-12 lbs, 7.5 oz. (5th % for weight)
-24 in. (10th % for height)
-Ginormous head... 53 %
Ryder had his 4 month check-up yesterday. As you can see from the stats above, he is still a tiny little peanut. But here is what is important: Dr. Friedman is pleased with his weight gain and happy with his growth and development (both physically and developmentally). I really do think he'll eventually catch up in the height and weight categories (and hopefully he'll grow into his large head too...).
Dear Ryder Dylan,
You are such a joy these days. Sometime around March 17, 2012 you turned into a little chatterbox. It may sound weird that I'm citing an exact date, since these types of developmental milestones don't typically happen over night, but with you it did happen overnight. Grandi arrived for a visit on the evening of Friday, March 16th. She didn't get to our house until you were already asleep, so she had to wait until the next day to see you. It was that next day that you started showing off your new favorite pass-time... talking. You jibber-jabber, squak, and coo ALL.THE.TIME. now. It's really freaking cute. You were a pretty quiet dude prior to Grandi's visit, but perhaps you just weren't ready to share your "stories" with anyone until Grandi came for a visit. She stayed for a glorious week, during which time she took over the night shifts and let your mama get some much-needed sleep, and you yak-yak-yakked the entire time. Whenever you are in a good mood, you talk to us. Daddy and I love it.
I'm ready for you to start laughing/chuckling/giggling. The baby books say that some babies start laughing at around 3 months, but Dr. Friedman reassured me at your check-up yesterday that some babies don't laugh until they are closer to 6 months old. Maybe you are just a very serious baby, but I don't think so. With a dad like Blake, there is no way you didn't inherit a silly side and a love of laughter. Maybe we just aren't being funny enough, though I don't think that's the case since I've seen Grandi and Auntie Sammie sing and dance for you (if that ain't funny, nothing is!). All in due time I guess. For now, I'll just have to be satisfied with your generous display of smiles.
You still HATE tummy time. I don't think you've ever lasted more than 1 minute on your tummy. When we try to place you on your belly, your face turns red and you immediately begin to fuss. Within 20 seconds to a minute, your fussing turns into a pissed off cry. Because I've gone back to work and don't get to spend nearly as much time with you as I'd like, I don't have the heart to force you to do something that makes you so mad. Thus, I've been a bad mommy and rarely ever instigate "tummy time." Your head is still a little bit wobbly (tummy time is supposed to improve neck strength), but you get stronger and stronger every day. Jill ("JuJu") and Cynthia, who watch you on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after school, have been working on "sit-ups" with you. They lay you on your back and pull you into a sitting position by your arms. Instead of letting your neck/head droop backwards, you are now getting really good at lifting your head up with your body as they pull you. Point being, your neck strength is improving despite your lack of tummy time.
You still aren't anywhere close to rolling over yet, but again, Dr. Friedman reassured me that lots of babies haven't started rolling by 4 months old. Plus, we know that your milestones are still a bit delayed because of your early arrival into this world. But hey- you can't use that excuse for forever! Don't come to us with a "C" on an exam in 7th grade and say "but hey, I was a month early so I'm just a little delayed." But I know you'll never receive a "C" on any tests anyway... you'll always make straight A's, just like your mama did!
You are starting to grab at toys (rather than just staring at them in awe). I'm excited for you to start holding toys on your own, so that mommy and daddy don't have to continuously dangle them in your face. Your favorite "toy" right now is your lovey. You absolutely love to grab it with both hands and rub it on your face. Actually, come to think of it, loving on your lovey is probably your second favorite activity right now. There is nothing you love more than watching television. You are such a t.v. junkie! You'll sit in your bouncy seat and watch t.v. for quite a while. We have difficulty drawing your attention away from the screen even when we try. We often put the baby channel on for you so that you can enjoy shows that are geared toward babies, but you are perfectly content to watch grown-up shows as well. If we lay you on our laps and try to play with you while a t.v. is on in the room, you'll crane your neck and wiggle around until you have the screen in view. If the t.v. is off, you are much more aware of your surroundings. You'll sit in your bouncy seat and follow mommy and daddy around the room with your eyes as we clean and fix dinner. You are definitely exploring your surroundings these days.
Oh, and even though you don't roll yet, it doesn't mean you aren't on the move. On several occasions in the past few weeks, when I've come to your crib in the morning, you've been myseriously turned in the opposite direction from how we layed you the night before. In other words, you've somehow done a "180" in your crib at night. Here is photo evidence:
After the first time I found you like this, I had to take out the blanket and burp cloth that you see at the top of the crib. We originally placed them there to protect the sheets from your spit-up (so we wouldn't have to change your sheets as often), but once I realized you were becoming mobile, I knew it wasn't safe to have anything extra in your bed with you. Despite your night time acrobatics, you have just started sleeping through the night (as mentioned in a prior post). I know we may still have some rough nights in store, but I'm thankful to have some uninterrupted nights of sleep.
As a side-note, I hope you don't inherit your daddy's distaste for reading. If you do, then you'll probably never read this blog, which would be sad since it's intended to serve as your baby book. But more importantly, I will NOT read your school books for you and then tell you what they're about so that you don't have to read them yourself. Grandi may have done this for daddy when he was a kid... but mommy does not approve! Hopefully you'll inherit mommy's love of reading and this entire paragraph will be moot.
Lastly, I cannot close this letter without thanking you for finally ditching the whole colic bit. You made your first three months of life very trying for mommy and daddy. We loved you just as much then as we do now, but we sure do appreciate your new and improved happy-go-lucky nature. You still have pretty wild screaming fits when you are overtired and about to pass out, but for the most part, you are now a happy, smiley, talkative baby. We love you to the moon and back!
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