4 Months Old

4 months. Part of me can't believe my baby is already 4 months old! Another part of me can hardly remember what life was like without him. Was that really only 4 months ago? One thing is for sure...he is growing and growing and growing!

We visited the pediatrician for his routine 4 month visit yesterday. The stats are:

Weight: 16 lbs. 10 oz. - 81st percentile

Height: 24.5 inches - 38th percentile

Head: 17 cm - 70th percentile

In other words...we have a big boy! (And I ought to have some killer biceps before long!)

Dr. Peterlin was thrilled with his growth. Especially since he started out so little. She said huge spurts like that are very common with 100% breastfed babies and that in the coming months he will likely plateau and then start coming down a bit as he becomes more active and mobile. For now, she thinks he should open a bakery because he is "all buns and rolls". Cute.

As far as the rest of the check-up, he is the picture of health. No lingering signs of last month's ear infection. Right on track developmentally. Good head control. 4 more vaccinations.

We talked about his sleep habits. His longest stretch (usually 4-5 hours) starts at 7 am on the way to daycare. His afternoon and evening naps are usually under an hour and he is still getting up twice overnight. Essentially, we just need to adjust his "clock" a bit. We're going to experiment with waking him up once his naps have reached 2 hours. That way, we know he is getting an appropriate number of feedings during the daytime hours. Then, if he wakes up overnight, it is not because he is hungry. We can just soothe him back to sleep rather than do a full feeding routine - which means Drew can play a more active role as well! I also learned that the "trust factor" has been fully established by this age. So...it is not harmful to let him fuss it out a bit before jumping at his every whimper. (I'm sure that will be harder for me to accept than Jackson.) We'll see how it goes.

We also talked about solid foods. He is ready to begin cereal at any time between now and 6 months - at our leisure. Dr. Peterlin said there is really no benefit to starting early - she started her son (he's 3 now) when he was 5 1/2 months old - the timing is completely up to us. Drew & I are still debating that one.

So far, his regular check-ups have all been first thing in the afternoon. I've decided, if at all possible, to keep that routine. First, there is practically zero wait time when you're the first appointment after the lunch hour - no time for them to get behind schedule! Second, it gives Jack & I a chance to spend the rest of the afternoon together. Kind of a nice tradition for the 2 of us. Yesterday, we were able to see Cortney since she's still in town. In the future, I can see us stopping for an ice cream cone as our special treat on Dr. visit day!

4 months old. It's amazing how quickly they grow.