Four Months

McKay is four months old now. Don't ask what happened to his three month post and pics. I'm quite sure I was too busy worrying about why Ashley liked Bentley so much to give it much attention. But never fear, I did get some pictures taken the day McKay turned four months old. Here's some highlights:

**He weighs 16 lbs 7 oz (75th percentile) and is 26 inches long (85th).

**He still doesn't look very chubby, and definitely doesn't look like my other babies. I still get "Esplin" from people who know my family. Jeff thinks it's the nose. Poor kid if that's true, because I have never liked my ski slope nose.



**He is doing all the typical things a baby of this age does: grabbing things and sucking on them, rolling from tummy to back, laughing, looking adorable in the Bumbo, and putting up with SOME tummy time every day.

Not a lot, but still will tolerate some.

He has also really become a thumb sucker. He'll take the binky when he's tired and I'm soothing him to sleep, but if he's by himself, thumb will suffice.

This is what tummy time turned into one time. This is extremely rare that he'll fall asleep on the floor (most of the time I have to wrap him tight and rock him until he starts to give in and then he'll fall asleep in his bed).

**I am almost done nursing him. This makes me sad, but it was just a nightmare. I was getting mastitis every couple of days, and he was always crying and fighting me. He's so much happier (and so am I) now that we just do a morning and night nursing session and bottles the rest of the time.

**He is still constantly mauled by Kyla and Carter. I would have thought that the novelty would have worn off by now, but not at all.

**He started sleeping really well at night. I attribute it to the thumb sucking. I put him to bed around 10 and he'll sleep until 6:30 or so. Last night I heard him at 3:00, but I didn't go to him, and he went back to sleep until 7:00. I'm so happy about this development and I have since moved back into "Jeff's room." I like to go in his room and put him in bed with me when he wakes at 6:30 or 7:00 and nurse him and snuggle him.

**He's doing alright sleeping during the day, too. Usually he will take at least one good nap in his bed (2 hours or so) and sometimes more. I try to stick with the Healthy Sleep Habits routine of beginning to soothe around 1.5-2 hours after waking and let him put himself to sleep. It is not always successful, but he's getting better.

**He's also a happier baby and less high maintenance. He still would rather be held (doesn't LOVE the Bumbo or the exersaucer or the stroller), but sometimes he's got to learn to tolerate.

Friends

During July, we got to visit with some of our favorite people. And they all came to visit us. First, my BFF April and her family stopped by at the same time Jeff's brother, Russ, and Julie and their family were here. We were all in Jax together for a year, so it was so fun to be reunited again. I'm so happy for April and her baby girl, Eliza, after her three cute boys. Julie also had a girl after three boys (and then another boy). Sheesh, we sure have a lot of kids between us!

Damon was a little shy around April's boys. I'm not sure why. I guess it's just not as easy to pick up where you left off when you are 9. We will have to do more with them in the years to come. :)

Kyla, of course, loved them all. She would gladly marry any of them. I hope she will.

Then a few weeks later, our BFF from dental school, the Whitesides, were in town and we met up with them at Thanksgiving Point. That was a fun day, too. When we left Ohio, we just had two kids (Damon and Allie). Now between us, we have 8. Awesome. And I must admit, seeing all these people I love so much made me a little homesick. And not for any particular home, but homesick for my great friends and family that I don't get to see enough of. Love you all!

I had to throw in this pic of the kids. I just can't get enough of KyKy.

Family Reunion

Over the 4th of July, we had a family reunion here in Orem. It was a fun-filled few days, where we taught classes in planking...

This was my mom's version of an upright plank. This is what Kimmy calls her "version of creeping."

Counter plank!

We filled the pool to capacity (and beyond). Carter hated the water and wanted nothing to do with it. McKay thought it was delightful at 90 degrees. He also quite enjoyed being held by Grandpa Dale.

We sent the kids downstairs to watch a movie so we could get our pool volleyball on. That's always a highlight.


Kalia, Allie and Halle were a little sleepy from all the swimming and they took a nap on each other.

The whole crew at the park. One take with the 10 second timer. I'm pretty awesome that way.

Love from Grandma


We also enjoyed many firework shows. I say "we," but I really mean "most of us." Carter would make this face when he watched fireworks. Not terrified, but not quite a fan.

Damon's nine

My fourth attempt at posting about Damon's birthday. I guess I will have to upload the photos one at a time. How old fashioned. And also proof that our "high speed" internet connection is pretty lame.

Damon turned nine on July 2nd. Wow, that makes me feel so old! Because we celebrate the 4th here with all my family, Damon's birthday always turns into a family affair. He did invite some of his friends from the neighborhood to come and have a water party with us. I think the kids all had a lot of fun.We did a slip n slide, a baby pool, water balloons and jumping on the wet trampoline.

And of course, Damon had to have a pinata. It wouldn't be his birthday without one. I think next year I will commission him to make his own out of paper mache. He was responsible for filling it, and before I knew it, the two bags of goodies I had bought were stuffed inside, making it extremely heavy. It broke from the puny top and Jeff and Wayne had to jimmy-rig it back up again for some more bashing.

After it was demolished, the points made good hats for Damon, Malakai and Maddux.

He had no opinion whatsoever about what kind of cake he wanted, so I went simple with a baseball.

McKay was happy to sit in the shade with his Grandpa Dale. No cake for him.

The party was the beginning of our super fun McKnight family reunion, and what a way to kick off the holiday weekend! MUCH more to come about that soon.

But here are 9 things you might not know about Damon:
1. He took all the money he got for his birthday (and some that he had saved previously) and did the one thing he has been wanting to do for months; he opened a bank account.
2. He eats as much as I do, if we are having pizza or quesadillas or grilled cheese sandwiches (sometimes more).
3. He would still be happy to watch "baby shows" like the Backyardigans if there's nothing else on. With a little prodding from his daddy, he has graduated to other shows, and started watching Avatar: Last Airbender and Phineas and Ferb.
4. He is incredibly reluctant to do anything outside of his comfort zone. It's a constant battle to get him to try new things (even as simple as calling a friend).
5. He is terribly afraid of running out of gas. Don't mention that we're getting low to him, or he'll hound you for hours about when you're going to fill up the tank so we don't run out!
6. He can't tuck in a dress shirt and not wear a tie. We were going to a court of honor last night and I told him he didn't need a tie, but he couldn't do it. It was "too weird." He did want to wear flip flops though. Double standard much?
7. He has been playing the piano for almost a year and is pretty good at playing by ear. Actually reading the notes is a little harder and he usually throws a mini fit about not being able to do it. Then he practices a few times and stops complaining. And the song is usually memorized.
8. He has a great short term memory and is not very good at all at transferring information into his long term memory. He passed off all his multiplication facts at school and then promptly forgot them all. He is now in the process of learning them all again before school starts in August.
9. He is the energy in our house. If he is calm and quiet, everyone else follows his lead. But if he is hyper and crazy, everyone else is hyper and crazy. And that makes Jeff and me crazy too!

Damon is a very good kid. I love him very much. He is also very exasperating. Probably just about right for your firstborn.