Sean at Four Months

Dear Sean,

Buddy, you are getting so big! I can’t believe we’re already a third of the way through your first year. WHAT?! HOW?! I am trying to soak up as much of the yummy infant stage as possible, because it is so fleeting. Why does it go so fast?!

Well, the only part I’m not soaking up is the sleep deprivation. That is one thing I will not be sad to leave behind in the (hopefully-not-so-distant) future. So let’s start there this month: SLEEP HABITS. You still seem like you are not even close to sleeping all the way through the night for me. The only thing that’s grown consistent about your sleep is your bedtime (about 7:00pm) and wake time (about 7:00am). At least we’re there, I guess. But the middle-of-the-night feedings are all over the place. Sometimes you’re up to eat as early as 11:30pm, eat, sleep, then up again around 3:00am. Sometimes you sleep until 1:00am, eat, sleep, then you’re up again around 4:00am or 5:00am. Sometimes you’ll throw me a bone and wake only once, around 3:00-4:00am. Those nights seem glorious right now. I know your sleep could be so.much.worse, but it also could be so.much.better. But man, you’re cute and otherwise so, so good—so I forgive you. For now. I’m trying my best to just roll with it for another month or two, but if things are still status quo by then, we may have to do some (*gasp*) sleep training. You’re forewarned.

You’re going down fairly easily at night, especially since you started daycare (we’ll get there in a minute). But whether you stay down right away is always kind of a crapshoot. Sometimes you wake back up in less than an hour. Thankfully, you’ll usually settle yourself back down after a few minutes, but there are times when that’s not happening and I end up going up to feed you—AGAIN! How it’s possible for you to eat so much, I’ll never know.

We did go ahead and move you to your own room a week or so ago. You’ve been doing great as far as that transition is concerned. It doesn’t seem to have affected your sleep at all—positively or negatively. The only difference is how far I need to travel to get you at night, ha! It’s been fun to get more use out of your nautical nursery. Naps are coming along. You’re not-so-great at morning naps, which is probably because we tend to be on the go for a lot of them. Not your fault, but it’s just a product of being the third baby in a family with places to go and things to do all of the time. We’ve been better at enforcing the afternoon nap, though, which has also moved to your crib in your own room. You’ve been doing great with that, usually sleeping for 2-3 hours which is fantastic!

You’re still swaddled, and I don’t think you’re ready to give it up just yet. I’m waiting for when we will have to go cold turkey with it, which could be at any point now, when you figure out how to roll over in it.

ROLLING! That has been your new trick of the month. You’ve been successfully rolling from back to belly for a few weeks now, and you’re starting to figure out the belly to back thing, too, when your arms are in the right position to be out of the way. You always roll to your left. You’ve been working on it so much that you’ve actually given yourself some rug burn on the left side of your face! You’re still not rolling in your sleep, which is good since it’s buying us some additional time with the swaddle. I fear for what our nights might look like when we have to stop swaddling. Hopefully you’ll pleasantly surprise me.

You’re also capable of big belly laughs now, but wouldn’t you know that you refuse to laugh that hard at your family. Instead, you saved that for our neighbor/friend, who had you absolutely busting a gut. Apparently we’re not as funny as think we are! ;)

Speaking of your gut, you are a big boy. We had your 4-month doctor’s appointment and you weighed in at 15 lbs., 11 oz. (63%) and 25.5″ long (68%). It still amazes me how much bigger you are than your sisters were. Your rate of growth seems to have leveled off a bit, which is good because I was beginning to think you were going to grow out of clothes faster than I could buy them. You’re still in 3-6 month sizes for now.

Also, the pediatrician said she thinks you might be teething already because your bottom gums feel very firm. You love grabbing everything you can get your hands on—hair, clothing, toys, whatever—and shoving it in your mouth. You are drooling a lot more than I ever remember your sisters drooling. When I hold you up on my shoulder, you gum the shoulder of my shirt, which makes for some awkward wet spots sometimes! :) It would be totally crazy if you were to get teeth soon, as your sisters didn’t get their first ones until they were 10-11 months old! But you’ve proven that you’re determined to be different in just about every way, so I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised.

So, daycare. I started back to work on September 1. I had 15.5 weeks home with you—more than I ever had with your sisters—and for that I am super grateful. I knew I would never regret taking the extra time, even if it meant going a few additional weeks without a paycheck. Leading up to going back, I definitely felt anxious and sad, but when the day itself came along, it wasn’t so bad. I managed not to cry. It helped that Nora and Vivienne were thrilled that you’d be going to Mary’s with them. Of course, Nora only got a couple of days there with you before she started school, but Vivienne still asks sometimes if you’re going with her and is always so happy to find out you are.

It’s been fine so far. Mary reports that you are happy and easy. You’re not napping as well there as you do at home, but that’s to be expected—same thing happened with Nora and Vivienne, especially in the beginning. Sometimes you come home super tired and it can make for cranky evenings, but I think you’ll adjust with time. Daddy and I just end up holding you a lot, which is fine by us because we like to get in all of the snuggle time we can! I definitely miss you during the week. It’s one of the hardest things about being a working mom, feeling like there is just never enough time. But it makes me truly enjoy the time I *do* have with you and completely cherish the weekends.

You are taking your bottles with no problem, which is a relief. Although you’ve always seemed to be content to switch back and forth (who cares, right? as long as you’re getting milk!), I still worried that you’d suddenly refuse the bottle once you realized you were going to have them more often now. But nope, you’re a little piggy! (Side note: You still don’t take a pacifier. We’ve given up.)

We continue to be amazed by how laidback you are. There are days that go by when at the end, I have to think about whether I even heard you fuss… at all… all day. You’re such a blessing. Such a calm soul!

I kiss you probably 150 times a day. You are just so squishable and lovable and yummy. I really couldn’t love you more. Your smile melts me. That’s a wrap on month #4… let’s go, month #5!

Love you through and through,
Mommy