We can tell he is a growing boy because we have had to do some shopping again. I'm in denial of him having outgrown his Baby Next onesies and I think I need to stop trying to put him in them at the hope he may have shrunk overnight. His poor toes get all curled over when I try squash him in them but I just love those Next onesies so much. This little boy is killing our pockets when it comes to having to buy him clothing to fit him constantly. We are thankful that summer is here as this means less clothing lol!
We have definitely seen some major development in this last month. He is extremely attentive of late and can see us from a distance. When you call him while standing quite far away he looks to find you and smiles, except when he is totally glued to his Baby Einstein videos, try get his attention when he is watching these - not going to happen, typical boy or should I say - Like father like son! He is such an inquisitive little boy, wants to see what is happening everywhere.
He has started to smile back at you when you smile at him and even laughs at you sometimes for no apparent reason or if you laugh he laughs too. Sometimes when you give him a smile he lets out a loud screech followed by a belly giggle while he scrunches his face and tries to hide his face with his hands or in your shoulder if you are holding him - he is such a character these days!
He has really grown a liking to specific toys and gets extremely excited when he sees them, so excited that he makes this weird sound with his mouth and spit goes flying everywhere. His excitement levels have reached an all time high this month. When we have play time he pulls his entire body stiff, arms tight at his side, scrunches his face that he sports a double chin , makes this weird sound with his mouth as I mentioned above and then he kicks his legs like crazy and screeches with delight. It is SO funny! He is copying us on a daily basis, we have to really start watching what we say or do these days.
His hand eye-coordination has drastically improved. I was quite concerned that he may be a slow developer in this department and that the only deadly grip he would ever have is the perfect grip he gets of my hair that leaves me in agony most days. I was wrong, he has a lot more control over his hands and fingers now, somehow they seems to be cooperating with him these days. Before I would sit and watch him staring at his hand as if his brain was telling it to move but the message was just not reaching its destination and you could see his frustration, poor little guy. He has started reaching for things, and holds them so tight, if those toys were alive he would be cutting off circulation....poor Sophie the giraffe, she stands no chance, she is strangled daily along with spending most of her day in Camden's mouth.
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| Camden giving Sophie loves after he has tried to eat her. |
How Big?: We unfortunately missed his check-up this week due to the lady writing the incorrect appointment date in our book so we have rescheduled for the 27th. I have however weighed him and he is weighing 8.4kg but we shall wait until he is measured at the clinic as they are more accurate.
Clothing Size: He is able to still fit into some of his 6-9 month clothing but he is also wearing 6-12 month clothing.
Eating: He is still eating roughly every 3 and a half to 4 hours during the day. We have however started him on rice cereal and some veggies in the morning with his 10am feed. He loves his food, finishes it all and opens his mouth as the spoon approaches. He has also started watching you eat, almost as if he is waiting for you to give him some, soon I will be able to teach him that it is rude to stare at people while they eating lol. Once we go for the check up at the clinic we may incorporate some more "solid" meals and see how it goes but for now the small bit of cereal or veggies he is getting is fine for me as I don't want to rush giving him solids. The last few days before he turned 4 months we struggled to get him to finish a bottle. He was only drinking 100ml at a time and I thought perhaps it was because he seemed to be suffering with some sinus problems and they cleared up in two days - our little boy is just like his daddy. Come to think of it, I know this is off topic but besides the teething issues and sinus he is a really healthy boy, we have no issues and he is never sick.
Sleep: This has changed again, but I am not complaining! It has improved drastically over the last few months, he no longer cries when he wakes up, now he makes a little noise so you know he is awake and then when you say morning he starts smiling - melts my heart.He is now napping after his 5am/6am feed. He eats and goes right back to sleep until about 7/7.30am so this gives me time to work out and it gives daddy an extra hours sleep. He is still awake a lot more in the day and some days only has those little 20minute cat naps I mentioned last month. At night after his 6pm feed and bath he wants to go "sleep" right away and sometimes he sleeps from the minute you put him down until we wake him at 10/11pm to feed him* or he tummy times in his cot and amuses himself and then passes out. We used to make the mistake of taking him out assuming he wasn't tired when we thought he was but we have now learnt to leave him because he is going to pass out soon and he wants to be in his cot...weird?!
Another new thing now, we struggle to get him to sleep some days but only if he becomes over tired. If he is even slightly overtired you will have a problem on your hands, he will fight and perform and you can just hear that absolute exhausted cry. You will then end up putting him to sleep on your shoulder with a blanket over his head while he is crying and then he just literally passes out. It is like one massive fight and then silence a few minutes later, sometimes Wayne and I laugh because we are like, why does he put up such a massive fight to go sleep when he is so tired. He isn't the type of child who just falls asleep where he is, if he is tired he will moan a bit and then you know you must put him in his cot or pram in the next few minutes otherwise you will have a major problem and have to deal with a tired crying child. There is a difference between a normal moan or a tired moan and the minute you see him rubbing his eyes or nose or doing the tired moan you know to put him straight in his pram if we are out or in his cot if we are home and he goes to sleep. Fighting with him to sleep when he is over tired is NOT fun, it is a nightmare!
* Yes we wake him to feed him around 10/11pm still because we fear if we don't wake him he will wake up around 2/3am to feed, like he was when I took his 10pm bottle away in the past when the clinic sister tried to get us to put him on that terrible schedule. We have however decided to see if he will sleep from 8pm to 5am though because when we wake him to feed him around 10pm, he literally dream feeds and passes out after his nappy change - but we will do this over a weekend when daddy and mommy don't have to work and feel exhausted.
Movement: He is like a wild child these days in his jumperoo, he really gives that toy a good go. He pushes himself up his cot, our bed or up Wayne's chest with his feet and trying to change his nappy is becoming increasingly difficult as he moves non stop and turns to look at the different things that catch his eye. He only ever sleeps on his tummy but I have found him on his side often when I come into the room. He has rolled over from his tummy to his back but he hasn't mastered the art just yet, he still looks rather awkward when he tries to do this. He is a lot sturdier when he sits now and doesn't fall over as much when you prop him up.
Milestones:
- Ate his first "solids" in week 14
- Perfected the art of rolling onto his side in week 14
- Started really belly laughing around the end of week 14
- Started to hold his own bottle around week 15, not totally unassisted as he drops it sometimes and then we need to help him.
- Rolled onto his back in week 16, but as I said he has definitely not mastered this art just yet, he looks very uncomfortable and you have to push his arm flat against his side first and then he can do it, his arm gets in the way of him rolling as he pushes it out straight all the time. He needs to figure this out on his own.
- Laughs when mommy sneezes or when granny makes funny noises from about week 16
- Started to roll into a ball on your lap and hold onto his toes( not for long periods of time as he can't quite get a strong enough grip on his toes) around the end of week 16
- Started shaking his rattle and not just holding it in week 16
- Around week 16 he started copying everything daddy does and some of the things mommy or granny does. If daddy sticks out his tongue so does Camden.
- Went on his first beach outing with mommy and daddy.
- His first walk on the promenade in his baby carrier and not in his pram, he would cry before if he wasn't laying on his stomach in his pram
- Everything else I mentioned in month 3 he has just improved on and by improve I mean he is a lot better at sitting unassisted, he is baby talking a lot more and is way more alert and his hand and eye coordination has improved drastically.
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| Sitting unassisted but he has improved a lot since these pictures were taken at the end of week 14 |
Excitement this month: Mommy and daddy got engaged this month, if you missed the blog post have a look here
All in all, the weeks from month 3 to 4, were great. Our boy is really developing and we are loving him more with each passing day.
Seventeen weeks post-partum: Back into the full swing of training. I have started to train in the mornings for an hour each day before I start work. I do a bit of cardio and strength training. Some days I run as I am practising for my first trail run in December. I have also entered the Spur Trail run series which kicks off in January, 4 races in total and ends in February 2015. The dietitian, Alex Royal that I mentioned I am seeing, I go for check ups every 4 weeks and my last weigh in, I lost 2kg in 3 weeks (slow but it is something). I am eating a healthy ,well balanced diet with loads of fruits and veggies, good carbs and lean meat. Weight loss is going to be a lot slower than when I previously used to diet for competitions (this I need to wrap my mind around still) as this eating plan is well balanced and not a quick fix to losing weight fast but the positive is that I get to eat all different types of food not just chicken, fish, chicken, fish and some broccoli.
Physically: My joints seem to be easing up, my knees still ache but other than feeling stiff and sore from training, I am feeling good physically.
Emotionally: I'm in a good space. I have my one or two off days here and there but who doesn't?
