Month 4

4 months...it seems like 4 years or 4 days, depending on when I stop to think about it.  Time is always relative, but the first months of being a parent are unlike any other bendy-time I have experienced.  Maybe it's the sleep deprivation, or maybe it's just that you change so much so quickly.

One big development this month is in your structural stability:

For me the money shot in that video is the last two seconds - I love that look in your eye.

What else happened in month 4?  It was definitely your most traveled chunk of life so far.  You took a road trip to Atlanta and back with your mom, and then again with me & Mom to see a friend get married.

You travel pretty well, still mostly sleeping in the car, but ~ 2 hour road trips are about the max we can make comfortably while you are breastfeeding.  Yes - you are still a gigantic jerk when it comes to taking a bottle.  While you still eat 10+ times per day, we have probably successfully fed you from a bottle 4 times, total.

These plastic rings comprise about 90% of your toy box right now.  I don't love plastic, but they are light enough for you, they clip to everything (keeping stuff handy is a big deal when tending a child), and they are not sized for easy swallowing.  You mainly suck on them.  There are no teeth yet to poke their way out of your gums, but you slobber and suck non-stop.

Did that sound critical?  Sorry - you are adorable, but the constant moisture coming from all your openings can get a little old!

Our longest trip, to date, was a short vacation last weekend to Florida with my family.  What is a 7 hour car trip for "normals" turns into a 10 hour trip with a kid that needs to be fed every 2 hours.  I know car seats keep you safe (it's the law!), but I seriously considered whipping you out in transit through the back roads of Alabama.  Your Mom wouldn't let me.

As it turned out, we had a pretty good trip.  You were mostly indifferent to the sand and surf and heat, but your mom got to go all hyper-protective of your skin with the hat, body suit, tent (pictured in the background), umbrellas, and the million SPF/UPF lotion...if you haven't heard this already, Yo Mamma Loves You.

You are definitely more reactive these days, and that is a welcome change.  I didn't get much noise from you in this video, but you have definitely taken to babbling a good bit, and sometimes in seeming response to us.  Mom will say "I love you!" and you go "[gurglr gurgle OOoooooo..."  Every cute sound you give us makes up for approximately 15 minutes of screaming...I'm hoping to balance the accounts soon, maybe shake out a net credit of good vs the bad.


Who am I kidding?  It's already more good than bad.  Because when all is said and done and I'm on the verge of leaving this all behind to join a monastery, I get the chance to see you all stylin' like this

and it gives me hope for the world.  Someday you and I will walk down Collins Ave in Miami with our shirts unbuttoned like this and the ladies will say, "Wow."  Or something like that.

I love you, Buddy.  Q1 is in the books, and the earnings exceeded analysts' expectations.