Four Months

Four Month Stats:

Weight: 12lbs 6oz (6th %)

Height:  26" (85th %)

Clothing: I packed away almost all of his 0-3 month sleepers! He's currently wearing a mix of 0-3 (pants mostly, some shirts & sleepers) and 3-6 (pretty much everything else)

Diapers: Pampers Swaddlers or Baby Dry Size 1, but I think we're going to try Size 2's when we run out of 1's

Daddy says this is his "model pose" :)

Eating: Not a whole lot has changed here. I've been back to work for a little over a month now, so he's been getting a lot more bottles of expressed milk. Monday thru Friday I only nurse him twice a day, but all day on weekends.

He's gotten faster at taking a bottle, which I expected, usually finishing in 15 to 20 minutes. He's still pretty pokey when it comes to nursing though. Most times still taking 30 to 40 minutes. I'm REALLY hoping that gets better at some point in the near future! I read somewhere a few weeks ago that "most babies get what they need in the first 7 minutes".. HA! I will be shocked it we ever make it down to the 15 minute mark.

At daycare he's still taking 4oz bottles. That shouldn't change too much I don't think. Breastfed babies take less in quantity (but more often) than formula fed babies. The reason being that the milk changes over time to meet the nutrition requirements of the baby, so the quantity generally doesn't increase. So far, I've been able to keep up with his needs and hopefully I can keep that rolling!

Charlie is still a little creature of habit, sticking by his self-created schedule. You could set your watch by this kids eating habits! Now, if only naps were the same ;)

His Dr. is pushing to start solids because he's small, but I just don't think he's ready yet. I really wanted to wait until 6 months, but I re-evaluate in a month or so if I think he's ready then.

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Sleeping: Again, an area where not much has changed. He still is a pretty crappy napper, although he's getting slightly better. He never naps for more than 30-60 minutes at a time, the latter being VERY rare.

His night time sleep is pretty great! He moved up his bedtime a bit, so he's now asleep between 7 and 7:30pm. Then he's asleep until 3:30am/4:30am when he wakes for a quick feed and then goes back down until 6 or 7 - usually 6.

I'm not to worried about the lack of naps. He sleeps well at night, and he's happy, so I'm not concerned at this point.

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Playing: Charlie is becoming much more interactive. He loves to grab onto toys -- and Mommys hair... -- to shake them and chew on them. ESPECIALLY chew on them. He puts anything and everything in his mouth!

He really likes his ring links and his O-Ball. I'm assuming because they're the easiest for him to grasp at this point. Another thing he really likes is this little tag blanket thing - which you can sort of see in the above picture.

Munching on his O-Ball!

He's still an arm-flailing, kicking machine! I don't see that changing anytime soon :)

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Other Things: Sitting. He LOVES to be in the sitting position. We tried the Bumbo seat, but he's not the biggest fan. He'll sit in it for a short time, but then usually wants out. He prefers if you hold him in the sitting position, either on your lap or on the floor.

I guess I can chew on THIS too! Yippy!

I've tried the jumperoo a couple of times, but he's not too sure about it yet. I'll continue to try it until he gets used to it.

Now that it's finally getting a bit warmer out around here, we've been able to take Charlie on a few stroller rides. He seems to like it! The first time he fell asleep, but now he stays awake and likes to look around.

In complete paranoid first time Mom fashion, I way overdressed him for the first time out. But I've toned it down since then so he doesn't look like a little snowman in 50-60 degree weather anymore :)

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Me: Not much new with me. Still figuring things out, I'm working on it. Still a little overwhelmed with everything. Maybe I just need to relax a bit or something.

Happy Four Months Charlie!!