Our dear, sweet Owen. Please slow down from growing up so fast. I can not believe the milestones you've reached at 4 months!!! Parenthood is by far the most rewarding job any person could ever experience. Though it is the most difficult job, the learning curve is the best part! At 4 months, Owen is the happiest baby ever. All the teachers at day care constantly tell me how sweet and adorable he is. They tell me he talks to everyone and has no problem breaking out into the sweetest smile that could melt any heart.
At some point in the last month, Owen started to turn over. I'd like to think he turned over for us for the first time when we saw it, but I know that is not the case. Having him in day care means you miss a few milestones, but the teachers never let on that it's happening. Owen USED to hate tummy time, but he suddenly learned he can QUIT and turn to his back!! Tummy time isn't so bad these days because he has great head control and doesn't have any issues keeping his head up to look around. He is also turning from back to front. At first he did it by accident while he was crying and arched his back and somehow would wind up on his tummy. In the last week or two, I've actually laid him down in his crib, only to find him turned onto his tummy when I check on him. It scared us in the beginning and even prompted us to look it up in our handy "how to" guide about parenting we purchased. Turns out, once babies learn they can turn, it's much less likely we have to worry about the tummy sleeping!
Speaking of crib - we are FINALLY sleeping in the crib...but we are cheating...because the crib is in our bedroom. We have good reason to have it there though. The nursery we set up for Owen is a room that actually connects to the master bedroom in our townhome. It was set up to be more of a study and doesn't have a closet. Two of the walls in the room are actually doors to the upstairs patio and a huge window that almost goes floor to ceiling. With that said, the room is SUPER cold in the winter time. We moved his crib into the bedroom for the time being until the temperatures start to warm up. He sleeps great in the crib though! In fact, the first few times we put him in there, he slept a solid 9 hour stretch! We had a few days in between where we had to cheat and put him in the bassinet because he was sick and it was easier to have him within an arm's reach of me. On those nights, I very quickly realized he was getting WAY too big for it and needed more room to turn and move around.
Sleep is great in the Gebhard house! Owen typically goes down between 8:30-9 and on good nights sleeps until 6. Every few days he will wake up around 4:30-5 and I will just put a pacifier in his mouth and he will usually go back to sleep until a reasonable hour. I don't know how we got so lucky with a baby that can sleep so well. Don't get me wrong, we have nights where he won't go down easy and wakes up multiple times, but for the most part, he is a SOLID sleeper.
Owen is in size 2 diapers, 6 month clothes and eats every 3 hours during the week and on demand on the weekends. Unfortunately, I went to back to work rather early and have had trouble keeping up with my milk supply. I felt like I was a horrible mother to have to supplement with formula, but I've gotten past that and realized that I have to be comfortable with what I can offer. Owen is a solid eater, but not a big eater. He nurses when he gets up in the morning, gets two 5-ounce bottles at day care, plus a visit from me sometime during the day to feed and play with him and then nurses twice after we get home for the day. He has started to give me sweet smiles while feeding him. It's almost as if he is saying "thank you mommy" every time he looks up and gives me that big grin!
We discovered that Owen is on the skinny side - a mere 13% in weight (14lbs at 4 months), 34% in height (25 inches) and some outrageous number for the head (not really - more like 65% ish). I was really worried about his weight and started to "dream feed" him. I'd basically wake him up (breaking the cardinal rule of NEVER wake a sleeping baby) to feed him after we put him down for the night. That kind of screwed up his whole schedule and sleeping through the night really well. Still trying to work that out! It's like he was mad at us for waking him from his good schedule of sleeping through the night! It should be noted that the pediatrician was NOT concerned about Owen's weight and I basically wanted to see if I could plump up our little man by squeezing in one more small feeding in the day. It seemed to work - he gained a pound in one week from is appointment! Haha!
Owen, we fall in love with you more and more each day and can not believe you are ours to keep! You make us proud to be parents! It is so much FUN watching you grow and learn so many new things every single day!! We love you SO MUCH!
At some point in the last month, Owen started to turn over. I'd like to think he turned over for us for the first time when we saw it, but I know that is not the case. Having him in day care means you miss a few milestones, but the teachers never let on that it's happening. Owen USED to hate tummy time, but he suddenly learned he can QUIT and turn to his back!! Tummy time isn't so bad these days because he has great head control and doesn't have any issues keeping his head up to look around. He is also turning from back to front. At first he did it by accident while he was crying and arched his back and somehow would wind up on his tummy. In the last week or two, I've actually laid him down in his crib, only to find him turned onto his tummy when I check on him. It scared us in the beginning and even prompted us to look it up in our handy "how to" guide about parenting we purchased. Turns out, once babies learn they can turn, it's much less likely we have to worry about the tummy sleeping!
Speaking of crib - we are FINALLY sleeping in the crib...but we are cheating...because the crib is in our bedroom. We have good reason to have it there though. The nursery we set up for Owen is a room that actually connects to the master bedroom in our townhome. It was set up to be more of a study and doesn't have a closet. Two of the walls in the room are actually doors to the upstairs patio and a huge window that almost goes floor to ceiling. With that said, the room is SUPER cold in the winter time. We moved his crib into the bedroom for the time being until the temperatures start to warm up. He sleeps great in the crib though! In fact, the first few times we put him in there, he slept a solid 9 hour stretch! We had a few days in between where we had to cheat and put him in the bassinet because he was sick and it was easier to have him within an arm's reach of me. On those nights, I very quickly realized he was getting WAY too big for it and needed more room to turn and move around.
Sleep is great in the Gebhard house! Owen typically goes down between 8:30-9 and on good nights sleeps until 6. Every few days he will wake up around 4:30-5 and I will just put a pacifier in his mouth and he will usually go back to sleep until a reasonable hour. I don't know how we got so lucky with a baby that can sleep so well. Don't get me wrong, we have nights where he won't go down easy and wakes up multiple times, but for the most part, he is a SOLID sleeper.
Owen is in size 2 diapers, 6 month clothes and eats every 3 hours during the week and on demand on the weekends. Unfortunately, I went to back to work rather early and have had trouble keeping up with my milk supply. I felt like I was a horrible mother to have to supplement with formula, but I've gotten past that and realized that I have to be comfortable with what I can offer. Owen is a solid eater, but not a big eater. He nurses when he gets up in the morning, gets two 5-ounce bottles at day care, plus a visit from me sometime during the day to feed and play with him and then nurses twice after we get home for the day. He has started to give me sweet smiles while feeding him. It's almost as if he is saying "thank you mommy" every time he looks up and gives me that big grin!
We discovered that Owen is on the skinny side - a mere 13% in weight (14lbs at 4 months), 34% in height (25 inches) and some outrageous number for the head (not really - more like 65% ish). I was really worried about his weight and started to "dream feed" him. I'd basically wake him up (breaking the cardinal rule of NEVER wake a sleeping baby) to feed him after we put him down for the night. That kind of screwed up his whole schedule and sleeping through the night really well. Still trying to work that out! It's like he was mad at us for waking him from his good schedule of sleeping through the night! It should be noted that the pediatrician was NOT concerned about Owen's weight and I basically wanted to see if I could plump up our little man by squeezing in one more small feeding in the day. It seemed to work - he gained a pound in one week from is appointment! Haha!
Owen, we fall in love with you more and more each day and can not believe you are ours to keep! You make us proud to be parents! It is so much FUN watching you grow and learn so many new things every single day!! We love you SO MUCH!
PS: I have tried to always do his monthly photo shoots on his actual monthly birthdays, but this month Tommy was working late on his 4 month birthday. With a partially mobile baby - it was near impossible to get very many good shots by myself. So we had to do a few more when Tommy was around. :)
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