Asher - 4 Months

*4 Month Pictures coming in next post*

At 4 months old, Asher weighs 15 lbs (50^th percentile) and is 26 inches (90^th percentile) long. Dr. P says he is right on track and looks great!

We are going to wait on solid foods until he shows some interest. We were just able to ween him off of his constipation medicine a few weeks ago and I don't want to disrupt his digestive system until we need to. He currently takes 4 - 5 oz bottles and 2 - 4 oz bottles a day but I think I am about to bump up the 4 oz bottles and have him just take 6 - 5 ouncers. I probably need to see if he can handle 6 ounces at a time and go for longer periods between feedings. He is still eating every 3 hours and it would be nice to have an extra hour in between. But we are taking things one step at a time. His schedule is really good so I like to make small adjustments as we go along as not to mess things up too much.

He loves to laugh and make us laugh. He will do something in anticipation of our reaction and the funnier we think something is, the more he laughs too. He will even laugh in his sleep when he hears us laughing.

He smiles ALL the time and loves attention. Talking to him pretty much guarantees a grin for anyone.

We had to start giving him baths in his big bathtub (meaning: we put his baby tub in his regular bathtub instead of just putting it up on the bathroom counter) because he was splashing so much. He "dances" and wiggles nearly the entire time. It is hilarious to watch because he cracks himself up splishing and splashing everywhere.

He also loves story time. I was amazed when he started noticing the book and really looking at the pictures. He really pays attention when I read and it is a special time for us. We try to do bathtime, a bottle, story time and then bedtime every night.

He is officially sleeping in his own room now and the transition was much easier than I thought it would be. He LOVES his mobile so putting him down when he is not asleep is easy to do. He will usually watch it until he drifts off. If he is awake and I am trying to get something done (like draw his bath) I can put him in his crib and he will entertain himself by watching the mobile. It is an antique and doesn't have a motor so I didn't expect him to find it that interesting, but it will twirl and he has figured out that kicking makes the crib shake which makes the mobile move. The kicking is nice too because it tires him out.

He is making the funniest noises now. He loves to gurgle and growl. He jibber jabbers a lot and has some really dramatic sighs. He always has multiple sneezes at a time and after he is done, he lets out a big sigh - like the sneezing was exhausting.

He puts EVERYTHING in his mouth. Toys, hands, bibs, clothes, our hands...he is exploring the world with his gums.

He has reached the age where he wants to be entertained more. He hasn't quite figured out how to play with toys yet. If you put something in his hand he will hold onto it and put it in his mouth but the concept of grabbing something and playing with it has not occurred to him yet. I am looking forward to that stage. He will talk to himself and laugh for a few minutes, but pretty soon he realizes that no one is paying attention and gets frustrated.

He still hasn't rolled over yet. Well not on purpose anyway. He HATES tummy time. The other day I put him on his tummy and he worked himself up onto his knees and elbows just because he was so mad about it. I sure hope he isn't an early crawler. I want him to be immobile for as long as possible. I keep saying that I am going to knock him down when he starts trying to walk. I kid, I kid (kind of).

When Asher was a newborn I would literally cry and say that I didn't want him to ever change. My mom told me that I would like every stage better than the last and while I am only 4 months into this whole mommy thing, I believe her. He gets more and more fun every day. Ben and I love him so much. He brings an incredible amount of joy to our lives and we feel so blessed to have him. We must look at each other at least 20 times a day and say, "Isn't he the cutest/sweetest/best/funniest/etc. baby you have ever seen??"