A Four Month Update: My Second Boy

 

Well, the months are rolling by now, as I knew they would.  It's both thrilling and scary to watch you grow before my eyes.  You are four months old today, my little boy, and you're coming on in leaps and bounds.

Weight and Body

You were weighed this week at your hospital appointment and came in at 13lb 2oz, so you're still following the 25th centile line and making steady progress.  Although the rings of chubbiness around your wrists and thighs are even more pronounced now, your double chin seems to have receded a little. I think it's because your head is now much more erect and upright, so your neck is stretched.  You have real control over your head now, and can turn it very slowly and deliberately if you want to. 

Taken on 12th February - 4 months old today

Tummy time is still not one of your favourite things, so I've been trying to work on that with you, but you'd rather be on your back or sitting in your chair, looking around.  Now you are able to reach for your toys, and to bring them to your mouth to gum. It's great to see the very beginnings of your playtime.

Your hair is still taking its time to materialise; you don't really have that much more than you did at three months, but it's obvious it's going to be fair.  We are still treating your cradle cap with Dentinox shampoo, and now you seems to have a bit of eczema on your crown too. 

Personality

You really are a very happy little baby.  You love to gaze at our faces and we often catch you just smiling away at us just because you can.  In the last month you've become so chatty and sociable.  I have quite lengthy 'conversations' with you, especially when I'm changing your nappy for the first time in the morning.  You take such delight in listening to my silly baby talk and then concentrating so hard on moving your mouth to form the 'words' you want to say.  You love being kissed under your chin, on your neck, which always produces a gurgly little giggle from you.

You still love your colourful monkey toy, but you're now interested in other toys too, like your Skwish and your Sophie le Giraffe.

 

You love being sung to, and your absolute favourite is 'Ten Fat Sausages'. The part where the sausages go 'BANG!' makes you giggle.

 

Another favourite of yours is your bath time.  I've never seen such excitement when you're splashing away in the water, arms and legs going like bees' wings!

Sleeping

Still not sure where we're headed on the sleeping front.  We have now got you into a great evening bedtime routine, where you go to bed at 6.30-7pm, still in the bedside cot in our room.  This was a major breakthrough for us, as it means that we can actually have some child-free time in the evening - time to recuperate!  Then, even better, in the middle of your fourth month you suddenly started to sleep from 7pm to 3-4am without a feed!  Wow!  Sleeping through the night, we thought!  But in the past week, you've started waking several times a night again.  I wonder whether you're going through a growth spurt and need a bit more milk.

Your daytime naps, although falling into more of a pattern, are much shorter, unless we go out in the car, when the engine will lull you into a longer slumber.

We're about to put away the Moses Basket now - you can't move your arms now in it!

Feeding and Teething

Breastfeeding is still progressing with no problems.  I've noticed that recently you've started to 'bite' down at the end of a feed, which I think is indicative of the fact that you're starting to teethe.  We are starting to have to use dribble bibs much more, and you definitely have the urge to chew on your toys and fingers.

Look at your adorable rolls!

I've noticed the very beginnings of you showing interest in the food we eat. You sit with us during family mealtimes, and there is a little flicker of excitement when you see us bringing food to our mouths.
 

Your first time in your 'flying saucer'

Can't wait to see how you've changed this time next month, little man. Love you xx

My Second Boy: One Month Old

To my beautiful second boy,

 

This week you turned one month old.  We celebrated by staging a home photo shoot with the help of your Nanny S, which you mostly co-operated with. 

 

 

  It has been a turbulent first month for you and for us, with your early emergency induction and lightening-fast labour, your terrifying meningitis scare and the stay in hospital for you and I, the ongoing appointments with paediatrics, and then the general topsy-turviness of getting used to life outside the womb.  But you have mostly been a placid, sweet-natured little baby throughout all of this upheaval, and despite all that you've been through.

 

 

 

In your first month you have already changed so much. Born at just 5lb 11oz, and dropping to 5lb 3oz, you then began to put weight on at an astonishing rate.  At your last weigh-in a week ago, you were 7lb 8oz, so you're gaining at the rate of about 1lb a week!  You have taken to breastfeeding so well, and are obviously getting the gold-top from Mummy!  We can now see that you have a little double chin and chubby cheeks, and your previously skinny little body is becoming rounder.

 

  Your hair is growing: for the first week or two your head felt like velvet when you stroked it, but now it is more downy, with more and more fluff appearing every day.  You're going to be fair-headed, everyone agrees, just like your big brother.

 

 In the last couple of days, you have begun to delight Mummy with your very first smiles.  They're fleeting and not yet proper grins, but they're unmistakable and so beautiful.  We can't wait to capture one on camera.

 

 You sleep a lot in the day, but when you're awake, you're very alert and enjoy following us with your eyes, and listening to your family's different voices intently.  You've gradually unfurled your limbs in the last month, so that you're now less foetal and curled up, and are starting to enjoy stretching your legs and waving your arms.

 

You seem to be suffering with tummy discomfort during the night, and have taken a dislike to sleeping on your back, which is causing Mummy and Daddy a bit of worry, and a lot of sleepless nights.  Your discomfort (perhaps colic?) seems worse around 4-6am, so Mummy and Daddy are currently a tag team, taking it in turns to sleep in the spare bed in your nursery.

 

 Whenever we take you out in your pram you attract the admiration of everyone, who all comment on how beautiful you are and how small.  You make me so proud to be your mummy. 

You have slotted into our family perfectly, and we love you so much, little boy.