Bennett: 4 Months!

Yesterday Bennett was 4 months old!  Time has flown with this little guy, and my time home with him is sadly and quickly coming to an end.  It was soooo nice to have 4 months with him and being able to not worry about a schedule and feed him on demand.  He is still nursing 100% of the time.  It's such a blessing that it's gone well for us, and I've been able to pump and store up a lot of milk for when he starts going to his babysitter.  My goal is to have him on only breastmilk for the first 6 months, but he's starting to eat a lot more lately (growth spurt?) so we'll see if it works out.  I still plan on nursing him before and after work for as long as I can, and I'm going to *try* pumping at lunch.

Bennett is developing a fun little personality.  Instead of crying, most of the time he squeals or screams. It's kind of cute, although he's getting louder and louder.  He's a VERY happy baby and really never fusses for no reason (*knock on wood*).  He only fusses when he's tired or hungry.  Bennett has started wearing size 2 diapers, but mostly because we ran out of size 1 and didn't want to buy a whole other box of them since he seems to be growing and we didn't want to waste any.  So 2s are big on him, but they work.  He is wearing size 3 onesies and a variety of 0-3, 3, and a few 3-6 month clothing items.  Bennett has also started pooping only every 3-4 days, but on that day will have anywhere from 1-3 poopy diapers.  

Bennett has learned some new skills!  He nows LOVES to grab and hold onto his toes.  We go for walks and he just holds his toes the whole time.  He also fully rolls over from his back to his tummy, and sleeps mostly on his tummy.  He actually will try to sleep face down on his mattress, giving me a heart attack, so once he's asleep I go in and turn his head to the side.  I'm sure he can breathe fine (he's big/strong enough to move), but I feel better about doing this.  He still cannot flip from front to back though, so when he wakes up on his tummy he is MAD.

Bennett is getting a little more tolerant of tummy time.  He's actually tucking his knees under in the crawling position a little bit, but his arms are nowhere near strong enough to really push himself up much.  And I don't think he quite gets it, because he mostly flails his arms and legs in the air and balances on his belly.  His favorite activities are being in his exersaucer, me holding him facing out while I do stuff around the house, going for walks, and singing/talking to anyone.  

We have been working really hard the past week or so to get Bennett into a routine (not a schedule persay, but something more consistent to make life easier for the babysitter).  He was very resistant at first (for the first 4 months of his life I let him eat/sleep/play whenever he wanted!)....but it's going really well thank goodness.  We follow the Eat-Play-Sleep routine.  I'm trying to get him to go 3 hours between feedings (he was eating every 1.5-2 hours...oops!).  It's going really well, and in the afternoons he can stay up about 1.5-2 hours and then sleeps for 1.5-2 hours, then eats.  In the mornings he still eats a bit more frequently and sleeps a little less, but we're getting there.  Bennett is doing AMAZING with sleeping and napping in his crib (no boppy needed).  He doesn't need rocking or a nuk to fall asleep anymore!  He will cry for a few minutes before he settles himself down, and sometimes I need to go in once or twice to shush/pat him, but I'm impressed after only a week of working on it!  He does still get swaddled (arms free) for naps and sleeping.

Bennett has regressed a little recently with his night sleeping.  He was only getting up once to eat at 3am, but this past week he's been getting up around 1:30am and 5am.  I think it might be a growth spurt, as his PJs are a little short on him now too.  I've started doing a "dream feed" at 10pm (feed him in his sleep) when I used to pump and that seems to knock out the 1:30 feeding.  He's also started taking about 5 ounces out of the bottle when Brad feeds him instead of his usual 3.5!!!  

I'll update with doctor stats on Monday when we go in for his 4 month check up.  In the meantime, here's a video of him talking and grabbing his toes (his newest trick!).  Please excuse the high-pitched Mommy voice... :)