baby rocks.

Colton,

Your first couple months I used to be sad thinking of you growing and changing so quickly… I wanted you stay a newborn for much longer than you were going to, but as you continue to inevitably do, I’m constantly excited by each new development. You’re not just simply growing and changing, but you’re becoming more and more of your own little person, and it’s so much fun! I really love seeing the new things you learn and discover about yourself and your abilities. It’s not only sweet to see materialize right in front of me, but I feel closer to you as it happens. Since you’re becoming more of a individual, we’re connecting in more and more ways. I make a face, you laugh. I kiss your cheek, you smile. I walk in the door, you look over and flap your arms. I love engaging with you more and more and am so excited that that will only continue to increase. 

Love you,
Mom

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THIS MONTH:

You learned how to scream. It was almost literally the day after you turned four months, you found your chords. You realized not only can you babble, but you can hold a note much much louder and longer, and you LOVE IT!!! You’ll do it over and over and over and over. People look over on the train, I think initially because they think something’s wrong, but I can’t help but laugh every time, so I assume they figure out you’re just squawking. I think it’s one of my favorite things. 

You started drinking water. The Twins & Co. came to visit for a week and while we were pounding the pavement under the scorching sun for hours a day, I decided to get permission from your pediatrician to start giving you water. I just couldn’t imagine warm milk on a hot day was very refreshing. We were on the Staten Island Ferry when I offered you a straw filled with cold water and you were a little weirded out at first by what it was that came streaming onto your tongue, but right after you got over the initial shock, you threw your head up and opened your mouth wide open for more. You were hooked. I gave you little inches of water all afternoon. Since then we’ve progressed to carrying around a little mini bottle (medicine dropper, really) of water in your diaper bag, which you love to gum and has also become a major secret weapon during those fussy times on the go.

You figured out how to get those flying feet into your mouth. It’s like a crazy reflex, the diaper comes off and your feet instantly fly up into the air, into your hands, and straight into your mouth. It’s one of the things I love watching the most this past month.

You figured out what Peek-A-Boo was all about. Daddy started playing with you, popping out of places all over the apartment, and it just kills you. It kills me, too. I imagine what it would be like to be so amazed that someone disappears and reappears with the silliest faces and how hilariously entertaining it would be, and I just go soft with knowing how pure and simple and innocent you are.

You’ve really started laughing a lot. We can tickle you and crack you up. You laugh at Daddy playing airplane with you. We can make crazy faces or sounds and it will get you going. Even the dog is starting to make you laugh, just by making a sudden move, or rolling around. 

You started using your walker and it’s your FAVORITE! After seeing how much you loved being upright in the walker at Nana and Papa’s over our Buffalo trip, I insisted that we get the walker out here at home, too, and I’m so glad I did. You really enjoy being able to be on your own and see more of what’s going on than from a laying down position. Within a couple days you started realizing you can move in it, too, and slowly but surely you started pushing yourself a few inches at a time. It started with me putting you in there with me in the kitchen, in lieu of your old bouncy chair that would keep you alongside of me, but once you figured it out, you’re taking off all over the place now! And you’ve realized you can chase the dog in it, which brings you loads of entertainment. She’ll sit there and side-eye you while trying to stay focused on waiting for pieces of food to fall, and as soon as you get close enough, she’ll casually move away. She’s such a snob. But then you got better at it, and faster, and now she watches you while side-eyeing falling food, and she sprints as soon as you start really getting momentum. I love it.

You sat up for the first time! I’m pretty sure saying “for the first time” is redundant, given the implied context… But we were so excited when on Father’s Day, for some reason, we just propped you up on the floor and you just stayed there! We were sitting on the ground with you and realized you were really balancing yourself, so we moved away, and were shocked! I truly don’t know how long you probably had the capability before we tried it, but I’m imagining for a little while. Last time we tried sitting you up was a few weeks prior and you instantly would tip to the side, but somewhere in between there, you gathered the strength to do it on your own.

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SLEEPING: You’re schedule has moved up a little earlier this past month. You’re now going to bed around 7ish every night and waking up around 7ish. Sometimes you go to bed a little later, once in a while a little earlier, but almost always you’ll still wake up at 7a (sometimes 630a). I hear stories of sleepless babies from other mommies and in comparison, you’re still a champ, so I can’t complain, but you’ve lost a little bit of the “deep” sleep thing. Or something. Every night when I put you down, you’ll wake up, without fail, 15-20 minutes later for comfort and a quick cuddle before I can put you back down. Then another 20 minutes later, and another, until you fall into a deeper sleep. But that usually only lasts an hour or two. I bought a book on helping babies sleep longer stretches. It’s called the No-Cry Sleep Method. I’m abhorrently against the “cry-it-out” thing, so after lots of research and review reading, I found this one that really provides some great techniques that hopefully will help you sleep better. I’m not trying to get you to ‘sleep through the night’ either… I’ve learned a lot doing research on babies sleeping. I won’t totally get into it here, but for one, you have majorly different sleep cycles than adults do, it’s actually important you wake up (or have the ability to wake up easily) for safety reasons, and frequent wakings to eat is important for your healthy growth (plus, it would decrease my milk supply). And aside from all that, I really like sharing those quiet moments with you. It’s going to be so fleeting, too, so I want to enjoy it as much as I can now. 

EATING: No changes from last month. You’ve quieted down a lot during your meals though, which makes me a little sad. You were always so entertaining to me and everyone around me who could hear you grunting and squealing away as you ate so happily. You’re so enthusiastic about your food, just like me!

POTTY: You’re back to randomly poo’ing again. Mostly you do it once a day in the morning, but sometimes you’ll have a couple small ones throughout the day. Not really sure why this is a category, but I guess it’s mostly for me to go back and look at. I mean, the topic is moderately interesting [to moms & grandmas] in general anyway. :)

STATS:

• Weight: 18lbs 8oz
• Height: 27.5in
• Head: 17.5in
• PERCENTILES: 84% | 94% | 83%