Four Months

This guy's sleeping had been getting just worse and worse until one night I realized that he was eating every 3 hours around the clock.  So I decided that I would let him cry in the middle of the night if he woke up before the 4 hours mark.  Well, he did and he cried for close to an hour.  I went in once to try the pacifier.  The next time he woke up about an hour later.  I nursed him.  The next night was a semi repeat with the second waking being close to 4:30am.  The next night same deal, crying about an hour and then sleeping until 4:30 or 5am.  Then he seemed to get it and start just waking up between 4 and 6am which has been great.  As I write, it has been about a week and he did sleep through the night once making it until 6am.

I made this onesie for him, but I should have made a bigger size since he barely was able to wear it.

His naps have been better the last week also, although not regular.  I am not sure if this is just catch up sleep from the three nights of crying or what.  I did make a change in his bedtime ritual that we do.  I had been swaddling first and then he started falling asleep in my arms before I could get even close to finishing the routine.  So now I am swaddling him at the end while I am singing to him.  He is nearly always awake this way when I lay him down.  He usually goes right to sleep without crying, but occasionally he does cry, but typically for less than five minutes.  He really enjoys looking at his mobile which makes me happy.  When I read to him before bed, he either looks at the book or strains to look at his horse mobile spinning from the fan.  Drew didn't ever look at the book, so I am excited at the prospect of another early book lover like the other three.

We often find Judah trying desperately to fit his whole fist into his mouth like this.  His eyes are so big.

 Another change this month is that he no longer will lay quietly in one place for the whole time he is awake.  He has arrived at the age of knowing when he is being ignored and wanting change in his activity a bit more. 

Judah startles from loud noises, especially if they come from behind him.  This has been going on since he was born, but it took me a while to see the pattern.  He will start screaming bloody murder if someone sneezes behind him or if Drew yells suddenly when it was quiet.  My mom reminded me that I did this too when I was a baby and beyond, so we will see if this continues.

Holding his head up improved dramatically all of the sudden a couple of weeks ago.

Judah is also grabbing toys and pulling them to his mouth now.  He can recognize my voice and find me in a room.  He is sucking on his fingers or fist a lot.  I often find him with his fingers in his mouth despite the swaddle when he is sleeping.  He has a bad habit of peeing out the side of his diaper, but nearly always when he put on his right side at night.

Judah is now trying out his go-pod which is kind of like a portable exersaucer that you can clip toys onto. 

Da boys

Here are the pictures from when he actually turned four months old...

Best Picture I have taken of his dimple!

The hat is from my godson's mama for his baptism.  It's his Lion of Judah hat.

This is what I am talking about, always sucking on those fingers!

He gets so many comments/compliments on his HUGE eyes!  Both my girls did too when they were babies, and Genna still does.