Arlo: 4 months old

Hey baby!  Here is the scoop on Arlo at four months old:

Arlo, 4 months old

Sleeping:  Right around the start of his fourth month, Arlo started to sleep through the night.  His last feeding of the day is around 10-11pm and after that he usually sleeps until 6 am, sometimes longer!  Several nights in the past week though, he has woken up to eat around 3 or 4 am, so I think he might be going through a growth spurt which is common around four months of age.

Eating:  Arlo is still eating four ounces at each feeding, averaging seven "meals" per day.  The first half of the day he will want to eat every three to four hours, but come evening time he is ravenous and can't seem to get enough.  This has been his usual behavior for several months now, so I feel like not a lot has changed this month in terms of feeding.

I am still exclusively pumping, and the nipple pain has not resolved yet.  It has however, decreased a bit and is something I can tolerate.  At this point I don't plan to even try to feed him at the breast again, I have accepted how things are and I am ready to move past the constant anxiety I have been feeling to "fix" these issues so we can get back to the breast.  I will keep pumping as long as I can, supplementing with the donor milk we have until it runs out, and then possibly needing to add in some formula if we don't acquire more donor milk.  I have made my peace with all this, and let me tell you, it feels incredibly liberating!

Arlo, 4 months old

Weight and length: Arlo had his four month check-up with the pediatrician today.  He weighed in at 13 lbs 2 ounces, putting him in the 7th percentile for weight, which is about where he has been since birth.  He has grown to 24 1/4" in length, and the big surprise was his head circumference - just over 17 inches, putting him in the 98th percentile!  Ha! 

Wearing:  Last week I packed up all of his "3 month" size clothes, and he is now wearing all 3-6 month onesies and shirts, and still in the 6 month size pants and shorts to fit over his cloth diapers.  Since the weather has warmed up I have been able to start using my favorite clothing item on him - the little one piece rompers I picked up a while back.  There is nothing cuter, or easier to change his diaper in, than those cute little rompers!  I plan to have him live in these things until the weather turns cold again.

Likes and dislikes:  Arlo is still interested in the ceiling fan believe it or not, but he also has a few new likes too.  He will smile at Lucy when he sees her, but his biggest smiles come when he sees our faces.  He has started to give us his first real belly laughs when we tickle him, and this kid absolutely loves to be naked now.  With nearly every diaper change, the little guy smiles and starts kicking his legs excitedly.  This can make putting his diaper and clothes back on quite the challenge at times!  He only takes a pacifier when he is really sleepy and will use it for a minute and then spit it out.  Lately he has taken to sucking on his fingers and does this several times a day, which I suppose is his own version of a paci!
The only time Arlo will really cry is if he is hungry or too warm.  I recently learned the hard way about his strong dislike for being too warm, let's just say it involved the ergo carrier, a local Target store, and the biggest meltdown ever.  And no... I won't be setting foot back into that Target for a while!

New milestones and developments:  I feel like we are on the verge of some big things happening, but we are just not quite there yet.  He isn't rolling over all the way but will roll from his back to his side pretty easily.  He is starting to reach out to grab things, but hasn't yet made the connection about opening his hand and then closing it around the object.  I recently bought him an oball rattle which is really easy for his little fingers to grab and hold if I put it in front of him.  He seems to like it but loses interest after a minute or so when he realizes it won't fit in his mouth.  I am looking forward to these upcoming months as I feel like our playtime will be quite fun and a lot more interactive!

Arlo, 4 months old