Hellobee

Charlie is 4 months old today!

I haven’t had time to take too many pics lately, so alas these are all from a month ago.

I was worried that Charlie didn’t gain any weight for two weeks because so much change had been going on in his little baby life. But then he gained 9 ounces since the last time I weighed him a couple days ago so he’s finally doubled his birth weight and then some.

17 1/2 Weeks / 4 Months – 17 lbs 3 oz (+9 oz)
17 Weeks – 16 lbs 10 oz (+0 oz)
16 Weeks – 16 lbs 10 oz (+1oz)
12 Weeks – 14 lbs 13 oz (+.5 oz)
8 Weeks – 13 lbs 3 oz (+12 oz)
4 weeks – 10lbs 10oz (+8oz)
Birth – 8lbs 6oz

Milestones

Charlie had a huge milestone this week — he completely rolled over from his stomach to his back! I didn’t think he was going to roll over until he was much older because he’s such a chunkmonster. A pediatrician friend said 95th percentile babies usually take longer to roll over, and a 7 month old baby in my mom group that’s been on a similar growth track as Charlie didn’t roll over until he was 6 months old. But Charlie has been rolling on his side like crazy the past 2 weeks, and waking himself up in his crib from practicing this newfound skill. He lifts his legs and slams them down and I usually find him laying sideways in his crib, whereas he was pretty stationary before.

He can also hold his head up so much better that I recently purchased a jumperoo and he loves it! Since he loved the jumperoo, I went ahead and ordered an exersaucer as well. He’s going to outgrow his swing and bouncer very soon — baby stuff has such a short life, but Charlie really enjoyed them both so they were worth it. Besides I’m letting a friend borrow everything that Charlie has outgrown, so I’m glad that everything is going to get more use.

My dad loves these serious pictures of Charlie.

Baby Pattern Baldness

Charlie’s hair started falling out when he was around 2 months old, and I didn’t realize how bad it was until a commenter said he had a combover haha. When I was making the photobook for my mom, I noticed that he actually had much more hair when he was born. I was worried about his baby pattern baldness, but it’s normal for baby hair to fall out, and in the past couple weeks his hair has really started growing back in. He was born with black hair, but now it’s turned a medium brown.

Toys

When Charlie was a newborn, pretty much the only toy we played with was his playmat. Now that he’s older, we’ve purchased a ton of toys in the past month and he really plays with them. He’s so good at grasping for things and holding onto them.

By Charlie’s age, most babies don’t want to be swaddled anymore, but I’ve read on boards that some babies love being swaddled even beyond six months. Charlie is a big boy, but he still loves being swaddled, and definitely sleeps better at night if he’s in a full swaddle.  Now if only he would start sleeping through the night. I have so much trouble falling asleep no matter how tired I am, so I’m usually up from 4am – 7am because he wakes up about every hour during that time of dawn. I’m getting very little sleep and don’t know how much longer I can survive!

I know a number of babies very close to Charlie’s age, and it’s interesting to see how every baby develops at his or her own rate. While he’s not sleeping through the night and still loves being swaddled, he has mastered one thing — he’s been smiling, giggling, and cooing like crazy since before he was a month old.  He charms us with his smiley ways when he’s being naughty with his sleeplessness.