Dear Mason: 4 month edition

Mason,
This last month has seriously flown by faster than any month yet!! I feel like we just took your 3 month pictures then blinked and you were 4 months.

You are seriously growing!! Mom & dad were both chunky babies so I think you are taking after us. I absolutely love all of your little rolls though, they are just adorable! Your current stats are: 15 pounds 7.5 ounces (50th percentile) 24.5 inches long (20th percentile sorry shorty!) head circumference of 42 cm (61st percentile). The nurses kept commenting on how cute you were! They said your head was just perfect and you reminded them of a Gerber baby. You just soaked in all the attention and love my little ladies man! You are wearing size 2 diapers and already in 6 months clothes.

We are still exclusively giving you mama's milk & we seem to have found a medicine that works for your reflux & a diet that works for your tummy. Prevacid has been a game changer in your life! You seriously only fuss if you're sleep or hungry now! Your tummy prefers only whole foods: meat, eggs, vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts and absolutely no dairy. At first this was an adjustment as mommy ate mostly corn dogs and raisin bran all of pregnancy. I've always wanted to have a clean diet but loved junk too much so I am very appreciative of you for making me do it! During the day on the rare occasion that we bottle feed you you will typically drink about 5 ounces. However, lately after the 5 ounces I still need to nurse some because you are hungry. At night you are still drinking 8 ounces. We have found you sleep much better when we give you an 8 ounce bottle at night so we aren't going to stray from that.

We still have you on a very strict schedule and it works wonders for you. You & I have developed quite a day time routine. I know exactly what time you will want to eat, take a nap & (most of the time) wake up.

5-5:30ish: Wake up. Mom & Dad aren't ready to face the world yet so we put your paci in and you go back to sleep.
6:30: Wake up & have your first feeding the we make breakfast together and hang out.
8:00: Nap. This my child is the nap you are the most strict on. There is not a single day you have been awake at 8:01.
8:45: Wake up & play. You aren't much of a morning napper. Typically only 30-45 minutes is enough to get your energy boosted back up.
9:45/10:00: Brunch feeding
11:00-11:45: Nap
1:00: Lunch feeding
1:30-3:30: Nap
4:30-Snack feeding
5:30-6:15: Evening nap
7:00: Bath
7:30: Books & Bottle
7:45: Bed

Last month we began sleep training you, let's just say we failed miserably but this month we mastered it! Last month we also put you in your crib at night but this month we started having you sleep exclusively in your crib. This was a sad transition for mommy as I loved having you sleep on me for naps. There is just something so special about snuggling your sleeping baby. You have always had this thing where you love to fall asleep on my chest and bury your face in my neck. I miss it so much!! But I know that my job as mommy is to raise you to be independent so I have to just keep reminding myself of that because I know this is just one of the many many times in your life I will have to watch you become independent.

And becoming independent you are! Growing up daddy was very independent, he still is actually. His family tells us that his sister always wanted him to play but he was happier to play on his own. I am seeing this characteristic develop in you. At night you are happy to put yourself to sleep even if we leave you in there and you aren't that tired. A couple of nights you've laid there awake for 30+ minutes just playing with your fox & looking around until you drift off to sleep. A couple of times you've even woken up and laid in your bed playing with your hands and fox for 30+ minutes. During play time you are happy to sit in your high chair and play with your toys if mom has something to do.

You love your fox buddy so much! He is a big source of comfort for you. To fall asleep you rub him against your face and then play with your head. This month you started putting him over your face to sleep. It terrified me the first time you did this, but no matter how many times I take if off your face you put it right back over.

You are moving on to bigger toys. In past months your play mat was your go to toy. Now you don't prefer it as much. You enjoy to sit up and play in your high chair.

You also got a new jumping toy that you absolutely love!

You still enjoy hanging out in your swing. However this month when we put you in it the right way you completely flip yourself to lay sideways in it & you are even more content when you lay in it that way.

You also are in love with your new baby carrier the Baby K'tan. This is one of our best investments! If you're asleep while we are out you are content to stay asleep in it & at home while do chores you love to face outward in it! You pretty much love anything that allows you to explore the world around you!

You are absolutely positively always happy, smiling and laughing. We feel so incredibly lucky that you are this way. When we go into your nursery and say "Buddy are you awake?" Your face completely lights up and you rarely stop smiling until your next nap. You find the joy in absolutely everything in your life & I pray that you always have this quality. TV shows, baths, swimming, mommy & daddy's faces, when we talk to you, your toys, even when you're nursing you will stop and look up at mommy & smile. When I say "drink your milk" you stick your tongue out, break out in the biggest smile, & crack up then go back to nursing. You also think it's hilarious when your daddy drinks from a cup, we don't know why but you always crack up! Your smile completely lights up our days!

You have always loved when mommy kisses you! Lately when I lean down to kiss you, you will grab on to the side of my face, it's my favorite! Even when I just bend down to talk to you, you will put each hand on either side of my face and just talk to me. You're the same with holding my hands or arms. If I put you on my lap you want to hold on to both of my hands. You completely melt my heart, Mase!

You still love church. You no longer sleep through the songs, now you are awake & alert & looking around taking in all of the sights and sounds around you. We still aren't ready to send you to the nursery quite yet.

Currently we think you may be teething. We don't see or feel a tooth yet but your bottom gums seem to be swollen, you've had a low grade fever off and on all week & and the last couple of days you aren't your independent self. When you're awake you seem to only be content if mommy & daddy are holding you & you have something in your mouth. For now we are just soaking up all of the extra snuggles from you!

*We celebrated the 4th of July

*You finger painted for the first time

*You went swimming in your shark pool with dad

*We survived dad's first week long trip
*You've started consistently sleeping through the night
*You are constantly laughing
*You were baptized
*You still hate tummy time (we've kind of given up on this)
*You discovered your tongue you stick it out all off the time!!!!
*Mom had a dentist appointment so you had your first non-family member babysitter
*You're discovering your voice more & more. When I say something high pitched you will screech to mimic me. When I talk in a low voice you talk normal.
*You tasted your first thing that wasn't mommy's milk. You ate the grocery list on a trip to the store with dad.

*You had your first IV stick. This was more painful to mommy than it was you I think. We had to redo our newborn screening & mommy was totally not prepared for them to actually draw blood. There were definitely tears but you did surprisingly a lot better than I thought you would. I think mommy cried more than you did.

Mason, you are growing up so fast! I love the personality that we are seeing you develop! You are the happiest baby we have ever seen. I pray that you always find joy in everything the same way you do now. While you are a very scheduled baby, you're really pretty chill & don't really cry unless something is really wrong. You are still mommy's little boy & it melts every bit of my heart! We are already seeing that you look to mommy when you're upset or hurting and you look to daddy when you feel silly or want to play and laugh. You bring more joy than you know to our lives! We hope that every single day you know just how loved you are Mason Porter!

Love,
Mommy & Daddy