Merrick at 4 Months

one - two - three

FOUR Months! 

Merrick has had another great month and continues to win us with his charming smile and cheerful demeanor. The biggest changes we have noticed this month are how strong he is getting and DROOL! He is also getting good at grabbing things, pulling them to his mouth, and gnawing on them. I think we could have an early teether on our hands! (Karamea got her first tooth at 4 months and was also a very drooly baby. Kaylee didn’t get teeth until around 7 months and didn’t drool much at all.) Merrick is growing well. We weighed him the other day and he was about 14.5 pounds. His 3-6 month clothes have just recently started fitting him, and he's just about to grow out of his 3 month outfits.

He really likes to be sitting up and facing out so he can see the world and smile at all the friendly faces around him, and he keeps his head up really well when being pulled into a sitting position. Merrick rolled from his stomach to his back the other day and it seems like he is getting very close to rolling from his back to his tummy.

Merrick already has a very special relationship with each of his sisters and smiles and laughs a lot when they are talking to him. They both love him so much!

Karamea is very caring and attentive to Merrick's needs. If he’s fussy, she’ll try to calm him and tell him everything will be OK. She often tells him about what we’re doing, or just tries to get him to laugh by doing a little baby talk.

Kaylee can’t get enough of Merrick. She dotes on him and brings toys to share, keeps track of his pacifier, and gets so excited that she just can’t contain herself. Often times, she is so exuberant that she literally bounces around and we have to intervene just to look out for Merrick’s well being. Everything she does is done in love, but is done with such gusto that it is just a little too rough for an infant. Most of the time, he is surprisingly tolerant of her being right in his face, but he also voices his discontent at times.

Sleeping is still going pretty well, he usually just wakes once a night to nurse and then goes back to sleep. Merrick still loves being swaddled to fall asleep, as long as his legs are stretched out. Around the time when we were traveling to Alaska and settling into our summer lifestyle, he was a little fussier. It could have been the transition, or change in diet, but I think it was that I was nursing him in bed for his night feeding and then he was uncomfortable later. Who knows, all I know is that I’m glad it was short lived!

I am in awe of what a blessing Merrick is for our family and I’m looking forward to seeing the changes the next month brings. I cherish every snuggle, giggle, and coo and am tucking all of these tender moments away in a very special place in my heart, since we don’t plan on having any more children.