how is this possible? i have a 4 month old? he is 1/3 of a year old? so crazy to me. it's been somewhat of a rough month with ben. who am i kidding, his whole life has been a little rough. poor kid has the worst acid reflux. i feel so bad for him. it has gotten worse the last little bit, so he hasn't been too happy. but you better believe anytime he gets a smile on that face i whip out my camera. i know i take a lot of pictures of ben.. but i have my reasons. my little brother had a twin sister named bailey. she passed away when she was 2 months old. the film that had all the pictures of them from their first 2 months of life was completely ruined when it got developed. also, my grandma had some pictures of them but i believe her camera got stolen. there is only one picture of my sister. it makes me sad. so i may go a little overboard on the pictures.. but how lucky are we to have so many opportunities these days to take pictures? you better believe i am taking advantage of it.
here are some 4 month stats on ben:
-somehow weighs 14lbs 5oz. he is 25.5 inches long and has a head circumference of 17 inches. 75% for weight, 90% for height, and 93% for head. haha. so basically he is above average in all areas. everyone always comments on his tiny and skinny he is but he is in the 75th percentile but i think he just looks even skinnier because he is so long. and his head is ginormous. i don't think he seems that little.
-he was sleeping really well for a bit, about 8-10 hours straight a night, but the past little while he went back to waking up after 5-6 hours and then every hour after that. he would go back to sleep with his binky but would wake up an hour later. last night he finally slept 10 hours straight again and didn't wake up once. i am hoping he will do it again tonight. i really needed it last night. last week was really rough. he cried... a lot. also he goes to bed between 8-9.
-still drinking about 4 oz every 3-4 hours. sometimes he will drink 5-6 oz. still on gerber gentle. we have tried everything. he pukes it up no matter what so we stuck with this one because he seems to be the most comfortable on it and it digests faster. i think that is why he has gained weight. he is also still ridiculously hard to feed. but the last week he has been a little better.
-kind of turned back into a fussy baby but that's okay. i know it will eventually pass.
-he hates church. every time we go, he throws the biggest fit. we always take turns outside with him and sometimes he is so loud we actually have to go outside the building. we have to leave early a lot. he throws a screaming fit every time.
-he needs his naps. he takes about 3-4 a day still. he has started to take a really long morning nap. usually 2-2.5 hours. it's nice! i can get ready and get some stuff done usually. if he is awake for more than 1.5-2 hours he gets really fussy. he still needs to be swaddled to sleep. he still likes to nap in his swing but he will take his morning nap in his room in either his crib or rock and play.
-speaking of swings.. we went through 4 swings already. ughh. ben loves his swing.. and we had this awesome travel swing that i could take anywhere with me. i took it to work with me, grandparents... etc. it's a fool proof way for him to take a nap. well the crappy thing about that swing is that it's crappy. the motor dies after a couple weeks. i just kept taking it back to get replaced but finally decided to just splurge and use the money from the old one to get the nice swing since he loves it so much. we got the monkey one that matches his bouncer and rock and play. it's super cute but really big and doesn't travel. oh well. also, he is about too long for it. great.
- occasionally he will laugh and giggle. it's the cutest thing ever.
-he sucks his thumb and his pointer and middle finger.
-has discovered his feet. it's so stinkin cute.
-needs a lot of attention lately. if i leave his sight he starts to cry.
-in size 1-2 diapers still
-wearing 0-3 month clothes
-still has a bald spot on the back of his head from laying in his crib! his head is a little flat too but the doctor said it wasn't bad and it's even so it wasn't anything to be worried about.
-we got him a jumparoo. the more he is in it, the more he likes it. i think he will really like it soon. he is so active and it's the perfect toy for him.
-his favorite thing to do is sit in his bumbo outside with moses. it always calms him down.
-still puking like crazy. it got even worse so i took him back to the doctor. we got an ultrasound done on him to make sure it wasn't pyloric stenosis. he screamed the entire time. it was so sad. he couldn't eat for 4 hours before it so he was not happy about that. also he just doesn't like unfamiliar things and so he wasn't a fan of having gel and the ultrasound stuff on him. he didn't like the sugar water they needed him to drink so we had to end up giving him milk to see it go through his stomach. he doesn't have pyloric stenosis so basically he just has really sever acid reflux. hopefully he grows out of it soon. we have increased his very very expensive medication. he now takes a full tablet of prevacid instead of half and is still on zantac at an increased amount. he still pukes like crazy and is still fussy but i think he is a little bit more comfortable.
-his hair is getting so long. i don't ever want to cut it though!
-his eyes still seem brownish greenish. i am interested to see how they turn out!
-loves being thrown up in the air. loves being tickled. loves when moses licks his face.
-likes to watch curious george and mickey mouse clubhouse.
-went on his first vacation last month. we went to torrey, utah to visit my grandparents. he did better than i thought he would but it was still kind of hard!
-i think he might be teething a little. i haven't seen any teeth coming through but he has been drooling like crazy and tries to suck on anything he can get his hands on.
-went to the splashpad for the first time today. he didn't really love getting wet but he loved watching all the kids play.
-he really is a sweetheart. he isn't the easiest, most calm baby in the world.. but i don't blame him. if i spit up and threw up that many times a day i would be unhappy too. he can barely keep his medicine down so we don't even know how much it helps him. i can't wait until he grows out of this. feeding him wrapped in a full length towel (both of us) is getting old.
anyway, we really love this little guy! he is so cute! he also welcomed a new cousin a few weeks ago! my brother sam and his wife had a little boy! Jack Evan Thomas! he is so cute and so tiny! ben looks ginormous compared to him!
