I love how I am the expert on my own baby.  I'm not quite sure that happened.  For example, I can translate his many cries.
The sleepy cry- soft rambling "uhmumbawumba".  Means "I'm sleepy but am not sure how to fall asleep".
The gassy cry- a scratchy sounding back-of-the throat "eeehhhh" sound.  Means "burp me".
The hungry cry- loud, irregular breathing with interspersed "wahh".  Means "feed me"
The complainer- whiney groans with a large variation in pitch.  Means "pick me up" or "pay attention to me".
The wail- All-out screaming/hyperventalating with real tears.  Means, "I'm in pain" or "Why haven't you fed me?" or "I want my mommy!"

Colin is 4 months old now.  He has his pediatrician appointment this week, but I couldn't wait to find out his weight, so I weighed him this morning.  20 pounds!  He has grown so much!  I particularly see it in the circumference of his head. He can hold up his own weight pretty well but is not yet sitting unassisted.  He has only rolled over twice, and I think he's confused about how that happened.  All very normal.  This is a great age.  He is pretty easy to entertain, easy to keep in one spot, but really interacts with the world and has a personality.  He is ticklish and tries to grab whatever you are holding...a sandwich, a hot cup of coffee, a cell phone, whatever.  He has grabbed Murphy a couple of times and I think the dog is learning to keep some distance between his ears and the baby hands. 

Murphy is back in agility and did really well on his first two runs through the course.  I need to improve the speed at which I send him to obstacles and he needs to work on not getting spooked by the teeter (seesaw) obstacle. Super-impressive was Murphy's ability to fly through the weave poles more accurately that he was doing when we left Mesa 3 years ago.  It really makes me think I could possibly enter him in a competition sometime within the next year if we work at it.  It's all just good fun though.

I've been enjoying making yummy desserts such as strawberry ice cream, peanut butter ice cream, oatmeal flaxseed cookies, coffee creme brulee.  Also baking whole wheat bread.  Don't start thinking I'm some kind of  Martha Stewart type.  I just currently prioritize good food on top of a clean house and a number of other things.  Good as in without artificial colors, preservatives, and chemicals- not necessarily healthy.  Unfortunately, not cheap either.  Who woulda thunk, using actual strawberries and cream to make strawberry ice cream ends up being 2-3 times as expensive as the red #40, corn syrupy stuff in the grocery store.  I could go off on farm subsidies and common carcinogens but let's move on, shall we?

I've also been getting out more with groups put together from the website www.meetup.com .  If you haven't heard of it and wish you could easily put together a group of like-minded people, try it out!  I'm not sure how else I would meet other stay at home moms with babies born last year.  Colin and I explored the Desert Botanical gardens, had a picnic in a park, and went to an outdoor performance of Native American singers and dancers, all with moms and babes born last year.  Winter in Phoenix is just the perfect time to do things outdoors.