Max is Four Months Old

Catch up on other Max updates here!

The thing I realized the other day is that, in the middle of the night, I’ve gone from waking up completely at every Max cry and stir because this is a new baby and I’m a new mom and afraid of things happening in the night (which then resulted in me watching Max fall asleep and then continuing to stare), to nowadays taking care of Max in this semi-conscious dream state. Which is to say that, through becoming more used to this new mom status and a baby who is just so very good, we are so much in a routine that I’m able to go through the motions, make sure everything is good, and then we all go right back to sleep. BTW, Max sleeps on his side and it’s the most adorable thing ever.

So basically I’ve made the transition from new mom sleeplessness to newish mom semi-sleeplessness. Baby steps. It helps that Max is only eating once in the middle of the night. I’m going to say that he’s “sleeping through the night” because for his age, that’s what it basically is. Max will usually eat anywhere from 10pm to midnight and again anywhere from 3am to 6am and then go right back to sleep.

at my best friend’s birthday dinner

When Max does fully wake up, he’s so happy! Like, even if he happened to have a short sleep period or was really active during the day and doesn’t have as many little naps as usual, he’s still pleased. He blinks long and slow and smiles and looks you right in the eyes because he knows you’re just as happy to see him. Sometimes, though, he is slower to wake up so instead of being all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, he’ll keep his eyes closed and just have a hell of a stretch…and then another stretch…and then for sure yet another. He’s like both his mom and dad in that way.

I had a slight mom fail twice in the past couple of weeks. Both times were kind of unavoidable, but left me feeling bad nonetheless. The first is when I went to lunch with my mom and cousin, at a perfect Max eating time, but then the whole process took just a tad too long and Max got so hangry on the way home. We, of course, got stuck at every light on the way home, one of which took about 20 minutes to get through. I’m sitting there and reaching back to hold his hand, replace his pacifier, anything I can to make him happy until we can get home.

had a skype session with the boy while I was at work

The second time is when I decided it would be a good idea to go to Fresh Market. Max was fascinated by the place and had his goofy grin on the entire time. Not even halfway home, he starts crying again just like he had the day before. Not cool for my awesome mom status. I had packed a bottle for him, but he didn’t need it while we were shopping so I thought we were in the clear.

Well, I have a happy ending. Both times, before we pulled into the driveway, he went from being so very angry to so very quiet. It was so sudden and he was so quiet that, if I wasn’t able to see through my mirror and turning around in my seat that he was absolutely okay, I for sure would have pulled over and rushed to the back seat to check on him.

In conclusion, he had done the self-soothe thing. Sure, he was still hangry and I got side eye, but he calmed himself and waited for the bottle he knew was coming. Such a relief. Another method of self-soothe he’s employed is he finds the pacifier that has come out of his mouth and puts it back in himself. It’s a little crazy to see him doing stuff like that. Little functional and purposeful baby hands! How has this happened??

Sometime soon we are going to build Max’s high chair. He’s getting really great at sitting up with only some assistance. When he was in his swing and the toy he was playing with rolled to his feet, he sat forward and grabbed it. My boy, making big moves. He plan on being incredibly near while he sits in his chair with lots of protective sheets around him so he can’t move anywhere. With the build of a high chair, it means we are getting closer to all the pureed food I can’t wait for him to try! I’ve already let him lick a pear.

Other fun things:

• Max still loves Sesame Street. We all enjoy this celebrity playlist the most.
• I’m trying really hard to get Max to say mama or dada. So far, he makes different cooing noises for each so that’s a step in the right direction.
• Time to increase his milk consumption! Mo’ milk, mo’ problems. So far I am able to keep up with demand, but sometimes his hunger knows no bounds.
• Pumping at work is still less than ideal, but I don’t think an “ideal” exists with something like this.
• Max loves to watch us cooking!!

Today, we had a pool party at my aunt’s house!