Henry // Four Months

Henry turned four months old last Wednesday (4/8) and this past month has been so much fun! I feel like things just get better and better every single day, and we couldn’t love this boy more if we tried. It feels so bittersweet because on the one hand, he seems to be growing so fast now and learning new things all the time which is super exciting! But it’s also kind of sad because I just want to freeze this precious little baby stage in time forever because it’s so incredibly sweet and adorable. He’s just the happiest little boy and he has such a pleasant demeanor. I love seeing his little personality shine through more and more each day, and I feel like he’s starting to look more and more like a mix of Cam and I as he grows which is great! Here’s what he’s been up to since his last update

I took these right before naptime and he was clearly not into the sitting down in the chair pics at this point in my little photo shoot…I just thought this one was kind of funny 🙂

Stats:

Henry had his 4 month well check on 4/9 where he weighed in at 16lbs 8oz and measured 25 3/4 inches long. He is in the 80th percentile for both height and weight (as well as head circumference) and they said he’s growing right on track! We were definitely happy to hear that 🙂
Health: 
Overall, Henry is a healthy guy! He did get his first cold this month, and although it was super sad to see him coughing and congested, he got through it just fine. I tried to do things like set his bouncer seat in the bathroom while I was taking a shower to help the steam clear out his stuffy nose, and then I just nursed him more than normal. He is drooling quite a bit now, but I guess that’s pretty normal for this age. He also developed a little bit of craddle cap over the past month, but it’s pretty mild and looks like it’s already starting to go away. He also scratched his face up just a little bit (which you can kind of see in these photos) because his little nails grow sooo fast that mommy has a hard time keeping up with them sometimes 🙁


Likes:
He has still been loving his hands this past month! He chews on his fingers all the time and constantly sticks his whole fist in his mouth. He’s still super smiley, but over the past month he’s really started laughing a lot and it is literally the BEST thing ever. Hearing him giggle is the cutest and so we’re constantly trying to entertain and do whatever we can to make him crack up. He’s very social and seemed to really enjoy having so many people around when we were in Michigan. He loves rolling around and he’s starting to get more into toys as well. He’s great at grabbing for things, whether it’s the toys hanging from his car seat or on his playmat. He’s seems like he’s still enjoying going to our Mom & Baby yoga class as well as going for walks 🙂

Dislikes:
Henry is a pretty happy boy and there’s really not a lot that he doesn’t like these days. He gets fussy when he’s overly tired, and he’s not a big fan of taking a bottle. When I’m home, I usually use my Breast Friend pillow to feed him, and he doesn’t like when he’s hungry and he’s waiting for me to put it on…ha! And then as far as our dislikes, he has had a few more blowout diapers over the past month which has been a real treat. Not.

Wears:
He has pretty much completely grown out of all of his 0-3 month/3 month clothing and is wearing mainly 3-6 month/6 month stuff now. Luckily, we were able to stock up on some stuff in his new size while we were in Michigan, but I have a feeling it won’t be long before he’s outgrowing it too. And I still have him in footie PJs 90% of the time regardless of what we’re doing – I figure he’s a baby and I want him to be comfy! (Plus, trying to deal with a blowout when he’s wearing an actual outfit is just such a pain) He’s still wearing size 2 diapers but they are definitely getting too small and so I’m going to try to use up the diapers we have and then switch him to size 3.

Eats:
Still exclusively breastfeed and things are really going well! He can go 3-4 hours between feedings, and so I typically feed him about 5-6 times during the day. He gets a bottle occasionally if I go out, but for the most part, it’s straight from the source 24/7. Our pediatrician did say we could start introducing solids now that he’s 4 months old, and we haven’t started it yet but will probably ease into that over the next month. I’m honestly not in a huge rush to start him on solids since he’s doing so well with breastfeeding, but he is starting to show a real interest in our food and he has really good head and neck control for his age. Plus, Cam and I love food and so I am looking forward introducing different flavors and textures to him 🙂

Sleeps:
I wrote a more detailed post on sleep last week, but overall things have been going really well the past month. Henry has typically been sleeping from about 9:30pm-6am straight each night with some solid naps during the day as well. But sure enough, just as soon as he hit 4 months last week, we’ve had a few nights where he’s woken up between 3-4am. So I’m hoping it’s just a fluke and that this whole 4 month sleep regression thing people talk about won’t be too rough on us. He is still really good about falling asleep in his carseat or if I’m wearing him in the wrap, which makes it great to be able to go out and run errands during the day.

Favorite Things: 
We’re still loving all the items I mentioned in my 0-3 month baby gear must haves post, but there are a few new things we’ve been enjoying lately. We’re putting Henry to sleep in a Halo SleepSack now instead of swaddling him and he seems to really like it. (And you can enter to win one by entering the giveaway on my post from last week!) When we were in Michigan, my parents had this playmat for Henry and he loved kicking the piano keys. We also set up this Step ‘n Play Piano right before he turned 4 months and he’s really getting into it! He also seems to like stuffed animals more now and this one is his favorite. (Thanks Aunt Melissa & Uncle Ben!)

Milestones:
-Henry spent the first part of this past month in Michigan; he did great meeting so many friends and family, and was really good on the long flight home.
-While we were there, we took him to visit Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan, which is where Cameron and I met, got engaged, and were married so that was really special 🙂
-He rolled over from his stomach to his back while we were in Michigan, and now he’s been rolling around quite a bit whenever he’s on the floor now. It’s amazing how much he can move around for not crawling yet!
-We went on our first hike as a family in Forest Park.
-Henry went to his first car show and loved looking around at the cars.
-I took him with me to Stroller Strides for the first time and he seemed to really enjoy it! I loved being able to get a good workout while having him there with me.
-One of my favorite things that he’s doing right now is when I pick him up out of his bassinet in the morning to nurse him, I usually stand him up facing me to tell him good morning and he reaches out and puts a hand on each side of my face and just gives me a huge grin…it’s seriously the best way to wake up 🙂
-We’re still unsure what color his hair and eyes are going to be. His hair seems to be lightening up a bit and it looks like there is some blonde starting to come through…but then sometimes his hair will have more of a reddish tint to it…whereas other times it looks really dark, so who knows! And then his eyes still look really bluish gray some of the time, and other times it seems like there is some brown starting to peek through. Time will tell I suppose!
-I feel like Henry is very attached to me at this point (and the feeling is mutual…ha!) and it seems like he always wants to be looking at me and smiling at me and I just love it. But he’s also not at the point of having separation anxiety yet and will gladly let other people hold him as well. He also loves being with Cam and daddy definitely gets some of the biggest laughs from him with his silly antics 🙂
-He celebrated his first St. Patrick’s Day and first Easter! Even though he’s not going to remember, it’s still so much fun experiencing all these “firsts” with him and I love dressing him for holidays. His little Easter outfit was so stinking adorable, and so I thought I’d share a few more photos…(aka the only ones I managed to take on my real camera vs. my cell phone on Easter!)

That last picture is one of my all-time favorites of him 🙂 He is the sweetest baby and he just seems just like he’s bursting with pure joy. Sure he has his fussy moments now and then just like any baby, but overall, he’s just such a happy little guy. I love love love being his mom more than I can describe and I am at a point where I’m feeling so comfortable with things now and it’s really nice. Granted, I’m no expert and don’t claim to have things figured out, but I just feel like more confident in my ability to take care of him and don’t get as nervous taking him out to do things anymore. He is such a blessing to us and I can’t wait to see what this upcoming month brings!

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