Guess Who's Four Months Old Now?

Time sure flies.  It seems like just yesterday I was overdue and thinking I'd never have this baby, and now I have this giant baby who's growing up faster than his sisters did.  Or at least it feels that way.  I can't believe Isaac's already four months old (yesterday when all the pictures below were taken was the official 'four months old' mark actually.)  This kid just lights up my whole world.  Yesterday he burrowed his little head into my neck, then popped back up and grinned at me, then snuggled down again as if he was in heaven itself.  Oh my goodness, this kid just melts my heart!  Have I told you how much he adores me?  It's like I'm the most amazing, fascinating, capable person on the face of the planet . . . at least in his eyes.  He grins whenever he sees me . . . he'll catch a glimpse of me from across a room, out of the corner of his eye, and he'll crane his neck and body as far as he can to just smile in my direction.  He squeals and giggles whenever I walk towards him (and heaven forbid I walk past him, like to grab the baby wipes or something before changing a diaper, 'cause if I don't stop when I get to him he'll instantly burst into tears.)   I can make him laugh by just smiling at him, and I seem to be the only one he's ticklish for.  Oh sure, all of this 'mommy's the best' stuff will bite me in the butt later, but for now I'm reveling in it.  Infanthood with my girls was an amazing, but extremely challenging time in my life.  There was often hours of screaming which I felt powerless to stop, and there was that whole "we'll only calm down for Daddy" factor.  Summed up, my girls as infants were more stressful and challenging.  I often felt either clueless or incapable.  I loved them fiercely, but I was often left feeling like it was a bit one-sided as they screamed for hours, only stopping to nurse.  But this kid.  He's like a giant burst of fresh air to motherhood.  He makes me want to have five or ten more babies.  (But I won't!)  The other day he was squealing and laughing every time I'd turn to see him, and Greg was laughing at our exchange.  I scooped Isaac up, smothered him in kisses, and turned to Greg and jokingly said, "Don't tell anyone, but he's my favorite."  Obviously, I love all my kids, they're amazing and wonderful and I love them to the depths of me.  But this baby is so much easier, so much more less stressful, and if him and I were to be quarantined in some tall tower somewhere, we'd be in some blissed out Mommy/Baby state, coming only out to eat and throw out used diapers.  I often look forward to Ellie napping and Annie going to a friend's house, just so Isaac can lay out on my bed and 'talk' for an hour or so, him just laughing at everything I sing or say to him. I'm not in survival mode, like I was with the girls, and I'm truly enjoying this stage of Isaac's life. 
Don't get me wrong -- going to three kids has had it's obvious difficulties come up.  My house is usually too messy for my liking, there are many days my girls eat cold cereal in yogurt for breakfast ('cause they're both things Annie can get out with no help), and I would nearly sell my soul for a good night's sleep.  (This child still does not understand that he can go more than 2-3 hours at night without waking up.)  But, all in all, this has been the easiest baby we've had, which has made this whole period of Isaac's life very joyful and fun for our family.  He's easy going, so that I don't need to stress if Annie's preschool field trip will keep us out past nap time, or if he'll suddenly be starving to death and screaming if we drop off the books at the library on the drive home.  Most of the time, Isaac just goes with the flow, taking in the world around him.  And smiling at his Mom.

Here's some pictures of Isaac at four months old.
I was hoping to get his huge open-mouthed grins and squeals documented here, but he wasn't overly cooperative.  He was too fascinated by the camera.  But note that he vastly prefers being naked to wearing clothing . . . I stripped him down to a diaper for the purpose of getting bigger smiles for the camera.  And he wants to ALWAYS have a hand shoved in his mouth (his or mine, he doesn't care, he just like to gnaw on flesh).  He doesn't suck his thumb for comfort or anything useful like that, but it's in his mouth (either by itself or alongside the rest of his fist) a good chunk of the day.  Oh, and Annie is freakishly cute with him.  She adores him, and wants him sitting in her lap all the time.  She sings and coos and talks with him for long stretches of time, and she mimics my tone and pitch and repeats anything I say to him.