Happy 4 months baby boy!! Your months seem to be flying by faster than ever. I cannot believe you have been in our lives for 4 months, however, it's also hard to remember life without you.
We had our 4 month check up today. You are weighing in at 14 pounds 13 ounces (26th percentile), you are 25 1/4 inches tall (54th percentile) & your head circumference is 41 cm (29th percentile).
In comparison to your brother he was 15 pounds 7.5ounces (50th percentile), 24.5inches (20 percentile) & his head was 42cm (61 percentile). Basically you 2 have just flipped on height and weight.
You are wearing all 6 month clothes and size 2 diapers now. You hung in with your size 1 diapers until the last week when we finally finished that last box. You are still hanging into your 3 month pants and shorts but I can tell it won't be too terribly much longer before you move into 6 month.
This month my sweet baby has been absolutely heartbreaking with your reflux, mostly the last week or 2. I could tell about 2 weeks ago that the reflux was seeming to bother you more. You were getting a little harder to nurse and you were starting to lose a lot of your feedings. We were on 1.5ml of Prevacid twice a day and so we added 1.5ml of zantac twice a day in to see if we could get it under control. However, things actually just continued to spin out of control. Our never crying, peaceful, easy going baby boy was not screaming for hours in constant pain. We increased the Prevacid to 3ml twice a day and the zantac to 2.5ml twice a day. It is so much more medicine than brother was on and more than I want to give you. However, one afternoon/evening you spent 8 hours screaming, tensing your body & arching your back until you would finally fall asleep and wake up doing the same thing. It was heartbreaking and has been such a difficult and frustrating road for us to figure out. But I feel like we are getting on the right track. We are praying this is something that you will outgrow quickly and that this medicine give you some peace and relief.
You are still exclusively drinking Mama's milk. We are still dairy & tomato free, however, since coffee has not ever bothered you in the past the doctor is not ready to cut it from my diet yet. We don't want to make too many changes and then not know what the fix actually was. When you take a bottle you will drink about 6 ounces during the day, 8 ounces at bedtime & 4- 5 ounces for a dream feed.
We have continued to stick with the same schedule you had last month. Looking back, it's actually pretty similar to brother's schedule with the exception of an earlier bed time. It seems to be working well for you, however it seems like you might be on the cusp of a schedule change. You, like brother, are not much of a morning napper at all. Your 2 morning naps are between 40-60 minutes, your afternoon nap normally ranges between 1.5-3 hours. and your evening nap is about 30-45 minutes.
This month we have really seen your personality start to come out. You are so happy!! You absolutely love to make eye contact with us and smile. I feel like you are constantly smiling at us from the time you wake up until you are ready to nap. We can't even make eye contact with you when you are eating because you will look up at us and just cannot stop smiling. Going in to get you when you wake up is one of our favorite things because you always have the biggest smiles.
Watching the love your brother has for you has been so sweet but this month you have really started to return that love. When you're around him your eyes will track him wherever he goes and your face just lights up. This makes his day!! He will light up and say "MAMA! HE'S SMILIN AT ME!!" You two have such a pure and true love for each other it's the best thing to watch! He is dying for you to be able to run and play with him & you are the 1st thing he asks for when he wakes up. Actually what he says when he wakes up is "I wanna give Weeum some Wubins" and the he smothers you in kisses. He has started requesting to sleep with you or one of your bulldogs every night. And let me tell you boy, this brother of your is going to make you TOUGH! This month he has tried to tow you around the living room with a hook cable and has sat on you while watching tv. The craziest thing is you don't even mind a bit. You just look up at me with that gummy grin of yours and smile. I have a feeling this is only the beginning of the wild and crazy with you two!
Daddy is still the one who gets the best laughs out of you. Your face completely lights up when you see him and you just think he is hilarious. I can already tell your bond with Daddy is going to be similar to Mason's. Both of you boys want Mama for comfort or lovins and Daddy for fun times and laughs.
You are absolutely in love with your bulldog night nights. Just like brother did you will sleep with them over your face and you actually prefer to have all 3 as opposed to just 1. These have been a big source of comfort to you when you have been struggling with reflux too. We can just rub them across your cheek and you seem to have more comfort.
You have moved on to bigger toys this month. You don't care as much for laying down at your piano. You prefer to be sitting, actually if you could chose you would prefer to be standing. We have gotten your high chair out and your jumper. You seem to like both of them. You are really starting to move away from the piano play mat and the bouncer. I'm not sure if this is just because of the reflux or because you are growing up on us.
You have hated the swing for 3 months now, however, one day in the church nursery we came back and you were asleep in the swing so we decided to give it a go. You find a lot of comfort in it, however only in the "tree swing" mode. Lately with the reflux this is where you spend many naps.
You are trying so hard to be on the move. When I put you in the bouncer or swing you try to wiggle worm your way out of them. You have actually been very successful at both. The bouncer more than the swing. Bless your heart we figured out you liked to wiggle out of the swing on evening when Mama forgot to buckle you in and you woke up from nap on the floor. Daddy said you had the biggest grin in there when he walked in but goodness Mama had some real mom guilt from that.
You are really starting to like the baby carrier during the day when I'm busy. This month we have finally been able to turn you facing out and you seem to really like it.
Exciting things this month:
* Aunt Stephanie came to visit
*We started going to Toddler Time at Sky Zone
*You met your Uncle Ken
*We got a double stroller and have been loving daily walks
*You've started trying to hold your own bottle
Before we had you I was so worried would I be able to love you enough, give you enough, etc. Baby boy, you make loving you so easy! You are the happiest, most chill & easy going boy I've ever met! You love each of us in your own little way & we love you in our own way too! You've made our lives brighter, happier & more exciting! I can't wait to see what the next month brings. Mommy loves you more than you could ever imagine!!!
Love,
Mommy
