Dear Isaac :: 4 months old

My boy whose name means laughter,

Laughter is exactly what you bring us.  We are delighted to hear the man belly laughs you bring to our family.  And somewhat surprised, as your brother didn't belly laugh until close to 8 months old (although he was all smiles).  Along with your laughter, we hear your high pitched squeals often.  Middle of the night included.  We can't help but to laugh before shhh and rocking you back to sleep.

You adore your brother and your doggy.  If they are within eyesight, you are just glued to them.  We often have to tell your brother to be gentle with you as he has been known to want to tackle you with hugs if you are anywhere near the floor.  So, you don't get as much tummy time as I would like, but you're still developing just fine.

You rolled over for the first time, front to back!  You haven't done it much since, but you often roll to your side while in your crib.  We stopped swaddling you cold turkey and haven't looked back since.  You now sleep from about 7pm until 3:30am to eat, and then again until 7am.  I can't complain about that schedule.  You still nurse about every 3 hours, but have stretched to 4 now and then.  You still don't take a bottle, but that is mostly due to me not trying.

Your naps are all over the map.  But I haven't been good at getting you on a schedule.  Right now you take between 2-4 naps a day.  Sometimes it is a short nap and a 3-hour nap.  Sometimes it is four 45min naps.  All over the place.  But you are (mostly) super happy and flexible, so it is nice to be able to take you along to our playdates and bible study and you sleep when you need it.  It hasn't affected your night sleep at all.

But you are definitely my snuggle boy that I prayed for.  Jude was a crib boy, and wouldn't sleep in my arms past 3 months.  But you definitely love snuggling up and falling asleep in my arms.  I'm not worried about you preferring that down the road.  You still sleep in your crib just fine, and this time I know how quickly these days will pass.

At your doctors appointment you weighed 15lbs 12oz and 26.5" tall!  Big boy!  You have been wearing 9 month clothes lately, still mixed in with the 6 month clothes.  But you do not fit into 6 month sleepers anymore.

I love you so much, my snuggle puppy.  I'm so glad God knew we needed you in our family!

Love,

Your Mama

Dear Jude :: 4 months old

Dear Jude,

This past month with you was so much fun!  I love to see your goofy personality blooming.  You love to talk {in a language only a mama can understand} and SQUEAL and laugh.  It is so fun to hear you in the mornings babbling away... and perhaps seeing how low and high pitched you can squeal. 

Your hands now grab everything in sight... including {especially} mommy and daddy's faces and hair.  They are very effective at getting whatever you want in your mouth.  This includes your feet. ;-)

We stopped swaddling you this past month.  You were breaking out regularly, so we went cold-turkey and you continued to sleep without a hitch!  You are currently sleeping okay.  Your new awareness of the world makes rolling and grabbing your feet and playing with the little mirror on the side of your crib WAY more exciting than sleeping... or eating.  So there was a period where you were waking up at midnight instead of 3am.  That seems to only have lasted a week though.  You still get up 1 or 2 times a night.  Your bedtime is still 7:30 and you get up for the day between 7:30-8am!  Still taking three solid naps a day, too!

You love your jumperoo!  It gets a smile out of you almost every time!  You're still a bit too short so we put a pillow under your feet. :-)  You also love your play mat and love looking outside or just being outside.  We try to take a walk every day after your first nap.  You have started noticing when someone other than mommy or daddy is holding you and you aren't so sure about this yet!  

You rolled over for the first time recently!  Belly-to-back... so now there is no real way to keep you doing tummy time. :-)  But you really don't mind it near as much anymore and will tolerate it for longer periods of time.  Your favorite is still sitting up and standing.  You try to roll over back-to-belly, but haven't quite figured out how to get over that arm!

At your doctors appointment we discovered that you weigh 14lbs 4oz and are 26.5" long!  I was surprised you didn't weigh more, but I knew you were a long skinny guy {like your daddy}.  You are in the 50th percentile for weight and the 90th percentile for height!  You are officially in 6 month clothes... and think in the next month we'll have to move up to the 6-9 month clothes.  HOLY MOLY!!!

It continues to be such a joy to be your mama.  I am so glad you are my boy.

Love you Mr.Bubbster,

Mama