4 months

Our littlest guy turned 4 months last Friday!  DH and I have had crazy schedules for the last month, so it has passed much faster than usual.  This is also the first month I haven't had weekly updates, so I'm finding it a little tough to recall everything that is new about NB.  

To start, these first two pics show two new skills.  He, like every good 4 month old, has gotten better at using his hands to grab things.  Those things typically head to his mouth, and he's getting better at getting them there directly.  Using his hands better means he is starting to enjoy some of his toys.  He can grab the hanging doggy or monkey toys on his various bouncy seats.  Over the course of the month, he got better at pulling them to make them play music.  He seems to really enjoy that and kicks wildly in response.  That, in turn, bounces or rocks him in the seats which he also gets a kick out of. Aside from the bouncy seats, his favorite toys are the awesome rattle in pictures below, and a stuffed toy lamb with crinkly arm both of which were gifts from Uncle Joe and Aunt Kate and all NB's cousins. 

NB also seems to have found his tongue.  He sticks it out more than we recall LO doing at this age.  It makes me wonder if he's going to be one of those kids who sticks his tongue out when he's concentrating.  

Another uniquely NB new trick is bearing weight on his legs.  I'm not sure if he loves this because it requires our help or if he just enjoys being upright. Either way he'd rather "stand" than just about anything.  We're dusting off the exersaucer so he can do just that!

It looks like NB is doing the "sprinkler" to me.

All that time standing and playing in the bouncy seat hasn't left much time on the floor.  There's really an art to letting NB have floor time and keeping him safe from LO.  LO means well (most of the time), but wants to be right where NB is and it's a wonder NB hasn't gotten crushed or kicked in the head yet!  

NB does get some floor time, but just not as much as I'd like.  It has amazed me a little that he is close to rolling over from back to belly.  The last two mornings DH and I have found him on his side in his crib, his back arched to look for us to come in the door.  He has rolled from belly to back a number of times, but is not so good at it that he does it quickly.  Neither does he do it every time he's on his belly. That was good news for my picture taking this month, even if it might get us a little reprimand at our 4 month check up next week.

I decided to introduce NB's lovie this month.  We call her "Ellie" since she's an elephant.  This is the age I introduced LO's Lovie to him and, well, I don't have to tell you how fond he is of her.  We let LO help chose NB's lovie, but did not anticipate how much he'd want to have it for himself.  We have had to be pretty vigilant in keeping LO from adopting Ellie as his own.  He has backed off a little, but still will pretend to helpfully bring her to me so he can just hold her.  Jealous much?  Just maybe.

NB mid-laugh

NB and his Ellie

NB's baby book asks for one word to describe him in the last month. We think there are two.  "Thumbsucker" and "vocal." I remember thinking that LO would be a thumbsucker.  In fact, I blogged to that effect.  In the end though, LO was neither a thumbsucker nor a paci guy...he just loved his Lovie. NB has seemed to be both, though in the last month he has taken the paci less in favor of his thumb.  As his startle reflex diminished and he got better at getting his hands to his mouth, I had hoped his thumb would help him sleep more.  It has seemed to help some, as I have heard him use it to fall to sleep in the middle of the night or during naps.  It wasn't the panacea I had hoped it would be though.  It's still pretty cute though, until we can't get him to stop this time next year....

When his thumb wasn't in his mouth, he was pretty vocal this past month.  At first he seemed to be pretty polite about it.  He cooed like crazy whenever he could get a word in edgewise.  Around here that tended to be in the middle of the night and during LO's naps.  Not particularly convenient, but cute all the same. Lately he is an equal opportunity coo-er.  LO coos back to him and asks us what he says.  It is really nice to see them interact in that way.

Nb not only coos with LO, he's also very focused on him.  At one point I had to ask LO to leave the room because NB wanted to watch him instead of nurse and I had to go to work.  Either NB has a really different relationship with his food than LO, or LO is VERY interesting to him.  I think both are a little true.  It seems to delight LO to get NB's attention, and it delights me to see my boys grow in their love for each other.

So I think those are the highlights of the last month for us.  I won't belabor the point that NB is still not sleeping through the night.  He is showing some signs of having a bit more of a schedule though.  He can be up for almost 2 hours at a time now, and seems to be ready to sleep for the night around 7 or 8 pm.  Most nights I am up with him for about 45 minutes around 2 or 3, then he is back down until 6 or 7.  DH is kind enough to get up with him at 6, but we're hoping he'll learn to be happy in his crib until 7.  My last hope is that he'll learn to roll over and the combination of belly sleeping and thumb sucking will equal a full nights rest for us all one day soon.  Until then, we're all learning to nap when we can.

This upcoming month sees the return of LO's school two mornings a week, and Kindermusik one additional morning.  I am trying to get back to the gym regularly which means getting the boys acclimated to the child watch area there.  For NB's sake, that means a lot of activity out of the house in the mornings, and I have no idea how to help him get a quality morning nap in the midst of all that.  I guess we'll see by next month!

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Just a side note: Shortly after this post where I asked for help because my picture capacity for this blog had been reached, I noticed that I was able to post pictures again.  At first they were lesser quality shots taken by a phone.  More recently though, I've been able to upload my usual camera shots.  The only explanation I have for this is that some kind reader has somehow gifted us with more picture capacity.  I never upped it myself, and don't know how someone else could have increased it for me.  In any case, I have been able to freely post pics ever since.  So, if someone out there is my secret benefactor.  THANK YOU!