My 4 month smiley Valentine!
Alex, you are 4 months old already and your little personality is really starting to come out. You LOVE people and are a very social little boy. You can be super crabby and one catch of your mama's or sister's eye contact and a smile and you are all smiles. You are such a sweet, smiley, sassy little boy.
You are also VERY expressive - your eyebrows & wrinkled up forehead give us a glimpse as to your mood & my favorite thing is when you go from a crabby, wrinkled brow to a big smile - your whole face lights up!
This month's updates....
You had your 4 month checkup today with our new doctor (for those of you keeping track, yes - we had ANOTHER pediatrician move away which brings us to Makenna's 7th doctor and Alex's 2nd!). Thankfully, this one is our neighbor and he ensures us he isn't going anywhere. And even better - he does house calls!
You are 15lbs 1.5oz - which is about 50% (your sister was 15 lbs 11oz). You are a shorty at 24.5inches which is only in the 22nd percentile. Your head, however, is in the 95th percentile which I'm pretty sure is why your smile is just SO big!
You are still in size 2 diapers and are now in mostly 6 month clothes. Your 3 month onesies still fit you length-wise, so I should have figured you were a little short.
You started rolling over this month! Whenever I put you on your tummy for tummy time, after a few minutes you push and push and finally roll to your back!
You are soooo very smiley and your favorite things are definitely mommy, daddy and Makenna. You love to sit in your bumbo and watch all the action and you really enjoy playing under your playmate. You can sit under there for quite awhile cooing and shrieking away in excitement. There is a mirror on it and you just love to look at yourself.
Your favorite toy is probably your other hand! You are constantly putting your hands together and in your mouth. The toughest part of this month's photo shoot was getting you to put your hands by your side so I could see your 4 month sticker.
You are still a crazy poopy boy, going a few days without pooping and then blowing out diapers for a few days straight
This was you last Saturday...we had some errands to run and we got to Target & you just stunk of poop. I went into the dressing rooms to feed you and change you only to find a blowout poop all the way through to the car seat. I fed you and you, of course pooped again. So I changed you again and as I was burping you, you guessed it, you pooped AGAIN! Here you are getting your diaper changed for the third time...so proud of yourself!
As for sleep.....you have your mommy and daddy quite exhausted! You actually slept pretty good this month while you were sick but now that you are feeling better, you are a terror! I thought maybe you'd sleep better after your 4 month shots and some tylenol last night but I put you down at 8 and you were up at 8:30, 9, 10:30, 1, 4 and then finally for the day at 7am. And those were just the times I got up with you - I'm pretty sure Daddy was up with you a few other times. We're hoping you can at least start to go back to 3-4 hour stretches between wakings so we can get some sleep, especially now that tax season is in full gear but we will see.... For now, mommy is going to have to switch to working from home at night after you go to bed and then going to bed after your 11pm feed so that she at least gets a few good stretches of sleep. Hopefully by next month we will have better news to report on the sleep front!

I will say that I had this month's pictures done in like 3 minutes - even though I tried to take them right after your shots and you were a little crabby, one look at mama's smiley face and you were all smiles, too!
Happy 4 months, Alexander Brooks!
Makenna: Your sister is finally starting to pay more attention to you, which is for the most part a good thing. The other night at the dinner table, we had you sitting in your bumbo seat and you just stared at her the whole time. She looked at you and smiled and your whole face lit up and you belly laughed at her. She got such a kick out of it, she kept it up and the two of you were smiling and giggling together - it was SOO sweet and I was so thankful daddy was there to catch it, too.
The other day you were in your tub and your sister was in the big tub and you started peeing - your sister freaked out a little and wasn't quite sure what to think. She's been talking about it every since...lol!
And lately she freaks out when you spit up. I think it is just because she is starting to notice you more and more and the idea of drool and spit up is just really not appealing to her.... oh, if only she realized how much more she spit up!
Daddy: Daddy is so very in love with you, but so very frustrated with your lack of sleep, especially as we roll into tax season. Thankfully, he was able to rearrange his work schedule so he goes in super early and then is home every night in time for dinner & to help me with bed time routines. Last night you and your sister snuggled with him and watched a Veggie Tale while mommy cleaned up - he had a red Elmo shirt on and you LOVED it - you kept grabbing at Elmo and couldn't take your eyes off the red shirt. Red is definitely your favorite color and I'm pretty sure daddy is convinced you are going to be a Badger. Daddy loves to sing to you at night & you find it very relaxing!

Mommy: Buddy, mommy simply cannot get enough of you.... well, except during the hours of 11pm to 7am:) I am so in love with you and while I don't want you to get any bigger, each stage is more and more fun. I love to snuggle you and my absolute favorite thing is when you make eye contact with me and your whole face lights up with a smile. You are still a snuggler and I try to take advantage of that & make sure to get some good snuggles with you every day. You love it when I read to you and your favorite book is one that has all sorts of mirrors in it so you can see yourself.
Every morning, you hang out in your bassinet while mommy gets ready for work - you are so content just laying there and staring at the lights
You always get the funniest look on your face during tubby time when I prop you up in your seat in front of the mirror - it's like you are trying to flex your muscles in front of the mirror or something... lol!
Playing "school" with sister
Sad boy!
My little snowman!
Starting to get pretty strong on your belly!