Huismans in Helvetica: Carsten 4.5 months :)

Well, here's the update I know everyone has REALLY been waiting for: Carsten!

Playing: He's been changing a lot lately, not in looks, but in what he's able to do. Around New Year's (4 months) he started intentionally grabbing toys when you held them in front of him, and then actually played with them! Before then, he mostly just grabbed them and whacked himself in the face (poor guy!). So it's becoming more and more fun to play with him, which is nice. About 2 days ago, he also started grabbing his foot, which is pretty cute, and he also started chewing on his lips, which is not so cute (hopefully he grows out of that!).

Carsten chewing his lips

Physical Prowess: This kid is strong! He's been standing in our laps (with little assistance) since about 2 months of age, and this skill only gets better and better. When he's standing he also likes to lift his feet up, one at a time, which is a skill that was practiced a lot at my parents house - thanks Mom! He also seems to really enjoy standing and being upright, which could mean that we will have an early walker on our hands, so we probably better babyproof soon :). Carsten has rolled a couple of times from front to back (both directions), but in general, he doesn't seem very interested in rolling. Sitting up on the other hand, is something he's trying VERY hard to master. He spends a lot of time on his playmat grunting while he tried very hard to sit up (he ends up in a V position that most yoga folks would be proud of!). This means that he hasn't been as happy in the playmat because inevitably, he ends up tired and frustrated that he can't sit up. So usually we give in after a while and prop him up on pillows on the couch or the bed while we do other things (nearby things of course).

Carsten sitting up with Daddy

Carsten falling over... :)

Carsten in his 'V' position

Smiles and Laughter: Carsten is generally a happy baby, which is so nice! He likes to smile and over New Years (4 months) he started laughing at us, so we usually spend a lot of time trying to get him to laugh because it's just so cute :). One of our favorite moments with him is getting him up from a nap or a good night's sleep because (generally) he's so happy to see us he just sits there and smiles at us. It's also fun that he really seems to be recognizing us.

smiles :)

Carsten sleeping :)

Sleeping: Carsten is generally a fantastic sleeper, and we are very grateful for this :). Since about 2 months of age, he's been sleeping 8-10 hour stretches during the nights and generally goes to bed between 9-10 pm. We have bathtime every night as part of his routine (he LOVES bathtime - he just sits there and kicks!), and this really seems to help signal bedtime for him. We had a couple of rough nights over New Years when we went to my parents, but I think this can be mostly attributed to congestion. And after a week of being in Switzerland (with a few really late nights), I think we've slowly moved him onto a good schedule. He actually went to bed before 10 pm last night, which was SOOO nice :). He also typically sleeps until about 9 am, which is nice because then I get to sleep in :). Once he's up for the day, he usually plays and eats and then takes a 30-60 minute nap around 11 am. I used to try really hard to keep him sleeping (i.e., rock him or hold him), but now I just plunk him down in his bed around this time. He's not always very happy about it, but if given about 15-20 minutes, he usually settles down and sleeps, which is nice. We're still working on figuring out the other times during the day when he likes to nap, mostly because I think he takes short naps. He seems to take about 30 minute naps 2-3 times during the day after his morning nap, and these dont' have much of a pattern after that. I will say that when we're on the move, like traveling by car, plane, stroller, or the baby bjorn, that he seems to take those opportunities to nap (he likes motion!), so that's really quite nice. Sometimes he'll even fall asleep on his playmat, which I don't usually intend to happen. All in all, we feel very lucky to have him do such a great job of sleeping, and we definitely hope this continues :).