Marshall at 4 Months

What a sweet celebration for Marshall's 4 month birthday.  He was christened at my home church in Paris, just as Jack and I both were.  Both of our families were there and it is a day I will cherish for the rest of my life.  I have to admit I was a little nervous about the event.  Marshall is....hmmmmm....moody?  Is that the word?  He can be laughing one minute and screaming the next.  Anyone around him swears he has stomach issues or he's in pain, but I honestly think at times the kid just has a temper!  He knows what he wants and he wants it NOW!  I had no idea how he would react in front of the entire church when held up and presented to them.  The words "I just hope he doesn't poop and mess up his outfit." had just left my mouth when talking to my aunts when I felt a rumble, looked down and sure enough, the entire back of his white bubble was ruined.  The only thing that kept him from ruining my outfit was a blanket that was between us.  This was literally 5 minutes before the service began.  Aunt Amy and I rushed him downstairs to the nursery and changed him from his size 6 month outfit that fit perfectly to his size 3 month outfit that couldn't even be completely buttoned.  He still looked adorable and did great!  He actually thought the preacher was talking to him and he tried to talk back.  Jack was like a little man.  He stood up there perfectly still and let Marshall have his moment.  I couldn't be prouder of both of my boys.  Afterwards, we all went to my parents house for lunch and some pictures.

Marshall has found his feet.  It happened in the tub while in Paris and it was the sweetest sight.  I tried to get a picture of the moment to send to Travis.

He still prefers his hands, but I'm sure that will only last until he figures out how to get those toes in his mouth.  Life is getting easier with this little guy, temper and all.  At his 4 month appointment, his stats were as follows:

Weight - 15 lbs. 15 oz. (75th percentile)

Length - 25 in. (50th percentile)

I was shocked to find out that he is almost a pound heavier and 1/2 inch longer than Jack at this same age.  Jack was 15 lbs even.  His reflux continues to be a problem and he is now on Prevacid and Mylanta.  I'm honestly not seeing much difference between the Zantac and the Prevacid, but the doctor doesn't want to switch him back just yet.  We've started him on cereal and baby food twice daily and he's hoping that will take care of the problem and we can possibly get him off all meds within a month or so.  So far, he has tried rice ceral, oatmeal, peaches and bananas and he loves it all.  Here's a couple of pictures from his first few bites.  To say the least, he wasn't too eager.  Call it poor planning on my part, but when I heard the doctor say that food might help the reflux, I rushed to the store and bought some cereal to try that night.  He was tired, but Travis was home and I wanted him to see that moment.  We even let Jack give him a few bites to get him involved. 

At his appointment, his tear duct was still clogged, but has since cleared up.  I have finally moved him to the crib, which wasn't as tough as I had imagined.  However, with all that additional space, he's figured out how to wiggle out of his blanket.  Once that happens, he looks like a fish out of water with his limbs flopping in every direction and eventually he panics and screams.  I've been experimenting with ways to get him adjusted to sleeping without being swaddled, but so far no luck.  In the past week I've gone from wrapping him looser to leaving one arm out back to swaddling him as tight as possible.  That latter seems to work best, but I know it's just a matter of time before I have to deal with it.  He still isn't rolling over, but he's trying so very hard.  I honestly think the kid will be sitting up on his own before too long because he does a pretty good job of it already.  He kind of loves the Bumbo for a few minutes, but still prefers to roll around on the floor.  I can't believe how big he's getting!

I've now seen all of his professional 3 month pictures and they are unbelievable!  If you're my friend on Facebook, go to my profile and check out the video.  I get a DVD of each session that I know I'll be watching for years to come.  You can also see a different slideshow of some of the pics at http://www.resugganphotography.com/.  Go to 'Family and Children Site', 'Clients' and enter Mar2010.