Four Months

Age: 4 months

Stats: 15 lbs. 5 oz. & 26 inches long - He is in the 40th percentile for weight & the 70th percentile for height. He is going to be tall & skinny like his daddy! Poor baby got his 4 month vaccinations today but did awesome!

Sleep schedule: Ryder has been very good about going to bed at 8pm. He typically sleeps until 4 or 5am. Once he's been changed & fed, he will go right back to sleep & wakes up around 7am. He takes 3 solid naps during the day. Usually they are from 8-10am (he gets tired easily after waking up), he will wake up & play for a bit then have his lunchtime bottle & goes back down around noon & sleeps usually until 2pm. He then stays awake until 5 & will take a nap at about 5-6pm. Some nights he needs a small catnap lasting about 45 to an hour around 7.

Favorite foods: Only on formula. We did try oatmeal baby cereal but it really bothered his stomach. We might try rice cereal but NOT the white rice cereal. I fully intend to make all of his baby food. I want him to taste the real flavors of each food & I want to make sure he is getting wholesome healthy foods. There are too many recalls & cons to store bought baby food. I found a great blog written by a mom who is my inspiration. You can find out more here. We have discussed that we will not start solids until the earliest 5 months. He is beginning to show interest in our food as of recent.

Clothes: He is completely in 6 months clothes & size 2 diapers. We use Pampers Swaddlers for the most part. They seem to hold the most at night. Huggies are great for their fit & they work perfect during the day.

Favorite things: He has developed his skill in grasping. Basically he likes anything that he can manipulate with his hands or that he can put in his mouth. He is getting use to his Jumparoo, but can only handle it 10 minutes at a time. He has also learned that he can make people laugh by acting goofy. He will squeal, scream, fake cough, coo, & babble to get any sort of reaction from whoever is nearby. I think we have a class clown on our hands!

Things he hates: Being held still & we get a wicked mean mug when we wipe his nose & face.

Words he says: Lots of babbles, squeals, & screams.
Milestones: He is starting to roll over onto his side from his back. He can stand & stomp with assistance. He has also began to laugh purposefully as well as do anything to make others laugh.
Memory for the baby book: This month is SO exciting! We have put up our Christmas decorations, listened to holiday music (& danced until Ryder stopped breathing from laughing so hard), & even met Santa Claus! I am so excited for Ryder's first Christmas!!

Soft Book:  Ryder loves his soft books. They are easy to grab & hold onto. They are also easy to chew on. Most times he will actually turn the pages of the books. Hopefully he will love books as much as his mama.

Car Seat Cover:  I love these because it has elastic around the edge which makes it easy to just slip over the car seat so it doesn't pose a threat to his harness. Plus they are so warm & soft!

Gel Teething Ring (similar here):  These rings are soft so that they are easy & fun to chew on. Our little vampire can easily hold onto it & you can add a pacifier clip around it. Bonus!!

Octopus Toy:  This is his all time favorite toy right now! So many areas for him to grab & chew!! Each tentacle has crinkle paper inside so it makes it a fun sensory play.

Sophie:  Sophie has to be the cutest baby teether ever made! Plus she is so easy for babies to hold.

Security Blankets:  I love these blankets because not only are the cute & soft but they are light & thin so I don't have to worry about Ryder with them at night. He likes to rub the satin edge on his face to help put himself to sleep. And a bonus! They come in a variety of adorable prints!

Jumparoo:  We recently put him in this for the first time. He loved it at first...then he got very bored because he couldn't really do much. Since his grasping has gotten a lot better he can now try to interact with the toys. So now he is really liking it except now he doesn't jump want to jump but walk in it. Stubborn little boy!