Yet another month has flown by, and here I find myself with a four month old baby. Your fourth month began in mid-October and included your first illness and your first holiday. But first the stats-- at four months, you weigh 15 lbs. even (66%), you are 25.5 inches long (88%), and your head clocks in at an impressive 42.3 cm (90%.) You handled your shots at the doctor's office slightly better than at your two month appointment, but you still had a rough evening back at home. You seem to be a little more sensitive than your brother in this area, and I don't blame you. Shots are no fun. At the beginning of your fourth month, your second bottom tooth poked through, and now you have a cute set of lower teeth that are increasingly visible with each smile.
In the sleep department, you continue to do well. Teething late in your third month and early into your fourth month threw you off a bit, but most nights you go to bed around 7:30pm (the same time as your brother) and sleep until 7 or 8am. You are typically waking up about once a night now, sometime between 3-5am and we'll nurse and then you go back to sleep easily. There are nights when you will sleep for an uninterrupted 12 hour stretch, but they are less frequent than last month. We're hoping to make 12 hour stretches more of a habit in the coming month. But I can't complain too much-- you continue to take regular 2-3 hour naps each afternoon (going down at the same time as Nicholas) and if we're at home in the morning, you'll take a 1-2 hour nap. Otherwise, you continue to nap on the go very contently.
Your fourth month also brought a new milestone immediately followed by your first big illness. On October 30th, you successfully rolled over from your back to your stomach. That night we unswaddled you for the first time, and you woke up screaming around 3am. I thought it was just because you were unaccustomed to sleeping unswaddled, but when I picked you up to nurse you, you felt hotter than anything I've ever experienced. I woke Daddy up to help me take your temperature, and you were screaming so hysterically that we had to stop before the thermometer beeped, but in that short time the thermometer had already reached 103.7. We frantically dialed the on-call pediatrician and she advised us to give you acetaminophen and a sponge back with luke warm water to help bring your fever down. If your temperature didn't go down, she warned, we would need to take you to the ER at Dell Children's Hospital. You threw up two doses of medicine (due to the fever), but finally kept the third dose down and settled down to go back to sleep around 5am. Later that morning, we took you in to the doctor, where a worried pediatrician did a bunch of different tests on you, including a blood draw to check your white blood cell count. Fortunately everything came back normal within a few days. In the following day or two, your fever dissipated and the illness settled into a run of the mill cold virus (probably brought home from preschool by your big brother.) A fever that high in a three and a half month old is usually very serious, but despite giving us quite a scare, you recovered quickly and were back to your usual smiling self within a few days.
Aside from your first bout of illness, your fourth month included lots of fun, including your first Halloween. On October 18th, we made a trip out to the pumpkin patch to kick off the fall season (although it was pretty hot, humid, and decidedly un-fall that day.)
You were a trooper and tolerated us propping you up against a bunch of pumpkins and making you pose for pictures-- both at the Sweet Berry Farm pumpkin patch and later at our church's pumpkin patch.
And, despite your rough night on the 30th, you seemed well enough on the evening of Halloween to get bundled up in your strawberry costume and take a stroll through the neighborhood while Nicholas went trick or treating. He may have gotten all the candy, but you stole the show as the cutest little baby berry.
At four months, your personality is really beginning to shine. You continue to be extremely content, and happy, and now you have started giggling, which is just the most precious sound. We love to make you laugh, and when you really think something is hilarious you do an awesome snort laugh that makes us crack up too. I have also discovered that you love being sung to. Your favorites so far are Twinkle Twinkle and Baa Baa Black Sheep, and you just light up with joy when I start singing to you, usually as we rock and snuggle before bed. It is truly adorable.
Little ladybug, I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be your mother. You bring so much joy to our lives, and every month with you just keeps getting better. Time is moving much too quickly for my taste, but I also know that we have so many fun things to look forward to in the months and years ahead. I look forward to each and every day with you, and I can't wait to see what's next.
All my love,
Mommy
