Another Nelson Enters the World!

Randy and Amber are now the proud uncle and aunt of Christopher Paul Nelson! Christopher arrived in the world at 11:37 a.m. yesterday (February 18, 2007). He weighed 8 lbs., 11 oz. and he was 22 inches long. Congratulations to Paul and Christina and to the whole Nelson clan! Pictures to come... hopefully <that's a hint, Randy>.

Rebecca's 4-month-old update

Kristin sent out this e-mail today. Just in case she missed someone (I doubt it), I'll duplicate it here:

Greetings everyone!

I can't believe how the time has flown. Rebecca is 4 months old and has grown and changed so much! I have to apologize for not sending out an update at 2 months, the last time she was at the doctor's, but we had spotty Internet connection that week, and then got caught up in the Christmas rush.

Here are the numbers:

Birth: 6 lbs 9 oz, 19 1/2 in

2 mo: 9 lbs 5 oz, 21 1/2 in (25th percentile)

4 mo: 12 lbs 1 oz, 24 in (weight between 10 and 25th percentile; height between 25 and 50 percentile)

So, even though she's on the small side, she's growing very consistently, and there is no need to worry. So its time to move up to the 3-6 month size clothes (the 0-3 mo size goes to 12 lbs and 23 1/2 in). I had just noticed yesterday that she was stretching the sleeper she was wearing, and decided to get out the larger size this weekend. =)

The activities:

Rebecca is smiling at us, and "talking" to us with a wide variety of sounds. We're even starting to get occasional laughs, though we can't always tell what is prompting the laughter, let alone get her to do it again. She's also starting to use her hands...the thumb is making it into the mouth with more frequency, and small toys and light blankets come along with her when we pick her up. Once or twice while I've been holding her, she's reached for my face and it seemed a deliberate motion, rather than a random one, which gives me this warm tingly feeling.

Rebecca is also starting to squirm a lot. She's no longer lying down like a lump wherever we put her. She's not (quite) at the rolling over stage, but she's definitely working on it, because she can get up onto her side or rotate herself through a 90 degree turn. When she's on her tummy, Rebecca is not yet using her arms to push herself up, and she gets frustrated really quickly that she can't see whats going on. It's really cute, because she gets her bottom higher into the air than she gets her head. =)

Teething. Ouch. The drool, the random crying, the drool and the associated dry skin on the cheeks and chin, combined with the two white spots I can see on the lower gums all point to the fact that those first teeth are on their way. Who knows when they'll appear, but we'll all be relieved when they do.

Sleeping like a baby. Rebecca has always been a good sleeper, giving me 4 hour stretches from birth. She would have a nightly "fussy" period from about 10pm - 2am, where she would want to nurse constantly. Then, at about 2 months, the fussy time shifted to 10pm- 1am. But at the 3 month mark, she made a distinct shift in pattern. When she turned 3 months, this nightly marathon vanished. (YAY!) She started to carry the feeding intervals that we'd settled into during the day (every couple of hours) into and through the evenings. She'd be eating for the last time between 11:30 - 12:30, and then sleeping until 5-7am. And in the last 2 weeks, she's started falling asleep around 11pm, after eating at 10:30, and sleeping until 6 or 7am! So we're actually in a nighttime routine! Its wonderful! This past Monday morning (Jan 29) I was woken up by the alarm clock instead of a crying baby. What an odd occurrence! =)