It's hard to believe that our little guy is now officially 4 months old (17 weeks). The time has flown by and June 5th seems so long ago. We have a feeling that the next 20 years of our lives are going to be a blur. So, we're really trying to capture and enjoy every moment!
Graham had his 4 month check up today. He did great and is a healthy, growing baby boy. He weighed in at 14 lbs 12 oz, measured 24 3/4 inches long, and has a 16 3/4 inch head circumference. All of his measurements fall into the 50th %tile which is not nearly as big as we thought. Graham was a champ while getting his shots and he walked away with a pink camo band aid!
Heading out the door to his doctor's appointment
Graham continues to love playing on his activity mat. He has now started to use his feet to play with the toys as well. He's also been scooting his little body around and we'll often find him turned from his original position. The exersaucer and bumbo also continue to be in Graham's playtime rotation. Momma is really trying to promote hair growth so she likes to ensure that he is doing activities where he is sitting upright or laying on his tummy. His hair, by the way, seems to be growing in lighter than when he was born. We're not sure yet, but think we might have a red head on our hands-or at least reddish brown. (Look out!)
As far as his mobile activity goes, we're stumped by the fact that he's put his rolling over on hiatus. He first began rolling from tummy to back at 9 weeks which is extremely early. However, in the last few weeks he's only rolled a handful of times. Hopefully he's realized that rolling over doesn't reap a lot of benefits and he's saving up his energy for bigger and better things like crawling and walking :). In addition to his assisted sitting in the exersaucer and the Bumbo, we have been working on sitting up. When he is lying flat we like to pull him up by the hands to the sitting position and have him hold that without too much assistance. He's still really wobbly and can't quite sit on his own. But he's pretty close. We just need to strengthen those tummy muscles a little more and get him to realize that he can use his hands and arms for balance. We're hoping he can master this by his 6 month photo shoot.
Another exciting thing that Graham has done recently is slept without being swaddled! We had been swaddling him every night as part of our bedtime ritual. We were hesitant to stop swaddling for fear that he would not be able to sleep through the night. We thought his wandering hands would wake him up and that he wouldn't be able to soothe himself back to sleep. But since he has been growing so much, he was encroaching on the space limits of his swaddles and we knew our time was limited.
One night we put him in some new fleece PJs but were worried that he might get hot. So, we decided to go cold turkey and not swaddle him. Lo and behold Graham slept through the night, and has been doing so ever since! The only difference seems to be that it takes him a bit longer to fall asleep. We typically put him down in his crib while he is awake. When he was wrapped up tight in his swaddle he would fall asleep in a few minutes without fussing. Now, when he is not swaddled, he will cry but usually falls asleep within 5-10 minutes.
Snoozing with Daddy-so sweet!
This month will be busy for Graham, as he will travel to Chicago, Germany and Las Vegas! We need to get him on a frequent flier plan! Unfortunately, Daddy will also be going to Toronto and Buffalo in addition to this other travel, so family time at home may be limited. Brannock is not thrilled about the amount of kennel time in his future.
