Four Fabulous Months

It's hard to believe that tomorrow Mathew will be four months old! Seriously, where does time go? He visited the pediatrician this morning for this four month checkup and shots. I was nervous because, well...that's just me. I hate seeing him get shots. But he was such a trooper! Just a few tears this time. Much better than the full on death scream last time. Even mommy didn't cry! :) He weighed in at 15lbs. 15oz and is 26inches long. He's in the 75th% for weight and 85th% for his height. His weight gain seems to have tapered off a little and I think he's thinned out a tad as he's grown lengthwise. He's still a little chunker though and I just love to kiss all those rolls and chubby cheeks. The doctor thinks he seems to be developing right on track with no problems or complications due to his rough start in life. She doesn't seem to for see any complications, but encourages us to follow up with the pediatric pulmonologist and receive Synagsis shots during RSV season. He was scheduled with a PP in Tampa, but due to our move we've had to cancel. They won't see him earlier because it has to be during RSV season. So once we get to Iowa we will need to immediately begin looking for one. It will most likely mean a lengthy drive to a big city because there doesn't appear to be any near us. He'll need the shot once a month during RSV season...$1,000 a month per shot!! Holy Moly...I'd heard they were expensive but that's just crazy. TGFI! Nope, that wasn't a typo, I meant Thanks Goodness For Insurance!

So, what is little MJ doing now that he's almost 4 months old? I'm so glad you asked! In the last couple weeks he has begun slowly scooting himself in his walker. He's also begun grasping at toys and pulling them to his mouth. Sometimes he's more successful than others but he's usually pretty persistent in trying. He loves to bring his hands together and then try to squeeze both of them into his mouth. Quite humorous. He likes to chew on his fingers or even try to suck his thumb. The thumb is quite entertaining because he hasn't really figured out that when he sucks on his thumb he should fold his other fingers under. So, when he has his thumb in his mouth, the other 4 fingers are spread wide and he ends up poking his eye and scratching his face and just makes the weirdest faces. When on his belly, he pushes up and holds his head high. He hasn't rolled over yet, but I think it won't be long. He absolutely loves to stand. He has loved this since about four weeks old actually but his desire just keeps getting stronger and stronger. Forget sitting or holding him like a little baby. He wants you to hold him so he can stand up and just smile and coo at you. It's so darn cute, but I must admit I like night time when I swaddle him up and get to rock him like a little baby still. His diet still consists of just breast milk, but she said we could begin trying some foods if we felt like he was ready but there was no rush. I think we're going to start off by trying a little rice cereal once a day and see how that goes. I'm not in a big rush for him to start eating foods. He seems to be doing just fine with the milk and with us traveling a lot in the next few weeks, it would be easier not to have foods to worry about. We will just play it by ear.

I uploaded lots of pictures to try to get caught up, so here's the link for some recent pics of weeks 14&15 of little MJ's life:
http://keyeswindingroad.shutterfly.com/400