Carter: 4 months old

Carter turned 4 months old this weekend.

A few pictures from my phone over the last few weeks...

He looks like such a teenager in this hoodie.

Swaddled and ready for a nap

Saturday. He turned 4 months old.

This picture cracks me up.  We were at Grossmunster Church in Zurich on Saturday and I snapped this when the light was shining on him like an angel.

What's new

He is the happiest baby around.  Smiling and giggling all the time.  He just fusses or cries when he's hungry or needs to sleep.  Normal baby business.  He hasn't rolled over yet, but he seems to be interested in sitting up since he does sit ups a lot.  When we lay him on his back, he leans quite a bit to the side and starts to move like he will roll over, but never actually does.  He is able to hold his head up well, but can get a little wobbly when tired.  He can sit in the bumbo but his reflux doesn't like that position much since he spits up within a minute of sitting in it.  He is discovering his feet and hands always gnawing on them.  He is reaching for, grabbing, and holding toys now.  He usually brings toys to his mouth as soon as he gets a hold of them.  He really can't keep his hands out of his mouth.  At this point, he seems very social.  He likes to be in on the action around people and prefers to watch or chat with whoever is around.  He's "talking" a lot and has "conversations" or grunts back when talked to.

I could not wait to try solids.  He was not a fan the first time.  Should I have tried it with breastmilk?  I don't know.  We will keep trying.  We are still only breastfeeding which is going great.  He is a cute little chunk.  It's funny, with Madison, from the beginning, I was having to supplement formula.  In my mind, I felt like my body just couldn't breastfeed or it wouldn't make enough to feed a baby.  Boy was I wrong.  This kid is not going hungry.  Now if I can just get him to sleep longer stretches at night.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that solid foods will help in that area.

This month is the first that I've noticed his love growing for his big sister.  He intently watches her.  Even though she is just as crazy around him, he is really starting to enjoy her.

Sleep

It seems that the week I wrote the 3 month update, he was on an awesome streak waking just 1-2x a night.  Well, that was extremely short lived.  I think this month has been the most sleep deprived I have felt since maybe college.  Or ever.  He has been waking up 3-4x a night and there have been many nights where it was every hour.  I remember one night that I counted up to 9 times that I got up.

The last couple days he has woken up 2x each night, so here's to hoping that this is a new thing.  He still sleeps swaddled in the rock n play.  He ran out of his reflux medicine so I'm hesitant to lay him flat.

Naps are still 2-3 a day, but aren't super scheduled.  It is almost every day at 9am that he is ready for his morning nap.

We haven't actually had a well check up visit to the pediatrician since he was 6 weeks old, so I have no clue about weight and height.  Hopefully in the next week or so we get in there.  I'm so curious to see where he is on the charts, even though it doesn't matter that much...he seems like a pretty healthy little guy.

Sitting here, staring at this picture, I'm just so in love.  Before having Carter, I worried that my heart and love wouldn't be as great or strong enough for two little ones.  But seriously, I am so in love with him.  It's like your heart grows twice the size.  Such a funny thing to think back to the days before Carter was here.  Now that he is here, I can't imagine life without him.

P.S. This was Madison at 4 months.  So long ago!