I took him for his four-month checkup today. He was 25.5 inches long and 15 lbs., .5 oz. Growing steadily! He’s in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th for length. He’s gunna be a tall guy I hope. I’m going to predict that he’s 6′2″ when he’s all done growing. Check back with me in 20 years or so and we’ll see.

He rolled over for the first time last weekend! He was on his tummy, propped himself up on his arms and tilted his head to the side. His heavy head helped the rest of his body roll over. He did it twice and was too cranky to do it some more. He did it again the following day. Love it! 

He’s babbling all the time and munching on his fingers. He’ll grab on to things and pull it toward his mouth. Gotta be careful what he gets his hands on. 

If we hold his hands or body, he likes to stand up. He’s too top-heavy to have good balance, but he’s working on it and soon enough he’ll be able to stand on his own.

He’s still exclusively breastfed and I’m continuing to be glad that it’s working so well. It’s definitely easy and convenient for me now.

Our pediatrician said we can start him on baby cereal, but only if we want. I don’t particularly want to at this point, but maybe more as he gets closer to six months of age. Right now, he doesn’t need it for the nutrition or calories. The doctor said it’s mostly for practice and to help supplement his feedings if he doesn’t seem satisfied with feedings from me.

Since nursing is no trouble at all now and he does seem to like it, I’m not going to rush into introducing those “solids.” I think I’d like to wait until he can sit up on his own. That ought to make feedings a bit easier to do.

I’ve been working hard to make sure he gets good sleep. I watch his cues and when he starts acting sleepy, I put him down for a nap (pretty much always in his swing) or if it’s bedtime, we do our little bedtime routine (quick bath, diaper change, pjs, nurse) and then he goes to sleep.

The first few days were a bit rough, but now he’s sleeping much better. We had been putting him to bed around the time I went to sleep, but that didn’t work so well. Now, we’ve moved his bedtime to about 7 or 8 p.m. and he’s much less fussy. He’ll sleep for several hours (a few nights ago, it was 5 hours) and then I’ll feed him and he goes right back to sleep. He’s pretty much sleeping until around 7 or 8 in the morning, with a few nighttime wakes.

He’ll be awake for an hour or so and then he’ll have a little nap. Right now, he takes about three naps per day.

His days are more predictable now and he’s much less fussy. I’m able to get more things done during the day and it’s nice to have a few quiet hours with Shane in the evening.

Johnny smiles all the time but we have yet to hear a big belly laugh. When he laughs, it’s sort of like a cough. I guess I’m not funny enough for him. Maybe I’ll take him to open-mic night at a comedy club somewhere.