Tidbits: 4 months

Dear Ethan,

4 months feels a lot older than 3 months. I don't know why, but the bottom line is that you are growing up too fast.

At least you've slowed down a bit in your physical growth. This month, you only gained one pound (up to nearly 17 lbs now), but you wouldn't know it from looking at those cheeks!

Your wheezing has continued, on and off, and a follow-up visit to your regular pediatrician gave us a name for it: tracheomalacia. The good news is that it doesn't seem to be dangerous at all for you at this point, and you should just eventually grow out of it. Now I can sleep better at night :)

Your schedule is pretty much the same as last month. Napping continues to be troublesome, but it's no wonder why. We're on the go so much that there are days when you couldn't get more than a 20-30 minute nap in if you wanted to. Poor third child! You're pretty resilient, though, and you're good at making up for it at night, so I think you'll be okay. I do wonder if you'll ever get to have a normal nap schedule. I'm sure once you start sleeping on your stomach, you'll be able to get some better rest during the day. One change this month is that you started to break out of the swaddle, so you had to re-learn how to go to sleep without it. Overall, I think it's been a positive change, but you do still have a hard time falling asleep sometimes... especially if you get over-tired.

You are grasping toys more and more, and you've gotten pretty good at putting whatever is in your hand in your mouth. That's helpful, since you seem to be teething already. I keep trying to deny it, since both of your brothers were late getting their first teeth, but you are constantly putting things in your mouth, and you've had a couple of fussy days recently that have made it clear that something is going on in there. We'll see how long they take to actually surface. Cloth is your favorite thing to hold on to - in fact, if you don't have a toy or blanket to hold onto, you tend to just grab onto your own clothes! (Sorry for the not-so-great phone photo)

You spend a lot of time on your side now. If I put you on your tummy, you either superman for a minute or two and then start fussing, or you immediately roll over onto your side or back. So, you still have very little interest in hanging out on your stomach. That's okay... I'm in no hurry for you to start crawling! You also roll on to your side from your back all the time. In fact, that's often how you fall asleep. Sometimes, you end up traveling quite a bit across the floor, just by rolling back and forth from back to side. You tried out the bumbo this month, and you tolerate it okay, but it's not your favorite.

You also still enjoy the bouncy seat and you continue to love riding around in the sling (awake or asleep) - you're my little koala baby :)

This month, you had your first trip to Connecticut for Easter, and we've been enjoying the warmer weather outside at home. We also left you with a real babysitter (not family) for the first time, and you attended your third baby shower!

Ryan continues to be one of your very favorite people. Nobody can make you laugh like he can. I think it's because he gets himself cracking up and his laugh makes you laugh :) But the two of you are so very sweet together. I hope you always have a special relationship. Kaeden is learning to be more gentle with you, and as a result, you seem more at ease around him now too. It's cute to see his face light up when you look at him and grin. You're getting old enough to participate in some of the older boys' shenanigans, and it's nice to imagine all of the fun you three will have together over the years.