Since about 3 months, he has been sleeping 10-12 hours/night which makes for a VERY happy mommy. Sometimes he falls asleep during the last feeding (around 8pm), but more often than not he is awake and smiling when we put him to bed and he talks to himself, listens to the music (he loves music!), watches the mobile, suck on his hand, and falls asleep on his own. I believe that a child's ability to self-soothe is very important and I'm so proud that Noah has figured this out at such an early age. He isn't swaddled and doesn't use a pacifier. He doesn't nap much during the day - usually about an hour around 1pm (which thankfully is the same time as Sam's nap!) and then a 15-20 minute cat nap around 5 or 6pm. But, he only really cries when he needs something (new diaper, time to eat, etc). I can't even remember the last time he cried for more than 5 minutes without a reason (hungry, wet, etc) that could easily be fixed. He loves to bat at toys and thinks the vibrating toys are hilarious.
He still sleeps in a reclined swing (not moving) because of his reflux, but I'm hoping to move him out of the swing and into his crib sometime soon. His reflux hasn't been too terrible and we have been able to avoid medications which is quite nice. However, his favorite position is to be practically upside down.
His big accomplishment is that he has learned to hold himself in a sitting position. He can't sit up by himself, but at 4 months and 1 day, I put him on the ground in a seated position and he held himself up like that for 5 seconds! He continues to hold himself up in a seated position longer and longer every day. I'm truly amazed by his upper body strength!
Tummy time has become less of a battle because he loves to continually roll from his front to back and back to front. The activity mat is one of his favorite toys. He's become quite proficient at rolling and spends long periods of time on his side staring at the mirror and talking to his reflection. He LOVES the mirror and thinks it is very funny that there's a baby in the mirror.
He is working hard on reaching his feet and is so close to grabbing them, I love watching him try!
The other day he was on his tummy and propped up his entire torso onto his elbows and looked all around, kicking his legs. He pulled his knees up under his body and started to push up into pre-crawling. I am NOT ready for him to crawl! With Sam, I was so excited for him to reach each milestone - maybe because he was a premie and I worried about milestones or because he was the first child - but with Noah, I feel like saying to him "SLOW DOWN!" I'm also not ready for him to be mobile. I enjoy the fact that I can put him down on the activity mat and he's not really going anywhere very fast! He likes to copy everything Sam does and thinks his older brother is hilarious.
I'm hoping that he's not an early teether, but the drooling has started in full force and he enjoys sucking on his thumb, fingers, fist, bumbo, teething rings, toys, etc.
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| This is one of my favorite infant toys because it is so easy for him to hold onto it. We call it the "rubber band ball" |
He nurses like a champ and loves to eat. He is about 13 pounds which is on the small-ish side, he was only in the 15th percentile for weight so we are introducing cereal to help him gain some weight. He has terrific head control and is very interested in the food we eat, so we are trying it out.
Noah LOVED the cereal and eating with a spoon. As soon as he realized the cereal was for him, he started reaching for it with his mouth open. He hasn't fully figured out how to swallow the solid food, but he's getting the hang of it. Right now about 10% of the food reaches his tummy and 90% ends up on his face, bib, clothes, mommy.
Sam also likes to help feed Noah.
Sam is a terrific helper and loves his brother so much. We feel very lucky that Sam hasn't exhibited any signs of jealousy or wishing his brother would go away. If anything, he wants to help with EVERYTHING. The other day, Noah was playing in the exersaucer and spit up a bit - as I was walking over, Sam went to the laundry basket and picked up a burp cloth, went over to Noah to clean him up and then deposited the dirty burp cloth into the hamper. What a great helper! He also cares for his baby doll (also named baby Noah) and makes sure that the two baby Noahs share their toys.
It amazes me how much Sam picks up on my caretaking of Noah. When Noah starts to cry, Sam picks up Noah's favorite rattle and shakes it for Noah to calm him down. Sam says "It's ok Noah, it's ok!" (which I often say) and "We know Noah, we know" (another thing I say to Noah when he cries while I'm driving in the car). They love to cuddle together and Sam loves kissing Noah's forehead.
Noah has outgrown the baby bath tub so we now have him in the bath seat in the big bath tub and takes baths with his big brother! The boys love having baths together and Sam helps to bathe Noah.
Brad adds:
The best part of my day is arriving home from work at night when the family is waiting for me in the front yard. When Sam sees my car he starts jumping up and down yelling "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" and runs to greet me when I get out. Noah now recognizes me and always give me a big smile and laugh when I pick him up to say hi. Rebecca often has a look of both happiness to see me and relief to have some help with the boys after being home all day. While I can't be home during the day I enjoy being home at night in time for a quick trip to the pool, dinner and our nighttime routine. No matter what kind of day I've had, this always puts a big smile on my face and is a perfect way to come home.
Rebecca concludes: I am thoroughly enjoying the remaining weeks of my 6 month maternity leave and love spending time with Noah. He's such a sweet, smiley, and cuddly little boy.
