fourth mesaversary

Our little chub of a guy is four months old!

He had is four month doctors appointment last Friday (4/15)** and weighed in at 17 pounds and 8 ounces and is 26 inches long: 85th percentile for both. Seventeen and a half pounds of pure joy.

He's always been adorable, but he's gotten even more so this month. It starts first thing in the morning when we hear him kicking his fatty legs out of his swaddle, which scoots him all the way down to the bottom of his crib. He's all smiles and giggles when he first wakes up and hungry. His fists usually end up in his mouth before any breakfast, because you never know: one day they just might produce breakfast!

Those little pudgy hands are his favorite toy. He's mezzmorized by them. And fascinated by mine and Mr. Yin's because they're so big. His favorite book, Piggies, is also about hands, we read it over and over every night. The other day he discovered he has feet. They're pretty exciting to him, too, just not as easily accessible as his hands.

He loves sitting in the Bumbo chair, but his chubby thighs have made it a tight fit. When we pick him up out of it, the chair comes with him. But he joins us for dinner in the Bumbo, sitting up big and tall on the table. He's so little still that it's like a throne for him and he wraps his arms around the outside like he knows he's the king. We've started putting him in the Bumbo in front of the mirror and that's been pretty funny.

His reflection has become a new favorite companion. He studies it and smiles at it and must be wondering who that handsome boy is that keeps popping up here and there in his life.

He's getting better and better at sitting up by himself. He's definitely got the strongest abs in the family. Whenever we put him in a semi-reclined position he spends most of his time doing sit ups. He also doesn't topple to the side as much anymore and can sit there for quite a while, unaided. But always closely watched.

He's a rock star sleeper (knock on wood) sleeping a solid nine to ten hours a night, for which his mother is very grateful. His naps happen and we're getting better at finding ways of falling asleep without nursing. Sometimes it's just leaving him alone for a while in the middle of the bed. Sometimes it's lots of walking and rocking back and forth. Sometimes it's just nap time and he falls asleep wherever we happen to be. The Ergo is still the fallback if nothing else works.

Still no rolling over, he's sturdy as ever laying on his back and on his tummy. It's a lot of chub to try and heft in either direction. And, quite honestly, I'm very happy with that! I prefer a stationary baby at this point. We do encourage it a bit lest anyone think we want him to skip this milestone.

He's in constant motion. Mostly kicking his feet and flapping his arms. Especially when he's happy (or beyond tired!). He's got an amazing round-house kick that he's been working on since the womb. And he's started to rub his feet together when he's tired, just like his mom.

He is an absolute joy of a baby. So happy and so curious. He rarely cries and when he does it usually means I missed his nap time or we've been in the car too long.

We're both a little crazy about him. We know he's the smartest, cutest, sweetest baby ever. : )

Already this month is turning out to be an exciting one for him with lots of friends and family visiting from out of town. Truth be told, he already met five of his ten cousins this month! But that is another blog post for another time. But there will be pictures!)



**I started this post about 10 days ago. We've since been to the doctor's again and he weighed in at 18.1 lbs!