Four Months

Da Beach!

This post is two weeks late because quite frankly Cyril, Josh, Hobson and I were having way too much fun on holiday to post in a timely manner, we also didn't have internet connection, but seriously vacationing with a four month old was a blast ;)

Glenvaugh Castle, Ireland

Tea room at Glenvaugh castle, the midges were ridiculous, miraculously Cyril didn't get bit!

Attempting a family photo, Hobson finally cooperated but it involved Josh grabbing him and placing him in this position just as the camera clicked, phew!

Mini me

Hey, are you guys still out there?!

Daddy help

The top of Muckish Mountain, taking a well earned rest, not that he needs it since he slept the entire way up :)

At four months Baby Cyril ...

*Can roll from his back to his front and his front to his back

Practicing rolling from front to back :)

*Can move approximately 5 feet by squirming on his back, sometimes this ends up with him just moving in a circle but other times I've walked back in and he's made it across the room on his back, time to baby proof!
*Can sit in his bumbo, and can sit unsupported for approximately 3 seconds as you can see from the video I posted on Facebook, haha
*Is sleeping 12 hours at night, but usually wakes up at 4am telling me to put his pacifier back in
*Weighs a whopping 16.5 pounds and is 69cm, putting him in the 75-centile for weight and 98-centile for height
*Loves to sleep on mama in the Ergo carrier, or papa, or anyone that's willing to tap his bottom and rock from side to side :)
*Curls into your arms when he gets tired, rubs his eyes, and moans himself to sleep

*Talks to himself when he wakes up from a nap, his most recent fascination is the mobile we hung in his bedroom with hot air balloons, I usually get an extra 10 minutes out of him now because of that thing!
*Is much better at napping when we're out and about then he used to be and he had several snoozes on the beach while we sunbathed on holiday, pure bliss, minus Hobson who insisted on barking at every person who walked by our blanket, argh!
*Is very alert when he's awake but has regressed in the amount of time he can actually stay awake, he normally can stay awake for a maximum of 1.5 hours before he gets fussy, sometimes in the late afternoon, or if we've been very busy, he can only manage 1 hour.

*Loves swimming and has been dunked under the water nearly 100 times since the start of our swimming lessons
*Loves his bath times with mama, I've decided it's just easier for me to bathe with him right now, and one day I'll miss that bonding time, so I'm taking full advantage. I threw in a couple toys last night and he particularly likes the umbrella with holes that you lift up out of the water to shower yourself with water, I of course had to dump the water right over his head, haha, he got quite the shock!
*Enjoys his play mat, has started to grab onto the toys and try to chew them.
*Eats anything you put in his hands
*Is fascinated by his pacifier, he now pulls it out of his mouth and 50% of the time he's actually able to put it back in himself, however he usually forgets that when he puts it back in his mouth he needs to let go of it and more often then not he ends up pulling it back out again and then crying because he probably thinks I've removed it.
*Gets frustrated when he can't get Sophie the Deer just the right way in his mouth
*Laughs when Hobson licks his toes
*Likes when we sing, blow raspberries, play the ukelele (Josh), read stories, make funny faces (not scary ones Josh), talk to him, and he's obsessed with grocery shopping!
*Hates going on 10 mile jogs in his pram
*Will let you know if you've kept him out longer then he wants, which usually means we need to be back home and doing bedtime preparations no later than 6pm or we're in for a full on scream fest! Except last night we met up with friends from San Francisco and he didn't get to bed until 9pm and it was honestly the easiest it's ever been to put him down, hmmm, perhaps Josh and I will have to go out later more often ;)

This month I couldn't live without ...

*Baby Bjorn Travel Cot, not only did Cyril sleep blissfully in this the full two weeks we were away but it folds up and down in a matter of seconds and is so compact that I'm actually packing it in my suitcase when I go to Massachusetts in a month.

*Ergo Baby Carrier Performance Model, now that Cyril has pushed the 15lb mark I really can't carry him everywhere in my moby wrap as it started to hurt my shoulders. This carrier is amazing, not only is it fully breathable on these hot sunny days we've been having in the UK, but it has a water/sun proof cover that you can snap on yourself to protect the little one's head, the cover also provides additional head support so you can cook, clean, and bend over without worrying about their head flopping around. I wore this on a 3 hour hike in Ireland and my shoulders never once ached, it was just like carrying a pack, except I couldn't see my feet since Cyril still has to be carried on my front. Please be advised that this carrier is only really suitable from about 3-4 months onwards as most infants don't like to spread their legs to be carried this way, if your baby is less than this age I would recommend the moby wrap. And while the moby wrap website claims you can carry a baby up until 45 pounds, I'm pretty sure they just mean that the fabric won't break because my shoulders would be throbbing after about 10 minutes of carrying a 45lb child! I could only hold Cyril for 45 minutes max when he weighed 15 pounds which pretty much meant I wasn't able to hike or do any long walks with him.

*Bumbo, I'm pretty sure that Cyril wants to be sitting ALL the time now, however, he doesn't quite have the core strength to manage this feat, which means he gets beyond frustrated unless I physically hold him in a sitting up position, and I don't know about you but I get frustrated, not to mention bored, by holding him in this position. Present the bumbo, he can sit independently thanks to its support, and if for some reason he did face plant, which has yet to happen, the bumbo is really squishy so he wouldn't do much damage anyway :)

Just chilling on my big bro :)

*Umbrella with spf protection, at first I didn't think it would be necessary in the UK, but then we went to the beach without it and it was an extremely stressful day as Cyril, and pretty much all babies, hate having sun in their eyes which meant it was impossible for him to feed and sleep. We bought this umbrella for a mere £7 and it was money well spent, Cyril slept and ate just fine which meant that Josh and I could sunbathe in peace, minus Hobson's barking ;)

*Books, books, and more books! The more you read and sing to your baby before the age of 3 the smarter they will be, so put down those phones mama and get talking! I sincerely try my best to leave all electronics out of the way until Cyril has a nap and then I get caught up, unless I decide a bath is more important, and then I scroll facebook and write my blog while bathing!

*Fanfan the Fawn Teether, I don't think Cyril is teething yet but he's obsessed with chewing on this deer that also surprises him when he accidentally squeezes it and it squeaks! Beware, he gets very frustrated when he's not able to get the deer just the right way in his mouth, but I figure it's good practice for when he starts eating.