Yesterday Weston turned 4 months old, and it’s hard for me to believe that it was only a short while ago he was literally just a few minutes old. Or even stranger – he was still living inside of me!
I have spent the past few days looking through all of his newborn photos and the book that we put together right after he was born and I still can’t believe that he was once that small. We’ve also had two very dear friends have babies in the past two weeks, and when we went to visit them and I held the babies my arms were in disbelief – I know Wes was that tiny once, but I can’t seem to remember how it felt! It’s so sad, but at the same time I am so thankful to have such a growing and healthy boy.
Things like tummy time have evolved into rolling over (although he’s not an ambi-roller yet…he really only likes to roll over his left shoulder). He loves it when he’s being sung to, something that has stayed the same since he was born. Lately he’s been getting super fussy UNTIL we hold him in a standing position. My little man loves feeling independent and strong!
Another favorite thing with my dude these days is testing the levels that his voice can reach. Screaming and screeching are no longer reserved for tantrums these days – no sir. It could mean he’s having the time of his life, he’s super frustrated, he’s angry, or maybe he just feels like making some noise. You know, to make sure I realize he’s still there.
Lately Wes seems to be showing signs of teething – TONS of drool, chewing on everything (my fingers tend to be the things that take the brunt of the chewing), he goes through bouts of being SUPER cranky and he’s not sleeping great. I can’t say that I see or feel any teeth just yet, but they’re probably moving around a bit and that can’t feel good. I hope that he starts to feel better soon! The best thing for him seems to be just being held and loved on when he’s in pain. Fine by me!
Another thing that I’ve noticed is that he’s falling more and more in love with his Daddy lately. When Nate walks in the door from work and says hi Wes’s head immediately swivels that direction and he gets a huge grin on his face. It’s only the cutest thing ever 🙂 Another thing he likes is grabbing onto Nate’s beard and face and getting Eskimo kisses from him. For some reason he’s not a big fan of Eskimo kisses from me, but he adores them from Nate! Luckily he’s stinking adorable and has chubby yummy cheeks that I kiss all day long anyway.
We had our first laughs from him the other day and I have to admit it was seriously the cutest thing I have ever heard. I know I say that a lot of things related to Wes are the cutest, but baby giggles are the absolute BEST! We haven’t been able to coax out anymore laughs since then, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been trying everything in the book. If there were a video camera that followed me around all day long I’m sure I would be thoroughly embarrassed, but it’s all in the name of making my dude laugh. Totally OK!
We still haven’t been able to get back to him sleeping 10-12 hours in a row like he was before our trip to Texas, but it feels like lately he has started to sleep a little more soundly. We have a trip coming up soon and I’m hoping that it doesn’t completely throw off his sleep again – it was rough getting back to here from the road trip!
Speaking of which, I’m still taking any suggestions for flying solo with a baby that y’all have – I promise they all help! And I’m going to be compiling a list of everything that I get so that you guys can help other mamas out there too. Flying alone is by far the scariest thing I can think of when traveling with a baby, so hopefully he isn’t too fussy and will like spending hours and hours in airports with his mama 🙂
Up til now the things that we use the absolute most are: the swing (I’m slowly trying to wean him off of taking naps in it), his Boppy Lounger (he’s too long for it but still seems to feel comfortable laying in it), his play mat, and now his Johnny Jump Up that we borrowed from some friends. He’s still not totally sure what to think of it, but I would be willing to bet that he’s completely in love with the thing in the next week!
Finally a little note on solids: we did start him on some rice cereal and baby food last week at the suggestion of our fantastic pediatrician, and he absolutely LOVES it! Initially we started feeding him rice cereal mixed with breastmilk, which he seemed to really enjoy. Then we tried bananas – he would eat a whole jar of them, but made faces like I was feeding him lemon juice or something. Bananas aren’t my favorite either bud! Next we tried sweet potatoes, which he absolutely LOVELOVELOVES. He would smile and open wide for those all day!
If you’re a new mom and thinking of starting your baby on solids I would ONLY recommend checking with your pediatrician first for their professional opinion, but here’s what we did:
- We started mixing 1 Tbsp of rice cereal with 2-3 Tbsp of breastmilk so that it was the consistency of runny applesauce. We fed him rice cereal for 3 days to see if there were any adverse reactions, and when there weren’t we decided to move on to jarred baby food.
- Like I said we started with jarred bananas, which he ate but didn’t love, and fed him that for three days to check for effects. When there weren’t any we moved on to jarred pureed sweet potatoes, which he adores. I’m thinking next up we’re going try either pears or peas.
- At the suggestion of our doctor we’re going to do one “solid” food feeding a day, and then gradually move up to two times a day. We started doing jarred baby food to get him used to swallowing something other than milk, and are planning to start making our own in the next few weeks!
I just can’t believe he’s already 1/3 of a year old – and it just keeps getting more and more fun every day! I can’t wait for the rest of our lives 🙂
I don’t know how you’ll feel about this, but we gave Lila a tiny bit of infant tylenol before our flights to Nantucket, and she did AWESOME. And by awesome, I mean that she essentially slept the entire time, through two flights and a three hour layover.
I love my pediatrician too, but when he said to start solids at 5 months I said no way. We are deciding to wait until 5.5 to 6 months… And We are going to try skipping puréed food and going to whole foods, have you heard of baby led weaning? It’s an interesting movement… We will see how it goes!
Weston is so cute! Giggles are the best!
thanks vicky! i’ve heard of baby-led weaning, but we definitely felt like rice cereal and purees were the best way for our family. good luck with it though – i have heard really great stories from other moms who have tried it! plus can you imagine how cute it is to see babies feed themselves? adorable 🙂
So adorable! I can’t believe how fast they grow. Mine are now 2 and almost 6. Where does the time go? Snuggle him as much as you can, it only goes by faster the older they get 🙂
I know doesn’t time fly by quickly? We just spend two weeks on the east coast and totally threw off Ella’s sleep. For the whole two weeks she didn’t sleep through the night once, and now we are just getting back to it. As far as flying we did two flights one in the morning there and one in the evening back. They were both very easy but the evening one she pretty much slept the whole time. I had the ergo on me at the airport and most of the time on the flight and it worked great. And you have your arms free for other things and bags. Then she slept in my lap with her head on my legs and her legs on the arm seat. Worked great. We gate checked the car seat and snap and go. I tried to feed at take off and landing but she wasn’t hungry and she had no issues at all. We haven’t started solids yet will probably at 6 months. I hear you on the standing thing. Ella just wants to stand ALL the time when you hold her. Might be an early walker. Bring disinfect wipes and wipe your table and handles 🙂
great tips Ewa – thank you! i want to take the Ergo with us but know that we’ll need the stroller/car seat combo too – maybe I can just carry him in the Ergo and put the diaper bag in the stroller? I don’t know…I just don’t want him to get WAY too fussy while we’re flying. i like the disinfectant tip though…i’ll be investing in some of those wipes shortly!
I love reading your updates because xander is right behind wes, turning 4 months on sunday!
I know, I read yours all the time too since they’re so close in age! I still can’t believe we were pregnant just a few short months ago…
He is too adorable. Happy 4 months!!
Sweet baby boy! Gigi didn’t fly until she was a toddler, but we took Lu to Hawaii at 5 months. It truly wasn’t too bad…I think it just depends on the kiddo. Check your car seat/stroller at the gate, bring a hooter hider for the plane, try to time his nap for when you are in the air. You’ll do great!
I REEEEEEEEALLY hope his car trip wasn’t a sign of what the flights would look like…hopefully he’s a good flier!
I flew by myself with my son when he was about 10 months old. I had gotten a separate seat for him with his carseat (recommended by the doctor) but if I had to do it again, I would spare myself the cost and hassle of lugging it on and just hold him. (depending on how long the flight is). Our doc also recommended giving him a little decongestant before takeoff to help with the pressure. Also I made sure he was eating during take off and landing because it seemed to help not make his little ears pop. Make sure you go to the bathroom before take off so you don’t get stuck having to go in the middle of a flight and have to try to take the baby into the tiny airplane bathroom and figure out how to hold him and pee at the same time without bonking his head on something, or more importantly, keep him from touching something gross (speaking from experience). Give him a diaper change as well. Other passengers were very helpful, and a nice man helped me carry my stuff off the plane…and we got to board first, so that helped to be able to get settled before the crowds got on. Good luck!
Thanks Lyn! It’s great to know that other people were so helpful…I’m going to try to carry as little on as I can, but I love hearing that other passengers were willing to help!
Four months old already? Wow…time flies! Weston is adorable! 🙂
Thanks Kim! I know, I really can’t believe he’s already 4 months. Crazy!