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Friday, August 28, 2009

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...


15 comments:

Tracey said...

I think our last post-placement was at 3 months old. Cereal went over great with Samuel. Then we started sleeping through the night! YAH! SO SO CUTE! LOVE THE TOOTHLESS GRIN!

H said...

If I was waking up at 4 in the morning to that gorgeous face, I'd have an incredible day:) Congrats on four months! As usual, pics are SO cute!!!

E said...

What a smile!! Happy 4 months C! That's pretty cool that finalization will be on National Adoption Day.

RB said...

How neat that your finalization day with fall on National Adoption Day! Charlie is adorable, as always :) these past 4 months have flown by!

Jill said...

I tell ya, he is one freakin' cute sweetie pie!!

I am a bit jealous that you are just now having your post placement visits! Ours has been out 3 times already and she had 3 more! She's great, but UGH! That means my house needs cleaned how many times?????? LOL!

By the way, do you remember how much formula Charlie was eating at 9 weeks? Four every 3 hours is no longer cutting it, but 5 makes har spit up a ton! We don't see the Dr for her 2 month visit until the next week.....

Thanks Melba!
Hugs, Me

(P.S. Did you ever think a few months ago that YOU would be the mama people would come to for advice??? Cool, hey?!!)

Jamie said...

happy 4 month birthday to little charlie! :)
i remember milo had been rolling over just like charlie ~ periodically ~ and then, the day after his 4 month birthday something just clicked and he rolled and rolled and rolled!! :)he rolled from back to tummy first, so it made changing his diaper MUCH more interesting. :)
congratulations on the post placement visit! :) we had to do ours within the first month, so they're all done now, but it's SO much more relaxed than the homestudy! :) and house does NOT have to be perfect. :)
enjoy this special day!! and good luck with the cereal ~ many babies love it, but milo won't have a thing to do with it! :)

Bri said...

I LOVE our post placement visits! I have so much to tell our SW and just bubble over with excitement that someone is getting paid to listen to me talk about life with R. It is pretty cool, I think. :)

Happy four months, Charlie! I love that our little ones are just a month apart!

Charlie seems to have kinda the same demeanor as Riley. Social and happy! could it get any better?

Anonymous said...

What a fun age! We just loved those verbal games, as well. And the waking up at 4 am? That's just a phase of course, so keep your chin up :)

Anne said...

I just love the pictures of Charlie. He is so adorable. I check often to see if there are new pics posted. I love the description in #3 where he puts his head on your shoulder to play peek-a-boo. You might be a sucker for a little Charlie love but with that cuteness I would be too!!

Evergreen said...

What a sweet post! I love to hear about life with Charlie. And fun to have such a cute blogging buddy! I replied to your Q on my blog about the probiotics. Check them out, I think they help a lot.

Melba said...

Hey Jill,

We did move Charlie to 5 ounces at around 9 weeks, but we went through a slight spitting up phase too. Now we are feeding him 6 ounces for the most part, and he usually only spits up if he eats too fast.

It could be that her tummy is just going through a small adjustment period and she'll be able to handle the 5 ounces after a few more days. You might also try giving her 4 still, but not waiting quite three hours between feedings for a while.

Good luck...I am still so very thrilled about our two babies so close in age!!!

Hugs,

Melba

Kel said...

How did I miss this?? Stupid Blogger messed up my blogroll a couple days ago!! Ridiculous! Don't they know I need that grin fix? Sheesh!

Happy Monthday little man! I'm so thrilled for you to have been with your Mommy and Daddy for four months! You are one of my favorite pictures of "Baby" in my mind and your mama is such a good and loving mother, I hope to be as good at it as she is! You are loved beyond measure!
Love,
Kelley

Deb said...

He sounds so much like Isabel. Always wanting to be with us and wishing she could run with the big kids.

Your love for him is so sweet.

How cool that you get to finalize on NAD. If I weren't so anxious for ours I would have put it off until that day as well.

BP said...

Charlie might seriously have some of the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. What a blessing!

Brooke said...

The months just go by so fast!!! Hang on to your hat and definitely enjoy the ride.