4 Months Old

 

Our sweet Noah is 4 months old now. Here are his statistics:

Weight: 15.21 lbs (53rd percentile) (he has more than doubled his birth weight)
Length: 25.39 in (65 percentile)
Head Circumference: 16.4 in (32 percentile)

One of the most notable and adorable things about Noah (besides his chubby cheeks and blue eyes) is his hair. It just keeps growing and growing. The new growth is coming in blonde. I can't decide how much longer I should let it grow before cutting it. The double cowlicks in back make this mohawk totally natural. We just comb it up after the bath, and it stays up like this until the next bath.

His hair curls a bit when it is wet.

  

After having Noah around for 4 months, I feel like I can start talking about his personality. So far he seems like a text-book second child-- easier going than the first. Thank heavens!! He is starting to love the attention Jason gives him, although he still doesn't like sudden yelling interrupting his tranquility while nursing. Noah is really going after his fingers and fists these days. We gave up trying the pacifier a month ago. I am wondering if we will end up with a thumb-sucker... It is fun for me to get all of Jason's old baby toys out and walk down memory lane. Now both boys are enjoying the rediscovered toys.

Noah hates being stuck in his car-seat. He would much rather be held, and I can't blame him. This means that I hold him in the Baby Bjorn a lot when we are out of the house. He will fall asleep in the car-seat, but now he wakes up as soon as the car stops, so I try to not use that as nap time.

We have started sleep training with Noah, and he is learning quicker than Jason (knock on wood), although I do know that sleep training really takes years as the child grows and develops. Sleep training for now means no more naps in mom/dad's arms or nursing to sleep. We fell into this habit with Jason, and I vowed I wouldn't do it with my second child, yet somehow we did it again. Needless to say, napping in mom's arms is a lot more challenging with two children. We were definitely ready for the magical 4 month mark to make a change. Although it was a bittersweet moment when we first started the sleep training, I feel incredibly liberated now. Now I can lay him down, and he can cry as little or as long as he likes while I get things done or pay attention to Jason. We are a much happier family with this increased freedom, including Noah because I put him down for naps in a timelier manner now that I know I won't be stuck in his room for 30 minutes. The longest crying spell Noah had lasted one hour. Thankfully the crying has gotten shorter and shorter. I am pleased to report that today, for all three naps, Noah cried his brains out for 2 minutes, and then fell fast asleep. Now if we can just get him to lengthen out his naps more often-- thirty minutes is just too short. I do still nurse Noah in the middle of the night. Sleep training for that will come a few months later.

With the onset of sleep training comes a less portable baby. That means we are at home a lot. We love visitors! Come visit us while Noah naps!

This is Noah taking his first tub bath. Yes, we waited until he was four months old before we stopped doing sponge baths. But we waited because it took a while for his bellybutton to stop oozing. At his four month check we got a second swab of silver nitrate (I think that's what he called it?) to stop the oozing. Jason was a great support during the first bath; he provided lots of toys for Noah to play with. Noah enjoyed watching Jason the whole time. We couldn't get him to look at the camera because he was so focused on Jason.

I am thoroughly enjoying nursing Noah. I have been lucky to have two babies who were total naturals at the nursing thing. Now that we are past the engorgement stage of nursing, and now that Noah sleeps longer at night, I am so glad I stuck with the nursing. It is such a sweet bonding experience, and I feel good knowing that I can provide him the best nourishment possible. I just wish we had been more consistent at offering an occasional bottle of breast-milk. He won't take a bottle anymore, which means I can't leave for long. Oh well. Solids are just around the corner.