April 16, 2000 - Sunday
Harry is four months old today and, as far as we can tell, is right were he should be if not ahead of average for his age. We'll get the official statistics later this week when he has his four month check-up, but he continues to do well vocalizing and is progressing as expected in all physcial abilities, except those relating to rolling over and lifting himself by his arms. It seems that he is not spending enough time, relative to other infants, on his stomach and therefore not developing these muscle or instincts. Some friends of ours have a young daughter of 1 1/2 who never learned to crawl because she wasn't ever on her stomach as an infant. Instead, she started to move around by scooting: sitting upright and pushing with her hands. There's nothing wrong with that, but having learned that we've since tried to give Harry more tummy time. Apparently, though, it's not enough to produce the normal string of belly oriented milestones like rolling over. We're not concerned, but perhaps we'll try to give Harry some additional upper body workouts in the future.

This evening, in celebration of both Harry's fourth month and his aunt and uncle's pending move to the area, we dared to bring Harry to a restaurant. It was a Thai place and Harry was a champ even though he woke up just as we got there. He was quiet through the entire meal, though his mother, his aunt, and I did take turns holding him as his boredom from sitting in his car carrier increased. His mother even took him for some dinner of his own. But then, just as the check was being cleared and the bill paid, Harry decided it was enough Thai for one night and action began. His mother and I scrambled to put on his coat, and whether it was that action that pulled one of his little fingers or just his growing annoyance we'll never know, but somewhere during the scuffle Harry turned the corner. Fortunately, we were seated near the door and Harry's mother wasted little time in showing him its purpose as I corraled his and her remaining wears. Once outside, Harry was again a darling boy.

In four months, one thing I've learned for sure is that many problems are solved by new distractions.


Comments, opinions?