My wee little man,
You are 4 months old, my son, and we seem to have landed
smack in the middle of a growth spurt or developmental leap or something and, my
goodness, you are not a happy camper at the moment. Or, as Katherine puts it, “you are a little
bit very fussy.” After a period of relative
peace as you outgrew the colicky stage, in the past week we have reverted to
cuddles in the sling and a rather cantankerous mood for much of your waking
hours. It’s not all bad – you are a very social baby and quite the
charmer. There are moments when you are
absolutely delightful; you are mercurial, as you go from complaint to flashing an
adorable grin in a heartbeat if anyone says hello. But you detest being left alone and won’t
stand for it for very long, even when the household is bustling about around
you. No – you must be up and about and
right in the middle of things. I’m not
sure when you’ll learn to roll over or practice other gross motor skills as you
don’t really like to spend much of your waking hours on your back or your
tummy, or really anywhere that isn’t in someone’s arms. Ah well, I suppose we all get there in the
end, and if I’m honest I quite like knowing you stay where I leave you… at
least for now.
This month you’ve dialed in that hand-to-mouth thing and
also reaching out to grab toys, which you inevitably aim for your mouth with
varying degrees of success. You spend a
lot of time chewing on your fingers and sometimes I laugh when it seems you’ve
got one or two in your mouth but can’t for the life of you figure out what to do with the rest of them, so you twist and turn and splay them across your face and then give up and shove your whole fist in your mouth. You’ve turned into quite the dribble monster
– maybe you’re already teething? I have little experience in that department as
your sister never really let me know.
I’ve seen real tears – once, just once – but it is heart-breaking
all the same. I've also heard you emit a proper little laugh exactly twice - once in your sleep and once laughing at me, but those giggles are still few and far between.
I’m guessing you weigh a bit more than 14 pounds now – you
still just about fit into your 0-3 month wardrobe. I’m not faithfully getting you weighed every
month, but it’s certain that you are growing well and strong. Sometimes I’m surprised because nursing isn’t
really one of your hobbies, so I’m not sure where these plump little fat rolls
have come from. During the day you nurse
for a frantic few minutes every couple of hours but you often make it clear
that you neither want nor need to be fed more than that. You latch and pull off, latch and pull off,
then lay in my lap flashing a cheeky grin.
Overnight, you wake two or three times and we do the roll over, latch
and drift back to sleep routine. In
fact, if you do have a hobby I’d say it’s sleep, which you do for hours and
hours each day. Considering how cranky
you can be when you’re awake, this is a bit of a blessing for now. And although I’m often in fear of how your
naptime might impact your overnight sleep, we haven’t (knock on wood) yet encountered
any problems in that department. Sleepy
times are some of my favourite moments, my little cuddle-bug, as you tuck your
plump little body in tight to mine and we drift in dreamland together.
It’s a rough time for you, little one, and sometimes neither
of us is having much fun, but although you are a tyrant, you are an adorable,
charming tyrant and I will always, always be here to cuddle you through the
bumps and scrapes of life.
I love you with all my heart,
Mummy
