You are 4 months old! (Well now your 4 1/2 months old, I had written this post and meant to post more pictures, well I forgot about it and never got around to posting, I am so sorry, but here it is now...)
You are growing so fast and getting so big! You now weigh over 16 pounds, and are 25 inches long, I cannot believe it. You are a strong and solid little guy. I know your daddy and grandaddy hope you keep this up, they have big sports plans for you in the future, haha. You continue to develop more and more each and every day.
You have such a personality. You continue to smile constantly. My favorite smiles are the ones that I get when I get home from work one the weekend mornings after you haven't seen me in a while, your whole face brights up when you see your mommy, and it in turn makes mommy's heart melt. The same is true when your daddy gets home from work in the evenings! It is precious. You love for people to talk to you, anyone, you don't care, you just give them a big ole grin, you are turning into a social butterfly, just like your daddy.
You have gotten big enough to ride normal in your stroller (without your car seat) and you LOVE it! You are the best shopper this way. It allows you to be "in the know" and see what is going on at all times (another trait you get from your daddy). Christmas shopping has been a breeze, you are just as content as can be this way. Definitely a 180 from strolling you in the car seat, you hated that!
You still love to eat! We had to start you on Rice Cereal early at 3 1/2 months because you were waking up several times hungry in the middle of the night. Your doctor said that because of you great weight gain and growth we could go ahead and try cereal and see if it helped. It has a little, but your still waking up but were pretty sure it is because you have started to teeth...more on that later. You love your cereal. You were a little unsure of it at first, I think just because it was new, plus the whole spoon feed thing threw you off a little, you just weren't sure about that one, haha. But after a couple of days, you got to where can't get enough. You open your mouth for the spoon, and you swallow more than you wear! A couple days ago we started you on sweet potatoes and you really like them! Mommy is still breastfeeding you, and you get that as your main source of nutrition, the cereal and sweet potatoes are just a little something extra at dinner time. You still continue to nurse so well, and I cannot explain how grateful I am for that. You went through a growth spurt right around 3 months and wanted to eat all the time, but now you are back to nursing every 3 to 4 hours!
You do not sleep through the night anymore, even with the cereal and sweet potatoes. You go to bed between 7:45 and 8:00 pm and tend to wake up around 3:30, I will feed you a little, then back to bed until 7:30 am. So you are getting a good 7 hour stretch or so of sleep before waking, that is still good. We had dropped the dreamfeed, but we may try it again and see if that helps. When you were waking up every couple of hours before it was partially due to you squirming around in the bed and hitting your head on the crib rails (since there is no bumper) you were also breaking out of the halo swaddle wraps you were in. So we had to take the crib wedge out of your crib (something that you were using to elevate your head of bed due to the reflux) and that helped with the squirming around, but you were still breaking out of the swaddle and waking yourself up. I had read about this thing called a "woombie" on another blog I read, and from some facebook friends, I heard it was "magic" so we ordered you one, and let me tell you....it is! You love your woombie, you love to be zipped up snug in there. You go right to sleep and never wake yourself!You are getting to be a better napper though. You take a good 1.5 to 2 hour nap in the mornings after your first feeding, and then several catnaps after your other feedings, followed by a 1.5 to 2 hour afternoon nap around 3 or 4 pm. I am so happy about this, because as a little baby, naps were not your thing. You usually fall asleep either in the swing, which you love and always have, or on mommy's shoulder. But you have recently started taking a paci and will now sooth yourself to sleep on your own in your crib. This is wonderful and I hope you keep it up!
So yes, you have just now started taking a paci again. You see, as a newborn (in the hospital and a week or two after) you would take a paci. Then all of a sudden you wouldn't, you would spit it out as soon as we put it in your mouth. This made it tough for mommy and daddy, it took awhile to soothe you when you would get upset, and with the rounds of reflux you went through, made it for some very loud crying sessions. We would have to try and "bop" you until you calmed down. Well while we were in Asheville delivering Christmas gifts, you got sick and tired of being in the car (you still HATE your car seat) your Nana could not understand why you would not take a paci, she kept telling me to give you a paci, and I kept telling her how you would not take it, then she says just try it so I did, clearly Nana knew best haha, cause I'll be if you did not take that paci and calm yourself right down. I could NOT believe it. It was like magic, you went from screaming to relaxed and soothed. And every since that day in the car you will take a paci and you love it! Daddy and I love it too, it sure does make things alot easier. Plus you had started sucking your thumb, and although it was precious, I did not want you to be a thumb sucker and have to deal with all of the dental problems that went along with it.
Like I said, you still HATE your car seat. You are such a curious little boy and always want to see what is going on. So when you are in your car seat all you can see is the seat in front of you, and you cannot stand it. Your daddy broke down and bought you a portable DVD player so that you can watch DVDs while on long road trips in the car, something he did before you and him made the drive back from South Carolina after Thanksgiving, and something that came in handy on our trip to North Carolina. So far you have seen Lion King and Cars, and seem to enjoy them both!You still love your play gym, you can entertain yourself forever on that thing, playing with the toys and looking at yourself in the mirror. You still are not all that crazy about "tummy time". I bought you a tummy time mat that has a mirror and toys four you to play with and you like it a good bit. You will tolerate tummy time on it, thank goodness, I was starting to worry. You can now roll over from your tummy onto your back...woohoo! And you can roll up on your side from your back, if you could just figure out how to move your little leg you use for balance then you would be able to roll onto your belly, so I know that is coming soon, you have till 6 months, so you are right on track. You can prop yourself and hold yourself up when we put you in the sitting position, which is wonderful, you will be sitting on your own in no time!
You have started teething so you are drooling constantly, bibs are a necessity, also, everything is going to your mouth. I bought you this fancy teether with bristles on it that massage your gums, and you LOVE it! You also love toys, your favorites right now are your Sophie Giraffe, your Moose, your keys, your cow rattle/teether, and your sophie ring teether. You will reach out and grab them when we hold them in front of you, it is so cute. Emi and Poppy got you a baby einstein bouncer play thing, and you love playing in it.
You have learned to do "raspberries" with your mouth, and are doing them constantly. It is adorable. You have also started to grab at people's faces. Anything is fair game: nose, mouth, ears, and hair. It is funny but can get a little painful, haha. You like it though and you think it is so funny. You get excited, and when you get excited about something you will let out a little shrill and smile. It is so funny. You have started to laugh more as well. You think it is hysterical when mommy or daddy hold you out in front of them and twist you from side to side or hold you up over their head. You have the most precious little laugh.
You are such a precious baby and are so fun! You are really starting to be your own little person with your own little personality. You do something new every single day. Your daddy and I love you so much little man! We cannot wait to celebrate your first Christmas together!
Love you Boogie
Monthly Stats:
Weight: 16 lbs 1.5 ounces
Length: 25 inches
Diaper Size: size 2 (Pampers Swaddlers)
Clothes: 6 months, a couple of 3 to 6 months and even a few 6-9 months
Eating: You are breastfeeding every 3 hours, sometimes you go every 4 depending on how well your napping. You are eating rice cereal every evening before bath.
Sleeping: Ehh this could be better we are trying to get you back to sleeping through the night again, you are waking at least once though, sometimes you want to eat, other times you can be put back to sleep with a paci, your usually waking around 3:30am. You are in bed each night by 7:45 or 8:00 pm. You take a great 1 to 1.5 hour morning nap after you have played a little bit following your first morning feed. You catnap between the other feeds and then take a good 1.5 to 2 hour nap in the afternoon, usually between your 1:00 and 4:00 feeding!
