William: Four Months!

Not that I'm biased or anything, but how cute is he? If only Mom had put him in a sleeveless shirt so you could see the guns he's flexing  :-)

Seriously, though, kid is starting to pack on some strength. We definitely have to be careful when we are holding him near a table because he will reach and pull at whatever he can. I learned this lesson the hard way while out to lunch with a friend; William pulled over my (practically full) water glass and made a lovely mess of both of us (and while I had a change of clothes for him, I wasn't quite so lucky). He can also completely extend his arms and push his head/chest off the floor while doing tummy time. And you'd better believe he's working on getting those legs tucked under so he can start crawling--and I know I'll regret saying this a month or two from now, but I'm looking forward to when he gets the hang of the crawling thing. Right now he rolls to his stomach almost instantly when you put him on his back, and he'll only play contentedly like that for a handful of minutes before he starts to get frustrated that he isn't going anywhere (and he hasn't quite mastered rolling from his stomach to his back, although he has done it a handful of times). He will also fully support himself on his legs, and usually prefers standing to sitting if you are holding him.

All this moving and rolling and standing has caused him to slim down a little bit; at his four month appointment he was a lean fifteen pounds, seven ounces (putting him in the 63rd percentile, down from the 80th at his two-month appointment). He also put on two inches during that time period, shooting up to just over twenty-five inches. He's still managing to fit into size two diapers, and even a few three-month onesies, although he's mostly wearing 3-6 month clothing.

And the drooling. Oh the drooling. It's so out of control. He will soak through the front of his shirt in an hour without issue, and many of his plush toys are so drool-laden it takes them hours to dry. Drool has, on more than one occasion, been running down my arm as I hold him, and he's managed to have strands of it that run from his mouth to the floor (when he is standing, no less). And you had better believe that if he can lift it, he's going to be pulling it to his mouth. His idea of sucking/chewing on things usually just means that he drools all over them. Thankfully, the spitting up has started to decrease, so I suppose I'm happy with the trade-off. At least the drool doesn't stink.

Sleep took a major hit in the weeks before he turned four months old; that four-month sleep regression is no joke. We also learned about Wonder Weeks, the characteristics of which fit him to a tee. We're definitely going to keep our eye on this development trend to help us predict when other issues/sleep regressions are about to hit. Because man, that first night where he was up every two hours again was rough; for awhile it felt like we were back to having a newborn and I was not ready for that.

In addition to being able to occupy himself with toys and by looking around, William's also started to take more of an interest in what we are doing. He's figured out what the phone in Mommy's hand means (and usually stops smiling as soon as I pull it out), he's started to get into stories when we read them (although the whole two-dimensional thing is still a little tricky; he hasn't quite figured out that he can't grab Clifford off the page), and he's definitely working more on imitating our sounds. Most of the time his noises are super fun and cute, but we're still working on the concept of an indoor voice. Kid definitely has a set of lungs on him.

Just a few last things before my incessant blabbing about my (perfect) son totally bores you. If you haven't been able to tell from the monthly pictures, he's lost most of his dark newborn hair and it is definitely being replaced with some blonde locks (I'll be in heaven if they start to curl!). His eyes are still holding strong at blue; fingers crossed they stay that way. And stubbornness? Don't even get me started. I'd curse his father for that trait, but, well, he is half me. And apparently he got the stubborn gene from both of us because man oh man there are times where it is his way or the highway--and he is definitely quick to let you know that. But the snuggles and smiles make it all totally worth it!