4 Months Old!

Our littlest joy turned four months old on Sunday.  Leyton is officially out of the newborn stage and is now in the stage of babyhood that I most enjoy.  He has smiles and giggles galore, is starting to use his hands to grab at things and put them in his mouth, and is much more awake and observant of the things around him.  I am convinced that a sweeter baby could not be found.  He is just so good.  After he eats, he loves to sing for all of us with the cutest little baby coos, and now he's started squawking and shrieking like a bird when he's really happy.  It's hilarious!  So, what does a four month old do with his day?  Well, he still eats and sleeps quite a bit.  But now a much bigger part of his day is spent playing--tummy time on his playmat, hanging out in the Bumbo while I'm working in the kitchen, grabbing at the toys in his exersaucer, practicing kicks and rolls in his crib, or checking himself out in the mirror (and finding it to be incredibly hysterical!)  He loves to cuddle and is especially fascinated by his big brother.  Brody can't get enough of him, either.  Yesterday he told me that Leyton is his best friend--I wonder if he'll still say that when Leyton is crawling around and stealing his toys in a few months!!

There's just one downer to all this happy baby stuff, and that's nightime.  My little thumbsucker is still waking up between four and six times at night.  He has been sleeping in his own crib for a couple of months now, but inevitably he'll end up back in bed with me because I can't stand the thought of getting out of bed one more time in the middle of the night.  I've mastered the art of nursing while lying down, and you better believe I use it!  The thing is, I know he's not hungry.  Each time he wakes all I have to do is nurse him for about five minutes and he's sound asleep again.  SO, I'm eagerly anticipating getting to six months so I can sleep train him without feeling guilty.  Ok, you're right.  I know I'll still feel guilty but at least I'll have research to back me up that states that by six months babies can make it through the night without a feeding. For now, I'm quite exhausted--could really use a vacation--wait, I'm going on a vacation in two weeks--oh yeah, it's WITH kids--what were we thinking?