Little Mister FOUR Months

Four months.   FOUR! So it's official; Mister is no longer a "newborn".  He's a real, bouncing, BABY boy.  Now that we are in full baby-mode, Mister has lots of news to share.

Accomplishments:

BIG one! He rolled over!  Hanging out with me and my mom, rocking some tummy time, I was just saying how close He was to rolling, when He flipped over onto His back! He did it a few more times, just to show off, and was very proud of Himself.  We were too!

He has discovered feet.  Funny little devils.  Fun to stare at, chase after, and fun to kick stuff with. Kicking stuff has become almost as fun as hitting stuff. ( Insert gender-biased boy comment here).

He has perfected the Grab, and all persons with dangly earrings and/or long hair beware!  Most recently, He can also grab and shake, and it it pretty exciting.  I mean He shakes both the toy, and Himself.  

He has moved from the cradle in our room to His own crib in His own room.  With mixed results.  Mister can make it about a six hour stretch at night- but doesn't love to.  He would highly prefer, of course, to be snuggled all night.  And all day.  And just all the time.  But we are working on getting Him to fly solo at night.

It may be a long effort, though, because He continues to have some feeding issues probably due to his tongue-tie. Yeah, apparently that's like a real thing.  He may have to get snipped, but His sissy of a mama is dragging feet.  However, as a full night's sleep seems to get no nearer, I am reconsidering.  The problem is that He can't get enough milk to get really full unless He takes a bottle, and so He tends to wake every four hours still, starving.

He'd love to be a bottle-fed baby.  There is so little effort involved that He just kicks back like He's on the beach with a margarita and gets this glazed over look as He glugs it down.  Too bad for Mister, I am stubborn and He can just forget it.  But He has other likes that I can give in to:

- Bath.  Of course.  Still a huge fan, and getting very splashy.
- Books.  Loving trying to grab the pictures off the page, the more colorful the better.
- Sisters.  Nothing makes Him smile and wiggle quite like hearing His sisters come in the door, or getting one face-to-face.  It's awesome.
- Any direct attention.  He looks so honored when anyone talks right to Him.  "Me? Who ME? Are you talking to ME?! WELL HI THERE!!!"
- And loves a good back and forth conversation.  Even the serious talks eventually turn into comedy. This guy loves to laugh.
- Seeing the world.  During the day, His preference is to be carried around; going on a walk is even better, but getting toted about the house is also good, so long as we keep moving so the scenery changes.
- Hi sleep sack and pacifier.  OOooooh COzy.  He loves to snuggle in.
- Swings, gently being lifted up and down, getting danced around with.  A man of action!
- His hands.  Those things are delicious.  And fascinating! Did you know they can attach to one another?  Whoa.
- Baby toys.  He is finally erudite enough to appreciate the finer qualities of blue fuzzy elephants.  The ones that rattle are for sure the best ones.  Especially the blue, fuzzy elephant that rattles.

A few things still don't make that happy list:
-Boredom.  The worst thing ever is to be left on the play mat a few seconds past interesting.  Or to read one page past novelty value.  Or to be in a gosh-darn Evil Chair (car seat) for more than about two blocks.  BORing!
- Nursing.  It's a love-hate thing.  But for the most part, this necessary endeavor is frustrating and even a little painful for our poor guy.
- Poo.  He can't stand a dirty diaper.  And loves to be changed.  Unsnapping His onesie makes Him grin and gurgle.  It might also be the partial nudity involved, but He definitely loves to get clean.
-Hats.  So sad, because He is so bald and it is still cold.  We battle it out.
- Other people's sneezes.  He can take a lot in stride, including (thanks to the Sisters) a lot of noise.  But people sneezing freak Him out.
- Being upset.  Being upset, makes Him upset.  If I don't attend to Him right away, He seems to forget what He was crying about. All He knows is that He's unhappy, and He's going to scream about it until forever.  If He fusses from hunger and I don't get to Him before He's worked Himself up, then trying to feed Him only makes Him more mad.  "AHHHH! I'm already SO upset and now you're shoving stuff in my face! YOU MONSTER!"  If He fusses because He's dirty and I can't change Him right away, laying Him on the changing pad makes Him rage.  "AAAH! I'm already SO upset and now you're abandoning me on this surface of some sort! YOU MONSTER!"  If He's sleepy and I don't get Him settled into His crib before He melts down, putting Him in His beloved sleep sack only amplifies the screaming.  "AAAHHHH! I'm already SO upset and now you're cramming me into this sausage casing! WHY ME?! YOU MONSTER!!"  I have learned that when He gets going, I have to calm Him first, and then solve the underlying issue.  This can lead to some extreme measures.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm ready to try out for the circus, should I ever require a career change.

But I'm not looking to run off to the circus any time soon.  For one thing, with three kids, two dogs, and a move coming up, I can't imagine it would be a whole lot more exciting.  For another, even fuzzy tigers and dogs in tutus have nothing on the cuteness I get to indulge in here.
The newborn stage flew by so awfully fast, and I know that Mister's babyhood will too.  I can't slow it down, but the benefit to being the third (there's got to be some benefits, right?) is that I know that.  But I mean, I really, in my heart, in my bones know it.  And so I reflexively soak up the baby drool and giggles and gurgles every moment I can.  Little Mister, you were such a lovely newborn. I just know you will be a fantastic baby, too!