Mack - 4 Months

My baby is just growing too fast - He's 4 months already, where does time go!

My baby is beginning to perceive me as a separate individual from him. He now exhibits genuine pleasure at the sight of family members and others he knows and likes. He loves "talking" to me and almost anyone else who will converse with him.

We're finally starting to see a little hair - still looks very blond most of the time but in certain light it looks brownish - we'll see what comes of it. I believe his eyes are going to stay blue as they seem to only be getting lighter as time passes. Mack is officially in the drooling stage and may be in the beginning stages of teething.  

Even more pronounced than the alterations in my baby's appearance are the changes in his physical abilities. His body is beginning to fill out as his muscles grow. While lying on his tummy, he can support the weight of his head and chest on one arm. By the end of the month, he should be able to hold his head steady although he's doing quite well already. When lying on his stomach, he can lift and hold his head at a 90-degree angle. He can turn his head in all directions, lift it when lying on his back, and look at his feet. He's also gained the ability to stick those cute little feet in his mouth.

Mack's senses are developing as well. He can hear almost as well as an adult now, discerning the source of sounds and responding to music. He also shows interest in making sounds and will recite some over and over. Between this time and 6 months of age, Mack will develop the ability to make some vocal sounds, which means we may hear the words we've been dreaming about, namely "ma-ma" or "da-da." While child development experts say it's too early for our baby to connect those sounds with me or Micah, that won't make hearing them any less exciting.  By the end of the month, he will be able to see in color. His eyes focus well now, and can see at distances up to about 12 feet. His eye movements are less jerky, and he can easily follow the progress of a moving object or person. He'll even move his hand toward an object with his fingers spread to its approximate size.

Another big accomplishment this month is sleeping between 10 and 11 hours straight and taking two or three naps during the day. To help him sleep better, I've learned to put him down while he's groggy and he falls asleep on his own.

Sometime between now and 6 months we will begin introducing solid foods. However, Mack has had some unfortunate diarrhea for almost 3 weeks so I may not be starting right away. After giving it a weeks time and no sign of improvement we had some lab work done only to come back normal so we've recently switched formulas in hopes this will help. 

Well that's not all inclusive but you get the gist - we'll be back next month with some more updates!