Month 4 was a big one for baby Harrison, and for us! He definitely transitioned out of the “fourth trimester” and is becoming far more engaged with us – which is so fun! December was a pretty magical month with the holidays, family, friends and milestones. 
My sweet boy started the month off by continuing his good sleep pattern of only waking about once per night. With me still off work, I took those on and then Sean would generally get up with him around 7am.
Towards the end of the month, he started waking more frequently again and now he has more nights with frequent wake-ups than not. It’s really hard and frustrating since we’ve been doing much better with spacing out feedings and giving him a big bottle before bed. It doesn’t seem to matter – he will sometimes wake up after only 3 hours. Now that we are right at four months, I think this is that sleep regression and growth spurt that happens around this time. We’re trying to sleep train by letting him try to figure out how to fall back asleep on his own, so we aren’t getting up every time he wakes up overnight but I wake up each time he does, and stay awake until he falls back asleep so I am REALLY tired again. Ugh. The “job” of motherhood is a real slog and not very fun at times.
He is eating between 5.5 and 6 ounces every three hours during the day, and somewhere around 4 ounces IF he eats overnight. We are trying to decrease the amount we give him overnight to continue to wean him off of that feeding. He’s a strong, healthy boy and we both feel he can make more progress towards sleeping through the night. We estimate he weighs about 15 pounds now!
Harrison continues to be a really happy baby. We did a lot of fun things over the holiday season and he handled new places, being held by strangers, and naps in random spots like a champ. We’re trying our best to raise him to be adaptable and flexible. We don’t want to be chained to a crib for the next 3 years – he’s a baby and should be able to sleep anywhere!
Mid-December Harrison grabbed and held his first toy – a red ball/rattle. It was really neat to see and then to be able to watch him continue to explore other toys and the coordination of his hands.
The biggest milestone of the month, though, was for all of us – our first trip! And it wasn’t a small one – 8-hour drive to Florida to see family. We started in Melbourne with Sean’s mom and stepdad for 3 nights. We also got to see Sean’s best friend Steve. Harrison did great in the car – we only stopped twice! – and actually slept through the night the first night there in his pack and play. We were so impressed.
We then headed across the state to Zephyrhills to see my grandma, mom, great aunt, 2nd cousins from Texas and Sean’s stepmom for 3 nights. It was so, so great to see everyone, especially my grandma. We got a “four generations” photo, and I loved watching her with her great-grandson. <3
We also got to see Sean’s sister Erin. It was the first time I got to meet her and we’re all very glad we could get together and she could meet her nephew.
Harrison is still cooing up a storm – no real laughs yet but we are getting so close. He responds to our voices and loves to be tickled – such big smiles. I love getting on the floor with him while he’s on his activity mat and playing with him. So thankful for this time at home with him.
And he and Stella LOVE each other. She knows when he gets up from his naps and will wait on the activity mat for him to play, then give him kisses – which he loves and just smiles up a storm. Eeeeeee.
I’m definitely happy to be out of the newborn phase, and am having fun enjoying this stage of exploration with my baby. Can’t wait to have more giggles, smiles, snuggles with this cute little guy as he grows and develops. <3
