Four for Four

How fitting that Charlie woke up at 4:00 a.m. today, on the morning of his fourth monthday. There are some advantages to having a baby who thinks it's time to get up this early, one of those being an unexpected opportunity for a little blogging, with a helper!

It's happened once again, yet another month has slipped, like sand, through the hourglass of life - Charlie baby is four months old today!! I can't even think about this fall and how fast the time is going to begin to whiz by once life becomes even more hectic for our family. Somehow it still seems like we just finished Christmas this year...but 2010 is only a few months away. How is that possible?

Charlie won't go for his 4 month checkup until Monday, but for now (according to my home measurements,) he is 14.2 lbs. I swear he literally gets bigger by the minute! I love being here with him, and getting to know his little personality a little more each day. He is a very sweet and social little baby. He really likes to be where we are. He will play on his play mat for a few minutes, but when he's awake, what he really wants is to be held and talked to, and to be with us big kids.

{UPDATE} Measurements after going to the doctor:
He's 24.25 inches long - length for age is in the percentile: 10th - 25th
He's 14 lbs - Weight for age percentile: 25th-50th
Weight for length percentile: 50th - 75th
His head circumference is 16.5 inches - Head circumference for age percentile: 50th - 75th

He has a few new games that have become his favorites, and he's starting to really enjoy watching the goings on of the world around him. In keeping with him turning four months old, I decided "four for four" would be a good way to organize this post.

1. Charlie loves to play "mimic me." He will babble or coo, and when we repeat him, he belly laughs. He will do this for as long as we are willing to play along, and he especially likes this game when he first wakes up in the morning. He is also definitely mimicking the high pitched way our voices sound when we say, "Hi Baby" to him...but I doubt he really knows what he's doing yet.
2. He's becoming a good communicator. He will put his hands in his hair, or begin rubbing his face with his hands, or rubbing his face on my shirt when he's sleepy. Sometimes if we don't come pick him up right away when he first wakes up, he starts his "mad babble," which is a high pitched, loud talking sound that would sound exactly like baby babbling if you didn't know better. I know it's kind of wrong, but this makes me laugh a little.
   
3. One of his favorite new tricks is to play peek-a-boo with me when I'm hugging him close. He rests his head on my shoulder, right up next to my neck, and then looks up until he finds my face. When I say "boo" he giggles. This seems to be a special thing between mommy and baby, but then again, maybe I'm a sucker for a little Charlie love!!
4. He has rolled over a few times, as mentioned in this post, but he still doesn't do it on a regular basis. He seems to be able to roll over more easily the less clothing he's wearing. He's also beginning to get really good at sitting up by himself. He's not entirely stable yet, but he's definitely working on and improving this skill daily!

Lots of other changes are happening too. We'll be starting cereal a little later today, but that's a topic that deserves a post of its own. We're also working on establishing him on a bedtime routine that we will be able to stick with when school starts for me this fall. So far it's going OK, but I'm sure there will be more forthcoming about this process as well!

On the adoption front, we have our first of three post placement visits with Elly next week. She said the meeting will only take about half an hour. I'm not too nervous, except for the normal feelings of wanting my house to be perfect while at the same time knowing that's impossible! It won't be long at all until a day to which I am very much looking forward is here...it looks like our adoption finalization (GOTCHA) day for Charlie will be on National Adoption Day, which is pretty exciting for us!!

That's all for now...