4 months...already!

Yesterday Elijah was 4 months old. He has his well-check tomorrow morning so I guess I will find out what my little chunky monkey is up to. Here is a list of milestones I found:

* Your baby can raise herself up on straightened arms while lying on her tummy and look all around.

Most babies should be able to . . .

* Hold up head at 90 degree angle while on stomach
* Bear weight on both legs
* Goo and coo when you talk
* Laugh and smile

Some babies will probably be able to . . .

* Grasp a rattle or toy
* Pay attention to small object held in front of his or her face
* Roll over
* Reach out for objects
* Do small mini push ups

Some babies could possibly be able to . . .

* Turn in direction of familiar voices
* Hold head level with body when pulled to sit
* Sit without support
* Make a razzing sound
* Get upset if you take a toy away

Ge does most of these things except sit without support and get upset if you take a toy away. It is so amazing to watch him grow. In the last few weeks he has figured out he has feet. If he manages to get them up high enough, they go right in his mouth too. He has also been getting really good with his hands and can grab and play with some toys now. Makes driving distances a lot better now that he has SOMETHING to do. He definitely recognizes me, Chris, and the girls. We get huge smiles out of him if he sees us looking. I'm the only one he does this with, but if I even just talk to him he will start laughing like I told the funniest joke. I love it! He can see quite a ways now and can tell when I am coming to get him at a distance.

He has been rolling over from his back to his belly for a little while now. Although I suspect he has been able to do this for awhile as well, yesterday was the first time I witnessed him going from his belly to his back. Since it was the first time I saw it, that is what I'm going to record it as. And actually I didn't technically see it, I just saw him 1 second and he was on his belly, the next he was on his back.

He is starting to get a preference for me, just as the girls did. I attribute that to the fact that I am home all day with him, get up at night with him, etc. The girls were like this too until just past a year. Someone at a church we were visiting tried holding him. He started crying after a few seconds and so I took him back. He stopped crying immediately and started smiling again. Is it bad if I secretly love it when they do this???

He is such a happy baby. He of course cries if he is board, but if he is picked up he is just fine. If he is really crying even when held it is just because he is hungry or tired. I have also been noticing a routine, which is really nice. He eats at the same time and I can tell when he is sleepy.

Switching from breastfeeding to formula went more smoothly than I could have ever hoped for. It made the decision so much easier when I gave him a bottle of forumla for the first time and he drank it like he had been drinking formula and a bottle the whole time. Even though he had never even had a bottle. He is now eating 29 oz. He gets 5 oz 3 times a day and 7 oz twice a day. It really seems to be a good combo for him. Some days he spits up worse than others. Not sure what that is about. Sometimes he won't spit up at all, other days he can't hardly keep anything down. It never seems to bother him.

He is also starting to get his hair back. He still has a mohawk, but it is filling in on the sides now too.

It is just so much fun to see his personality coming out. Right now it seems like he has a mixture of his sisters in him. Sometimes he can't stand being alone (like Faith) other times he is perfectly content playing by himself (like Samantha).