Four Months Old

My sweet baby turned 4 months old on Dec 19th!

Waking up happy

Here's a video to document the special day.

And another video so you can enjoy listening to him.

He's great at holding his head up and does really well with tummy time on the Boppy pillow.

His half grin

 He had his 4 month check up with the doctor right on his birthday.  We were put in the same beach room as his first visit to the doctor.

My chunky monkey - interested in my necklace

He's happy at this point...

Look at those rolls! (not mine)

Once he figured out that the paper on the table made noise, he started kicking up a storm.

Here's an after picture of his poor legs with the band aids from his shots.  He ended up being in a lot of pain that night and cried anytime his legs touched anything or were in certain positions.  It was awful to hear him scream like that and not be able to do anything about it.  It wasn't this bad last time and I hope next time is better than this.

Here's his stats:
Weight: 14 lbs 3 oz, 36th percentile
Height: 23.25 inches, 3rd percentile
Head: 41.5 cm, 30th percentile

He's my chunky, SHORT, baby.  :)  Hopefully this doesn't indicate that he got my height.  I am hoping for a serious growth spurt to hit sometime.  His doctor wasn't concerned though.  She said he's healthy and it's okay.  I asked her about his head and if it was too flat on the back.  She took a look and said that she wished she could take a picture and show it to other parents as an example of how good their baby's head could look.  I was glad to hear that because I've been focused on making sure he doesn't spend too much time on his back and end up with a flat head (Peter would never forgive me if our son was one of those poor kids that had to wear a helmet to help their head form correctly).  That's my boy - a shining example for others!

His doctor said that he's almost big enough to start on solid foods - we'll know he's ready when his sleep habits change at night and he sleeps for shorter amounts of time.  That hasn't happened yet, but when it does, I'm not going to give him food.  I am pretty committed to waiting until he is 6 months old.  I've read about too many studies that show the importance of exclusively breastfeeding until your baby is 6 months old.  I know that other parents have started before that, and I don't judge them.  But for me, I'm going to wait until 6 months.  At this point, we are doing good - Max hadn't had any food or formula, just breastmilk.  YEAH!

Here's some of Max's likes at 4 months old:
his dad
computer screens
looking at the TV
Christmas tree lights
listening to himself talk
blowing out of his diapers
cooing at the toys on his play mat
being naked
getting his diaper changed
waking up in the morning
standing up
being sung to or hummed at
baths
his white noise machine
the swing at Brittany's house
being swaddled when he sleeps
he likes falling asleep on our bed with me next to him and his face touching my head - it seems to be the only way I can get him to sleep anymore so I do it and then move him to his pack-n-play in our room once he's asleep  (Peter can still get him to sleep by holding him and swaying with him)
being a part of the action - sitting on some one's lap while everyone is eating
being held upright
sitting in his poop chair - this is the bouncy seat that we leave in our bathroom so I can put him in it while showering.  It's got lights and plays music while vibrating.  I call it his "poop chair" because nearly every time he's in it, he poops
holding onto mommy's clothes while nursing

Some of Max's dislikes:
tummy time
being in the car /car seat
clothes being pulled over his head
being left alone in a room
the Baby Bjorn (baby carrier) for the first 5 minutes
being rocked to sleep
going to sleep
going to sleep outside of his particular habit - this kid is super particular about how he wants to be put to sleep.  I swore that I wouldn't have that picky baby who would only go to sleep a certain way.  Unfortunately when mommy/daddy is tired, it's easier to just do what works and perpetuate the problem.
when hats cover his eyes