Happy 4 months, son!

(this post is 2 days late)

Meet Mr. Chewy Fingers.

I told my son that i’ll take a picture of him chewing his fingers and show it to daddy if he chews. For a moment, I thought he understood because he took away the fingers, only to put them back moments later. And here’s photographic evidence for the dad. We have been spanking his hands every single time the fingers goes into the mouth. I’m hoping classical conditioning will ease this problem in time to come!

In the past month, I haven’t been spending a lot of time with Jerry, mainly cos I was away.. But this month, we saw him with the most dramatic changes to date!

He mastered the art of flipping from the back to the front, and could flip in a blink of an eye..yesterday, he surprised me yet again by flipping back from front to back. Too fast baby! Too fast!

And when you are not looking, he tries to escape. He can propel himself forward, using each of his legs interchangeably for the deed. Is that considered crawling? My god, I’m aghast at his mobility at such a young age and I’m constantly building fortresses on my bed. Just 2 days ago, der left him on the bed and went to the kitchen to warm milk. I was washing my hands in the toilet, turned around and saw his arms on the edge of the bed, head perched out like he was going to fall any second! He actually knocked off the bolster that was in place to stop him from falling. That sight garnered a loud scream from me by the way, before I made a beeline for him, diving onto my bed from the opposite side. It scared the shit outta me.

I dont have much photos of him unfortunately since I was away, but here’s a few stolen from my hubby who was tasked to take photos of him daily (if possible).

In grandma’s arms.

Fat arms.

On fours.

Smiley baby.

With mama on the baby Bjorn synergy carrier, looking perturbed.

With his grandaunt while she was in town for a couple of days.

All sprawled in his cot. He never stays in the same position during sleep, or rather, no where near where I placed him. He is always wake up in the opposite end, and sometimes, I’m the opposite direction. Some gungfu sleeping pattern he has!

With his new toy (bian bian) from disneyworld. I swore I’ll stop buying plushies but this flat guy made me stop on my tracks and I had to get it. Too cute, plus it’s a baby friendly toy. Jerry can nom on him all over. (p.s I have washed it before giving it to him).

Reaching out for his feet.

On his new wonderbug exersaucer, creating quite a ruckus. I think he loves it! But he won’t be able to enjoy it fully till he grows a bit older/taller. His legs are left dangling in the air for now.

Trapped in his bumbo. I laced the sides with cushions in case he topples, though unlikely.I took this while trying to cook instant noodles for breakfast at 5pm in the evening. I was so hungry and looking after him alone with no help so I had no hands to cook/eat. Pardon all that gaudy, mis-matched cushion covers. My mum’s art. Hardly anything ever matches. If they do, she doesn’t use them.

In the past month, Jerry can sit up with assistance and his neck muscles have developed quite a bit so his head isn’t all the floppy anymore. He is also more aware of his surroundings and often flash a lop-sided cheeky grin or pelt out some laughter with his mouth wide open during play.

Tummy time is his favorite now, he flips himself over and play for hours. I can hardly get him to stay on his back! He has learnt to grasp things, often tugging at the toys on his rocker/activity gym/Lamaze toy, and can actually pull something towards himself or shake a rattle violently. He makes me laugh. Der gave him one of the rattles from the wonderbug and he started shaking it violently, only to hit himself in the face, he stares in shock wondering what happened and then burst in tears from the pain (it’s hard plastic). I comforted him and he stops and continue playing.. then, repeat scene five times. I ended taking the toy away from him eventually.

Milk wise, I think he is still on the low side, drinking only 600-700ml per day. He seems to be growing so I am not that bothered. Cant wait to head to the pediatrician and hear what she has to say about his growth in the past month. He seems to have grown quite a bit as compared to his 2cm growth per month from the past 3 months. I hope he’s heavier because at the last checkup, he was considered to be a small baby.

Jerry’s favorite song is twinkle twinkle little stars. If he is crying, he’ll stop when we start singing but start wailing once we stop! While its a useful tool to calm him down or stop him from fussing/crying, both der and me are quite sick of singing it. Many a times, we couldn’t help but make fun of Jerry. We stop singing and laugh when he starts crying. it’s damn hilarious and I have no idea why other songs doesn’t do the same trick! sometimes, der and me laugh at ourselves when we unanimously starts singing the song when the situation on hand gets out of control. Haha. It’s like we have been cued to start singing by the heavens above.

He has upgraded himself to sleep on his tummy, and this has resulted in me scaring the shite outta myself when he is too quiet. Afterall, SIDS happens most frequently to babies under 6 months right? I have also taken away all pillows and let him sleep with just his beanies since he has quite a few of them. I have also stopped my mum from sleeping with the baby. Sometimes, she’ll lug him off and place him on her bed to sleep together. I read somewhere at 3 months, this is the time to sleep train them to be able to sleep by themselves.

He interacts more intently these days and it is quite easy to make him pelt out laughter. It has resulted in der playing a lot with him and coos more often at his son, which is good news. I get joy watching them and of cos, mighty pleased at the stabs of time on hand to ‘run’ the household and do other chores.

This is not a milestone for the month, but if there’s one thing that my son does very well since birth, it is he farts a lot, very loudly, even during his sleep and literally in all situations and all places. We don’t have a dog, so the husband gets the blame. (I’m joking! Although I do tease him at times)

He achieved all his milestones for the 3rd month and some of those from the 4th months.
– laugh out loud
– on stomach, lift head up to 90 degrees
– squeal in delight
– bring both hands together
– smile spontaneously
– follow an object held about 15cm above baby face and moved 180 degrees from one side to the other, with baby watching all the way
– hold head up when upright
– on stomach, raise chest up supported by arms
– roll over and back (one direction)
– keep head level when pulled to sitting position
– grasps a rattle held to backs or tips of fingers
– reach for an object
– say ‘ah goo’ or similar vowel consonant combinations
– bear some weight on his legs when held upright

The only milestones (for 4 months) that he missed for now are
– sit without support
– object if you try to take a toy away

At the moment, he only objects when I take the milk away! Haha.

I still can’t believe that it’s been 4 months. I am heading back to work next week! Hopefully, i’ll still be able to document his milestones here when I head back to work cos my baby is growing way too fast!

Meanwhile, I’m getting woes over my head of hair. I am dropping alarming chunks of hair. They literally come out in chunks! I have taken a lot more care in washing my hair to prevent it, but regardless, it just drops! Scary. Ok. While I was in the US, I scared my uncle and my aunt as well. One shower is all it takes to cover my toilet drainage hole entirely and I have to clear it every time I bathe now because the water cannot flow through the mass of hair. I read that postpartum hair loss will last till 10 months or so.. I hope I still have hair left by then!

Pediatrician visit and vaccination tomorrow. Will update again on his stats!

Meanwhile, baby is awake and demanding attention. I gotta go back to mummy mode.

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