Leander Roxas // Four Month Update

Month 3 officially flew by – I feel like the last month simply disappeared in the blink of an eye!

• I feel like I’ve started every month’s update out the same way, and this month is no exception: Leander has officially moved out of 3-6 month size clothes, his drawers are currently full of 6 month size & I’ve pulled out all of his 9 month size as well!! Most of his 6 month size stuff still fits, but it’s definitely getting small. 9 month size just fits better – how is my 4 month old in 9 month clothes?!
• Leander is definitely the little chunk (obviously! he’s 5 months ahead of his sister as far as clothing sizes go). Everyone keeps asking me how much he weighs & I’m not sure yet. We go for his 4-month check-up next week, so stay tuned! My guess would be somewhere around 14-15 pounds – YIKES! No wonder my arms are tired after carrying him around!
• So, I always say that starting at 3 months is when babies get “fun” – not that they aren’t “fun” as newborns, but they basically just sleep & eat & not too much else. Suddenly our little guy has a personality that is shining through – it’s so fun! He’s always been a pretty happy camper, but now his big intentional smiles and little giggles really drive that fact home.
• Leander is SO close to being an “official” thumb-sucker!! All month long, he’s been working on this skill & all that practice is starting to finally pay off. He went from just sucking on his fists, to figuring out he could suck on fingers & his thumb, to really looking for specifically that thumb. He can get it (and keep it) in his mouth about 50% of the time. I never knew thumb-sucking was such a practiced skill!! It’s so much fun to see him working at & improving at this every single day!
• Along with that, the kid has become a drool monster! I think maybe it’s a sign that teeth might be coming in the near future!
• But also speaking of his hands – he’s also becoming better and better at hand-eye-coordination & picking things up! He’s figured out how to pick up toys & they all go straight into his mouth (how do kids know how to do that?) Obviously, it’s a skill we’re still working on (in other words, he hasn’t actually “reached” for a toy yet, he can just pick it up if his hands brush against it) but again, it’s so fun to see him practicing & improving every day!
• This month Leander officially rolled over! He can now roll from his tummy to his back & he’s so close at rolling from his back to his tummy! He arches his back & gets so so close – any day now!
• With being such a big, strong boy, Leander has been able to graduate to some of the more “big kid” “toys”, like the jumper at my Mom’s & the exersaucer!! He LOVES the exersaucer (which is wonderful because suddenly Mommy can cook dinner & do some clean up without a baby in her arms!) I think he loves it because he can “stand up” on his feet & he has some control over his movement (he can spin around & move back & forth a bit) – all of his toys are also right there where he can easily reach them too! It’s so much fun to see him “playing”! Along with that, I think he’d really love to have a jumper here at home, but we don’t have anywhere we could hang one (all of our doorways either don’t have trim on them at all, or only have trim on one side). Maybe one of these days we’ll get some extra trim pieces put up so he can jump – that was one of Braelynn’s favorite activities!
• Auntie Ruby gave Leander a blankie this month – his very own “Ruby-creation”. It’s small, not a full-size blanket, so it’s perfect for our little guy!! He loves to hold it while we read books before naps & bed – I’m hoping that it becomes a “comfort item” that along with his thumb-sucking skills will help him be a better sleeper!
• Speaking of sleep – sleep is just rough. We weren’t doing terrible, but after he got that ear infection last month, it’s never been the same. And then Leander went thru a growth spurt 2 weeks ago, and he was waking up every hour at night – YUCK. Thankfully, that seems to have passed & he’s back to sleeping 2-3 hour stretches, but that’s still rough. I’m hoping that now that he’s 4 months old, that we can officially begin some sleep training & get this kid back on track to sleep through the night!!
• Leander officially laughed for the first time this month! He’s let out little giggles here & there (usually at his sister, who he still absolutely adores – he gives her the BIGGEST smiles!) but 2 weeks ago, Derrick had him on the couch – Leander was sitting, propped up, on the couch, and Derrick was sitting on the floor so they were on eye-level with one another, and Derrick got him to LAUGH! It was so cute – my heart just melted! Since then, we’ve figured out that Leander is actually very ticklish and he’ll giggle when you tickle him! It’s just the BEST.
• Did I mention that this kid is strong? Because Leander is SO strong. He’s learned that he can arch his back & kick his feet & move himself around. He’s almost never in the same spot that I originally laid him when I go get him from naps and if I leave him laying on the floor, he almost always wiggles himself right off of his play mat! If he’s tired of sitting on your lap, he’ll arch his back & attempt to “slide” right off (so, if you’re holding him, watch out!) and I can no longer prop him up on the couch & walk away from him – he will slide right down & try to kick himself off! He’s also figured out that while I’m changing his diaper, he can plant his feet, pop his butt up, and then scoot himself right out of his diaper! It’s hilarious & frustrating at the same time. I can’t help but laugh because he’s so proud of himself for this new discovery, but then it gets frustrating because I can’t get his diaper on! You could say it’s taken my diaper-changing skills to a whole new level (Braelynn never did this)!
• We’ve gone to lots of new places this month: the mall, out to eat at a restaurant (two restaurants! He went to Chick-Fil-A for the first time, and then we all went out to eat for his Great-Grandpa’s birthday), to the park for a walk – and thankfully, Leander really loves being in the stroller! He loves being upright & looking all around – it’s a lot of fun! Look out world, we’re officially mobile!

But, the BIGGEST NEWS for this month’s update is that Leander’s umbilical hernia has healed!! (If you aren’t sure what I’m talking about, you can hop back to his 2 month update & catch up on the little dude’s protruding belly-button issue.) When we saw the Specialist about it, he guessed, that since Leander’s was on the smaller side, that it would be healed within a year. Well, 2 months later & it’s healed!! Just like the Specialist told us, we woke up one morning last week and it suddenly looked different. Literally overnight, his belly button went from being the size of a gumball that would move in & out whenever he’d cry or sneeze or be relaxed, to now, it’s simply a slightly large “outie” belly button that doesn’t move at all. I’m expecting it to continue to shrink as the skin that’s been so tightly stretched for the last 2 months shrinks back down to a more normal size.
We are SO thankful to have come to the place of it healing on it’s own, without surgery or complications. Praise the Lord!

Here are his Four Month photos! It blows my mind how much he’s changed & looks so much older from his One Month photos & Two Month photos & Three Month photos already! Time can slow down anytime now!

If you’d like to follow along with what our little guy is up to on a more weekly basis – I’m taking weekly photos of him (just like I did with Braelynn) too! I post those updates every Monday on my personal Facebook page, as well as my Instagram account!