Four Months

LL is four months old today. In honor of his 1/3 of a year milestone, he had his picture taken this weekend (he was all smiles for the photos, then gave in to the worst of his cold later that afternoon, so we got some good pictures in just under the wire). We also had his four month checkup with Dr. K today, who confirmed that he is still quite the little peanut. Despite his gigantic entrance into the world, he is now firmly at the 35th percentile for both weight and length. (Significantly higher for head size... some things don't change.) He screamed bloody murder at his shots, but I think the combination of getting over his cold and getting poked with a needle just seemed like too much, and he was fine once I picked him up and murmured to him a bit.

We're waiting until 6 months for any solid food, so most things are continuing as is. We do need to get him some more tummy time, though. His neck strength is really good, but the rest of his upper body is apparently a bit flabby. (He gets that from me.) And he shows no interest at all in rolling over. Dr. K predicted that he'll be sitting up before he rolls over, and I agree -- he loves the vantage point of sitting, but he's in no hurry to go anywhere or reach for anything that would require rolling.

We're home now (yep, I'm keeping him home with me again today, partially because of the shots, partially because of the cold, partially because of the crappy daycare situation... how many excuses do I need?) and he's fussy and clingy and whiny, but still gives me brave little smiles when I coax him enough. He's fitfully napping right now, which is good, because he was up constantly last night. He usually only eats once during the night, but last night he got up three times to nurse, which isn't exactly helping me to get over my cold, either.

On a more fun topic: one of my friends was trying to figure out what kind of music her baby prefers. She scanned slowly through the FM dial, looking for what stations made the baby happiest. It sounded like a fun experiment, so I gave it a try. What do you suppose I can read into the fact that LL is happiest when listening to NPR? (I tested the hypothesis that he just likes voices by switching to conservative talk radio, and he screamed his little head off.) Our little liberal politico baby is instantly calmed by almost anything NPR, and loves providing his own answers during interviews. S and I are happy to indulge him in his left-wing leanings, so we're both staying home tomorrow morning to watch the inauguration with him. Our friends predict that someday he'll be the first Japanese Jewish president. (Not a whole lot of Jewish Japanese-Americans out there, so really, who's gonna beat him to it?) You read it here first. LL for President in 2044!