Team Davis: 4-months old

Hank turned 4-months old this past Monday, May 16th. On Wednesday, he had his 4-month doctor's appointment and shots. Here are his stats:

Height: 24 1/2" (60th percentile) - He has grown 1 1/2 inches since his last appointment.
Weight: 14 pounds 13 ounces (75th percentile) - He has gained 3 pounds 4.5 ounces.
Head Circumference: 43 cm (92nd percentile) - His head has grown 2 1/2 cm.

He is definitely a growing boy....especially his head! Maybe that means that he has a big brain! He did pretty well with his shots. He is somewhat of a fussy baby so it was hard to tell how bad he really felt the night of his doctor's appointment. I gave him a few doses of Tylenol over the course of the 1st 24 hours just to make sure that he wasn't hurting. He never had a fever.

Here is what Hank is up to these days:

Hank has rolled over once, but I missed it. We were in Tennessee and my mother-in-law was watching him while I was taking a shower. We have been working on rolling over, but he has yet to do it again all by himself. It only takes a little help from me to get him all the way over so I don't think that it will be long.

Hank smiles a lot...especially in the morning. He loves his Baby Einstein play gym and that will sometimes keep him entertained for 30 minutes to an hour.

His favorite song is "If You're Happy and You Know It."

He has strong legs and likes to practice standing up on your lap.

He genuinely laughed out loud for the first time today. It happened while his daddy was playing with him and helping him to stand.

He has really started "talking" and cooing a lot over the past few weeks.

He loves his swing and still sleeps in it at night. We are trying to transition him to his bed, though. He does take some of his naps in his bed. I hear that you need sleep habits determined by the time that the baby is 6 months old. Otherwise, it will be hard to break those habits later. Right now, Hank is asleep in his bed. We'll see how long that lasts tonight. The longest that he goes without waking is usually a 6-hour stretch at nighttime. For the most part, he eats every 3 hours. I guess that his good growth is evidence of that!

Hank is still drinking primarily breast milk from a bottle. Occasionally we have to supplement with a little formula, but so far that has been rare. Hank did get his first taste of apple juice this week to help a small issue with constipation. He drank it right down and it worked like a charm.

When I was in nursing school, I had a clinical rotation at a pediatrician's office. One thing I learned in that office was that older mom's in their 30's tended to be worriers while teen moms didn't seem to worry at all...probably because they weren't smart enough to know what to worry about. I got a good chuckle because I wasn't going to be either one. Unfortunately, that has come back to bite me because I have been the biggest worry wart since Hank was conceived. While I was pregnant, I worried about him so much that I couldn't wait until he was born so that I wouldn't have sole responsibility for keeping him alive. Now that he is here, I worry about him even more. Is he hitting his milestones? Is he gaining enough weight? Is he eating enough? Is he pooping enough? For the first few weeks of his life, I would go to bed and just thank God that we kept him alive another day. And I must admit that I still occasionally have those thoughts. I guess that every first-time parent goes through these same feelings. I hear that you get a lot more relaxed with the 2nd child. But Hank's pediatrician reassured me that he is perfect in every way....just what a jittery new mom needed to hear.

I had another moment of clarity this week as well. I worked this past Monday and Tuesday at my hospital while my mom babysat for Hank. Since I only work a couple of days a month, I get stopped a lot while I am working and other nurses ask how Hank is doing and want to see pictures. One kind nurse, who I hear has struggled with infertility, asked to see pictures. When she was looking at the pictures, she told me how cute Hank was and said in a very sweet way, "I'm jealous." I don't know why that struck a chord with me, but in that moment a wave of thankfulness came over me. Being a parent is harder than I ever imagined, but I am so thankful that God blessed us with a beautiful, healthy, loving baby boy and I wouldn't trade my life now for the world.

I don't know what has me acting so sappy tonight. I'm not usually that open with my emotions, but I guess that I have had a lot on my mind.

I will leave you with some of my favorite pictures of Hank from this past month: