The Panthers: 4 Months

Dear Cade,

I missed writing a blog to you because you turned 3 months on Christmas Eve and well, that just didn't happen. A lot has changed for you these last two months. You no longer sleep in your swing and are so incredibly easy to put down in your crib. When you show us that you are tired, we simply carry you to your room, put you in your crib and walk out. You put yourself to sleep with no problems. We know that this is all just too easy to last and so we cherish every single one of these easy days and nights. At your two month appointment, your measurements were:
12 lb. 14 oz. (62nd percentile)
24.5 inches length (97%)

And at your four month appointment, they were:
14 lb. 6 oz. (50%)
26.5 inches (91%)

To be fair, you had this appointment a full week before you turned 4 months so you probably didn't dip down all that much.

You wear size 9 month clothes.

You had your first plane ride up to WA just before turning 3 months old. You did great and absolutely loved meeting your family. Upon our return to CA, you really started talking a lot, smiling all the time, and generally connecting more with each of us.

At 3.5 months, you decided to skip ahead and roll over from your back to your front. Usually babies go from front to back first but not you. Does this mean that you will be a "choose your own adventure" kind of guy? Not only that, but you have started gnawing on everything in sight. You are already working on a bunch of bottom teeth.

WAIT.

STOP.

Please stop growing, little one. When your brother was little, I couldn't wait for him to grow and change, but with you, monkey, I want to stop time and just hang out here a while. With each milestone, there is total excitement but underneath is a twinge of sadness that you will never be this little again.

You love:
To sing with Mama
Being naked
Chewing on your hands
Being outside
Having conversations
Rolling over and being on your tummy

You hate:
Being ignored
Having your head bumped (Jack says, "sorry Cade")
Being in a car that isn't in motion

Your current schedule is waking up around 6 am. You hang out with Mama for about an hour and are ready for your first nap. You usually sleep for a while each feeding cycle (every 3 hours). You go down for the night around 7:30 pm and wake up to nurse around midnight, 3 am, and 6 am.

Every day we can see your personality coming out more and more. Initially, we thought you might be a super quiet soul and help to balance out some of the crazy emotional side of our family (aka Mama and Jack). But now, you are talking in such an animated way and are becoming a bit more demanding so we think you will probably be able to hold your own just fine.

We love you so much, Cade!
Mama and Daddy

On our way up to WA, we had a 7 hr layover in Portland

Our dear friend, Chelsea picked us up from the airport, fed us, and entertained us

Cade got to meet his future girlfriend, Ruby