4 Months Old!

We've stopped describing Owen's age in weeks now and starting talking months...yes, months!! Owen just hit the 4 month old mark a few days ago and to celebrate we took him for his well-child check up and the first of his vaccines. Since he is not in day care and is being exclusively breastfed we decided to delay the start of and stretch out his vaccines. Although there is really no proof that giving so many vaccines at one time is harmful, I have a hard time believing that it isn't excessively stressful to the infant's immune system...especially since he is still getting all of the antibodies from mama's milk. Opening up the vaccine issue really is opening up a can of worms so I won't bore or upset anyone with details, but I will say that we have done a lot of research into both sides of the story.

Our little man is growing like crazy, he is now 25 1/2 inches long and 13 pounds 11 ounces. His little personality is coming out more everyday and we are both so happy that we can stay home with him as much as we do. He smiles so much now, and not just at mom and dad...he loves books and even enjoys turning the pages when he can. He is sleeping through the night almost every night and took his first ride in his new stroller today. We haven't taken him overnight anywhere yet but have plans for a weekend trip to Moab in a couple of weeks and a trip to Oregon over the Labor day holiday. 

It's hard to remember what life was like without him!!

Raising an 'unplugged' child

I just read an article this morning about a growing movement to keep children 'unplugged' and it got me thinking about how addicted we (Jake and I) are to everything plugged... I would really like to raise Owen to think for himself and to have a vivid imagination like kids should. It seems almost impossible to raise him completely unplugged from everything electronic considering how big a part technology is in our everyday lives. I suppose that technology, as with everything addictive, has it's extremes; you can be attached to your ipod/ipad/iphone/laptop 24/7 or be completely without internet/t.v./social networks and videos... but I suppose the best is being somewhere in-between. I definitely want to limit his 'plugged in' time when he gets older but I think for now until he is at least 2 or 3 years old I'd like to see if we can go without technology for him. It seems that the early years are an important time to learn how to be creative and use your imagination and if you never have to, if everything is given to you in games and movies, then that part of you may never grow.

I think the hardest part of this challenge will be limiting mommy and daddy's plugged in time, 'cause we have to teach by example and if we are always on facebook or watching movies that is what we'll be teaching Owen. Maybe in doing this we'll find our creative and imaginative sides again.