Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Four Months Old: January 19, 2013


Four Months Old
January 19, 2013



Your Monthly Stats

Height:  26 1/2 inches long (93%ile)

Weight: 16 pounds, 15 oz. (77%ile)

Head Circumference:  43 cm (85%ile)




Hair: Your hair is getting blonder and you've got much more of it.  Your bald spot on the back of your head also seems to be going away since you started sleeping in your crib.  

Eyes: People comment on your big blue eyes everywhere we go.  You smile with your eyes before we even see the smile on your lips.  

Diaper Size: Still wearing Size 2's



Clothes:
I've started to put away all of your 3 month clothes.  {Sad Face} There are a few 3-6 month clothes that you still squeeze into.  But, for the most part, you are wearing 6 month clothes and 6-9 month sleepers.  When you go to bed, we put you in a sleeper with a fleece sleepsack on top to keep you warm at night.  We've also started to put baby mittens back on your hands at night, because your little hands get so chilly at nighttime.  


Eating:
You're still a good eater.  You eat every 2-3 hours during the day, and we are still exclusively breastfeeding.  I'd love to keep this up until you're a year old.  It is so good for you!  You will take a bottle of breastmilk from Daddy every once in a while.  The pediatrician told us we could start feeding you solid foods, starting with oatmeal, anytime between now and 6 months.  But they recommended waiting as long as we can.  You seem to be happy now with just breastmilk, so we'll probably hold off on the food until about 6 months. You are a BIG drooler.  We change your bibs and shirts at least 4x everyday, because they're soaking wet.  No teeth in there yet, but you sure do love to eat your hands! 



Likes:
*your Graco jumper.  Santa brought this for you for Christmas, and you LOVE it.  You love to jump and swing in the doorway while I make dinner.  You especially love the playmat underneath the jumper that makes sounds as you hop.
*other kids and babies.  You've started to pay attention to other people so much more.  You're especially interested in watching other babies when they're babbling or crying. 
*your exersaucer.  You're slowly getting used to this, and now you're finally starting to touch the toys on the exersaucer.  For a long time, you just looked at everything.  The song on the exersaucer gets stuck in Mommy's head for hours--"Red, Yellow, and Bluuuuuuuuuuuuuuue".  
*hanging in the stroller.  You're happy as can be when we go on walks or we're out and about.  You can shop for hours without getting fussy in the stroller--you must like the view from in there!
*Buster the bunny and your smurf.  These are your favorite stuffed animals.  Buster always stays in the carseat with you anytime we go anywhere.  You love to snuggle him up to your face when you are sleepy.  You like to play with the smurf while I take a shower every morning.  
*being tickled and giggling.  You love to coo and giggle.  When you're in a silly mood, you like to chat it up with anyone.  Sometimes in your swing, it sounds like you are having a two-sided conversation with yourself.  You have a lot to say!  





Dislikes:
*sitting still.  You're a wiggler, and like to be moving, bouncing, jumping, kicking as much as possible.  You're fine being held by someone as long as they are moving or bouncing you.  
*being tired.  You fight it ALL.  OF.  THE.  TIME.  Why??  If I'm tired, I would love to just give in and take a nap.  You don't want to miss anything.  
*being ignored.  You want to get all of the attention.  
*getting your picture taken.  You're all smiles until you see the big black thing in front of mommy's face clicking away.  See below.
"I said, NO MORE!"

Mean Mommy!



Social Skills: 
We've continued to go to our Babysteps class most Thursdays.  Here we get to hang out with other babies and their mommies.  We've had a few playdates with our new friends from Babysteps too.  I've been researching other classes we can take together too, and I think we'll start music class, swimming lessons, or baby sign language soon.




Sleep:
Right around 3 months, we moved you into your room, and you started sleeping in your crib.   From the first night, you slept great in there--almost 9 hours!  We put you down to sleep around 8:30/9:00 pm, and you usually wake up around 5:30.  You were sleeping through the night for almost a whole month.  AND THEN, we took our trip to Raleigh.  Since we've been back home, you decided that you don't want to sleep in your crib anymore.  I'm able to get you to fall asleep without a problem, but as soon as your head hits the mattress, your eyes are WIDE open and you're unhappy.  What's wrong??  We keep trying every night, and we're hoping you decide you like it again soon.  Until then, you're back in the Rock and Play next to our bed.  

Strength: 
You are constantly doing crunches, and you should have abs like David Beckham by now.  You like to spin yourself around on the play mat and in your crib.  Our pediatrician said that she wouldn't be surprised if you were an early crawler because of your excellent head/neck control and core strength.  Uh-oh...stay little, baby.  Don't rush it!



Dear Chunky Monkey
       How is it even possible to love someone so much?  Well--we do.  Every morning when you wake up and give me that sideways smile and those twinkly eyes, I just melt.  You open your eyes in the morning, and are just happy to see me.  In that instant, I forget about the fact that you fought going to sleep for 3 hours or how you spit out your binky 392,406 times during the night.  It doesn't matter.  All that matters is that you are a happy, healthy baby and we love you so much.  
       I can't believe that another month has gone by already, and I'm writing yet another monthly post.  Just like last month, you have changed and grown so much.  You're becoming much more independent and like playing on your own and observing others.  When we took our trip to Raleigh, you loved looking around at all of the action and people in the airport. People kept commenting on your easygoing, observant behavior.  A lady on the plane said that she didn't even realize a baby was on our plane.  Our first trip was a success.  You'll be a world traveler in no time!  
      This has been a busy month for you.  Here are a few of the big events that happened:  your first Christmas, a visit from Grandma and Bup, your first New Year's party, your first trip to Raleigh, NC on an airplane, lots of playdates with your friends, bridal shows and dress shopping for Auntie Andrea's wedding, and lots more!  Every day is a new adventure with you, Mr. Max.  And we can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring.  XOXO
Love, Mommy
Too much partying in the exersaucer!  This is him fighting sleep.

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