Jacob's 4-Month Update

Jacob turned four months old this week.  He continues to be a very smiley, happy baby.  He likes to sleep and definitely require more sleep than the older two kids did.  He gets very grumpy when he doesn't get enough sleep.  It's rare that he cries when he's not either tired or hungry.  He still wakes up once or twice each night to eat.  He takes varied naps throughout the day.  He still has no real schedule, so I never know if he's going to sleep for 30 minutes or 3 hours during the day. 

He can grasp toys and brings all of them to his mouth to explore.  He likes to chew and suck on everything you put near him.  I don't think he's teething, but I'm kind of terrible at figuring that out until I see teeth practically popping through.  He likes music a lot and prefers to fall asleep to the sound of lullabies.  He also likes for me to sing to him during the day.  He especially likes Old McDonald and Little Bunny FooFoo.  Those will keep his attention for quite some time.  He likes when his brother and sister sing to him too and laughs at silly sounds we all make.  He's really pretty easy to please when playing/singing.....unless he's tired.  He can't roll over yet, but it seems like he's getting close.  He hates being on his tummy, which doesn't help us reach that milestone.  He can almost sit up by himself, but can't sustain his balance for too long. 

He's different from my other babies in that he likes to be held sideways in a cradle position.  Neither of the older kids ever liked that.  He's also different in that he's balding!  The other kids just added more hair to their full head of hair, but he's losing all his.  Katie says that he's going to look like Abuelo.  His eyes are already brown.  Daniel's stayed blue until about the time he turned two, and Katie's are still blue. 

He's a sweet, sweet boy, and I can't imagine life without him.

Puzzle Queen

Katie is really good at puzzles.  I realize I'm extremely biased in saying that, but I still think it's true!  She got a 69 piece puzzle of the United States and Canada for her birthday.  She did it everyday for about two weeks before she could do it all by herself.  I think that's pretty bright!  She can also name many of the states.  One of her favorites is Wisconsin because, as she says, "It has a lot of cheese!"

Race Issues

Daniel's class was learning about MLK the other day.  We were discussing what he had learned.  He had many questions, and to give him some background, I was explaining how at that time many white people didn't like people that were a darker color and that those people were then treated unfairly.  He told me, "So, Mommy, if we had lived back then, you might not have liked me or Daddy or Katie or Jacob because you're white and we're all Mexican."  I told him that I hoped I would have been one of the white people that was more loving. 

This couples with the story that happened awhile back.  Daniel and I were talking about Abraham Lincoln, and I told him that one of the most important things that he did as a president was to free the slaves.  I should have thought that through better because, of course, Daniel didn't know what a slave was, and then I had to explain all kinds of things.....I felt like he understood by the end of our conversation.  Then a few days later, we were playing the game Guess Who, and Daniel asked me, "Is yours a slave?"  I said, "A what?" thinking I may have heard incorrectly.  Daniel repeated the question, and then we had to have another whole discussion about why it wouldn't be good to continue to refer to black people as slaves. 

Sheesh. 

Groundhog's Day

Katie and I were reading a new book from the library. It had a picture of a porcupine on the front.

Katie: Is that that dirt hog from California?
Me: What dirt hog?
Katie: You know that dirt hog that we watched.
Me: I don't know what you mean. When did we watch it?
Katie: The day before this day. And he saw his shadow.
Me: Oh! You mean the groundhog from Pennsylvania?
Katie: Yes!
Me: No, this is just a porcupine.
Katie: It's not that corn dog?
Me: No, it's not that groundhog.

Jacob's Baptism

Jacob was baptized on January 11.  His godparents are Brian and Cristi.  He was baptized by Father Sam Matthiesen.  It was the Baptism of the Lord, which is also the same day that Daniel was baptized six years ago.  Here are their pics.  See any resemblance?  Daniel was a bit older at his baptism, by about 1.5 months, so his hair is longer and his cheeks are chubbier.

Jacob

 Daniel

 

 Jacob

 Daniel

 

 

Jacob gave a good loud cry when Father Sam poured the water on his head, and he stopped abruptly when Brian held him up again.  Father Sam was liberal with the anointing oils, and Jacob's whole head was dripping with oil.  You could smell it on his head even after we washed it multiple times!

 

It was a beautiful ceremony.  We had many people join us - Uncle Brian & Aunt Cristi, Grandma, Abuelo & Abuela, Uncle Luis, Adolfo, Pita, and Adolfo E. Diaz, the Stephens family, and Greg & Jennifer Kroeger.  We celebrated afterward at our house with a big lunch.