"four - months - old!"

Sometimes we sit around the house and fist pump while chanting "Four - months- old!"  It gets some pretty good smiles out of him.  And it is an achievement!!  For me, not so much Obi.  He just had to grow-- and I had to grow him!  

15 1/2 pounds..... 75th percentile  (exact same percentile as his 2 month weight!)

26 inches long........85th percentile

16 1/2 inches head circumference...... 50th percentile

This is a good picture to show that from month 3 to 4... his hands are usually in his mouth.  

 And the next pictures show that this boy is beginning to move! 

Here he is lunging forward...

And opting for some tummy time with his bear.   

His hair is as great as ever.  Yesterday I cut the hair of BOTH of the boys in my house.  I had better actually learn how to do that well...  

He still just rolls from front to back.  From his back, he rolls to his side in a cuddle position when he sleeps, but doesn't get all the way over yet.  

Note to new parents....   Doctor's ask you a whole checklist of things that your child should be doing.  I'm pretty sure it's designed to make new parents worry and think the worst. Ha!   But, as with anything, I'm learning that all is OK :) 

And, well, Obi doesn't giggle.  I don't think.  I don't know what his giggle sounds like!  He does a breathy/gurgle/growl noise.  And he's squealed a couple times.  But I really don't think I'd say it's a giggle.  He will, I know.  But that was one of the "checklist items" that he didn't pass.  

It's funny how the things that made us go "Quick, look!" "Did you hear that??" ... are now just normal. The cooing, squealing, batting at toys... are just normal now! 

And here are the first four months...  I like watching his thighs grow :)

   

the hair

These are two different babies... 

Guess who is who??  

I'm on the left and Obi is on the right.  I was born at good pound more than Obi! 

But now you know where he got his amazing hair.  Random little known fact.... I was voted "best hair" of my high school class.  And now everyday I rock the mom-messy-bun look. Oh well....

I prayed for a baby with lots of hair.  And people wonder if God hears our prayers.... :)

I don't think I've gone out in public with Obi and not gotten a comment about his hair. Most people say, "What a lot of hair!" Some ask if she was born with all that hair. I say it's a boy and yes he was :)  Can boys not be beautiful?? sheeesh.  I think its funny when strangers ask  me if I had lots of heartburn. Which I sorta did, more reflux at night.  But probably not more than the average preggo. 

 Needless to saw, this head of hair attracts a lot of attention.  Sometimes Obi goes out in public under blankets or his car seat cover-up because I feel like I'm parading around a zoo animal by the amount of stares, smiles, comments, and petting he gets.  Just please step aside so I can reach the string cheese shelf, people. I feel like a celebrity shielding my child from the public eye. At least I didn't name him Blanket. 

Anyways...  I thought it'd be fun to do a post looking back on the almost 4 months of Obi hair. Here goes...

Here he is at just a few days old after his first at-home sponge bath. 

Then at 7 weeks old I started to realize that things are getting a little out of control...

Yes, baby mullet and sideburns to the max. 

More of a "little boy" look going on after that.  The length was still a little long. 

So at about 12 weeks, I decided to trim up the length on the sides.  And with that, went the dark ends since it's growing in blonde.

The towel of his hair clippings. 

He sits in the bumbo and watches TV when I trim his hair.  And I've ended up doing it over the course of a few days when I notice pieces that need a trim. 

We watched a lot of Olympics when his hair got trimmed. He has two little swirls in the back of his head. And not a hair has fallen out or rubbed off.  Despite the how adamant my neighbor lady was when Obi was a week old that "Oh, it'll all just fall out. Happens to every baby."   Nope, careful with those generalizations! 

This last picture was about a week ago at 15 weeks.  The top of his hair sticks up about 3 inches so it makes his head look huge.  However, at his 2 month appointment his head measured in the 35th percentile while his length and weight were both 75th percentile.

So there you have it.  My little hipster-hair, ombre-colored, stylish stickin adorable Obi :) 

how he rolls

This is what happened yesterday!  But he hasn't figured out that he can do it today. And he only rolls left.  I really didn't practice tummy time regularly... maybe a few times a week? and only for a few minutes before he'd get so mad at me.  "Lady, get me up! this is super uncomfortable and awkward!!" He always spits up when he's on his stomach. Now he enjoys it a lot more! Still spits up. 

 I did have witnesses before I grabbed the camera!  This is the first real milestone that daddy missed.  Of course, Obi did it again that evening with Ben-- but it still wasn't the first time.  It makes me, again, really thankful that Ben has a job he enjoys and I am able to be home with Obi.

 I feel like the 3 month turn has brought so many instant changes.  He's sucking on his hands and lots of other things are finding his mouth.  He's napping well.  And I suppose we've both had 3 months to figure that out too.  But he's getting up more during the night-- hoping that's a temporary growth spurt thing!! Really hoping that... I've tried it all (without feeding formula) ...evening cluster feeding, watching that he doesn't nap forever in the evening, the "dream feed", dream feed with a bottle, not feeding him when he wakes us (resulting in waking up in 2 hrs or waking up ready for the day at 5am). 

Though he's truly not horrible, night time sleeping is one of those issues where I need to put down the books (*cough* Baby Wise...) and tell myself that he's a baby.  My ultimate goal in raising this baby is not to get him to sleep through the night.  That is a goal and it will happen, I know, but it seems the more books I read and the more people I talk to about it-- the more "sleeping through the night" seems like the standard of enjoying my baby.  Mothers should not hear what their baby "should be doing."   (...Note to myself when talking to new mothers in the future... )

That darn comparison complex follows me wherever I go.

I really can handle getting up once in the night and I am always able to function on whatever sleep I'm allowed the night before. And as long as I'm doing the best I know how, Obi will do exactly what he's supposed to do. 

And even though my baby doesn't sleep 10 hrs straight at night.....  he is super strong :) We've almost never had to carefully watch supporting his neck/head.  He LOVES to stand.  I swear I am simply stabilizing him in this picture. 

 

Here's to rolling, standing, sleeping, eating, cooing, pooping, peeing, slobbering, and all the other baby things that go on in my house!