Bourbon & Boots: Four Months

Hey, mister.

I thought that this hadn't really been a month of big changes (at least not compared to the 2-3 month leap), but now that I look back, I think there was more going on than I'd given us credit for.

I think you still eat pretty well, but have definitely gotten distractible as you become more and more aware of the world around you. It helps to stay in the nursery for feeding, where it's darker and quieter. Otherwise you're popping your little head up every 3 minutes and I can't tell when you're finished or not (giving rise to fears of starvation, but you seem ok). You're eating every 3 hours, but I think this is starting to extend, too. Basically you just need to decide whether you want shorter, more frequent feedings, or are moving to a more spread-out schedule with feedings for which you'll need to focus.

You are now sleeping in your own crib for naps and at night. Your daddy went out of town for a week at the end of May, and I just decided to make the switch then in case it involved lots of screaming (yours) in the dark. Then I wouldn't have to worry about keeping him up during a work week and such. I had this elaborate plan with gradual changes, but it was really fine. (I wrote it all up, but it ended up not being that interesting or illuminating, so I never posted it.)

We start the bedtime routine some time in the 8-9pm hour. I know, I know--everyone else's babies go to bed at 6pm, so we're not winning any Parent of the Year awards here, but we've played around with it and this is the timeline that works for our family right now. You now read books with daddy while I set up for bath and bed. I'm not sure I can say that you "like" books, but you generally tolerate being read to. I think you are actually usually looking over the book at Light Fixture, but we're sowing the seeds of Future Brilliance so book time stays.

After bath, we do lotion, jammies, and suit up. Generally we have to be pretty hilarious during this part of the sequence, because you know it means bedtime is coming and voice your displeasure. I just take this to mean we've done a good job of establishing a predictable routine. After you're suited up, we brush hair, turn out the lights, turn on Sleep Sheep, and you eat. Sometimes you fall asleep at this point, but not always. I think we do well enough following directions ("put him down drowsy, but not asleep!") most of the time, so I don't really worry about an eat-to-sleep association.

You typically sleep until 4-5am, at which point you eat and go back to sleep until 7:45. At this point, I stay in the nursery because your daddy gets up around 5 to start his day, and I want to be able to go back to sleep easily to get those extra hours. You eat again and sleep for another hour until you're up for the day at about 8:45 or 9. Then you chill in the swing while I have coffee and breakfast, which we follow up with Tummy Time.

am I doing this right?

You still go down for your first nap an hour after waking up. This limits our mornings, but I know it won't last forever and a rested baby is the key to the whole world. After each nap throughout the day, I can count on you being able to stay up for an hour and a half, and then it's time to go right back down again. So it's sort of the Groundhog Day of naps around here, but...again...it's working for now. Initially, each of your naps was only 30 minutes. I think you are starting to extend them a bit; I can now count on at least 45 minutes for each one, and sometimes the afternoon one stretches pretty long. I have to be pretty attentive at the end of a sleep cycle (around 45 min) and see whether you're really awake when the crying starts, or whether you just need a little help to sleep some more.

All in all, I think you're a really good sleeper. I try not to proclaim this too often or too loudly, and I've heard tell of a "four-month wakeful period" (let's just skip that, k? K.), so I am aware that this can change at any moment. And I know we owe more thanks to your temperament than anything awesome or brilliant we've done as parents. In fact, each day you end as happily as you began it makes us fear that any subsequent children will be nocturnal colic monsters spewing baby fire, but...we'll just focus on this for now.

Likes:

lights & ceiling fans...still

diiiiidddd you know there's a lamp over there?

mommy & daddy
anyone else with a face
squishy cheeks
Light Show; talking to Light Show
hair tickles
Kick & Play piano
bath time
singing "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me"
barnyard animal noises
your hands. In your mouth. All the time.

Dislikes:

suiting up (putting on the Baby Merlin)

Milestones:

good head control
growing torso control
pushes up on arms and looks around

rolls front to back
sleeping in crib
good grasping but not quite reaching
back arching and scooting--this is annoying/scary and has necessitated being strapped in to all toys at all times
pulling to sit/sitting with assistance
pretty chatty; making some early consonant sounds but not often
you are starting to notice the dogs (uh-oh) and will track them across the room

Stats: