I know that I always say this, but Elliott is a really chill baby. He is happy and smiley, patient and content. He loves his big sister and all the doting she does on him. He hasn't loved being worn in the Beco Gemini (possibly because of his length) but seems pretty comfortable in the Ergo. Because so much of our schedule and routine are based around Madeleine, we're still figuring out Elliott's schedule. He takes three naps during the day and has been consistently cooing himself to sleep...even after using the Swaddle Up 50/50 to transition him to free arms in the Swaddle Up 50/50 or a merino sleepsack. (Knock on wood!)
Evenings are not quite so consistent or pleasant with Elliott. Sometimes he takes a fourth nap and sometimes he doesn't. His bedtime varies based on his daytime feeding times and temperament. As a result, he is really difficult to get to sleep at night - like George or I have to feed or rock him for hours at a time and get basically no evening to ourselves. This is really our only difficulty with him, so it's hard to complain about it, but it's also hard to not have any adult time in the evenings. Hopefully a more consistent, earlier bedtime will resolve this lingering issue. Once he's finally down for the evening, I can expect one wake-up a night unless it's the one (unpredictable) night per week when he sleeps through the night. Fortunately, he takes after his sister and rarely wakes before 8am and sometimes closer to 9am.
The big four month changes mean that almost every time Elliott wakes up, he is doing something new and revealing more and more of his personality. He's a chatty boy! Within the last week or so, he has discovered the upper octaves of his voice and loves to play with them when he's chatting with us. He loves participating in conversations and getting smiles and responses from the nearest human. Our pediatrician said that his vocalizations are more in line with a six-month old, so maybe we'll have another early talker. That would be great by me! Words = less frustration = fewer tantrums
In the last month, Elliott has made huge strides in his hand coordination. Practically the day after I wrote his last update, his consistency of hand to mouth contact improved. He almost always has hands in or near his mouth, though he isn't showing any sort of finger preference yet. Even though we are currently working to decrease/eliminate Madeleine's finger sucking, I still think this method of self-soothing has major advantages. Elliott is also doing a great job at gripping, which includes everything from his toys to my clothes.
As he's getting more alert, Elliott really enjoys being in on whatever activity we're doing. He loves looking at Christmas lights and has developed a great kick in the pool. I can't wait to see what other interests catch Elliott's attention as we learn more about him!
Our big boy continues to grow. While he still wears some of the medium itti bitti d'lish diapers, he's also wearing the BumGenius elementals handed down from Madeleine just a couple months ago (on a smaller setting, of course). In disposables, he's into size 3 (Seventh Generation). The clothes that fit him best are 6-12 or 9 months. Despite all the hype about boys being boring, I love shopping for and dressing our little guy!
We've been cleared by our pediatrician for solids, but I'm inclined to wait a little longer. Elliott is primarily nursed but will also take my milk in a bottle from babysitters or George. Now that I know I'll be going back to work part-time in the new year, I'm especially treasuring every moment with my sweet, round, smiley little boy. I love having this little boy in our family!
A look back:
This picture of him is the best yet--can't wait to meet this little guy.
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