Hey Jakey,

Wow, it's been way too long. I'm sorry for that. I went back to work, and when I get home, the last thing I want to do is sit down again in front of a computer. Of course, the *first* thing I want to do is take you in my arms and smother you with kisses, which is waaay better than writing about it, eh? It's been so long since I've written, that the Blogger interface is completely different. I like it.

Daddy and I took you to your four-month well-baby visit today. You turned four months old last week. Jakey, I don't even know where to begin. You're a completely different baby than you were a month ago.

Your Nana (that's what my mother wants you to call her) stayed with us for a whole month that first month that I went back to work. It really wasn't as painful as I thought it was going to be. She loved, loved, loved you so much. And she took great care of you. And your daddy and I got to go to the movies and go out for dinner a couple of times. Just since she got here until the time she left, your demeanor took a 180-degree turn. As well as packing on a few pounds, you became the sweetest baby I've ever known. Okay, I don't know that many babies, but you know what I mean. You wake up with a smile, and you smile throughout the entire day, occasionally bursting out in high-pitched squealing laughter when your daddy or I blow raspberries on your tummy or on your neck. You can sit quietly by yourself, just staring into space, or peacefully checking out your surroundings.

You're in your crib right now, taking a nap. Amazing. I put you in there, walked away, made lunch, and then checked on you, assuming you were asleep cuz you weren't fussing or making noise. Nope. You were just hangin' out, staring at your crib bumper. Went and ate my lunch, checked on you again, and you were asleep. Sigh.... that's all I ever wanted. Peace.

Nightime has never really been a problem, cuz you've always slept pretty good, with a minimum of wake-ups. But you've made a pretty predictable schedule for yourself over the last month, and it couldn't be more perfect. You're asleep by 9:30, you wake up hungry somewhere between 3 and 5 am, I come and get you out of your crib (yeah! the crib!), bring you to bed, nurse you back to sleep, and then we all get up at somewhere between 7 and 9. We started putting you in your crib while Mom was here, and somewhere along the line, you decided it wasn't such a bad place to be. I do miss the non-stop cuddling we did when you were sleeping in bed with us, but its easier on all of us this way, I guess. Your crib is still right there beside our bed.

We have a new Wednesday ritual. It's the first of my two days off from work. We go to the farmers market at the park, buy some fruits and veggies, get a peach and blackberry-flavored shaved ice, cruise around the park a couple of times, then go home and make a really cool lunch with some of the stuff we just bought. I don't know if you can call it a ritual yet, but we've done it two Wednesdays in a row now, and I look forward to doing it next week. Maybe next time your daddy can meet us down there and we'll buy him a shaved ice, too.

You and your daddy have a ritual too. You "water the onions." We have a small patch of onions (a few onions and a shitload of weeds, actually) in the back corner of the back yard. Used to be, you and daddy would go out there and water when you got fussy, because the sound of the hose calmed you down. You'd start crying, and one of us would say, "You sound like you need to water the onions!" But now its a thing. Whenever he goes outside to water anything in the yard, he'll grab you and take you with.

Don't get me wrong. You're still a fusser. You can fuss with the best of them. But the days of squishy-eyed, unrelenting screaming are gone. When we took you to your 2-month checkup, you screamed and cried throughout the entire thing, even before you got shots. Then you went ballistic. Today, you smiled and cooed as Dr. Schwartz gave you a thorough once-over. She remarked what a happy baby you are. Then you got your shots. You cried (geez, I would too...) for a half a minute, then you were smiles again, and you were asleep by the time we got you back to the car. Speaking of pediatricians, your regular ped, Dr. Stevenson had her baby last week. I doubt she'll be back by your 6-month appointment, but that's okay, cuz Dr. Schwartz was really nice too. Really nice. Not saying that she's nicer than Dr. Stevenson, just different.

Oh, someone just woke up from his nap! More later. Love you!