4 Months

Graeme turned 4 months on May 8th.  We had his well visit this past Tuesday, and he got his next round of vaccinations.  He was 13 pounds even, 23 1/4 inches, and his head circumference was 45.5 cm.

His measurements put his height and weight in the 75th percentile on the achondroplasia chart, and his head circumference was in the 50th percentile on the achondroplasia chart.  The doctor was very happy with how Graeme has been meeting his developmental milestones.  He's only a little behind on motor development which is common in babies with achondroplasia.

We've had a rough past two weeks.  First Graeme had a bad cold that made him cranky and clingy.  This past week, Graeme has been very fussy, not wanting to lie down in his crib for naps or for the night.  We've had to revert back to the rock 'n play for a few nights.  He's also started to scream partway through every bottle the past two days.  We went to the doctor again this morning, and the doctor thinks it is Graeme's reflux acting up again.  We realized that his Zantac dosage hadn't been adjusted for his weight, so we can now double his dosage.  We're also going to increase the oatmeal cereal in his bottle to 1 tsp per ounce and see how that helps.  Hopefully we'll knock out these reflux problems so he can sleep well again and be less fussy during the day.  We really hate seeing him so unhappy, and it's no fun staying at home all day to avoid a screaming session in public.

With his tummy troubles, Graeme has been adamantly against tummy time lately.  However, we were making pretty good progress before that.  He's doing a great job rolling from his tummy onto his back.  He's also doing better with turning his head to the left.  He's shown a preference for his head being turned to the right side, but luckily it hasn't developed into torticollis yet.  We've been trying to work with him on turning it more so it doesn't become a bigger problem.  He's also had some bad cradle cap develop, and the doctor suggested using dandruff shampoo.  We've used it twice so far and it really does seem to be helping.

We've been trying to start getting him to take his naps in the crib instead of our arms.  The first couple of days went well, but then he started having the reflux trouble so our progress stopped.  We're hoping that when all that gets taken care of, we will get him to take all his naps in the crib so we can actually get things done around the house.

At four months, Graeme is still loving bath time.  He brightens up as soon as the water starts running.  He's also infatuated with his hands, although he hasn't discovered his feet yet.  You will constantly find him munching on his fingers and drooling up a storm.

He's a strong kicker too - maybe a future swimmer or soccer player! He absolutely loves being outside. Sometimes that is the best way to calm him down - walk outside and he stops crying.  He's been bearing more weight on his legs when held upright and trying to push off against us with them.  He's doing well with grasping objects.  He can hold things and wave them around.  He enjoys trying out new sounds...his newest one is a shriek that seems to be a favorite whether he's happy or mad.  He really hates the car now.  He used to love car rides, but now he usually gets fussy especially when stopped at red lights.  He can fit in 0-3 month and 3 month shirts, 0-3 month bottoms, and 3 month or even some 3-6 month onesies (just tried one of those today and it fits great!).

We can't wait to see him continue to grow and try new things!