4 Months {Nolan}

Size: According to the pediatrician's scale, Nolan is 13.7lbs (22nd percentile) and is 24 inches (14th percentile) in length. Nolan is wearing 3-6 and 6 month clothes. I'm sadly having to pack up all of his 0-3 and 3 month items now-- I tried to use them as long as I could! Wearing size 2 diapers these days.

Gross Mobility: He's officially become "rollin' Nolan" in our house. This kid will roll and scoot all over a blanket now! Nolan is rolling left and right from his back to side and all the way on to his tummy. Occasionally, he will roll back onto his back, but seems to get frustrated when we just put him on his tummy and doesn't want to/can't figure out how to roll onto his back. I have found him on his tummy in the morning several times now, but I'm not sure if he's sleeping like that or just rolling over when he wakes up. Nolan is still sitting supported, but when unsupported, will still flop forward after a few seconds.

Fine Motor: Nolan loves to reach and grab everything now! He has definitely found his hands and loves to chew all over them.

[grabbing for my camera strap--just too colorful to pass up]

Communication: Coos/talks a lot these days-- and he's going to need to in order to get a word in edgewise in this family! Still just mostly "ooo" and "ahh" sounds, with lots of raspberries/bubbles! If you talk to him, he will find where you are and just stare at you and usually smile. At this point, he's giggled a couple times, but it's not a "true giggle" like you would think. It sounds more like a growl/gurgle/giggle, if you can imagine what that sounds like. All I know is that he is trying to giggle, it just doesn't sound quite right yet.

Sleep: Last month we moved him to his crib, this month we got him out of swaddling and into a sleep sack. And just in time with all that rolling! At this time, he will be absolutely passing out around 9pm with a smaller bottle (about 3-4oz). Some mornings he wakes up around 3:45am, sometimes around 5am. A few mornings here recently, he's been waking up around 5:30 or 6am, which I love! We rarely ever hear a peep out of him at night, but I do know he wakes up and wiggles around a good bit. It seems that he likes to migrate over toward his bumper (yeah, yeah, I know you're not supposed to use them...) or arch his back to snuggle closer to it--I think he's just a snuggler and wants to be up close to something! As far as naps, when he's at home, he'll pretty much only take 2 naps during the day--one shorter one (45 mins or an hour) and a longer one (up to 2.5 or 3 hours), but I'm never sure if the longer one will be in the morning or afternoon. He's not taking his naps consistently in his crib, but will take them in his swing, bouncer or carrier. Once in a blue moon, he'll sneak a catnap in during the evening hours.

Feeding: After Nolan passed through his 3 month growth spurt (which I swear lasted a whole week!), we started to switch him to 5-6oz bottles. He has been a much happier little boy and will go about 3.5-4hrs between feedings until the evening. A semi-normal feeding schedule for him will be nursing about 5am, bottle around 8am (6oz), 12pm (6oz), and 4pm (6oz). At this point, he turns into a starving maniac and will take 6-8oz bottle between 6-7pm, and then finish the night off with 3-4oz about 9pm. I confess that my supply hasn't quite kept up to his demands these days and we've started to add a little formula into his feedings. It's usually his evening bottle that gets switched to formula, but not always. At this point, he's had no problem at all making the switch. I have noticed that Nolan is a much more aggressive nurser and will get really mad if I don't have enough milk for him in a feeding, so I have resorted to basically pumping all day and reserved nursing for morning, occasional evening and the sporadic nursing session on the weekends. Seems to work okay for both of us!

Personality: Wow, what a change this month!! Nolan is such a happy, smiley, little boy now! That magic switch flipped on him sometime around his growth spurt and he's so much calmer now! Yes, he still loves to cuddle and be held, but he will also happily play and talk on a blanket by himself. Totally content hanging out in the bouncer with us, too. I'm so thankful for this switch because he's so much easier to take care of and so much fun to be with! Now, he'll actually sleep in his carrier without a problem and not scream every time we get in the car!

Loves: his hands, blankets, beebo, monkey toy, Jonah, people talking to him, being cuddled, bathtime, rolling around on his blanket

Dislikes: being alone, nose suctioning, being hungry

Happy 4 months, Nolan!