Maverick turned four months old last week and I just can't believe it. I know I say that every month...he changes so fast! I'm literally with him every minute of every day and I STILL feel like I'm missing stuff. How is that possible?!
Still in size 1 diapers, not sure how much he weighs (his appointment is on Thursday!), almost out of 0-3 month clothes...and headed into our 3-6 month outfits of the day! So I'm gathering this means he's still on the petite side, but I don't mind. Maverick smiles CONSTANTLY when he's awake and is starting to laugh here and there but it's still not consistent. Tossing him around usually gets daddy some smiles and pinching his chubby legs and butt usually gets some laughs for mommy.
At the end of last month he was working on grabbing his feet and had success right around the 4-month mark. Now I can't get them out of his mouth. He's always taking his socks off and I find him with frozen feet if he's been on the floor playing for a while. He'll pick up his legs and slam them down which is starting to get him places slowly but surely. Last night I found that he had worked himself all the way off his play mat, off the rug, and on to the hardwood floor...no wonder he was starting to crab!
In the rolling department...also something that's getting him places. He picks up his legs, can rock side to side and is sooo close to figuring out how to flip all the way over. Of course once that happens he won't be a happy camper because he only happily tolerates about seven minutes of tummy time before getting frustrated. He started to be a lot better at lifting his head and using his neck when he's on the floor instead of just 'resting' and ignoring the entire point of my forced tummy efforts. Maverick also likes his Bumbo and can last in there about 10 minutes before getting tired and slumping over (which is hilarious to observe).
Maverick still attempts to put everything in his mouth but this month he got a lot better at grabbing at things and bringing them to his mouth. His favorites are Sophie the Girraffe and Kiki the Elepnant. He likes reading and grabs the book and slaps the pages while we read. The other day Jamie caught him trying to grab and eat his feet, eat on his elephant, pull down the toys on his play mat, and 'rolling' to the side all at the same time. Well done, Mav...well done.
Until this past week Maverick was pretty indifferent about 'standing' but he's started a little 'jumping' and standing up here and there when he's on our lap. He's beginning to tolerate his carseat less and less if the timing isn't 'perfect' with his schedule. If I put him in there while he's still happy but headed toward a nap I have great success and he'll nap for as long as I allow it. If I wait it out too long and it's too close to nap...he's a crab about it, doesn't sleep well, and ends up waking up sooner than I want during the ride. He also has to be MOVING if he's in the seat...none of this strapping him in and putting him by the door to wait until we have our shoes and coats on. Once he's in there it has to be GO TIME. The same applies to our shopping trips. We can shop almost as long as I want as long as I don't pause to examine something for too long.
During the month of December we had SO much going on that I was kind of all over the place with his schedule. I still stuck to it loosley but there were days when we'd host parties or had friends over until 1am that he would be up to eat at 7 and then we all went back to bed until...ahem...9...or 10 on occasion. Planning parties, attending graduation, going to family gatherings, and other Christmas traveling meant I had to shift him around in order to carry on with normal life...so we're spending the month of January buckling down and getting back to work on the schedule and the sleep training. That was the other thing...in a house full of family or friends spending the night, I wasn't going to let Mav cry it out in the middle of the night even when I knew he didn't need to eat. I gave in and fed him and the whole time I just kept thinking...I'm un-doing everything I just accomplished! Haha. It wasn't too terrible and he's a pretty good sleeper almost anywhere as long as I re-create his environment with his pack-and-play, sheets, swaddle, paci, and noice app. Over Christmas he slept in a closet, a utility room, a hotel room, in a basement, and in the same room where we were sleeping...so I'd say we've had success with him adjusting to sleeping almost anywhere.
Scheduling his little life is one of the best things I think we've done. As soon as he hit one month I knew we needed some stability and consistency, even if most momma's think that's too early (For some babies maybe it is! For Maverick it just so happened to work well). With that I've been able to figure him out sooo much better. He eats, he's up for an hour to an hour and a half...I start watching for his sleepy signals (in Maverick's case this is when his happy jabbering turns to crabby jabbering) and then he heads in for a nap whether he likes it or not. He operates like clockwork. Sometimes he goes down happy and sometimes he goes down crabby, but usually cries for no more than five minutes. And he almost always wakes up with a giant smile on his face...morning, noon, and night. That's also when he's the cuddliest. ;)
Maverick had some hiccups with sleeping through the night (when he'd been doing SO well! I mentioned in my last post when it was starting) at the beginning of this month but he's past that for now. He went through a week or so where he was up and crying at 1 or 2 and then AGAIN at 3 or 4. It might have been the weirdest most frustrating thing about him so far because it was so different than how he'd been...well...since birth. 4-6 night hour streches have always been common for him but that dang four-month sleep regression gets the best of even the most laid back babies apparently. ;)
He's been crusing on a 9:30/10:00 bedtime, somtimes up to eat at 5, 6 or 7, then up for the day at 9:00. He's painfully close to those magic 12-hours-a-night. For as scheduled as we are during the day, you'd probably assume we have this precious bedtime routine every night but that is not the case. Sometimes we cuddle. Every three nights it's a bath before bedtime. Sometimes we read books. Most of the time though, Josh and I are too enthralled in binge watching The Office on Netflix that we just put him down between episodes. Perhaps that was too honest...we're bad parents. Haha. No but seriously...it's not like he will ever remember if we lotioned him, read three books, prayed, did a dance, spun around six times, massaged him, rocked him, and then sang Jesus Loves Me while we leave his room. The infant stage is not really the time for this nonsense in my opinon. His bedTIME is consistent and Josh and I are just living our lives and adjusting to this parenting thing as we go. And that means our winter is spent cuddling in front of the TV is not up for negotiation...even with a new baby. We wrap him, love on him quick, then plop him down in his crib. He usually cries for less than five minutes or not at all and that's that.
He's more opinionated that last month...in fact his 'crying' before a nap is more like shouting or yelling at me which is funny now but won't always be, I'm sure. He only wants his paci when he's in his carseat trying to sleep or in his crib going to sleep. And even then it just offends him if he's too upset. This might because in the beginning these were the only times when it seemed like he *needed* the paci and the rest of the time I basically just forgot about it. Oops?
We went swimming for the first time a couple days ago and it went FABULOUSLY. The water was even kind of chilly and he totally didn't mind! We weren't in long, but water continues to be one of his favorite things. He spends the first 5-10 minutes of his bath going crazy kicking, splashing, and slapping his hands in the water. I've also started pouring water over his head when he's sitting up to get him used to water on his face and in his eyes. Josh hates it and I love it...no suprises there. His mullet is getting longer and longer and I'm done with it as soon as Erin Hood will help me trim it up a little (hopefully this month). His legs are getting chubbier by the day, though they're still chicken legs by most people's standards. He pulls my hair, pinches my arms when I'm changing him, and is still the best little farter I've ever known.
I thought I'd include Maverick's New Year's Resolutions in this post as well.
1. More tummy time.
2. More Bumbo time.
3. More Baby Einstein and less Kardashians.
So there you have it. Our little Maverick is four months old and I know I'll eat these words in a year when I have an active crazy toddler who won't stop moving and refuses to nap...but the days go by SO FAST! I know I have a couple hours in the morning to accomplish stuff around the house and I have a couple hours in the afternoon to get back to work and then the evening is here and Josh and I settle in for a night of Fixer Upper and it's already time for another day! Maybe that was just because December flew by...I probably won't feel the same way in a couple months when I'm sick of winter, but that's where we're at right now. Living this beautiful (scheduled ;) life and loving every minute of it with our little Maverick. :)
MmB
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