Four Months

Win turned four months old last week. I'm late with this post because he had a doctors appointment today, and I wanted to add his stats. He weighed in at 17 lbs 11 oz, and measured 26.5 inches long
He is up 3 lbs and 2.5 inches in last two months.This baby is giant! He’s in the 95th percentile for weight, and 90th for length. Everyone jokes that he stores it all in his chunky thighs.

In the last few weeks, Win has mastered the art of grabbing. He is now very interested in toys, and loves to pull whatever he manages to grasp into his mouth. He has started drooling a ton and always has his fingers in his mouth, which makes me think he might get his teeth on the earlier side, like Eleanor did (he first broke through right at 5 months). He has started laughing a lot and loves his sisters antics. She can always crack him up with a silly dance or a tickle.

He is still a pretty happy baby on average. Our only problem area right now is the car. He absolutely hates being in his car seat, and he screams pretty much the entire time. When I put him in it he gives me this pitiful look like, "No Mama, don't do this to me again," and starts crying immediately, then the moment I open the door to unbuckle him he is all smiles. Luckil, we don't have to drive very often--usually just once or twice a week to run errands. I try to keep our car trips to the minimum, and still do as much walking as we can, which we all prefer anyway.

13 weeks

14 weeks

15 weeks

16 weeks

Three Months

I had such a hard time narrowing down photos for this month's update! Win is just so sweet and smiley and happy and when I look at him I feel like my heart is going to burst right out of my chest. I take photos of him every Tuesday (I try to keep to a schedule so that I don't forget), and I always end up with dozens that I love. I've been posting them to my Flickr (which has better upload quality than Facebook), so if you're like me and you just can't get enough of this darling boy's face, feel free to take a look. There are several photos of Eleanor and Win together as well. 

In the past month, Win has discovered his hands. I had forgotten how fascinating it can be to sit and watch a baby being a baby. It's amazing to watch him concentrate so intently on his hands, stare at them with complete focus, and bring them slowly to his mouth. He has started to soothe by sucking on his fingers and fist when he is sleepy, which makes me wonder if he will become a thumb sucker. He is working hard on learning to sit. If he is in a reclining position he always works his little abs and pulls himself upright. He can sit up now if he has some assistance from either pillows or my lap.

His personality is very calm and happy. It's easy to get him to smile and he is becoming very sociable. He loves to have one-on-one attention, to be able to lock eyes and babble with someone. He really likes diaper changes because it affords him the chance to have a conversation of “ah-goos” and “hoos.” I wear him in a carrier for a large portion of the day, but he gets into playful moods now where he wants to get out where he can see my face and interact with me. I love to hear his voice and watch his facial expressions. It makes me anxious for the day that he is able to actually talk. That will be so fun. But of course I’m in no rush for him to grow up. 

9 Weeks

10 Weeks

11 Weeks

12 Weeks

Two Months

I'm posting this a week late because I wanted to wait until after his doctors appointment so that I could record his stats. He weighed in at 14 lbs 2.5 oz and measured 24 inches. Big boy!

He is growing out of everything at record speed. He needs 3 month or 3-6 month sized clothes. He no longer fits in the Puj tub (a small baby tub that fits in the sink), the infant insert for the Ergo carrier, or his small size fitted cloth diapers. I'm trying not to feel too heartbroken about it, but it's hard. My baby isn't a newborn anymore.

Win is really strong, and for a few weeks now he has been able to hold his head up for long stretches of time while he looks around. He seems to really enjoy observing his little world. And around 7-8 weeks he finally started to wake up, spending decent chunks of each day awake and alert. He is very cheerful and easygoing. I say that holding him for a few minutes is guaranteed to lower your blood pressure. He just oozes sweetness.

Now that he is more awake, he is becoming very smiley and social. He loves to catch your eye, flash a grin, and coo. He likes to sit and have little conversations, and of course he loves when his big sister pays attention to him.

At two months old, Win's favorite things are kicking his legs in the bath, having his diaper changed (he's always all smiles when I put him on the changing table), taking naps on my chest in one of our various baby carriers, and having naked time. That's such a boy thing isn't it? If he is at all fussy all I have to do is lay him down and take his clothes off, then he is the happiest baby in the world.

5 Weeks

6 Weeks

7 Weeks

8 Weeks

One Month

Yesterday Win turned one month old. That month felt like the shortest in my life. It really sped by. I know this little boy is going to grow up way too fast.

At one month old he is getting really good at holding up his head. If I hold him up on my shoulder he lifts it up and looks around for long stretches of time. He seems so strong and big all of a sudden. He is really starting to fill out and develop some lovely rolls on his thighs and nice plump cheeks.

He is still a very sleepy baby. He has a period in the morning from about 7:30 (or whenever big sister wakes us all up) until 10:30 where he is very alert, but other than that he still sleeps most of the day, and thankfully most of the night as well. When he is awake he is generally calm, but he is starting to prefer that I hold him or put him in a carrier rather than leave him in his bouncy seat.

He is starting to smile for us, which is so much fun, but since he is so sleepy the smiles are few and far between. If I'm lucky I'll get one or two out of him a day. It definitely makes life easier to have a baby who prefers to sleep the day away, but I'm looking forward to him perking up a bit so that we can all have a chance to interact with him on another (more wakeful) level.

We're going back to Phoenix the first week of March for a wedding and I'm looking forward to getting to introduce Win to his extended family. I'm really glad we have a chance to visit while he is still so young. See you soon!

And just for fun, here is a comparison of Eleanor and Win, both shots taken on their One Month Birthdays:

Win's First 3 Weeks

Win is 3 weeks old today, and he is already growing out of his newborn sized clothes and on into the 0-3 month range. Last Friday he had a doctor's appointment and weighed in at 9 lbs 3 oz (up from his 7 lb 14 oz birth weight) and had gained an entire inch in length.

He has (so far) been the most mellow baby you could imagine. He hardly ever cries and very little bothers him. He loves having baths (which is good because he spits up a lot) and doesn't even mind having his diaper changed. He sleeps a ton, maybe even a bit more than your typical newborn. In his first two weeks of life I had to wake him up to eat. He would have slept for 4+ hour stretches day and night if I would have let him.

He is starting to have more awake time now. He has two long wakeful periods, one in the morning right when we get up that last for at least two hours, and one in the evening around 8:00 just before bed for at least an hour. He is still a calm, tranquil baby, even when he is awake, in contrast to his sister who at this age was only calm when she was sleeping. He is content to spend his wakeful time sitting in the bouncy seat or in the crook of my arm, watching Eleanor play. He is fitting in to the rhythm of our family so well.

He seems very close to smiling. He smiles a ton in his sleep and will give me these open mouthed almost-smiles when he is wide awake. He also laughs in his sleep, which is the sweetest thing to witness. And when I say laugh, I mean he full on chuckles, with a little giggle sounds and everything. We all can't wait for the real smiles to start.

1 Week Old:

2 Weeks Old:

3 Weeks Old: