My sweet little boy turned 16 weeks old this past week. We went to our 4 month doctor appointment and my little 7 pound, 18 3/4 inch long baby has turned into a 19 pound, 26 1/2 inch big, big boy. He is in the 95 percentile on weight, 90 percentile in height, and 99 percentile in pure happiness. Dr. Millar said he is perfect and doesn't care how big he is, as long as the height and weight are proportional. Cole is bigger than many of our friend's 6-9 month olds. Oh well, I sometimes get annoyed with all of the comments that people, especially strangers, make when they ask and I tell them he is only 4 months old...but oh well, have you seen my family??? Cole doesn't have a chance of being a little person.
This past month, Cole has started to do some new tricks too. He rolls from his belly to his back - if he feels like it. One week he did it every single time I put him on his tummy, but now he just does it if he is in the mood I guess. He also started giggling outloud too, you know that good deep baby belly laugh. The kind of laugh that just melts your heart and makes you giggle outloud too. He mostly laughs when we kiss his neck or tickle his belly, but he laughed for a good 5 minutes this morning when I was shaking a caterpillar rattle at him...so who knows.
Cole constantly "talks" and "sings". In fact when I take him shopping, people stop and look in the basket at him because he is so loud. Again, he can't be a quiet person with parents like Dan and me :)
Dr. Millar gave us the OK to start rice cereal. I was really nervous because I wasn't sure how he would react. Lately, he has tried to grab the food I was eating out of my hand and when he we eat dinner he just stares at me and laughs...so the interest in food is definitely there. Last night Dan and I made the first attempt at feeding him cereal, really soupy formula cereal. He wasn't quite sure about it. At first he gagged a lot and I thought, gosh he is not quite ready yet, but he got better. Towards the end of our 10 bite adventure, he would turn towards the spoon, open his mouth, make the bitter beer face, gag a bit, smile, and then want to do it again. I 'm not sure if he liked it or not - probably just still too new. It made for an interesting diaper this morning though :) He slept last night from 8:00 until 5:30 this morning - the longest ever at 9 and 1/2 hours. Usually he only sleeps for 8 hours without waking up. Was it the cereal like people say - who knows? But Dan and I sure did enjoy the sleep.
I have been reading the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I swear it is totally working. He is a little young to start, but he really has lost all fussy times the past week due to going to bed by 8:00 and taking a nap (about an hour) ever two hours he is awake. The book suggests catching him before he gets too tired and putting him down for a nap. We worked really hard at that this week and he has been a perfect baby - shots and all. He loves getting swaddled up in the baby straight jacket and smiling at me until he closes his eyes. No fussing, no fighting, and it only takes about 3 minutes until he falls asleep. The book is wonderful.
The only bad thing about Cole being 4 months old is that it is time for me to head back to work. I miss going to work, I need to go to work for all sorts of reasons, financially and mentally - but I am struggling with leaving Cole. I know he is going to be in good care - our neighbor referred us to her in-home daycare provider and we were really impressed. He starts tomorrow and will go next week for just a few hours a day as we both adjust...well as I adjust. I am sure he will be fine. Dan will take him to Ms. Debra's house (only about 5 miles away) around 8:00 every morning and I will pick Cole up around 4:30 every afternoon. It is quality versus quantity right? That is what I keep telling myself.
This morning, Cole was laying in his boppy on the living room floor and somehow Dan and I both ended up on the floor next to him, with our heads on each side of his boppy just talking to our son. It is funny how priorities have changed. What a wonderful morning for the Walker family.
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