Every Good and Perfect Gift: Hank 4 Month Update

Stats
Weight - 16 pounds 5 ounces (68%)
Height - 26.5 inches (95%)

This little guy is seriously a dream. He is so happy, he sleeps a ton, he eats great, he rarely cries... What a difference a couple months can make! I'm not sure what exactly has made him so great, but I think it's a combination of things:

1. He just is that way - after going through two extremely different newborn phases but parenting the exact same, I'm realizing that there are a lot of things out of your control as a parent. A lot of times the kid is who he/she is.

2. I'm a second time momma - I seriously have loved being a mom the second time around, and honestly it makes me excited to have a third kid some day (if we are so lucky) because by that time I think I'll really be a pro. I'm just not the type of person who likes new experiences, I hate the unknown. This time around stuff just doesn't stress me out as much, I'm much more accepting of the fact that everything really is just a phase and everything will pass!

3. I'm very strict about nap times! I know this may sounds silly, but I really think a well rested baby is a happy baby. And I totally notice a difference in Hank when we have a busy day out and he isn't able to nap as well.

This past month Hank was taking three 1.5-3 hour naps (usually they are around 2 hours) every day. He is a great sleeper, putting himself to sleep and staying asleep almost every time (still sleeping on his belly, sucking his thumb). If he wakes early from a nap it is almost always because he has a poop, which unfortunately seems to happen a lot! This past month I'm pretty sure Hank went through 3 sicknesses and a growth spurt, which all meant lots of poop (sometimes very green poop) and lots of changes in the schedule, but here is what a "typical" day looked like...

7:30/8am Wake and Eat
9-11am Nap
11am Wake and Eat, Playtime
12:30-2:30(ish) Nap
2:30-4pm Wake and Eat, Playtime
4-5:30(ish) Nap
5:30-7pm Wake and Eat, Playtime
7pm Bedtime (I try to sneak in an extra feeding here. I had been doing a dream feed at 9:30pm, but it didn't seem to help Hank sleep longer, so I stopped doing it, but it felt weird to have Hank's last feeding at 5:30, so the last two feedings are close together).
3 or 4am Night feeding

Hank has been doing 8-9 hour stretches at night, which felt AMAZING to me, but the doctor said given his size he could definitely do 12 hour stretches so I should push him to go a little longer at night. We'll probably work on this over the next couple weeks. His last nap is definitely starting to get shorter, and he is starting to be able to go longer between naps, but it still definitely feels like he is sleeping most of the day!

When he's not sleeping, Hank's little personality is starting to show. As I mentioned, he is super low key and extremely happy (as long as he has napped well!) He smiles and coos a ton, and I've been able to get him to laugh more and more. He loves squealing/screaming, grabbing on to anything in his reach (this is unfortunate when my hair happens to be near his hand) and blowing raspberries. I've also noticed a new found love for his sister. Hank now loves to watch whatever Lucy is doing and she often makes him smile.

He rolls over, belly to back a lot (typically in his crib when he is not wanting to go to sleep) but we have not seen him roll back to belly yet. He squirms around a lot, and can definitely turn in a full circle and move forward a bit while wiggling. He also has gotten pretty good at sitting upright although he definitely can't do it on his own, but he's getting close!

On the go - Hank still doesn't love to sleep in his car seat. If he is in it long enough he will eventually fall asleep, but he protests a lot and won't sleep that long. If we are out (which does not happen a lot) I usually try to carry Hank in the moby wrap still - he usually will sleep pretty well in that, although he is starting to get more and more picky about where he will fall asleep.

The crib shots were a little hard to get - Hank has a tendency to lean forward when he is sitting up right, as you can tell from the next series of photos...