4 months

Asher is officially FOUR MONTHS old TODAY!!!

He had his 4 month check up and he is doing fantastic developmentally (according to Dr. Matt)

Weight: 17 lbs 6 oz

(yes this is lower than the last report which was clothed & a different office)

His weight is in the 95th percentile. We love them big and juicy!

Dr. Matt confirmed that we do not need to feed him anything other than breast milk till our next appointment at 6 months. There is no reason to rush him to rice cereal or any pureed food for that matter because he is a big boy AND he sleeps through the night.

Height: 26 inches (he grew 4 inches!)

He has stepped up into the 50th percentile!

"Back to Sleep Program"

Dr. Matt said that Asher's head is growing nicely and now that he is 4 months old we need to try to keep him on his stomach as often as possible so that his head can round out. We followed the "back to sleep program" pretty closely once Dr. Matt advised us not to put him on his stomach ALL of the time and of course their are consequences. It isn't the flattest baby head but its definitely a little flat back there. We have been using the PREEMIE donut to keep him off of it and in no time he will be rolling all over his crib anyway.

Development

Asher has been rolling from stomach to back since he was 3 weeks old. We are hoping he will find his way back (back to stomach) in the coming weeks. He wants to sit up so badly. He is constantly doing a mini ab crunch in hopes to pull forward but his fat rolls tend to get in the way. Once he is sitting he can almost do it without help depending upon the surface he is sitting on. Again he will be sitting in the next few weeks on his own. We really think once he can sit up with strength he is going to be the happiest baby ever. He knows his feet exist but he can't reach them because his arms are too short and he is too chunky! He loves to play with his hands, pull them to his center and eat, slobber, suck and chew on them. Asher loves to suck on his lips. He tucks his bottom top under his bottom lip and it is hysterical. He also sucks on his lips in a wave like pattern. He is following our voices and our movement much closer. He likes to stare at Bella as she moves around him. He love to hold onto everything anything and then put it into his mouth. He is getting a little heavy for his swing. He is re-learning to enjoy tummy time.

Sleep

He is still sleeping a TON! Usually 10-15 hours a night. He usually goes down at 7:30 and wakes up at 6 and then goes right back down after eating and getting his diaper changed for at least another 2-4 hours. He takes cat naps 2-3 times a day lasting usually no more than an hour. He still loves bath time and as soon as he is sitting on his own will transition from the sink tub to the bath tub (he is getting too big for the sink tub!). This is how he relaxes for bed. We still do not put any lotions on him what so ever and he has perfect skin!

Stomach

Asher still seems to struggle in the stomach reflux department. I tried to incorporate dairy back into my diet and I dont think it went so well. We can't tell if he outgrew his medicine (by weight) or if it was the dairy so we will give it a try again in a few weeks. He is now taking 2 mL of Axid twice a day vs the 1 mL he was taking before. He seems a lot more relaxed and comfortable. Asher seems to be developing just like I did. He is very stiff and rigid, arches his back all of the time and is very chunky. All mommy.

Disposition

He is very happy. He laughs out loud all of the time and talks up a storm particularly after he nurses. He is very vocal. Everyone is trying to brainwash him to say their name but he is smarter than that. He knows his first word will be "ma" :)

Bottles

We finally figured out why he kept resisting the bottle. It wasn't warm enough. Because he is exclusively taking breast milk and breast feeding as often as possible he was used to it straight out of the tap (which is warm/body temperature). Even the bottle at room temperature to him was COLD and he would flip. Now that we warm them up he downs the bottle and it makes for a much more pleasurable eating experience for all! Let me tell you how much I hated hearing him scream. Over the past month he has had a sleepover at his Softa's and his daddy put him down with a bottle while mommy had a night time meeting.

We feel so very blessed to have Asher in our lives. Just the other day Philip said he never realized he could fall in love with someone so quickly...after all it took him over a year to fall in love with me...