4 months, 1 week -- Teething?!?!

So I've attributed JWF's fussing, drooling, gumming, spitting up behavior to teething for probably over a month now.  But boy is it bad now.  Not so much the fussing, but the buckets of drool and incessant gumming... I found him gumming his playmat's support columns today, and pretty much everything he grabs with his teeny hands makes its way into his mouth and receives a good clamp before he lets it go. 

I never thought I'd say this, but I hope his first teeth pop in soon so we can move on and get back to nursing normally.  Right now he nurses like a maniac who has a love/hate relationship with the boobs, and I sure did feel rejected when he happily gulped down a big bottle of pumped milk before bed last night and tonight after angrily popping on and off of me for a while before.  Of course, he'll happily nurse at 2:30am, 5am... pretty much whenever is most inconvenient for the rest of the fam :)  We're going to the doctor for a checkup on Thursday.  I hope that she says those teeth are coming and not that he's some sort of crazy baby who's becoming a grumpy teen overnight. 

16 weeks, 5 days... or four lunar months ;)

So here we are, about to bid summer farewell in these parts.  Well, it'll still be pretty hot around here for a while, but John's going back to work next week, so it's essentially the end of summer.  Little one and I will be on our own again during the days, so we all have adjusting to do :)  I've joined a moms-of-young-kids group at church, so hopefully we'll make some friends around here who won't mind if baby boy needs to nap in the middle of a visit :)

I'm constantly in awe of how much this child changes week by week.  He now flips from tummy to back and back to tummy (though sometimes gets stuck on his side lol) and is fascinated with his hands.  He coos and gurgles and smiles a ton, but has yet to have a belly laugh.  He is pretty social and will enjoy the company of (most) people, but also likes his quiet time playing on his own.  He absolutely hates his carseat and is almost too long for it... he's growing pretty quickly! We don't have his latest stats, though I'm pretty sure he's around 16 pounds now. 

In other news, my arms are getting ripped from holding him all the time lol.  My hair is falling out at lightning speed (apparently such shedding is normal?)  My pants are starting to fit again, which probably means that my hips are returning to normal.  I wish my tops would fit, but I think that's going to take until I wean, which won't be for a while.

I think it's pretty amazing how much has changed in my life over the last year.  I found out a year ago yesterday that I was pregnant, and at that point I hadn't done much thinking about how I would give birth or raise my children.  So I went from someone with few opinions on those topics to someone who is pretty passionate about childraising topics.  The guys and I recently went to an awesome store in town (www.nurturedfamily.com) and were picking out a new baby ring sling.  While we were there, I helped two other ladies learn how to use the wraps they'd purchased elsewhere (the Moby wrap, if you're curious).  One of them had a baby girl who was crying and crying and it was sooo cool to watch that baby fall asleep in seconds (literally!) once her mom figured out how to put her in the Moby wrap properly.  The mom was so relieved and even had a few tears because her baby girl was finally resting.  It really made me hope that one day I can go into business doing something I'm passionate about, whether it be teaching Bradley method birthing classes or having a little shop that sells nice nursing bras, cloth diapers, ecofriendly baby stuff, etc.  I know some people may think I've gone off of the earthy-crunchy deep end, but I'm really happy with my choices :)

Well friends, I promise to post more.  And perhaps add pictures.  I have lots of them, but I'm guilty of having a full memory card and not downloading the pics as promptly as I should. 

Miss you all!