I did take the picture the week he turned 4 months, so it's accurate at least.
Also, I'm aware how long this post is. It's mostly for the grandparents, the aunts, and the uncles. I'm also not above printing it out and stapling it into a baby book because there is no way I'm writing all this down twice.
He smiles and laughs all the time. We grab his chin and call it "chin meat" and he loves that. He likes looking in the mirror and laughing at our reflections too. He is turning into quite the chubby little baby, or so I thought. He's at the 16th percentile for weight and the 11th for height. He was in the 14th and 10th when he was born, so he's growing steadily and proportionally, I guess. He's all ankle rolls and wrist rolls though.
Eyes are still blue and hair is a fuzzy blondish/brown. I had fuzzy hair like this until I was probably a year old, so I don't expect it to start growing soon or anything.
Wells is in almost all 9 month clothes at this point. Anything I buy him from here on out, unless it really runs big, will be 12 month clothes because the 9 month Christmas pjs I just got him fit just right.
He rolled over at about 3 months and one week. Belly to back. He does it randomly and sporadically but, as I've learned from my many attempts to catch this on film, one cannot make a baby roll over. He doesn't spend as much time on his tummy as he probably *should* but that's because our house can be drafty with it's all-wood floors and Wyoming is cold and he also doesn't like it. He likes to be up where he can see me, so we do tummy time mostly on the bed when I'm folding laundry.
He is still not a fan of pacifiers. He chews on his hands all day long so I attempt a pacifier once a week or so and he just spits it out and looks at me with disgust. So I'm just packing them away. It's possible that he's starting to teethe but he would rather chew on his hands and shriek than have something in his mouth. He adores blankets though. I throw one on top of him and he'll hug it and roll around with it for quite awhile. I've found that the multitude of receiving blankets we have make great burp cloths/toys for him.
hug, hug, hug
That's a giraffe lovey that a student got me last year for him.
I packed away the 4 oz. bottles. I liked the little bottles because Wells actually has started holding onto them and putting them into his mouth and taking them out again, and he can't do that well with the 8 oz. But he's drinking 5-7 oz at a time and that was becoming nothing but a pile of bottles to make up, take apart, run through the dishwasher, and allow to dry every day. He still rarely drinks 8 oz. at a time though. He's definitely a snacker.
I'm using size 3 diapers, and my favorite are Huggies and Target's generic brand. The Wal-Mart brand is good too. I'm grateful that he doesn't have super sensitive skin and can wear any diaper I've tried. I'm hoping he gets Scott's skin. Mine reacts to everything.
Sleep was the biggest focus for me over the last month and a half. Sometime around mid-October, he stopped sleeping at night and I think he went through the 4-month regression a month early because it's getting better now that I've been sleep-training him. I suppose I can talk more about that in a later update, because it's constantly changing anyway.
Wells' head has been one of my biggest stressors for the last two months. He was born with a round head and no one said anything about it until his two month appointment when the doctor mentioned it was getting flat and to do more tummy time. She said he might need physical therapy. Physical therapy is generally for babies who struggle turning their head or favor one side. He doesn't favor a side, really.
So anyway, my fear was that, with no 3 month appointment, they would say at 4 months that he needs some kind of intervention (that could've been started at 3 months). With us moving in January, right after he turns 6 months, I was worried that we wouldn't have time to start something like that and we'd be behind getting him set up elsewhere. (Given that we still don't know where we're going to LIVE, this was a particular thought that kept me up at night.)
In the end, the pediatrician said we could consult a physical therapist if we wanted to, or we could just work on keeping him off the back of his head. It's not a huge issue, I suppose. Just something I need to pay attention to (again, it keeps me up at night). Everything I've read online seems to point to heads evening out once babies start sitting upright more. Luckily, he spends time in his activity table now (and doesn't always fall asleep that way).
Things I use all the time:
Nose Frida + Nose Frida Saline Spray
I should've mentioned this awhile ago because I've been using it since month one. I honestly don't find the Nose Frida to be that gross, which is a common complaint about it. I would rather do this than change a messy diaper.
But I like the Nose Frida, as opposed to the bulbs because you can see exactly what you're getting out and it's so easy to clean. I just run it under hot soapy water and let it air dry. With a bulb, you never know what you're getting out, and the germs and potential mold that hang out inside...well, that bothers me because I can't truly clean it out and allow it to dry.
The saline spray that goes with it is also a lifesaver. Living at a high elevation and a pretty dry climate, I've been using this on Wells since he was a few weeks old. He doesn't even mind it. Anytime I hear him getting a little snuffly or congested, I use it and it also loosens everything up. He loves it and laughs when I spray it.
The bouncer. This thing is worth every penny. I registered for one because I thought I should. We kept it in the box until Wells was 3 weeks old because we just didn't need it right away. But for the last 3 months, we've used it every day. The vibration and the little mice make him so happy. It's the perfect place to park him and I even put it on the bathroom floor if I'm showering when Scott isn't home and Wells is awake. (The humidity is good for him, right?)
It's not the least bulky thing every invented, but it's worth it for now.
I would say a bouncer is something it wouldn't hurt to put on your registry. You don't need an expensive one, but I would get one with a hanging mobile or something for baby to look at. Wells really enjoys the mice and I would say this is why he dislikes the rock-and-play; there's nothing for him to look at, as he had gotten used to the mice on the bouncer and the swing.
The Snugapuppy swing returned in full force this past month. After him spending a lot of time in it his first 6 weeks, he started hating it for some reason. Well, after a month hanging out in the rock-and-play, he decided he hated the r-and-p even more, so the swing was looking pretty good. This is where I make my case that I think the r-and-p was a waste for us (This isn't the one we have but a rock-and-play is a rock-and-play...ours was automatic and I hated it.). He never liked it so it was really just a cradle; it wasn't anything that calmed him down or put him to sleep. In fact, if I had a dollar for everyone who told me I "needed" a r-and-p and it would solve any sleep problems and then had nothing to say back when I said he didn't like it....I would be able to pay for the r-and-p. As it is, I would like to snap it in half and burn it like kindling.
I HIGHLY recommend adding a swing to your registry if you're looking at these types of items. It's much more versatile, they can still sleep in it the way they do in the r-and-p, and there's many more music, sound, movement options. Plus, that mobile of mice. He loves them. It's not as easy to move around and takes up more space, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for 6 months.
The BIG news this past month was that we found out Wells is getting a little cousin in the spring! We don't know if this will be a boy or a girl yet, but I'm very excited for my brother and sister-in-law and I'm thrilled Wells will have a cousin close in age. (They can have the rock-and-play if they want it.)
Some babies are 100% pacifier babies - others could care less. Funny how babies can be super picky from the beginning :)
ReplyDeleteIs that why they put some babies in those helmets? For the shaping of their heads? Gosh - it is always something to worry about with a baby, isn't it? I feel like when I was a baby, this wasn't an issue. I gotta ask my mom about it.
Don't worry about his head, it will even out. Doctors had the same concern about E but once she started sitting up and it was fine.
ReplyDeleteThat's good to know! No one told me this when he was born/less than 2 months. I can tell that it's already getting better :)
DeleteOne of the twins just finished therapy for the head favoring, she didn't do it much but because she's a nicu baby it was required and she now is getting a helmet for a bit also. Again nothing major but since they go by their adjusted rather than their actual until the age of 2, they are doing it all.
ReplyDeleteYay for a cousin close in age! Cyrus has a cousin 5 weeks younger and I think that's so fun. (My closest cousin in age is...5 years younger than me). We got a really cheap bouncer and we got way more than our money's worth out of it. He loved napping in it...I probably used it way too long (he was definitely too big for it by the time I put it away) but he had a lot of fun!
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