvc (Layden's contribution)

Rolling pro in the Johnny-Jump-Up

Layden is becoming a pro at rolling over back to front. At first their were some issues but now he has worked through that and rolls right over.
Finally got the Johnny-Jump-up up that Grammy sent us so long ago. Layden seems to like it OK. He hasn't got it totally figured out just yet, doesn't realize that he can make it move. I can definitely tell whose ears Layden got, poor boy. He's gonna have ears that stick out like his momma's. He is starting to get it figured out as I "speak". He is currently jumping in circles and making happy noises. In this picture we can see Dieter's influence. I guess I will have to supervise their time together.

Leverage

Layden discovered a new skill this morning. If, while lying between us, he rotates his body til it is horizontal he can kick me while simultaneously hitting and head butting daddy. As a plus contact with one of us provides him with leverage to better pummel the other.
This morning Oli was changing a dirty diaper (which smelled disturbingly of microwave popcorn) and I was playing with Layden and put the washcloth on his head. Apparently it was a little chilly beause it produced a guilt inducing chin quiver/gum-chattering. If he retains that talent as he gets older I see an oscar in his future.

Tigger

Yesterday Bob was over from the Seattle area and we got together for lunch at the Thai restaurant. We were originally meeting at 12:15 at the chinese restaurant, so I got there at 12:10 and around 12:30 I decided to go home and call to see what was up (this is where a cell phone would be real handy). Upon reaching the car I look in and see my keys lying on the drivers seat. The doors are of course locked. So I had to call Oli, wake the poor guy up and ask him to bring me keys. Actually it was techinically Oli's keys locked in the car. I had not been able to find mine that morning and unfortunately he was also unable to find them. Luckily though, the restaurant I was at was just down the hill from our house, unluckily it was raining, hard, with snow mixed in. Lisa arrived just as Oli showed up, it turns out that Bob called her at 5:30 that morning to say we would be meeting at 2:00 rather than 12:15, she told him to call me, he didn't. Well anyway, to make a long story short, we met at the Thai place at 2:15 and Bob gave Layden this very cute stuffed Tigger and an outfit for when he is a bit older.
Layden is starting to really enjoy his toys. Mostly he just enjoys slobbering on them but he does spend some time looking at them as well. Though he may just be studying them to determine the best way to shove them into his mouth. Unfortunately his coordination does not live up to his planning and the biggest end always ends up nearest his mouth.
He really, really wants to roll over from back to front and after trying for a bit will become very irate because it just doesn't work. He gets the butt all the way over but then his bottom arm gets in the way and he can't complete the roll. He is becoming more self sufficient, which is nice. I can now leave him for a bit on the floor with one of his toys and he can actually be content for a decent period of time. Diapers also upset him a bit less, only about 1 in 3 wet diapers result in tearful complaints now. And I can also distract him from being upset so he doesn't feel the need to scream through the entire diaper change.
Even though he grows so fast it is still gradual enough that I don't really realize how different it is until I think about it. Especially, considering he just gets gradually more and more wonderful.