Four Months

McKay is four months old now. Don't ask what happened to his three month post and pics. I'm quite sure I was too busy worrying about why Ashley liked Bentley so much to give it much attention. But never fear, I did get some pictures taken the day McKay turned four months old. Here's some highlights:

**He weighs 16 lbs 7 oz (75th percentile) and is 26 inches long (85th).

**He still doesn't look very chubby, and definitely doesn't look like my other babies. I still get "Esplin" from people who know my family. Jeff thinks it's the nose. Poor kid if that's true, because I have never liked my ski slope nose.



**He is doing all the typical things a baby of this age does: grabbing things and sucking on them, rolling from tummy to back, laughing, looking adorable in the Bumbo, and putting up with SOME tummy time every day.

Not a lot, but still will tolerate some.

He has also really become a thumb sucker. He'll take the binky when he's tired and I'm soothing him to sleep, but if he's by himself, thumb will suffice.

This is what tummy time turned into one time. This is extremely rare that he'll fall asleep on the floor (most of the time I have to wrap him tight and rock him until he starts to give in and then he'll fall asleep in his bed).

**I am almost done nursing him. This makes me sad, but it was just a nightmare. I was getting mastitis every couple of days, and he was always crying and fighting me. He's so much happier (and so am I) now that we just do a morning and night nursing session and bottles the rest of the time.

**He is still constantly mauled by Kyla and Carter. I would have thought that the novelty would have worn off by now, but not at all.

**He started sleeping really well at night. I attribute it to the thumb sucking. I put him to bed around 10 and he'll sleep until 6:30 or so. Last night I heard him at 3:00, but I didn't go to him, and he went back to sleep until 7:00. I'm so happy about this development and I have since moved back into "Jeff's room." I like to go in his room and put him in bed with me when he wakes at 6:30 or 7:00 and nurse him and snuggle him.

**He's doing alright sleeping during the day, too. Usually he will take at least one good nap in his bed (2 hours or so) and sometimes more. I try to stick with the Healthy Sleep Habits routine of beginning to soothe around 1.5-2 hours after waking and let him put himself to sleep. It is not always successful, but he's getting better.

**He's also a happier baby and less high maintenance. He still would rather be held (doesn't LOVE the Bumbo or the exersaucer or the stroller), but sometimes he's got to learn to tolerate.