Happy 4 months Charlie from your Mommy

 

Charlie,

What a month you've had.  I don't even know where to begin.  It's been a little crazy at our house.  Mommy and Daddy have both been very busy with work this month.  We haven't let work get in the way of making sure we had plenty of good family time. 

You are one growing boy.  You weigh 17 pounds (90th percentile) and are 27 inches long (95th percentile).  You are wearing mostly 6 month clothes.  Although, it seems you are busting out of some of those so it won't be long until you are going to mostly 6-9 month clothes which makes me a little sad because I'm concerned that you aren't going to be able to wear your very cute Halloween costume.  :-)  You are eating 4 ounces every 2-3 hours during the day and at night you make it one long stretch and then about every 3 hours after that.  I've tried to get you to take more at one time to get you on more of a predictable schedule.  Your reflux doesn't cooperate though and sometimes when you take more, you end up vomiting it back up.  You have decided that you don't want to nurse any longer but you take a bottle just fine.  We aren't sure when you will start food but for now, your doctor has recommended us wait so that's what we'll do.   We've noticed you watching us when we eat.

This month you had your first bout of sickness.  You got a pretty nasty cold which you shared with both your Mommy and Daddy.  Thanks!  It really seemed to make you pretty miserable for about a week.  You did spike a fever but only for a short 24 hours.  We don't really know how bad you felt but we can attest for the sore throat, runny nose, and cough that it caused us.  After you recovered from that, the very next weekened, you managed to have a stomach virus.  Luckily, it didn't effect your mood too much but you have kept us busy changing diapers. This virus last a good 10-14 days and by the end of it, you had some pretty nasty diaper rash which is now all gone, thankfully.

You've become much more interactive in the last month.  You're a pretty relaxed baby most of the time.  Of course, you definitely have no problems letting us know when you are hungry or tired.  Otherwise, you stay pretty happy.  You've been flashing that smiles at everyone these days and they love it Charlie.  You are turning into quite the flirt. You are more on the move these days. 

You are learning to sit with very little assistance.  You have quite a bit of upper body strength.  You like your bumbo seat.  You have also found that thumb and while you do not like a pacifier, you love your fingers in your mouth.

I'm getting to know you a little more everyday and I'm starting to differentiate your cries.  You still may have a little bit of problems with your reflux and your tummy hurting but your Daddy and I have noticed that it seems to be getting much better, thankfully.  We are starting to believe what your doctor told us about it going away around 6 months.  We sure hope so.

You have started giggling a lot more and we can't get enough of it.  You think your Daddy and I are pretty funny.  I'm glad we can amuse you. 

You've acquired some new toys this month.  Your friends, Zack and Zoe, shared their old jumperoo and exersaucer with you.  You seem to enjoy these.  Right now, you seem to like the jumperoo more.

 

You also found that you love your lovie.

As for other things, you experienced some crazy weather. You first got to experience an earthquake.  You were at daycare when it happened and were in the middle of taking your bottle.  The daycare had to evacuate the building after it was over so they rolled you and your friends out in a few cribs.  Your teacher, Ms. Belinda, said you were a champ and slept the whole time you were outside and through all the commotion. 

Then, you got to experience a hurricane.  All of this happened in the same crazy week.  Hurricane Irene got a lot of hype on the news.  Your mommy decided that she should plan ahead and sent your Daddy out to the store on a Friday night after you were in bed to get a few 'necessary' items like drinks, oreos, peanut butter, etc. (You'll understand one day.) in case the storm kept us in.  While I didn't know exactly how losing electricity would be with a 4 month old, I was the most worried about your food (that is, the huge stash of frozen breast milk that I have in the freezer).  I've worked hard for months stashing this away so I definitely didn't want to lose it.  The thought of hibernating inside the house (with electricity) with my sweet baby boy and your Daddy didn't sound all that bad though.  However, it didn't exactly turn out that way.  We lost electricity early on Saturday (around lunch) and decided to hear over your Grandpa and Grammie's house to be with them during the storm.  They didn't lose their electricity so we were good.  Your daycare lost power and had to close as well.  We didn't get power back at home until the following Thursday.  So, you got to be at your grandparents house for 5 days.  Your Grammie and Grandpa also kept you whle Mommy and Daddy went to work.  You loved it!

While I don't have any pictures of you with your Grammie, you were very well cared for and you kept smiling for her.  Every morning, you seemed so excited to see her. 
Here you are playing with your Grandpa:

and watching a Red Sox game with Grandpa: 

And, just, so you know Mommy didn't lose any of your food.  Your Daddy hauled it over from our freezer to Grandpa and Grammie's freezer. 

You rolled over this month.  Your timing could not have been better.  You shared this first with your Mommy, Daddy, and Grammie.  We were so glad to be the audience to watch you go from you back to your tummy.  You haven't rolled from your tummy to your back yet.  I read that it is easier to go from tummy to back so I don't imagine it will be long.  Of course, you aren't too interested in being on your tummy most days so I'm hoping in the next month you start enjoying your tummy time a litle more.

This month you got to experience your first VT football game.  Your mommy is working on teaching you all about the Hokies.  She is trying to teach you to say, "Touchdown" and "Go Hokies".  She also has pointed out Frank Beamer to you on the TV.

You pay attention to your brother.  Wally is all about you these days.  He thinks that you smell delicious.  I think the next future months, he is going to learn that you can become his best friend, especially once you start eating and slipping him some food. 

You have made your Mommy proud in the last week.  You started sleeping so much better.  You are no longer being swaddled at night.  You are getting close to 6 hour stretch in every night (sometimes longer) for the last 8 nights (yes, your Mommy is seriously counting.).  Your Mommy actually slept 7 hours in a row one night this week.  This wasa a first since you were born.  We would like to see you continue to sleep better.

You have won your Mommy and Daddy over and with every cute thing you do, you are starting to notice that we keep a close watch on you.

Charlie, I'll always be your biggest fan, my sweet boy and you can count on me to cheer you on.  You light up the room whenever you are around.  You don't quite realize how loved you are.  I don't even remember what I did without you and I sure couldn't imagine it any other way now.

I love you my sweet sweet boy!