(Lincoln 4 Months, Caroline 4 Months)

Finnegan had his 4-month checkup today on his actual fourth monthday. The nurse asked if I had a guess on his weight, and I said “Oh geeze, he’s really chubby. Probably 18 pounds.” Then I sat him on the scale and it said…exactly 18 pounds. That’s almost four pounds more than his 2-month check-up. He’s not technically off the charts yet and still on the normal curve considering he was huge at birth too, but he’s only average for height so the chunk is real. He comes by it honestly too, because he nurses so much. SO MUCH.

The combination of cold weather, his tendency to spit up after eating, and a 2-year-old brother who often runs away in public means poor Finn doesn’t get out as much as I would like. We’re homebodies right now. Pretty soon we’ll master nursing while babywearing (he just needs to be a tiny bit taller) and hopefully he won’t throw up on my so often and then we’ll go on a lot more adventures. For now most of his social life is his siblings and trips to Target. Which is most of MY social life as well.

Finn is wearing size 3 diapers but when this box runs out we’ll buy size 4s. He’s far too big for any 3 months clothes and almost too big for 6 month clothes. Most of his pajamas are actually 12-18 month sized because we roll the cuffs. His head is also too big for all the cute baby hats I bought so he got a nice new toddler sized winter hat from his sister for Christmas. He’s tall enough now that his feet touch the bottom of the Circle of Neglect (aka the exersaucer) flatly, so he’s started to spin himself around a little bit. It’s such a nice baby holding device when I am simply no longer capable of holding him myself. Not that I might holding him most of the time. The days when he just wants to nurse and sleep and nurse and I can sit on the couch without feeling any guilt for not getting house stuff done is going to end sooner rather than later.

He’s my last baby, and as last babies go, he’s doing an excellent job of making me both love having a baby and also being glad I won’t ever have to go through all the newborn stuff again.

Likes: Biting things, music, tickles, cuddles, smiling, meeting new people, nursies, his siblings, mommy, daddy, the baby swing, being awake at night, socks, being carried around everywhere, the exersaucer, his blankie, standing up.

Dislikes: Shots, teething, bad dreams, being alone.

The band-aids are from today’s shots, which happened only an hour before the photos so I didn’t want to yank them off. Besides, they match his 4 month sticker! The ankle marks are because his legs are too chubby for 2T socks.

4 Month Milestones 

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Smiles, laughs – He loves to do both
Can bear weight on legs – One of his favorite activities
Coos when you talk to him – He’s very vocal when he’s happy, lots of squealing

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Can grasp a toy – Yes, but often drops them. He’s working towards being able to hold things in his mouth.
Rolls over, from tummy to back – Yes, pretty reliably now

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Imitates sounds: “baba,” “dada” – No, just coos and giggles and loud noises
Cuts first tooth – TWO BOTTOM TEETH. But how is this a skill?
May be ready for solid foods – No one advises solids at 4 months anymore. He’s all milk.

TWO TEETH. TWOOOOOOO TEEEEEEEEETH. That is basically all I have to say about my baby this month. All our interactions involve his teething. Worrying about him, because teeth. Holding him, because teeth. Medicating him, because teeth. Gritting my teeth during nursing, because OMG TEETH.

I shouldn’t complain too much. He is awake slightly more often than he was before teeth. He has had a few hysterical screaming fits because they were bothering him, but it’s not a daily thing. He still sleeps either through the night or in nice big chunks of time after some 2 am comfort nursing. He still gets an A+ in general babying, but could definitely work on the whole “not getting any more teeth for a while” thing.

In other milestone news…I have no news. He still isn’t mobile in any way. No rolling, no scootching, no sitting up. Now that he’s big enough for the exersaucer (aka Circle of Neglect) he barely even tries to roll anymore. He can see us all just fine AND he can whack at shiny things. Win-win! As much as I would like a super advanced baby to brag about on the internet, it is very nice to have a happy lump who can still sleep in his rock-n-play without worrying he will climb out. Poor third child.

Likes: the dog, the cat, the tv, things that makes noise, singing, humming, being carried, being worn, sleeping, sleeping on people, smiling, diaper changes, pooping, Baby Orajel, his brother, his sister, his feet, cuddles, friends, water, the exersaucer, the playmat, the floor, biting things, having his picture taken, nursing, poking me in the eye

Dislikes: Baby Tylenol, sore gums, constipation, tummy time, pacifiers, when no one is looking at him

4 Month Milestones (Originally from BabyCenter, via Caroline’s 4 month post)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Smiles, laughs – Is at level 11 on the 1-10 happiness scale
Can bear weight on legs – Moooooostly? He isn’t as interested in practicing as the other two kids were
Coos when you talk to him – Talks, coos, babbles, is generally adorable.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Can grasp a toy – He can even get them into his mouth
Rolls over, from tummy to back – FINE, BabyCenter, maybe I’ll let him at least TRY.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Imitates sounds: “baba,” “dada” – He’s trying, but nothing like dada yet.
Cuts first tooth – TWO. TEETH.
May be ready for solid foods – Maybe. Who knows. I’ll ask at his checkup on Monday but I’m not really in too much of a hurry.

Happy 4 Months Baby Girl! You’ve celebrated this monthday by becoming a master at rolling back to front! Every time we put you down you flip over lightning fast. Your little baby muscles are super strong. Unfortunately, you’ve totally forgotten how to roll front to back (that’s supposed to be the easy way!) so once you’re on your tummy you’re stuck and that makes you Very Unhappy. VERY. So you’ve been spending a lot of time in the exersaucer and the bouncy seat so we don’t have to run over and roll you every few seconds. I tried to task your brother with the baby rolling but, uh, he’s not the most gentle – although he really wanted to be helpful.

You’re wearing 6 month clothes and I’m thrilled because we have SO MANY cute summer dresses in 6 and 9 months thanks to boxes and boxes of hand-me-downs. If only the weather would get warmer so I’m not putting leggings and socks and long-sleeved onesies under everything.

But I need to talk to you about that screaming you did on Monday night. SO.MUCH.SCREAMING. It was stung-by-a-bee or poked-with-a-needle screaming, although neither of those things happened. And even though it probably only lasted for 20 minutes it was the longest 20 minutes of our lives. NOTHING could console you. I had the doctor check you today for possible causes but you just cooed and him and made happy faces and made me look like a liar. Although I’m glad you didn’t give a repeat performance tonight.

Also, please poop soon. I’m not looking forward to what will happen if you wait another day.

4 Month Stats:
Height: 23 3/4 (25th percentile)
Weight: 14 lbs 1 oz (50th percentile)
Head circumference: 42.3 (75th percentile – girl has a BIG HEAD)

Poor Caroline, these pictures are just terrible. When we got home from the pediatrician she was sound asleep so I missed my chance at daylight. Plus she got shots in both legs and a special cream on her head for cradle cap (you know they can fix that now?!) so she’s basically just a mess. But I can’t take them tomorrow because TODAY IS HER MONTHDAY. I may be a little…stubborn about things like that.

Look at my leeeegs! My mommy is so meeeeean!

ALMOST a smile

nom nom nom

NOM NOM NOM NOM

Leg rolls! And also her totally crazy bald spot. It's so so sad.

4 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter, as usually)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Smiles, laughs – Yes! Unfortunately almost NEVER in pictures.
Can bear weight on legs – She loves “standing”.
Coos when you talk to him – Yes

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Can grasp a toy – Yes! She can pull the handle on Evan’s old bouncy seat to make it play music too.
Rolls over, from tummy to back – As I said, she forgot that one. But she rolls the other way!

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Imitates sounds: “baba,” “dada” – No I don’t think so.
Cuts first tooth – I can’t TELL. There’s a bulgy spot on her gums and she’s definitely drooling like crazy and will chomp all over my hand but it’s not one of the bottom 2 front ones, which I thought were almost always the first to pop out. Also? Cutting a tooth isn’t a SKILL.
May be ready for solid foods – We’re going to wait til 6 months to introduce solids.

She's a drooling mess. But a cute drooling mess.

I don’t think Baby Evan is ever going to crawl. I am only slightly upset about this development, as it means I can delay my baby proofing a little while longer. Unfortunately, that means when I do baby proof I’ll have to go right to the locking-up-everything stage instead of the empty-the-bottom-shelf stage, complete with baby gates, toilet locks (?), anti-door-slamming devices (???) and padded faucets in the tub (???????)

Baby Evan has always hated tummy time and now that he can roll front-to-back without any effort he won’t stay face down for more than a couple seconds. He can sit with very little help and stand almost on his own. He looooves the standing, looooooooooves it lovelovelovelovelove and would stand all day if his mean evil mommy didn’t complain about her arms hurting and make him lie back down WAH WAH WAH WAH WAAAAAAH. But because he refuses to spend any time on this tummy he hasn’t progressed to straight-armed push ups and could care less about trying to get up on his knees.

I’ve done the required Google search for “OMG what if my baby never crawls?!?” and “is not crawling a sign of autism/ADD/childhood cancer/douchbagism?” and everything is very reassuring. Lots of babies skip certain milestones in favor of other ones. He’s been right on track with smiling, laughing, motor skills and growth. I have no real reasons to worry – so I won’t. Or I’ll try not to. So what if all the other 5 months old at mom’s group are practicing their downward dogs and rolling front to back? My kid is well on his way to being the youngest person ever to run a marathon.