Four Months

Dear Benjamin,

Oh my goodness, you're four months old! We've been in Atlanta for nearly two months now and things are going really well. I know I said that your second month was the best but I now stand corrected. Your third month was awesome! You have started to develop quite the personality. You crack me and Daddy up with all the funny faces you make. We can make you laugh now, too - you think we're really silly.

Every day you are growing stronger. You have great head control now and can sit up with assistance. You can sit up without assistance for a short while if you're using your arms to help balance. When you are sitting like this Mommy can't help but call you Guerrilla. With love, of course. You can bear weight on your legs and your grip is super strong. Especially when you have hold of my hair, which I would appreciate you not to do if you don't mind.

You are really fun to watch now, especially during playtime. You finally enjoy your activity mat and can both bat at and grab [and hold onto] the dangling toys without getting frustrated. You can do tummy time for long periods of time and have almost pushed yourself completely up. You're so close! You have rolled from your stomach to your back a few times and from your back to your stomach once. That was very exciting! You like your toys, especially anything you can easily bring to your mouth. Giraffe is still your favorite. You like when we read or do flashcards with you and every night Daddy reads you Goodnight Moon before prayers. You drool like crazy and put everything in your mouth. Usually your hand. Or mine. Or Daddy's. Sometimes a toy and a hand. Sometimes you try to put your hand in there while you're nursing. I guess you're a multi-tasker like your Mama.

We joined a moms/play group and are excited about having new friends! You're still too young but someday it will be fun for you to have so many babies to play with. We went to our first playdate this month and you had a blast with all the toys. You went to town on the Exersaucer and I can't wait to get one for you.

Sometimes it's easy to forget how young you are because you look like most of the other babies in the group who are five to eight months old already. I've been so curious about your new stats and was really looking forward to finding out where you stood today. 

Today we went to your new pediatrician who was recommended to us by two mommy's in the group. The girls in the office were flirting with you (soon it will be the other way around, I'm sure) and thought you were just the cutest. You surprised Mommy by weighing a full pound more than my guess, at 18 lb. 3 oz. That is the 93rd percentile. You are still 26 inches long (which you've been since your two month visit) which is in the 87th percentile. You're a big boy! Your doctor said you're in the 6 to 9 month range which we know because that's what size outfit you were sporting today.

After you were measured and we were alone in the office something scared you and you were screaming and crying like never before. It was unnerving because I had no idea what we wrong! When the doctor came in you calmed down and sat in my lap watching him as we talked. I liked him. He spent quite a bit of time with us, getting to know our history, and giving suggestions where I needed them. His practice offers an alternative vaccination schedule which is what I was looking for. The whole vaccination thing makes me incredibly uncomfortable. I wish you didn't have to get any at all. I am having to give this to God and to trust that He is taking care of you in this like in everything else. I wasn't emotionally or mentally prepared for you to receive your first two shots today. I wasn't prepared for that look of betrayal you gave me as I cried with you and kissed your face. I'm sorry that had to happen.

Thankfully, you didn't hold it against me for too long. All of these photos of you were taken after we got home from the doctors office and as you can see all was forgiven. 

The two main things we talked to the doctor about today were eating and sleeping. In the last month you have still been eating every 1.5-2.5 hours. I say eating but it's more like snacking. With the exception of your bedtime meal you only really eat for 5-8 minutes at a time. Even though you're a wonderfully chunky baby, I've had concerns that you're getting enough and getting enough of the good [for you] milk. The doctor would like to see you nursing every 3-4 hours and so we're going to try to stretch your feedings out a bit moving forward. Hopefully this will help you to sleep longer at night as well. Right now your schedule looks [more or less] like this:

8 :00AM Wake up, Breastfeed, Lay around with mama in bed, + Get dressed

8:30/9:00-9:45 Playtime

9:45 Breastfeed

10:00-12:00 Naptime

12:00 Breastfeed

12:30-1:45 Playtime

1:45 Breastfeed

2:00-5:00 Naptime (You were napping 2:00-4:00 and then 5:30-6:00. I much prefer this!)

5:00 Breastfeed

5:30-7:00 Playtime

7:00 Bathtime, Get ready for bed, Story + Prayer

7:45 Breastfeed

8:00 PM Bedtime

Right now you're waking up around 11:30, 2:00, and 4:00. From then on I bring you to the bed to co-sleep so that we can both sleep while I nurse you sidelying. We're starting sleep training this month so I'm sure our schedule will be evolving. I can't wait to see what other ways you grow and change this month!

I love you forever, 

Mama