4 Months Old!

Soren turned 4 months old this past weekend, and he is beginning to look like such a little boy!

Today at his 4 month appt., he weighed 13lbs. even and was 24.5 inches long. He is still in the 10th% for weight, but the pediatrician is very happy with his numbers as he is staying on his growth curve.

Soren's eating schedule is not so consistent anymore. He's starting to use nursing as a soother, so sometimes he wants to nurse at 30 min. increments for just a short time, and other times he can go a long time without nursing. It's frustrating, but at the same time, I am his safety and security, and there's nothing wrong with that. He also is starting to want to nurse to fall asleep. This last week we went to a nursing mother's group and the lactation consultant reminded us that babies nurse for many different reasons, not just for eating. That made me feel better about his nursing habits as of lately. I just wish there wasn't such a stigma attached to nursing.

I have started giving Soren a 4 oz. thickened formula bottle at bedtime to help keep his medicine down and also keep his belly full for a longer night stretch. He seems to be tolerating it much better now and it doesn't seem to be backing up his bowels like it did before. Sometimes giving a formula bottle is more convenient (in the car, at a restaurant), but I really need to start nipping this in the butt. I have plenty of breast milk, that's what he needs to be eating. It will just take a little bit more planning on my part. I think I need to buy a car bottle warmer, and also another bottle warmer to have at my parent's house.

A few weeks ago, Soren began sleeping for 5-6 hour stretches at night in his crib, and it was glorious! Then we went down to visit family in IA, and his whole routine got thrown off and when we came back, he was up every. 2. hours, just like a newborn. That's when I decided to try the thickened bottles. Since then, he has been back to sleeping for a 4-6 hour stretch at night. Once he wakes up, I bring him to our bed and nurse him off and on for the remainder of the night. Co-sleeping is beginning to get more difficult as I wake up with an achy, sore back from not moving at all out of fear of rolling on him. He is also getting heavier too, so when he lays on my arm I also often wake with a numb arm. I'm not sure where we will go from here, whether I will try to nurse him in his room then put him back in his crib or what we will do. I do know that our morning cuddles are precious and I love them. Soren is also now starting to be able to fall asleep in his crib on his own. I do rock him a bit before laying him in there, but then he will just fall back to sleep on his own. He's doing great in the sleep department, and I think it's because we followed his lead. We will continue to try new things as I feel that he is ready, but if he's not, that's okay.

Soren's reflux is still a PIA. I sure love this baby stage, but I will NOT miss the constant spitting up. I think the Prevacid helps to make him feel more comfortable, but it does not decrease the frequency or volume of his spit-up. I have even tried cutting out caffeine but it doesn't seem to consistently be helping. When I spoke with his pediatrician today, she said caffeine in moderation is fine, but lots of caffeine can worsen it. Most days I drank caffeine in moderation, so who knows. I'm just starting to get really irritated about it, especially when he does it out in public, and it gets all over the floor, furniture, etc. It's exhausting. His pediatrician said it will also get worse now since he is scrunching, rolling, sitting, etc. which all can put pressure on his stomach. Once he begins standing and walking more, it should get better.

Soren is now standing straight when you hold his hands which seems to enjoy. He also can sit up straight when you put him in a sitting position, but he's not quite ready to sit on his own. When laying on his tummy, he pushes his head and chest up using his arms, can hold the position for quite some time! He's beginning to try rolling from his back to his side. Just this last week we put him in his jumperoo, and he started reaching for the toys and tries to manipulate them. His hands are still in a semi-clutched position when he does this, but he loves feeling them now. Soren is also getting very 'grabby' with his hands. Yesterday he grabbed my friend's necklace, and he is often grabbing our hands tries bringing them to his mouth. His hands are in his mouth constantly now, and he is starting to drool, indicating 'teething behavior' as the pediatrician calls it. Usually he will put 2-3 fingers in his mouth and go to town. He also loves sucking on my knuckles and sides of my fingers. He's not-so-much a fan of putting toys in his mouth yet, but I'm sure that is just around the corner.

Soren is becoming more fearful of strangers and loud noises. I am able to comfort him if he becomes scared, which feels pretty special for me. He is also doing alot of sad-laughing lately where he laughs and coos, but also starts to pout...it's kinda funny actually. He used to love his car seat, but since this weekend, he's not liking getting put in his car seat... I wonder if it's because he is getting more curious about his environment and feels trapped in it. He does still do well on car rides though, so that helps considering the many trips to IA we take. Soren is 'talking' much more now, using many different sounds and pitches. On occasion he will even match our pitches we give him. He is beginning to squeal and giggle now too.

Soren is wearing 3-6 month clothes, and I have officially packed away all of his 0-3 month clothes :-(. It's so hard to pack them away, not knowing if we will ever use them again (another blog post for another day), and also knowing he will never wear them again. We are needing to go and buy more 3-6 and 6-9 month clothing because he doesn't have enough...especially when we're averaging 5 outfits a day from the reflux. His precious newborn bear hat is starting to get too small on him, so I'm thinking about ordering another to have for the Winter. He is also still wearing his one-size (fits all) cloth diapers, and fuzzibunz perfect size smalls. We just received a free itti bitti d'lish in a medium and that seems to fit him very well too.

We've been pretty busy this month visiting grandma & grandpa Johnson for 4 days, and also this past weekend we visited my friends for the weekend. We also just signed up for a YMCA membership, so hopefully we'll start getting him into the pool and used to the water. At 6 months we can start him in parent-child swim lessons.

I have to say, I really love this age. I love the interactions we get to have with him, and I love all the new things he's learning.

I'll try and post videos later.