Soren update: 4 months

My grandmother asked excitedly what Soren likes doing.  Lots of fun things, I answered, for a four-month-old.  Listed in order of importance, Soren's top interests at four months of age appear to be:

• stuffing his fists in his mouth
• watching his big brother play
• smiling and laughing for Mommy, or anyone who will make dramatic facial expressions for him
• "chatting" it up - the kid's a chatterbox!

Luckily Soren likes to tag along, because that's what he's going to be doing for the foreseeable future as Oliver gets older and becomes more involved in activities.  Whether he's strapped to someone's chest in the Ergo or sitting on a lap at the dinner table, he wants to be part of the family and he's happy to be included in the fun.

When I started my new job, Oliver, Soren and I had to bow out of our Tuesday morning ECFE class, but we luckily got into the same Monday evening class Oliver and I participated in last year.  When you're new to a class, you're asked to answer a couple questions about the likes and dislikes and personality of your child so their teachers can get to know them better.  I probably wrote multiple paragraphs for Oliver when we first started participating in ECFE, but this time around, when asked how I would describe Soren, I just wrote one word: chill.

Just recently Soren has become a thumb-sucker!  I just knew he was going to be.  From birth he's liked having his fists up by his face when he sleeps and as soon as he developed the coordination to get his little thumb into his mouth, he's been sucking away.  I'm sure I'll think it's gross as he gets older, but until he starts crawling and getting into things, his hands stay relatively clean and I think he's adorable sucking his thumb. 

Soren can put a lot of weight on his legs and can even "walk," meaning we support him under his armpits and push his body forward so that the momentum causes him to left his legs and bend is knees and propel himself forward.  Some have commented they think he's going to be an early crawler because he's already trying to scoot a little.  He can't cover much ground, but if you place him on the floor and go into another room, he's not necessarily going to be in the exact same spot when you come back. 

I mentioned earlier that Soren likes to chatter.  When he's in a really good mood, he screeches and sings his happiness.  Some babies wake up screaming, but recently Soren hasn't been crying immediately when he wakes up.  He'll lie in his crib and screech/sing to himself. 

For a kid his age, Soren has the patience for sitting and looking at a book.  It's funny to observe how engrossed he appears to be in a book.  He stares intently at the pages and because he's too young to grab at the pages and doesn't care yet what's being read to him, you can older kids books (i.e., more interesting books) to him. The cutest is when I read to both Oliver and Soren in Oliver's bed.  I prop Soren against a pillow next to Oliver and tuck them both under the covers.  Talk about looking like two peas in a pod. 

I think we've got Soren onto three naps a day, it's just the problem is that he still has no predictable schedule.  He'll easily take a nap in his crib first thing in the morning, but given that he's not sleeping through the night yet, his wake-up time varies, and so, then, does that first nap.  Plus, the nanny has one routine for them during the week, while Chris and I have another on the weekends, and then trying to juggle the needs of two kids means that it's just more difficult to be a stickler with schedules.  But for now, I guess the best we can do is try to get him down for a nap three times and call it good.

Soren's four-month wellness check-up is next week and as always, we're curious how much he weighs now.  Even without a weigh-in, I know he's growing, so no concerns there.  He's growing out of his 0-3 month clothes and he no longer needs the infant insert with the Ergo.  He's definitely out of the newborn stage!