4 months old | The Stork and the Beanstalk

Growth & Appearance: The left side of you head is still flatter than the right. You prefer turning your head to the left and even if I turn your head to the right, more times than not, two minutes later you’re facing the left again.

Your eyes still appear blue, but a dark blue. Nearly gray. If I had to bet on your eye color at this point in time, I’d guess they’ll ultimately be brown.

Your hair, it seems, is on it’s way to blond. It seems to be closer to Hooper’s in texture; soft and fine as opposed to thick and wiry like Van’s. It has grown significantly in length.

You’re in size 2 diapers and on days that we put you in clothes, you seem to be in the 6 month range. And on the days you’re in clothes you’re usually wet, from all the drool. Lots and lots of drool these days. The amber necklace is worthless, but beautiful, so we keep it.

You weigh 17 lbs, are 28 in long, and have a head circumference of 17.5 inches. You are above the 97th percentile for both height and weight.

Sleeping: You still sleep next to me, in your wombie. I say it every month and one of these months it will finally take place, but the plan is for you to go to your crib as soon as we move into our new home. Until then, the crib has remained in the garage and you’ve remained next to me. We have no intentions of continuing to co-sleep and I’m eager to get you set up in your own bed.

You tend to fall asleep around 9:30pm. I wake you up before I go to bed (around 10:30), feed you one more time, change you, throw you in your straight jacket, and put you down. Nursing still puts you to sleep but you’re fine with putting yourself to sleep too, it seems. You’ve slept through the night several times, waking up about 6am, sometimes 7am. If you wake at 4 or 5 or 6, you’ll feed and go back to sleep. If you wake at 7, we start our day.

You never cry when you wake up; instead, I’m awoken by you lifting your legs up in the air at a 90 degree angle and then slamming them down on the bed, making a loud thud. The thuds get closer together the longer I ignore you. We refer to this as “the whale flap”; Papa, “did the whale flap wake you up this morning?”, Me, “sure did”.

If you’re not waking me with your whale flap, you’re waking me with your monstrous, man-sized, farts.

You nap throughout the day, with no noted routine.
Eating: You nurse every two hours, on average, during the day. You’re much quicker and efficient, taking about 10-15 minutes total during most feeds.

You love to grab at my shirt when you’re feeding and you watch your hand catch my shirt and release with fascination.

I’ve tried pumping after your morning feedings but am getting very little extra now that you’re sleeping through the night and my milk has regulated to such.

You seem to have some awareness of what goes into my mouth and like to watch as I eat.
Development: You love sucking your thumb and your toes.

You’ve rolled from your tummy to your back a few times and are able to scoot, without rolling, over enough of the bed that it’s unsafe to leave you unattended. You’ve rolled from your back to your tummy a few times as well, but it’s hardly a regular thing; more of a fluke.

You smile with your whole body and are happy most always.

Everything goes in your mouth. You love to get ahold of your onesie and stick it in your mouth. You also like putting whatever blanket is on you in your mouth. My favorite is when you grab my fingers and direct them to your mouth.

Your hand-eye coordination is still developing but every now and again, by chance, you’ll get a grip on something. Like the other day when I left you on the bed and you caught hold of a candlestick and smacked yourself in the face with it.

Your little legs never stop kicking. Always in motion.

Growth: You weigh 16 lbs, 8 oz. (82nd percentile). Just for a point of reference, your brother weighed 12 lbs, 12 oz. at four months.You are 27 inches long (97th percentile). You’re outgrowing your swing and bouncer. You head is 16 5/8 inches (60th percentile). You wear a size 3 diaper. I cannot tell you how nice it is to not worry about your weight. I hope this translates to you being a good eater.

Appearance: You hit your three month growth spurt and practically overnight your hair grew noticeably longer. It’s thick and brown and covers your whole head with the exception of a small bald spot still on the back of your head. In your months prior, you had a goofy side profile due to an odd shaped head but during the same growth spurt, your head filled in. Your profile, however, is still kinda goofy. Your right ear still sticks out considerably further than your left. I’m guessing that won’t change. Could be worse. You could have two ears that stick out. Remember to always keep things in perspective. I gather you’ll hear better with your right ear, so be thankful for that.

Your balls are now normal size. I wouldn’t include this in a post except for the fact that if we were to have a third child and if it were to be another boy, I’d like some cheat sheet to remind me when baby boy balls go from fluid filled elephant sized nuts to little baby ball sacks. The answer is about three and a half months. See, now I won’t forget.

Your eyebrows and eyelashes are becoming more apparent, though they’re still very light.

You auntie Kiki says you look like Elmer Fudd. I kinda agree.

Sleeping: You hit the three month growth spurt just a few days after your three month birthday. We were in San Diego and the single night we spent there became known as our worst night yet. You woke every hour, on the hour, from 11pm to 3am, to feed. That’s five additional feedings, not to mention three mid-night shits that also required changing. It was a long night. That three month growth spurt has bit me in the ass twice now, as the same thing happened with your brother. As luck would have it, both times we were away from home.

You’ve gotten back on track, however. I tend to put you down around 10pm and you wake up somewhere around 6am, nurse, and then go back to sleep for a few more hours. You must sense the mornings I work because twice in a row now you’ve awoken early at 4:45 to feed just before I set my alarm to get up to pump and shower. You’re a smart little booger. There have also been a few surprises this month, with random night feedings. Your baseline is consistent but you like to throw a curve ball every now and again. With that said, you sleep an average of 12 to 13 hours in a 24 hour period. Most of this occurs in one long stretch with a feeding in between. You nap for short spurts of time throughout the day. We’re still swaddling you at night.

Developmental: Everything goes in your mouth these days and since you’re still lacking in the coordination department, this means your hands end up there more than anything else. You also like sucking on whatever blanket is covering you, but more times than not we find those two fingers pluggin’ up that hole. The doctor said at your last appointment, when you were two months, that you should start batting objects or grabbing a rattle between three and four months. You have no interest in rattles or objects. Instead, it’s the blanket you grab and pull to your little chompers. Even when you’re breastfeeding there’s times you seem more interested in my shirt than my boob. Your hands, in general, do not stop moving. Every now and again, I catch you gazing at them with complete and utter fascination. You have found your hands and you are very impressed.

You are calm and peaceful. You love being in the presence of others and are a quiet observer. I took in to the doc for a shot and you cried less than 5 seconds. Cry isn’t even the right noun, as it was more like a moan. You’re pretty cool, calm, and collected. Which means you’ll probably be a monster when you become a toddler.

You transfer from person to person with ease. As long as someone is paying attention to you, you are more than content.

Your head control has gotten much stronger and I’m now able to carry you on my hip which sure beats the awkward over the shoulder thing. If I stand you up on your feet, you push against the floor pretending to stand. You’ve rolled from your stomach to your back twice in one day and then never again since then. You can lift your head to a 90 degree angle when you’re on your tummy. You also like sitting in the bumbo and are able to tolerate sitting in it for an extended amount of time.

You love watching Hooper play. You track him as he runs all over the room and make great eye contact with him when he finally sits still. You smile when he says “hi-yee” to you and you practically beg for his attention. It’s a special thing to watch mature. Don’t ruin it by fighting over toys and arguing about stupid shit, okay?

You smile and giggle and I’m reminded all over again why every new mom should wait until their child is three months old before determining if having a child was a good idea or not. Eating: I’ve coined you as the one tit wonder. This is because it’s a wonder to me how you can only take one breast, refuse the other, and still be the chunkster that you are. Maybe this is a sign as to what will come in the future. Maybe you’ll release a single like “Ice Ice Baby” and transform from the one tit wonder to the one hit wonder. Dumb joke, I know. It’s late.

As of late, you’ve shown interest in watch others eat. The other day, you were sitting on my lap as I ate and you tracked the food all the way from the plate to my hand to my mouth. It’s like you’re begging for a taste. Pretty soon my young lad, pretty soon.

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April 2024

The Stork and the Beanstalk

A Mother's Journal