Four months and growing!

(Just a forewarning, this is a VERY lengthy overall update on Beni's personality development, feedings, milestones, and general physical stats. It's probably a bore for anyone else to read, but I like keeping track because I think everything he does is remarkable and adorable... and will likely want to reminisce about later in life. Maybe even a week from now at the rate he's growing!)

"With dimples on his knees and his elbows, a belly to rival any Buddha's, an extra chin to tuck, and an endearing amount of pinchable flesh on his cheeks, he's the picture of baby cuteness from head to chubby toes."

It amazes me how full of life and energy he is these days. He's always had a very vibrant personality, making sure we're well aware of his likes and dislikes, but within the past month he's really just taken off... he's always "talking" up a storm, and giggles too! We've made a habit of having regular "conversations" throughout the day. He's so full of smiles when interacting. It's absolutely adorable! We've also discovered a few of his ticklish spots; behind his neck, under his arms, the sides of his little tummy, and simply poking him and laughing at him seems to do the trick. You can tell that he's really thrilled when he starts kicking his legs and flailing his arms all over the place. It's one of my favorite sights!

He's at a fun stage now where he'll just stop whatever he's doing and stare at me and smile. Almost like he's trying to memorize everything about me. He really makes me feel so blessed.

Feedings are still a bit of a challenge... he's made the association that when he eats he feels reflux pains, so during the day he sometimes goes on 'nursing strikes'. He'll start nursing eagerly at first, but suddenly gets very frantic, arches his back and cries until he simply exhausts himself. It takes so much persistence (and patience) until he finally decides to give in... so, that in itself pretty much consumes most of my day. We're still not having luck with him taking a bottle either. We've tried just about every style (even bottles made specifically to mimic the breast) to no avail. This is really no surprise to me since he also rejects pacifiers. He's no dummy; he knows an artificial nipple when he sees it! I have a feeling he'll go directly from boob to sippy cup at this rate, hahha. His eating schedule now is about every 3 hours during the day, and every hour or so in the evening. He sleeps about 10 hours during the night and only wakes for maybe 3 meals... it's definitely improved greatly from the beginning where he woke every hour to eat... phew!!

Aside from that, he's still extraordinarily dependant on being held all the time and seems to only accept being put down when he's on the verge of passing out, and even then it's very short lived. He's become so reliant on falling asleep either in my arms or Angelo's, and especially lying on his side, chest to chest with me... he's only 'successfully' slept on his own (in another room than the room I'm in) maybe two or three times since he was born. We've tried to make the transition, but in so many ways he's showing us he's just not ready quite yet. He cries hysterically as if he's being tormented, relentlessly. It will have to be a very gradual process...

As far as his milestones go... after the first month, he started pulling himself up to standing position completely unassisted aside from balance, and this really completely amazes me. I know most babies tend to do that instinctively, but the strength it takes for someone so tiny to do this is just unbelievable. To me, it's like seeing tiny ants haul around crumbs five times their size. He's hasn't had any trouble holding his head up on his own for about two and a half months now... this has made our outings really exciting because he can face outward in his Snugli (front carrier) and completely take in his surroundings. He still prefers to face inward, but even then he still observes everything around us. I looove his Snugli! We'd be so lost without it, considering he practically lives in it. When he's on his tummy, he can raise his head and chest supported by his arms and roll over onto his back again. He hasn't yet tried to go from back to stomach, but I think it's because in general he's not a big fan of tummy time. He also has recently really started interacting with the toys on his Jumperoo and has grown really fond of his little sock monkey. He likes wrestling with it when we place it in his lap on his bouncer. It's one of those toys that when he sees it, there's an instant smile. His "talking" consists of "ah-goo!", ehhh (grunting), trying to mimic the alphabet when I sing it to him VERY slowly (A-B-C for him is aahh bweh caaa... but he's definitely is getting the idea!), mimicking "HI!" without actually saying it, but more so "mouthing it", blurrr, gweee, bwahh, goo, pherr... oh my goodness his little noises are just endless!! My personal favorite mimic ever is when I repeat "I love you" about a million times, he actually starts saying "Iwhhhuuyuu". Angelo and I go totally nuts for this!

Now onto physical stats... I know he's at least 14lbs and 24in long (an increase of 8lbs and 6 1/2in since birth) but I won't be sure of the exact amounts until his wellness check-up on the 17th. (I wish they could have scheduled it closer to his 4 month mark, but evidently this is a very busy season for them?) He's such a tubby little boy, though, I love it! Oh, and his toes can now finally reach the ground when playing in his Jumperoo! This amuses him (and us) greatly!

Motherhood has transformed my life in so many wonderful ways... I get the beautiful advantage of so many new angles of the feelings of love, appreciation, joy, reward, wonder, worry, laughter... bliss... every feeling is intensified because he makes everything a new experience. Even throughout the times where it feels like we're in over our heads, I could never ask for anything more extraordinary in life. He is our light and a constant reminder to thankful for the life that we have. I couldn't be more blessed...

Update: As of December 12th, Beni is 14lbs, 14.4oz, 24in long... and 4 months and 4 days old. Now that's a lot of 4's! :)