4 months with Chestnut

Our littlest boy is 4 months old! (As of 11/15/14, 18 weeks 11/18/14)

This boy smiles easily & has a beautiful laugh

Look at that- lovely blue, blue eyes

-At his appointment this morning he weighs 14 lbs, 13 oz (30th percentile), is 2 ft 1.8 inches long (math=25.8 inches) (75th percentile), 17 inches head circumference (90th percentile), putting him in the 15th percentile for height to weight ratio. Long, lean & big headed. She remarked that he was strong & has hit all expected milestones!

-he's wearing a lot of 9 month/6-12month size clothing

-He's lost a lot of his chestnut colored baby hair & little downy blonde hairs are emerging

-Im still fighting back cradle cap with brushing & coconut oil- any other ideas?

-He has long eyelashes & little eyebrows that are so light in color that you can hardly see them but that doesn't stop him from working his brow & being very expressive with his face!

-Our sleep routine got all messed up by the time change but we seem to have settled back into the 4 naps, 2 nighttime wakings pattern. One night he woke just once! You should have seen my hair the next day. It was something else! I think it's because I slept hard. 

-He laughs often & thinks silly sounds are most hilarious 

-He likes to put his hands on my face & grab at my mouth

-He grabs my necklace especially while nursing

-The other night he drank tiny sips of water from an open cup! He really seems interested in our food & grabs my dishes if they are in his reach

-He is mouthing everything & gets frustrated if he can't get it to or into his mouth

-He's started that adorable thing Arthur did where he'll break his latch just to gaze at me with his blue eyes

-He smiles at Arthur & Arthur talks to him more & checks on him more often. It's really sweet

-He gets into happy baby pose often, grabbing his feet. This makes diaper changes more adorable & more challenging

-He rolls from prone to supine 

-He is really ticklish especially on his back 

-We've begun experimenting with short rides in the Ergo without the infant insert. He's got his head under control so I can just set him in there but his legs still frog up against me instead of going out the sides of the carrier

-Sometimes he covers his face to nap during the day. He's still a little sensitive to light & very sensitive to sound

-Seems to prefer cloth or your finger to mouth on over water tethers or the rubber Sophie giraffe

-He really feels like his own person to me but he does many things like his brother (grunt in concentration, grabs my hair) & sometimes I call him Arthur when talking to him in the middle of the night 

-We cuddle a lot & I love it. Love it. LOVE it. 

You can compare my 4 month post for Arthur here. I just did & it's funny how similar they are:

http://bassfamoregon.blogspot.com/2012/05/4-months.html?m=0

http://bassfamoregon.blogspot.com/2012/05/4-mth-well-child-check-up.html?m=0

Chester has his first virus & it's giving me an ulcer. I can't tell if I'm sick too or it's just al the worry. 

We took him to urgent care over the weekend but he checks out fine so it's just some mean old virus making him feverish. His appetite decreased, he wouldn't smile, he whined all the time & threw up once. And his tongue keeps poking out- he holds it between his lips. The doctor said it may be a sign of teething. It's so hard to watch our happy baby be so miserable.

Last night he was so uncomfortable, he woke several times crying. He slept in bed with me on his side & I held his little body while he held my face with his soft little hands on my cheeks

How can you tell he's the second child?

- his nails are always long & have dirt under them

- there is earwax build up in his ears

- once, I found a sticker stuck to his stomach. I have no idea how long it was there before I discovered it

- he watches the scene quietly & intently, and is the most entertained when his brother is around 

- he is so mellow, with very few complaints. If he cries, you know something is really up- like his hoodie zipper just scratched his face, his foot is squished, or he's done with the day & it's bedtime

- he's been exposed to screen time already, by proxy

- he's constantly told he looks just like his brother (where Arthur was constantly told he looked just like his dad)