5 months of Stephen

I have to say that it is pathetic how bad I have been at keeping up this blog.  Perhaps it's because I doubt that anyone looks at it, and in part because most people are on facebook and I update pictures there.  But I will give an overall update on Stephen over the last 5 months.
     In November we flew down to LA for my older brother Tim's wedding.  Stephen was 2 1/2 weeks old.  We drove over to Medford the night before and stayed in a hotel with Stephen sleeping in a drawer lined with a blanket.  The flight to LA was uneventful but throughout the course of the day Stephen went through 5 outfits between his puking and peeing.  He got to meet his grandpa Dunham, and his great grandparents, as well as most of my siblings.  It was a good time and a beautiful wedding.  At Thanksgiving we went to Eugene to see Lonnie's side of the family.  They gather every year and we had a great time.  I got some "big city" shopping in, and the family threw us and his pregnant cousin a baby shower.  We also drove up to Portland and showed him off to everyone.  This month he start "talking" a lot more.  Now he babbles all the time especially when he is tired.
     In December the biggest thing was celebrating Christmas.  Stephen got to meet his Auntie Laurie who flew in from Liberia for the holidays.  We went up to Portland for actual Christmas and Stephen got to meet his uncle David and spend some good time with other aunts and uncles.  We hadn't seen David since his bootcamp graduation almost 2 1/2 years before that, and we got to see Amanda and Bill as well.  Got some more shopping in.  We came home and had Christmas with Gma and Gpa Reyman and Laurie.  Stephen got to have some time to open his presents.  He's such a joy to have.  He is getting better with sleeping during the night and only waking once to eat.  He is getting fat and happy with his eating.  His naps are usually shorter as we are now experiencing "the 45 min intruder."
    In January we didn't have anything big going on.  At almost exactly 3 months he started losing some of his hair in the front.  He's been working on his bald spot in the back for awhile now.  His hair is so funny because in the back he has this bald spot and then he has this hair on the very bottom that is about 2-3 inches long and really thick.  It makes him look like he has a mullet.  At 11 weeks he started sleeping through the night from 11-8, only occasionally waking up for his pacifier.  We had to "super swaddle" him and pin his arms down with a receiving blanket, but it worked! I also started back to work at the end of the month.  It created an interesting situation because it happened unexpectedly on a Sunday and Lonnie had to take him early to church with him while I went to work and then we had to sort out what would happen for the rest of the day.  It was also his first time in the nursery by himself.
    In Feb he rolled over for the first time.  He also had his baby dedication on Valentines day and my parents were able to come down from Portland for the weekend.  It was nice to have in-home babysitting where all I had to do was feed him and put him down for his naps.  Beyond that my parents did everything else.  They burped, changed, played, everything.  He has gained a real interest in everything that he can reach for and grab at.  He also drools all over everything and tries to put it in his mouth.  I don't think he's teething but it's probably not that far off for us. 
    It is now March.  He is currently about 16 pounds, still eating like a champ. He can sit in a tripod position with someone nearby to make sure that when he lists to the side that he doesn't do a full on face plant into the floor.  He is also closer to rolling from back to belly and can make it all the way onto his side.  We took him to the beach for the first time earlier in the month.  We didn't actually make it onto the beach but we got close.  It's pretty sad that it's taken us 4 months to get him to the beach when we only live a mile away, but I blame it on the weather (sad excuse).  I do try to get out with him in the stroller though, that's gotta count for something.
    So I am going to try and be more consistent about updating the blog.  But I think it's going to take on a new tone as well and be a blog for not only family updates but for my own thoughts on life and whatever else pops into my crazy head.  So stay tuned for what is to come