Tomorrow our boy is 4 months old! We are in, what I like to consider, the "sweet-spot" of babyhood. I LOVE this age. They're starting to develop personality, the smiles are more frequent and if we're really lucky, we might even score a chuckle out of the little guy. No longer squishy infants, a 4 month old baby is a full-on baby, starting to support themselves more and more, learning their environment, figuring out that toys exist and can be held and heck - even chewed on! Sleep is often getting better around 4 months (often, not always!) and best of all, they aren't usually mobile yet - so no toy-stealing from siblings and no need to be as vigilant as the months ahead will require.
Dash, at 4 months is such a joy for me. I'm obsessively in love with this baby. His smiles are so beautiful, the way he looks at us right now is absolutely endearing and his little talking noises are the sweetest. I'm so lucky.
He is just the best baby. I knew we'd gotten lucky with Ellie - I knew how easy she was and thanked my lucky stars. It appears though that we've managed to win the lottery twice - he's managed to be even easier than she was. He's so content, almost always, and so easy-going and happy. He rarely fusses and when he does, it's almost always a very simple fix. Change of location, change of scenery, request to be picked up or put down. Or milk, of course. The boy can eat, and he shows it: wearing 9 or 12 month clothing regularly, and clocking in at just under 18 pounds (best guess). The kid is big, and strong. I'm so thankful. He still has a bit of reflux, and a bit of a dairy intolerance (growing out of this though - my cheese days are slowly returning). He wakes a couple times for a quick feed (hey - he needs to sustain the body of a small toddler!) and sleeps soundly in between. He does prefer to sleep next to me, which means his dad gets booted from our bed nightly, and while I'd love to sleep a whole night next to my husband, my baby boy is not a bad second choice. :)
He's starting to pay a little more attention to his big sister lately too. Today as he was nursing, his eyes were locked on his sister across the room. She, of course, notices him mostly when he's threatening her domain. Should he dare reach for a toy (any toy) or a stuffed animal (any stuffed animal), she will promptly show him that she's the rightful toy-owner of all toys in the Lacy house. She will remove whatever he's holding and offer him a different one -she likes to be in charge (and I have NO idea where she gets that from!). He giggled for my mom the other day, and she casually walked up to him and knocked him in the head with her foot, in a crystal clear attempt to get him to SHUT UP because my mom belongs to her, naturally. Despite this - she seems to love him deeply and asks to see him first thing when she wakes up, snuggles with him during "tummy time" and adores taking a bath with him (although she's a bit fixated on trying to pinch his... you know...). I admit I wanted a baby girl so she could grow up with a sister, but I know now that baby Dash and Ellie will be fantastic siblings.
He weathered his first illness last week like a champ. Despite his fevers and congestion, I didn't have to worry about him too much. A benefit of having such a solidly built baby is that despite him not having much of an appetite, we knew he had reserves stored up for just an occasion. We watched him for signs of dehydration of course, but didn't worry about his overall caloric intake.
4 months in, and I'm more smitten with him daily. Like I told him last night when it was just the two of us (daddy had to work late and Ellie was asleep), "I will always, always love you, I will always be there for you, and you will always be my little boy." I can't wait to see what's to come for baby Dash.
What a precious little boy!!
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