Ryan--Four Months

Ryan,

You are four months old!  A few days ago, I had the privilege to hold newborn babies and I couldn't believe that four short months would make such a big difference.  I've discovered that a Mommy's heart is always broken in half--one half mourns what is gone and the other half celebrates what is and what's to come.  So while I miss the teeny baby you were, Daddy and I are really enjoying seeing your little personality.

You weigh 16.19 lbs (66.22%) and are 24.5 inches tall (21.28%--still short!).  Your head circumference is 42.5 cm (76.44%) continuing the family tradition of big heads!  (Your cousin, Matti, was always in the 99%!)

You consistently take 6 ounces at every feeding (about five times a day), and you are wearing 3-6 month (and some 6 month) clothes.

You are constantly drooling, and you will chew on anything anyone gives you.  (Gwandma thought it was pretty funny you went for her coffee with such passion.  More proof you belong to us.) You also like sitting in your Bumbo.  I think you like the independence, but you sure do let me know when you're finished.

Every morning, you eat your bottle and then I lay you down on the chair and we sing.  You really love music.  In fact, you get really quiet and listen when I sing to you and we've learned that you generally won't take a bottle during worship at church because you can't pay as much attention to Mal and 'Mane (our worship ministers).  Your current favorites are "One Thing Remains," "Our God is Able," and "The God of Angel Armies."

While I'm singing, you usually play with your feet.  You love them.  You pull them up to play pretty well any time we lay you down, and you get super fascinated if we put shoes on you.  I found a pair of house-shoe type booties when I was cleaning out your closet and you wouldn't look away from your feet most of the day.

You are pretty good natured--mornings are your best time.  It's usually fairly easy to calm you down; however, when you do decide to melt down?  EPIC.  You can scream at the top of your lungs for an indefinite amount of time.  Typically, that happens at night when you've refused to nap.

Frankly, you're not much of a napper.  I can generally get you to take a morning nap in your swing and sometimes you take an afternoon nap--a couple of times you've napped for two hours in your swing--but you mostly catnap here and there.  If you are in your swing, you have to have your fuzzy blanket and you always pull it over your face to snooze.  I can always tell when you're tired because you rub your eyes, and you've even been known to fall asleep sitting up.

You sleep in your crib now.  In general, we put you down around 8:30 and you sleep until 7:00 or 7:30 the next morning.  Sometimes Daddy and I listen to you on the monitor and you talk yourself back to sleep.

We've found that if you're really fussy, we can take you outside and you will calm down almost immediately.  You are especially fond of porch swings, but any sort of outside adventure will work for you.

You really love the water right now.  You would prefer the pool water to be the same temperature as your bath water.  You do love baths, too.  Daddy says we'll have to move you to the big tub soon because you splash all the water out on the counter top.

You have rolled from your front to your back once, but you really despise being laid down.  We tried to work on rolling, and it always ended with horrible facial expressions and tears.  Frankly, you would rather sit up or practice standing.  You're awfully close to sitting up all by yourself, and I've started believing you'll probably walk before you try to roll over consistently.

I love your facial expressions, and the sound of your giggling is the best thing I've ever heard in my life.  You are pretty greedy with the giggles.  People have to work for them, and even then you're fairly selective.  Sometimes you will laugh when we laugh, but you spend more time observing everything going on around you.

You're a pretty chatty little guy.  You make all sorts of noises and you "talk" to the people you're observing--especially in busy places (like the mall).

We cloth diaper almost exclusively (except when we travel), and you do well with those.  Diaper changes are hard because you are forever pulling your feet up so you can play.

Yesterday you ate with a spoon for the first time.  You had rice cereal on your face.  In your hair.  On your hands.  In your eyelashes.  Up your nose.  It was pretty well ev.ery.wh.ere.  You got a bath promptly after.

While I'm sad to see your baby days passing so quickly, I'm so enjoying giggles and talking that it's hard to be too sad.  Pretty soon we'll be writing about walking and solid food!

You've changed my life, baby boy.  I'm pretty sure my heart will never be the same.

I'll love you forever; I'll like you for always.

Mommy