4 Months

This is a bit overdue, but here are Johnny's 4 month pictures! He gets cuter every day and is smiling more and SOOOOOOOOOO much fun! He was just starting to experiment with his voice at 4 months, which we loved!

On Sep 10, at 4.5 months he rolled over front to back, and is holding his head up so much better. He's very attentive and has learned that the TV is an amazing box of light and sound and he's mesmerized when you walk by it and we have to keep it off so he doesn't just melt into a couch potato! He started laughing a little bit which is the best sound ever! We got him a jumper and he started playing in there, and is figuring out his hands more every day, starting to play with more toys! He is sitting up in his Bumbo well and started eating oatmeal and has does great! I thought I might wait a bit longer since he was 2 months early, but at his 4 month well check Dr. Lam said he was ready and his prematurity didn't matter and we should do it. We tried it and he LOVED it. This kid loves to eat, so we weren't surprised. In related news, he's bigger every day! At his 4 month check up he was 24 inches and 12 pounds 5.5oz! He is amazing! He's sleeping through the night so well, for which we are VERY grateful. He's just a genuinely happy baby who is our whole world. We love every day with him and it's so fun to see more of his personality all the time!

Trying out the Bumbo

When you give him his pacifier he melts into a puddle! :)

Without it he's a little stronger! :)

SOOOOO happy!

He is such a smiley guy!

How could you not love this sweet face??

SO very happy for more pictures! :)

Remember when that lion was bigger than him!? He's so much bigger now!

I love this guy :)

Work is better now--I'm on research this month after a very busy inpatient month in September, so I should have a bit more time to get caught up and post his 5 month pictures soon!

Other recent events: Bob's parents were here last weekend which was wonderful! I didn't get any of the pictures off of Carolyn's camera before they left, and I did not take very many unfortunately. It was great to see them and for them to see how big Johnny is now! We enjoyed General Conference together and even went to 2 sessions! Carolyn and I went to the Saturday afternoon session together and the guys went to the Priesthood session that night together. Pretty neat to see it in the Conference Center and great messages by all who spoke.

Hope you all have a great weekend and hopefully we can see those of you around here soon now that my schedule is much better!

Johnny's First 2 Months

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A few more random pictures of Johnny :)

I've taken a LOT of pictures of our sweet baby already, so here are a few more recent ones.

Bob and Johnny enjoying a good Sunday school lesson

These are some of my favorite pj's

He is like his mama and does NOT like to be cold, so we wrap him up in a warm blanket as soon as we dry him off after a bath!

He's getting so much stronger every day and really holding his head up well now!

He likes to be fancy for church. Sadly, this is his first time wearing this cute onesie and it may be his last! It's a 3-6 month, and he's really wearing 0-3 month most of the time, but it's tiny

Johnny's second dip in the pool was yesterday! My work had a pool party at my boss' house and she has a lovely pool that she heated to 89 degrees so Johnny would be nice and comfy. He didn't mind it at all and kicked and splashed a little and was adorable as always

Rach came over and had dinner with us on Wednesday and she and Johnny had some nice bonding time!

This is from a bit ago but I just think it's so cute :)

He smiles more every day and I LOVE it so much :) Every single one is a precious gift and we can't get enough!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

3 months! Now with pictures!

Johnny is 3 months old! These last 3 months have gone so fast and he's so much bigger! By our estimates from our bathroom scale he's 11 pounds now! More than double where he started at 4' 14"! (And a bit bigger than his last visit on July 11 when he was 9'7")

Here he is enjoying his always tasty fist

He's trying to tell me he's had ENOUGH of these pictures!

Such an agreeable little guy!

Pretty darn cute!

He's more fun every single day and we're definitely getting to see more of his sweet personality. He's a very good baby who's usually very happy unless he's hungry, then calms as soon as you feed him. He still sleeps for 6 hours after we first put him down at night, which we continue to be grateful for! Despite carefully calculating how much he needs for catch up growth and limiting his bottle feeds to that, he is getting some serious rolls and would definitely eat more if we let him! Bob was an insatiable baby according to his mom, so we know where he gets it! :) When I'm home he definitely tries to convince me to feed him every 2 hours, and how could I say no to this face? If I feed him before I leave for work and Bob is still sleeping and I put Johnny back to sleep, I have to tell Bob I fed him or Johnny will persuade him to feed him again an hour after I'm gone. He already knows how to manipulate us! :)

Close up of our handsome boy--his eyes are more blue all the time-I think they might stay blue, but we'll see!

Big stretch!

He's starting to really pay more attention to the world around him. He's always been a very alert guy, but now he notices so many more things! We just got him a little monkey to hang from his car seat that has a chime in it and he is very interested in this and the elephant that you pull and it wiggles back up, which also hangs from his car seat. He's now been to 4 fireworks shows, thanks to the Pioneer Day celebrations here, and the last 2 he watched a bit of--the bright lights captured his attention for a bit. The Bountiful fireworks were amazing! We watched them from Richelle's parents house, which is very near where they set them off and we had a beautiful unobstructed view and they were huge and incredible! We also went to the Bee's game on Saturday and there were fireworks there too, but they were REALLY loud. Louder than the other 3 shows, and very close, so Johnny did not appreciate these as much. I had a big thick blanket I held over his ears, but it was really hot and he was an unhappy camper for a bit. He settled down after a few minutes and was fine for the rest of the show. This was also after a 4.5 h baseball game, so he was a trooper. :)

He makes this face a LOT and really likes to stick his tongue out at us!

This goofy look cracked me up!

He is getting stronger every day! He holds his head up for 10-20 seconds at a time now, is far less wobbly when he does it, and is more tolerant of tummy time since he's stronger. He grabs at things much better now and has a very strong grip. (Mostly utilized for grabbing Daddy's chest hairs) :) He sits up better and longer when he's leaned up against the couch too, although of course he's a ways from sitting independently. He has rolled over twice already, but both times he had a little help with a slope.

This is a face we see a lot of too! :)

So excited! :)

This may be my MOST favorite--such a BIG smile!

He still loves many of the same things: Singing, lights, his crinkle book, mirrors, and is starting to enjoy the toys hanging from his play gym more and more. He's really noticing his mirror and the animals hanging off of it in the car more too.

He smiles soooooo much more! In the past month he's gone from a few smiles here and there to really being a great social smiler. Initially he'd smile for me but not so much for Bob, but now he's smiling more and more and does it for Bob too! It's really the best--I could just sit and smile with him all day!! He's had a few little laughs so far which we're loving. He is cooing more and it's so cute to hear him talking more and more!

This is the saddest but also just so adorable! He was done with pictures and gave me his big sad fat lip!

Starting to recover a little bit, but still wishing we were done!

He sleeps less all the time now, which is so fun because he's awake more to play with us. He is pretty adaptable and as long as we keep him up for a few hours before bedtime he consistently sleeps his 6 hours after we put him down for the night, which is great. He sleeps well in his carseat, in the stroller, in the carrier, and pretty much everywhere else, so it's nice to be able to go out and about and not worry about disrupting his schedule too much at this point.

Such a good boy to put up with another pic :)

It's so fun to have friends with babies close in age to our Johnny. Tessa, who is 6 days older chronlogically, but 2 months older gestationally, is a fun look into his future as far as what she's doing! Levi is 2.5 months older chronologically, and also really fun to watch--he is sooooooooooo smiley and laughs and coos and babbles and it's so fun to look forward to when Johnny will be at that point even though of course we're enjoying where he's at as well. :)

This summer has already gone by so quickly but we've already had a lot of fun thinking about all the fun things we'll be able to do with Johnny next summer! He'll be big enough to think the zoo and the Children's museum are fun, as well as the dinosaur park in Ogden, Thanksgiving Point, and so many more things.

2 months

These last nearly 3 months since Johnny was born have really flown by! We've really loved this time so very much and it's so fun to get to know him more each day and see more of his personality! I really tried to choose just some of my favorite pictures since his 1 month post, but I've taken a LOT of pictures, so there are still a bunch here! For my FB friends, you've probably seen most of these, but I know the grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins, and other Johnny-admirers everywhere will enjoy another look :)

He really is cute in everything he wears, but here he is on a particularly adorable Sunday

Some babies just take it easy, but Johnny hits the gym hard every day so he can work the muscle tee onesie. Elephants really make him look tough. :)

Here he is with Lilo. She LOVES to be right next to me at all times in general, but this has been exponentially amplified since the arrival of her little brother. :) When I'm nursing him especially she lies right next to us. I had just finished feeding him and we were hanging out and she saw an opening and wriggled in as usual. :) She ends up snuggling Johnny most of the time in her efforts to be close to me, so I like to think she's growing to love him more too. :)

We had the opportunity to drive home and spend almost 2 weeks there, which is the longest trip we've had in a long time! We were worried about how well Johnny would do in the car, but he was Super-Baby and stayed happy nearly the whole way both directions! It's about 12 hours from Salt Lake to Coeur d'Alene, so we were really lucky--I'm sure the next trip will be a LOT tougher! Here he is contentedly just holding my finger.

We stayed with Jap and Jen and the kids for a night on our way up. It's been so nice living closer to them this last year, and Pocatello is only 2-2.5h from SLC, so a really nice place to stop on our way home and break up the drive! The girls especially loved Johnny, since they are such little mothers, and even Jay would ooh and ah over him!

As soon as we got to CDA, Carolyn was soooooo excited to hold Johnny! When they came down the weekend after he was born she had a cold and didn't hold him at all for fear of getting him sick, so this was her first time to get to hold him and she LOVED it. :)

We had a chance to hang out with my brothers while we were home too, so here's Sandy, my sister-in-law, holding him

Ellie and Addie were pretty excited to hold him too

Even Paul had a turn

Leslie is quite the baby-lover and snuggled our Johnny every chance she had this trip! It was very sweet.

We went to Post Falls with the Poteets and I realized I'd never actually been there before! Not super-impressive, and there were a lot of bugs out--if you look closely you can see a massive red spot on Bob's forehead from a mosquito bite. We had a nice walk with the Poteets though and no terrible bites were inflicted. :)

Carolyn usually got to enjoy Lilo's company as well when she held Johnny--she does NOT like to be left out!

We played some fun Frisbee golf with Carolyn one morning before it got too hot

Cute little boy

We got to see our Poteets a lot this trip, which was a rare treat! We always stay so busy on our trips home that we never get enough time with them, but this long trip allowed for more fun with them too, which was great! We had a nice walk on the boardwalk this day.

Johnny's first time on the boardwalk--he obviously loves Coeur d'Alene as much as we do! Last time he was at the lake was 3 days before he was born! It was a probably a bit darker then from his perspective...

Bob and I

Like most trips home, we had a nice dinner at Mongolian BBQ. Here we have my family including Grandma, Bob's folks, and the Poteets. :) I love this goofy picture because its so many of our favorite people all enjoying one of our favorite meals!

While we were home Bob did a LOT of projects. This day he was putting doors on his aunt's shower, so Johnny and I came up to visit and he was pretty sleepy.

One more picture of Johnny with Nana

The first few times she held him he cried a bit, and she kept joking that he didn't like her, so this little smile was a big deal :)

Ron got some Johnny time too of course :)

He's so cute when he's sleeping.... I have hundreds of pics like this but he just looks so tiny and adorable when he's swaddled up...

We had just finished riding the 4-wheelers and when we put them away we saw the tandem and had to bust it out. It just made sense to leave our awesome helmets on. :)

I'm getting reacquainted with shifting... I'm a nervous nellie and go pretty slow!

Bob helped Ron pour some concrete and we put Johnny's prints in it, but it was pretty firm already and didn't come out too well, but it was a nice idea. :)

Bob and Ron modeling their stylish yet very practical galoshes for concrete pouring

Johnny's silly face after his speed bath to wash off the concrete--definitely NOT his favorite bathtime, but he got happy again quickly.

Johnny napped on the couch downstairs while Carolyn and I were working on some projects and Lilo kept a close eye on him for us. She also brought her octopus to show him and he was pretty impressed.

Happier Johnny after a bath

I had planned to get a cute shot of Johnny at the Poteet's fruit stand and was so excited they turned out so cute!

It's hard to read, but he weighed 8.97 pounds!

Priceless!

Snuggling with Mandy

Bob and Lilo cooling off in the shade at the BBQ with everyone on the 4th

Johnny's enjoying getting to know my Mom and also saluting the troops because he knows what the 4th is really about. :)

One more of his cute 4th of July outfits

Enjoying some snuggle time with Daddy before church on the day we blessed him (July 11)

He's got a good grip on Daddy's finger

Although it was a little late since we were home on the day he turned 2 months, I took a bunch of pictures of Johnny on July 11, at 2.5 months

Here are his cute little rolls--a recent adorable addition, quite a change from last month!

I see more of myself in his profile--he looks so much like his Dad from straight on!

He's always hungry and eats his hands every chance he has

Starting to smile... this is his cute soft smooth tricot quilt from Carolyn

I love this boy and I love this blanket!

Such a cute face!

His hands are always going!

Here's his lion from Uncle Jared again so you can see how big he's getting! This is his beautiful blanket from Grandma Gordon

Waving hello

I was afraid to put him in his blessing outfit before we left the house, fearing he'd have a blowout (like Pam and Jim's Cici on the office) or spit up all over it, so we left the house in a white onesie and brought it with us and I dressed him quickly when we got there! He was a perfect angel and did not mar his beautiful outfit sewn by Grandma Sampert. I only got a few pics that day, so here are few more I took later

Rocking his cute new shades

I had a surprise day off on Wednesday, 7/20, so Johnny went on his first hike! We went with Amber and Levi to Mill Creek Canyon and it was hot but we had a nice time. This was his first trip in the Ergo without the infant insert--definitely a LOT cooler for him on this 90+ degree day!

Here we are as we started

This cute hat is borrowed from his buddy Levi whose head is a bit too big for it now!

At his 2 month visit on 7/12, he weighed 9 pounds 7 ounces and was 21.5 inches long, which puts him at the 3rd percentile for height and weight when uncorrected for his prematurity, and when corrected he's pretty near the 50th percentile, so he's doing so well! He's starting to smile and coo more, sleeps less, and is more attentive to the world around him now. He really loved to watch the world fly by his window on our drive home, which was the first time he really noticed it! He's now starting to notice his mirror in the car too, and the little animals that hang off of it. He's more interested in mirrors and loves his 2 books with mirrors in them. He has a crinkle book that he loves too, and his eyes get huge and he makes the cutest faces when he grabs or kicks it and feels and hears the noises. He's starting to notice Lilo more, and is more responsive to us. When I come home he makes cute faces and turns toward my voice and seems excited to see me which is sweet even though I'm sure he's also usually excited to eat. He likes nursing way more than the bottle with pumped milk, but he LOVES to eat any way he can get it. We joke that he's always trying to convince one of us that the other one didn't feed him because he'll try to persuade us that he's hungry 1-2 hours after he last ate. :) He loves his binky, which is great because it can almost always calm him when he's upset. He hates diaper changes less now, but still doesn't like changing clothes, especially the over the head part.

He's our whole world and I can't imagine life without him and it seems like he's always been part of our family in some ways, even though we just got him! He's still a good sleeper at night and typically goes 6 hours from his last feed over night, although he went 7 once when we were home. He slept through 2 sets of fireworks and the parade when we were home, and had a nice 4th of July. :) We are so glad we got to go home and have such a nice long relaxing visit and that he did so well on the drive each way! Bob's parents drove back with us and visited his siblings and stayed until his blessing on the 11th, which all 3 of Bob's siblings and their families were in town for, which was so nice! It was a great day and a really fun weekend of spending time with all of them. We barbecued, played in our pool, and even went to a drive-in movie with the Jeppsens and got some family pictures again now that Johnny's here (we just did them in April, 3 days before he arrived, because all the kids were home then).

Life is busy as always, and I started my master's program July 7th, but things are great. Bob is loving staying home with Johnny and I'm getting a good amount of time with him despite work and school. Life is good, and we're enjoying this summer even though it's been so warm. Hope you're all having a great week and I'll try to be more regular in my posting, but obviously priorities are shifted these days and pretty much all my free time is best spent snuggling my sweet little guy. :)