If you're someone who reads this blog at all, I'm sure you've noticed that it's been a very long time since I updated it (or added pictures to the flickr account). Apologies to everyone for that. The last few months have been a little crazy between looking after Tiernan, catching up at work and continuing to deal with a flare-up of my Crohn's disease. My health is still not great right now, but school is done for another year, so I've got more time for things like a blog.
Needless to say, Tiernan has changed a lot in the last three months. He is now almost five months old (eight days shy) and is starting to become more and more grown up all of the time. I'm not going to try to summarize the last three months. I think that would take so much time I'd never actually get it done! Instead, I'll just try to describe to you what Tiernan is like right now.
1. Physical Description
Tiernan now weighs 16lbs 12oz, and is 26 inches long according to the public health clinic. When we took him to the doctor recently his weight was quite a bit lower, which didn't make a lot of sense to us, because he doesn't look as underfed as the doctor said he must be. He is quite slim, but is safely at the 50th percentile. He's got some rolls, but not a lot of them. He's a lot like his cousin Pieter was in that way. He's very active, so he's not likely to get pudgy.
He didn't have a lot of hair at birth, mostly a bit at the back of his head. Almost all of that hair is gone and he looks quite bald as you can see in the picture above. New hair is just starting to grow in, a light dusting of ruddy brown coloured strands. I don't think his hair will remain red, but it's interesting to see his Irish heritage. He has super long eyelashes that show off his extremely dark eyes. Sometimes, it's hard to distinguish between the iris and the pupil. Nevertheless, he somehow manages to get red eye on almost every photo! That keeps Daddy busy with the computer photo software.
Tiernan's a very pale baby. Everyone comments on how white he looks, especially now that many people are getting summertime tans. He of course is not allowed to go tanning; we've strictly forbidden it. He has very sensitive skin too, with a couple of patches of eczema and red spots where his clothes tags have rubbed against him. Despite, or perhaps because of, his pale skin, he looks best in strong colours like dark blues or greens or in bright colours like red.
2. Temperament
Tiernan is what is called "spirited" by the Baby Whisperer (someone whose books on parenting we are reading). He's got tons of energy; his body parts are always moving when he's awake and often when he's asleep. He has definite opinions about where he wants to be and what he wants to be doing. And he does his best to make those opinions known, often with a yell to get Mommy or Daddy's attention. Notice I said a yell, not a cry. He does cry, though usually only when he's overtired. When he's hungry or has just woken up or wants to switch activities, he yells.
He loves spending time with people. Mom and Dad are his favourite options, but anyone will do. He's extremely personable and smiles brightly for people who talk to him. He's very comfortable being picked up by different people, which I'm sure the grandparents will be happy to hear! Most of the time, he is a very happy baby. He seems to enjoy living life and learning new things, and it's all the better for him if other people are there to do it with him. He especially loves kids, including his cousins and the kids at his babysitter's (a friend from church who looks after him occasionally so Deb can have some time to run errands or have a workout).
3. Developmental Description (Including activities he likes to do)
Tiernan began to play with toys several weeks ago. He's got a really strong grip and loves to pick things up. He usually then tries to eat them. He also loves eating his hands. Unfortunately all this chewing has led to a lot of drooling, so we often make him wear a bib!
He has started to enjoy looking at himself in the mirror over the past few weeks. He loves to look at the pictures that are on the walls and also at pictures in books. He enjoys listening to books in English, French, and Spanish. Might as well see if we can make him trilingual, eh? He loves to talk as well, vocalizing all sorts of things. We love having conversations with him.
He loves to explore, especially going outside to the backyard to look at everything there. New environments thrill him (and the house is starting to bore him). As a result, he is now happy to get into his car seat as he knows it means that he is going out. That's quite a change!
He enjoys watching his Baby Einstein videos and anyone singing on t.v. In fact he'll watch pretty much anything on t.v. He's got the potential to be a real couch potato if we're not careful! We have to remember to turn the t.v. off and play with him even when we're tired.
Fortunately, he's a very active boy, so we're not too worried. He loves to stand up and to bounce around. He enjoys spending time in his exersaucer and recently in his Jolly Jumper as well.
Finally, he is starting to enjoy sleep a bit more and we hope that continues! Because we need more ourselves. He's starting to do a better job of going to sleep when we put him in his crib. We're thankful he is willing to accept his stuffed puppy as a surrogate for Mom and Dad. He hangs on to it tightly as he goes to sleep and sometimes we find him lying in his crib wrestling with his puppy after his wakes.
I think that's all for now. Thanks for reading! I hope you've now got a better idea of how Tiernan's doing. Keep us in your prayers. Thanks for your thoughts, prayers, emails and phone calls. They're all greatly appreciated!
Tim (with credit to Deb for a lot of the details)
P.S. Don't forget to check out Tiernan's new photos. Follow the link on the side!
