Four Months Old!

Caleb is 4 months old - where is the time going?! We took him to his 4-month well child checkup and he got his 2nd round of vaccines. After weighing him and plotting it on his growth curve, our pediatrician is now concerned about his weight gain (or lack thereof) because the curve is dropping off and he is now in the "less than 3rd" percentile for weight. Since his 3-month weight check, he as only gained 10 ounces. His height is actually above average, so he is tall and skinny - which is quite evident when I am trying to find pants to fit him and anything that actually fits his tiny waist is too short, and if it is long enough it is falling off of him!

So now, she wants us to supplement his breastfeeding with 4-8 ounces extra of formula (or pumped breastmilk) each day, in addition to adding rice cereal to the bottles. Apparently, he is not getting enough calories so we have to give him a boost. At first, I was a little sad about having to supplement with formula (weird, I know but if you breastfeed then you probably understand), but I have to do what is best for him so that's what I'll do. I just can't pump enough to keep up with the extra demand, so formula it is. I am still pumping when I can and freezing it so he can have breastmilk some of the time, but for the most part his supplemental feedings are formula mixed with some rice cereal.

We are also going to take him to a pediatric GI doctor to see what they think, but we have to wait until an opening is available. Apparently they are backed up. Our pediatrician doesn't think he has an absorption problem b/c he is still peeing and pooping plenty. He still spits up a lot, so she is thinking he's just not keeping enough down and not getting enough calories. She prescribed metoclopramide (increases stomach motility to get the food moving to the intestines faster in hopes that he won't have as much to spit up...and also increases tone of the lower esophageal sphincter) and changed his acid-blocking med from ranitidine (Zantac) to lansoprazole (Prevacid). We will see if things have improved when we go back for a one-week weight check. We will be going back for periodic weight checks until he is back on the growth charts.


Little man checking out his handsome face...



Yay for Caleb's First Thanksgiving!



Still figuring out this whole "tummy time" thing...



Rocky is one of Dad's favorite movies...



Trying out the Bumbo seat...not so sure about it!




At 4 months, Caleb...

...weighed in at 10 lbs 10 oz (less than 3rd percentile) and 25 ½ inches long (58th percentile). I guess he will be tall and skinny like his Daddy!

...has the cutest little chuckle! For some reason, he thinks fake laughing is funny so a good, high-pitched “hee hee heeeee” really entertains him!

...is still napping in his bouncy seat and sleeping in his crib at night. He just will not nap in his crib.

...goes to bed for the night between 10:00-10:30pm, right after his last feeding of the day (which is at 9:00 or 9:30pm).

...is still nursing every 3-4 hours during the day and waking up only once at night. He was waking up in the 3 o’clock hour but now has recently started making it until around 5:00am.

...will grab anything you put in front of him, including your face, hair, glasses, etc!

...has developed an interest in things that make a crinkle sound. He has a few toys that crinkle and he loves them!

...can lift his head all the way up and push up on his arms when placed on his tummy.

...can roll from tummy to back. (probably b/c he doesn’t really like being on his tummy)

...rolls over onto his side, but hasn’t made it over onto his stomach yet.

...wakes up happy! We can hear him talking to his mobile in the morning and it is so sweet!

...loves the tune to the “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies” from the Nutcracker. I heard it on a TV commercial one day and started “singing” it to him and he broke out in the biggest smile I’d ever seen! I guess you could say it’s his favorite song!

...loves the musical puppy on his car seat toy bar…it makes him smile so big!

...still does great in the church nursery. We have a pretty good Sunday routine down now: we wake up around 7:15-7:30am and Daddy gives him a bottle while I pump (b/c this process is quicker than me feeding him myself since he still takes 45 minutes to nurse), we drop him off at the nursery a little before the 9:30am service, I stay through the worship portion of the service then go pick him up between 10:15-10:30am to nurse him, drop him back off at the nursery between 11:00-11:15’ish and meet Rhett at Sunday school, then pick him back up at noon. Our church is very accommodating to nursing mothers, and there is a special “nursing room” where you can go to nurse. It even has a TV that shows the sermon so I don’t have to miss anything.

...has experienced his first Thanksgiving and first SNOW! Yes, it snowed in Houston on December 4th! (unfortunately I did not get pictures)

...is still the sweetest, most handsome little boy ever! :o)