Four Months Old

Dear Nathan,

You have grown up so much this last month; it feels like you jumped from a newborn to a four month old overnight.

You have rolled over twice from your tummy to your back! You can lift your head up really high during tummy time (although you still prefer to just leave your head on the ground) and you also have started to put your feet under you and lift your bottom up. On your rolls it looked like you lifted your upper body high enough that you lost your balance and landed on your back.

You are teething and your first little tooth on the bottom is trying to cut through. This means lots and lots of drooling, always gnawing on something, and tears before falling asleep at night. If you aren’t too tired you take it all in stride.

You have mastered putting your hands in your mouth and are chewing or sucking on them constantly. Unless you are sucking on your bottom lip, which is another trick you have mastered in the last few days.

You smile a lot and we love seeing you shine. You rarely smile at the person holding you. You watch and smile at Emily often while she runs around, with a special grin just for her.

You are pretty quiet in a crowd but once it is just you and me you have a lot to say. Nathan you have always responded and enjoyed our singing and now you join in! A few days ago Emily and I were singing You Are My Sunshine during breakfast and you sang right along. When I’m singing to you while changing your diaper or getting you dressed you sing or talk too. You are also really animated when we talk with family on FaceTime sending your smiles across the country.

You are ticklish. When we dance our fingers up your tummy or along your arms you LAUGH. Sometimes you let out a giggle when the rest of us our laughing.

When you are eating you eat just enough to not be starving and then are ready to jump back into the action if someone else is around. You often pause to look up and smile at me for a minute and then continue on. In the early morning hours (between 4 and 5) you usually want to have some quality smile and chat time with me while everyone else is asleep.

You’ve started spending some time in the exersaucer during the day. You switch between resting your head on the side and sitting up straight and running your legs. It looks like you are peddling a bicycle with great enthusiasm.

You are still mostly okay with your car seat once we get you settled, although you do prefer to get out and see what is going on. We also switched things around on the stroller so you sit instead of lay down on our walks and runs. You seem to enjoy getting outside – at least you are distracted and content in the outdoors.

Nathan we absolutely love your hugs and snuggles. Your hugging arm just keeps getting stronger so you can hold us tighter and closer.

We love you Nathan and are grateful for the comfort, joy, and fun you bring into our home.

A smile for Emily.