4 Months Old!

I cannot believe it, but our baby boy is 4 months old!! Jackson's bright personality is shining through more and more! The most obvious trait I have noticed is how full of life and boisterous he is! Whether he is happy or sad, he expresses these emotions with everything he has in him! This of course has led to the most amazing sessions of talking, laughing, kicking and squealing. They are by far my favorite parts of the day:). He can be heard throughout the house just being as happy as can be. As you can see in the picture above, he literally smiles with his whole body! What this personality trait also means is that when he is sad or tired or hungry, he makes sure that no one misunderstands. He can scream like no other baby I have ever heard. He has a high pitched screech when he is upset that literally makes our ears hurt. During these times, he arches his back, kicks his legs and is pretty much inconsolable. We usually get one or two of those episodes a day, always in the evening. But, I have tried a couple of different things in the last two days and am finding I am more successful in calming him. Jackson is strong willed and very clear in his wants and needs. I have a feeling our hands will be full as he continues to learn and grow and become independent:).

I will never forget this past month because it was the month that acid reflux took over our baby. For a week, we were visited by a very different Jackson, one we weren't sure we liked very much to be honest. While he has improved greatly, and is mostly back to his happy self, we are still working on treating all the symptoms of his reflux. This has been so hard for me, wanting the easy and perfect fix for him, for our family. No matter how hard I try, I can't fix this quickly or easily. Jackson will see a GI specialist next week, and we hope to get some answers. No matter what, I am reminding myself of this: the bottom line is this reflux thing is a pain, and exhausting, but it is minor. He is a healthy, thriving (I estimate between 15 and 16lbs!) and certainly bouncing baby boy. We honestly could never ask for more.

As for milestones, Jackson has found his hands and loves to chew on them. He is getting good at getting his fingers in his mouth and sucking, which we are ambivalent about. On the one hand, we don't necessarily want him to get addicted to his fingers because know how hard that habit is to break. On the other hand, my heart just soars when I see how well he is able to self- soothe and enjoy his little fingers like a baby should! Jackson also made the big move to his crib this month! He has been successfully sleeping every night in his crib for over a week. Yay! Jackson loves his floor time, and is so close to rolling from his back to his stomach. I anticipate a post on this very exciting new milestone very soon! Jackson also found that he can get a reaction from us with his adorable new gurgling sound. We now have "conversations" in gurgle-speak. I love watching as he learns cause and effect, and how to have back and forth conversations. He is amazing.

Goals for the next month - get acid reflux under control, start solids, sleep through the night and enjoy every second of our time with our miracle, our son.