Eric: 19 Weeks

Since I just finished writing the 4-month post, there's not much new to say, but here are the pictures of Eric from this week:

Eric Anthony is Four Months Old (18 Weeks)!

Four months seems to be a somewhat magical age for Eric.  A couple of days before he turned 4 months old, he stopped spitting up as much and he stopped crying uncontrollably every night.  It's amazing!

Another thing that we have noticed about Eric is that he's very smiley.  He has a way of focusing on one person and smiling at him or her like he or she is the only person in the room.  He stares very intently at the person and then gives them a huge smile.  It is such a cute and likeable trait.

Here are the other things that Eric is able to do now:

• Usually sleeps for 6 hours at night
• Rolls over (and over and over) and back
• Sits with support
• Lifts head up 90 degrees
• Can follow a moving object for a 180-degree arc
• Babbles and amuses self with new noises
• Explores objects with his mouth
• Communicates pain, fear, loneliness, anger, and discomfort through crying
• Responds to rattles and bells
• Pays attention to small objects
• Can see across the room
• Keeps head level when pulled to sitting position
• Reaches for and grabs objects
• Copies some facial expressions
• Turns in the direction of a voice
• Tries to get up on knees to crawl
• Scoots a little bit
• Stands with minimal support

We like to say that Eric is our athlete.  The doctor has made several comments about how strong he is for his age.  He loves to be held and to take walks.  He's very ticklish!  He also likes to play on his baby gym and his Exersaucer.  He's still a pretty good sleeper, but it tends to be an every-other-day thing.  Since he took good naps yesterday, he's up a lot today.  Tomorrow he will probably take good naps again.  He is such a loveable little boy, and we're glad his stomach seems to be feeling a little better.  :-)

Here is Eric Anthony at 4 months old:

Eric: 17 Weeks

I promise I'll be back soon with Eric's 18 Week/4 Month post.  Eric is teething and Adriana is having some nightmares, so I'm tired and I sleep when I can instead of blogging.  On the days that I'm awake enough to skip a nap, I'm trying to finish up some stuff around here before I go back to work.  My latest project is cleaning up the basement.  We aren't quite ready to finish it, but we're running out of room for all of the toys, so I'm going to get the basement set up for playing.

As I said above, Eric is teething.  No tooth yet, but he drools and chews like CRAZY!  He is also starting to babble a lot.  Several times each day, Adriana tells me, "Eric said, 'ah goo!'" or some other random phrase.  She also tells me that "ah goo" means "I love Adriana."

I'll tell more about Eric's major achievements in my next post (soon, I promise...hopefully).  For now, here are this week's pictures of our cute little guy:

Eric: 16 Weeks

It's hard to believe that when Adriana was this age, I went back to work.  Eric still seems so little.

Eric has really discovered his hands this week.  He likes to fold them together when he's eating.  We think it looks like he's plotting something.  If he's having a bottle, he likes to "hold" it.  He doesn't have the strength to really hold it yet, but he tries.  He's also rolling like crazy, and yesterday, he did one little army crawl.  When I think of all the stuff he can do now, maybe he doesn't seem so little after all.

See how he loves his hands.

And we have a bonus picture this week.  We had fun trick-or-treating last week with our little Buzzette and our skeleton.

Of course, Buzz had to bring Woody.

Eric: 15 Weeks

Eric is officially on the move!  Last night (10/28/13), he rolled all the way around.  Unfortunately, all of this moving is disrupting his sleep.  He rolls in his sleep, gets his arm or leg stuck in the slats of his crib, making it impossible to roll back over or move, then he screams.  I go get him and get him back to sleep, and we repeat this process every couple of hours.

Last night was better.  He only woke up once.  But he was so excited about rolling over that he wanted to try his new trick over and over.  For two hours.  From 3:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m., Eric was happy to have me as his captive audience and refused to go back to sleep.

Otherwise, Eric is doing very well.  He is "talking" up a storm.  As I type this, he is lying beside me babbling non-stop.  He also loves to play with his feet.  Whenever I lie him down, he instantly grabs his toes and rocks back and forth.  It's pretty cute.

And so is he.  Here are some pictures to prove it:

Eric: 14 Weeks

Eric is doing so much better!  He has always been such a great baby during the day, and now he is doing better during the evening, too!  I think he's starting to get "settled."

He and Adriana are starting to "play" together.  Adriana has so much fun playing with Eric that she has started trying to play with him in the morning.  We have caught her in his crib twice in the morning.  Last night, we put a gate up so we would be able to stop her from getting into his crib.  At least she loves him.  They are best friends.  :-)

Eric Anthony is Three Months Old (13 weeks)!

Oh, Eric...you poor little guy.  Eric's stomach seems to be a lot better.  His crying has decreased greatly and his smiles have increased.  However, I think he is beginning the teething process now.  He drools and chews constantly.  Brandon and Connor got their first teeth at 3 months, so it is not unheard of for Eric to be getting teeth now.  Luckily, Tylenol seems to help him, but it's another medication, and he hates taking it.

Our big news is that Eric is starting to roll.  He goes from front to back pretty easily (the first time was Monday, 10/14), and has gone from back to front once (Tuesday, 10/15).  Adriana and I are the only ones who got to see it.  He's been shy when I've tried to get him to show other people.

Here are the other things Eric can do at three months old:

• Raises head and chest when put on tummy
• Lifts head up 45 degrees
• Kicks and straightens legs when on back
• Opens and shuts hands (he loves holding Mommy's hand)
• Pushes down with legs when placed on a hard surface
• Reaches for dangling objects
• Grasps and shakes hand toys
• Tracks moving objects
• Imitates some sounds
• Recognizes familiar people and objects
• Has a social smile
• Beginning to develop hand-eye coordination
• Brings both hands together
• Interested in circular and spiral patterns
• Kicks legs energetically
• Holds head up with control
• Usually sleeps 6 hours at night before waking
• Rolls over (one way)!
• Sits with support
• Recognizes breast
• Communicates pain, fear, loneliness, and discomfort through crying
• Beginning to teethe

Here are some pictures of our cute little guy at three months:

Eric, you are such a good little boy!  You are carted all over the place for various activities, and you are constantly attacked with kisses from Adriana, and you just go with the flow.  We are lucky to have you in our family, and we all love you so much!