4 Months

Four months. FOUR MONTHS!

This is going by WAY TOO FAST.

The big news is, we started solids. A full 10 days before his 4 month birthday (the HORROR!) He has a love-hate relationship with it. Most of the time, he kind of rolls it around in his mouth, swallowing some of it, dribbling out the rest. Sometimes he VORACIOUSLY eats it up, and gets pissed when it’s gone. And sometimes, he turns his face away from it like it’s prison gruel. I can’t get a good read on this kid. What I DO know is that his system is fine with it, and I’ve added some applesauce and bananas to the mix as well, all well tolerated.

I also know for sure that it’s not helping the night feeding situation, as I had hoped. He started sleeping through the night at 3 months, just like his brother, but unlike brother, he started waking up twice a night to nurse again after just a couple of weeks of blissful full nights of rest.  Though, last night he slept all the way through again, so we’ll see.

And, I think he nurses for comfort a hell of a lot more than his brother did. Remember when I was complaining that he was nursing up to 15 times a day? Well, I went to a six-hour writing workshop last Saturday, and he drank like 6 oz. of milk and had some cereal. THE WHOLE TIME. Obviously he thinks if mama is around, he can just nurse to his heart’s content. If not? Ok, fine, what else is there?

At his 4 month check up, he weighed in at 16 pounds, 5 ounces. And he’s over two feet tall now. He’s almost exactly the same size as Bowie was at this age, though both the pediatrician and I could have sworn Ferris was bigger. He just seems…sturdier. And rounder. She kept saying how round Ferris looks.

He’s a super smiley kid, showing off those dimples for anyone who looks at him. And in the last few days he has really started making sounds. He imitates the sounds we make, and answers us in his little voice when we talk to him. And if you tickle his tummy just right during a diaper change, you’ll get a real, honest-to-goodness laugh. We’ve tried filming it, but he gets distracted by the camera and stops laughing.

He hates to be left alone. Not that I’m leaving my baby alone all the time, but if I have to put him in his swing or his bed so that I have two hands for folding laundry or cooking dinner or PEEING (for God’s sakes), then he gets really mad at me. And sad. He cries real tears, and they roll down his sad little face. Mommy guilt central. I can’t snuggle him to death the way I could with Bowie, and it’s killing me. And he really, really wants me to, so much more than Bowie ever did. Some days he won’t nap at all (an infant that won’t nap? I know.) unless I hold him in my arms, or carry him around in the Ergo.

And you guys, he looks EXACTLY like Bowie did at this age. EXACTLY. It’s trippin’ us out. We’re going to have to be very careful to label pictures, because I could totally see us looking back in 10 years or so and being all, “Which one is this?” He gets referred to a lot as “Bowie Junior” or “Bowie’s Clone”, which I hope won’t give him some kind of complex.

Enjoying every second with this little bug, as much as I can. It’s going by SOOO FAST.