Rhett: Four Months

Age: four months

Stats.: 19.8 POUNDS (98th percentile), 26 inches (81st percentile), head circumference: (99th percentile). We have one big, healthy baby!
Eating: about 6 oz. each feeding. We introduced rice cereal to Rhett this month, but really hasn't ate much at all. We will try for more next month. 
Sleeping: Rhett started the month sleeping through the night and ended with waking up at least once, if not more. Mom and Dad have been a little sleepy lately! 
Development: Rhett has discovered his toes this month and couldn't love playing with them more. He is SO alert (but really has been since he was born)! He had his eyes open from the minute he was born (9:20 P.M.) and didn't close them until he fell asleep at 2:30 A.M. the next morning! He is also babbling and cooing so much now. It is so fun to hear his little high pitched voice. He loves when we talk back to him and wait for him to squeal. It's so adorable! Rhett is also able to keep his very large head balanced and is gaining so much strength in his neck. He has a very strong grip and is loving his new baby jumper we bought him. It's so fun to see him learning right before our eyes. Rhett also loves lying on his play mat and reaching for his toys. He even ripped off the mobile once or twice! Of course, he is starting to put just about everything into his mouth too...but isn't too interested in a pacifier anymore. He can definitely recognize our voices and faces too (he always smiles when he sees or hears us). His smile melts our hearts and is so contagious. 
Likes: grabbing his toes when lying on his back, playing with toys and putting them in his mouth, smiling at everyone, playing in his jumper, falling asleep in the car, eating, swinging, rocking in our arms, bath time (he is always splashing around and sucks on a wash cloth).
Dislikes: not a whole lot...probably just waiting for his bottle and shots (he has his four month shots)

Clothes: 9 months+  :)

Just like every month up to this point, we are loving every second with our sweetheart. He brings so much joy to our lives. We are so blessed and thankful to have such a perfect baby boy. Yet, I would be lying if I said that this month was all smooth sailing. I have honestly found months 3-4 to be the most challenging so far...and for good reason I suppose. However, with challenges comes great rewards, and this month has had many of those too. This is the month that I returned to work. The students have staff have been great. It was incredibly nice to hear from many of the students that they were glad I was back at school. My classes have also been going well (two of the three are new this semester) and I even managed to know all of my students' names in less than one week. Maybe my pregnancy/mother brain is gone?! Yet, my time back at school has been very exhausting (I have a Keurig coffee maker located right behind desk at school that has been running almost constantly). Of course, it has also been difficult to be away from Rhett. I feel like when I started work he has started to be so active and is learning so much every day. I can't help but feel like I am missing some of those exciting moments. However, I know that he is in great hands at daycare. Rhett is fortunate enough to go to his great aunt's daycare! She is wonderful, and there are lots of other very nice kids to spend his days with. Another challenge of this month was feeding Rhett. He has had only breast milk up until this point. I had to start supplementing the milk with formula because he eats more than I could make (he is almost 20 pounds after all). This was tough at first because Rhett seemed to be more fussy and uncomfortable since we started giving him a little formula. This all made me feel pretty bad about not only giving him only breast milk, but it had to be done. He likes to eat! The last big challenge of the month was Rhett's unpredictable nap schedule. He is awake the majority of the day and sometimes only naps for twenty minutes. I've tried just about everything...rocked him, sung to him (as best as I could), fed him more, used a sound machine...you name it, but I just figured that some days he just didn't want to take a nap. That was fine, but as going back to school approached I tended to get stressed out by the amount of lesson planning I needed to do beforehand. But in the end, it all worked out! Like I mentioned before, Rhett has been so alert since the day he has been born and just doesn't seem to need to nap as much as some babies (this is what our doctor told us today too, which made me feel better). However, today he took two, two+ hour naps, so every day is different and that just keeps us on our toes. We love you very much Rhett! We can't wait to see what's in store for the next month.