September 08, 2006: 4- and 5-month update
At his 4-month-doctor's-appointment Ivan weighed 15lbs 1oz (6.8 kg) and was 26 3/4 inches (68 cm) long. He was in the 55 percentile for weight and 95 percentile for height. Basically, he is tall. I have to say I'm not sure they measured him right, because he was wiggling so much that by the time the nurse grabbed his foot, he had scooted down a bit. Well, who knows. I wouldn't be surprised if he was tall. I had expected him to weigh more as overall he seems bigger to me than Veronika was, but when I checked I saw she was actually several ounces heavier than him at that time. Everyone tells me Ivan is big for his age and I suppose he is, but he is more strong than chunky. He just seems like he is a little tough guy. But obviously that's just the body, otherwise he is a sweetheart. Still. He has the brightest smile and is generally in a good mood. I know all babies are sweet and stuff but while Veronika was always this charming bubbly thing, he exudes some kind of tender vibe and you just want to hug him.
Veronika is still his big hero. He just can't get enough of her. It is such a joy to watch. She entertains him and brings him the pacifier and talks to him ("I'm coming, Ivan! Don't cry!") and kisses him A LOT. I'm not sure how comfortable he is with all the kissing but so far he hasn't complained much. He just tries to avoid the attack of Veronika's kissy lips.
I am amazed at how eager he is to move. He rolls around a lot, grabs things, tries to sit up and has incredible energy to bounce - either in his exersaucer or my arms. He gets frustrated a lot, so I'm hoping crawling and sitting will bring him relief although I'm very nervous at the same time because nothing will be safe from his exploratory inclinations. I find myself very excited about his willingness to move, even though I initially dreaded the dealing with typically boyish infant behavior. Watch out, the next post will be me whining about all the moving.
I've never posted about him starting to laugh because I had been waiting for that first clear sound of a belly laugh, but it just didn't happen this way. He sort of started to laugh around 3 months but it never really took off. Slowly here and there, mostly with Veronika tickling him or making funny faces he developed what can be called a laugh. Still, he has more of a shy laugh. It's almost as if he finds it all too endearing to really let go and laugh his heart out. Again with the sweetness. He is irresistible. I'm still trying to get his laugh on tape but it's been heard what with... I don't know, life.
The only thing... sleeping. I never thought I'd say this as in the beginning his sleeping patterns were so promising, but at this point his sleeping is worse than Veronika's was at this time. She was committed to nursing 100% and it would always get her back to sleep immediately. Ivan accepts other forms of comfort (lying close to us, carrying, cuddling, the pacifier!), which is good on one hand, but on the other it means he will wake up and you won't know what he really wants and so by the time you've tried it all, half an hour, an hour will pass and you will be exhausted. He still likes to wake up at dawn (4, 5 or 6) and chat in his crib or if he happens to be in our bed, pull our noses, kick us etc. He doesn't do this every day, but always several days in a row, just so that his parents can experience all levels of despair. In the last week or so he also started waking up every 15-20 minutes from the time he is put down to sleep (between 7 and 8 pm) until about 10 or 11 pm. Unlike during the day he completely refuses anyone else besides me. He becomes absolutely furious if Lincoln tries to calm him down. That means that in the last few days my precious 1-2 hours of peace at night have been taken from me as well and even if I wanted to go to sleep earlier it wouldn't really be possible. I'm not sure how to deal with this, so for now I'm just waiting to see if it is a phase or if I'm going to try some sort of training. Interestingly he is a great napper. Nine times out of ten he will fall asleep by himself in the crib and stay asleep for at least an hour, usually two. Why he refuses to do that at night is beyond me. How this is possible I don't know either. The books claim if he learns to put himself to sleep he will not wake up much. It is not true. ALL wrong. Just ask Ivan.
Posted by mama at 09:22 AM