Jonah's Fourth Month

three months

to

four months

(September 1 - October 1)

Jonah is cooing a lot more, and especially loves to talk when chewing on his binky before taking a nap. It is pretty cute. He will also coo when I am speaking directly to his face and playing with him.

His naps at this stage are typically an hour or less, despite my efforts to help him sleep every one to two hours of wakefulness. He is still pretty fussy on and off throughout the day, even when being held. It is sad and frustrating.

Jonah kicks his legs A LOT! We went in the swimming pool for the first time at the Larsen’s pool and enjoyed it, thanks to the warm water. He just kept kicking his legs like crazy!

I am starting to try and help him self-soothe himself  to sleep for naps. Before his nap, I swaddle him and either put him in the swing or carry him around for a bit, and then I will take him up to his crib. When he starts crying I give him five minutes, then go up and give him the Binky and soothe him for a bit, then leave. When he starts crying again, I give him five more minutes and then do the same thing. If at that point he is pretty hysterical and has kicked out of the swaddling, then I leave him unswaddled and will give him gripe water and the Binky (so that he has something to suck on the Binky for). At that point he usually either falls asleep or if he is still crying after five minutes, then I will go and hold him for five minutes until he falls asleep and then put him in the Rock and Play. Some days he is able to fall sleep before I need to pick him up, other days I have to pick him up. After a week of doing this with not much progress, I did a couple of days where I would let him go ten minutes in between intervention, but he would still cry. And then I started swaddling him and walking around with him offering him the Binky. I would walk around the house three times and then put him in the Rock and Play, which is now in his room, and I would lay him in there with the Binky and he typically falls asleep on his own like a champ. That has been working really well. If he wakes up before an hour mark, and I can see that he is crying and tired, I will just nurse him until he falls back asleep and put him back in the Rock and Play, or I will give him the Binky with a little bit of that gripe water and he will typically fall back asleep with that and sleep for another hour or so. That has been working really well the last couple days.

Oh the elaborate and extensive things we will do to get our babies to just SLEEP!!

Here are more pictures from Jonah's fourth month:

perhaps the first time Charlie has held Jonah on his own

sucking on that bottom lip

give me that food!

Labor Day:

Aspen Grove