Oh, time flies by... it's getting harder and harder to keep up (and keeping up with monthly posts is already hard! I knew it would be like this when we had more than 1 kid so I intentionally stopped keeping up with Evie in such a detailed manner after 1 year... but 5 months in with Max and it's already proving difficult to remember what's happened month-to-month!).
Well, big boy, you went in for your 4 month check-up on September 21 (so, technically, over 4 months old). You were 18lbs (in the 90th percentile!) and 25" long (in the 50th percentile!) with a head circumference of 17" (in the 75th percentile!). You aren't quite Charlie Brown... but you are a super chunk (and oh so adorable for it, too).
We were actually giving you 6 6oz bottles a day at that 4 mo check-up and the doctor said we could probably stand to drop down to 30oz total in a day. I immediately dropped one of your bottles and you did not seem to notice at all - phew! So, by mid-month, you are waking at 6:30AM (bottle), late morning 9AM cat-nap (bottle), lunchtime (bottle) quickly wrapped up with a 2-3 hour nap (unless dad's taking care of you, but I'll get into that in the next paragraph*), dinner time around 4-5PM (bottle) and, finally, bedtime (bottle) at 7:30PM.
By month's end you started... FOOD! Wee! So, you still have 5 feedings a day but they aren't nearly as organized as they once were.
*I said I'd explain my comment regarding dad and naps. Dad, is totally and completely unsuccessful at getting you to nap during the day. I know he'll read this and be unhappy with me stating that so flatly, but, ...it's true. Dad was really good at either understanding Evie or getting her to follow a schedule. Or, let's be totally frank, maybe it's just that second kids are not at all like first kids. Getting a schedule to work for everybody is a much more difficult challenge than it ever was when there was just the one kid in the household. This is true...BUT.... then again... I rarely have a problem getting you to nap. And when I put you down... you nap for HOURS. So, I return to my theory that dad is the faulty piece in this puzzle.
When I work from home or am home on the weekends (and I haven't overloaded the family day with way more activities than the average person can handle) I can pull you into your bedroom, let you paw at my face while coo'ing softly, rock you in the glider quietly smiling down on you and before you know it... your coo's become soft sighs and finally... deep breathes. *Squip!* - out slips your pacifier and all is right with the world. I can get you from playful to coma in less then 10 minutes. I am quite proud of this (can you tell)? I never, EVER, was the successful with Evie. I like to think you and I are bonded more closely than Evie and I were when she was an infant. But, as much as I celebrate this ... I'm also fearful we won't be as close when you hit pre-school age. Evie's definitely more close to me than daddy these days... her affection being mostly for "girls" more than "boys." What if you think girls are yucky and I'm not as cool as dad? *sigh*, I hope you still remain snuggly with me even if those moments grow less frequent... I hope you still find comfort with me when you really need me.
Back to a more happy subject - food! Well, even that topic isn't 100% positive. You ate rice cereal, at first. The second time we gave you rice cereal, you blew it back in our faces with puffed out lips like a chimpanzee blowing raspberries. Blowing raspberries till spit rolls down your chin is a favorite of yours.
Dad bought oatmeal (cereal) a few days later and you didn't care for that one either. A day or 2 later I decided to steam apples and make my own baby food puree. You... hated that, too. Exasperated, we open up Evie's snack-size Mott's applesauces and tried that, too.
Hated. It.
We took about 2-3 days off. You were fine and happy with just a bottle (I mean, just look at your weight!), and, so are we (much less to cart around!).
I quickly began to feel like we needed to push you to eat so I bought Gerber's bananas, sweet potatoes and carrots. There's got to be something you'd like. We tried bananas. Tah-dah! We have a winner!
As I was saying about blowing raspberries earlier.... you also like to scream. It's this real happy, shrieking squeal of a scream. Its full of joy (as well as volume). You shriek suddenly and in these wild bursts. Sometimes, I must admit, it gets old and we kinda want you to stop... but I also know it'll fade very soon and I'll someday forget this moment just like all the others you'll outgrow. I try and absorb it for what its worth.
You also are getting more giggly and confident with your giggles. You laugh EVERYTIME I hold your chin back and wipe your stinky spit-neck with a baby wipe. Tonight you were super giggly and I asked daddy to get you going while I captured it for posterity. Baby laughs are seriously an amazing sound:
I can now carry you on my hip. It's not always perfect and sometimes... you fall backward (particularly when I am multi-tasking, example: carrying a flaming hot cup of coffee) but you are getting noticeably stronger. You can push up (fully!) on your hands when placed on your belly. You squirm back and forth on the changing table and are growing more challenging to hold steady. You do sit up in the Bumbo chair without listing to the side (I like to think this is partly due to your hefty size resulting in you getting stuck in the seat. We feed you from this chair perched atop the kitchen table and it works very well).
I've been walking around with you in the Baby Bjorn more recently - also working very well... despite my extremely sore shoulder muscles. You wiggle across the floor now... we can't leave you on the activity mat unattended or you get stuck against the coffee table or, today for instance, you were stuck straddling a pumpkin on the fireplace hearth. :-)
You also, ROLLED at the end of this month - weee!
I'm anxious to enjoy cool autumn days with you this October into November. I hope to capture some beautiful outdoor pictures in the leaves with your sister. I want to take a nice long stroll at the park a few times more before it gets too cold (or is night-time at 5 o'clock). I can hardly wait to go Trick-Or-Treating with you and to begin working you into our family holiday traditions this upcoming season. Each month just keeps getting more interesting and fun!
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