Harkness Happenings: 4 months

It's hard to believe the little man is 4 months old! Looking back and pictures he was so tiny! I thought he was big at the time, boy was I wrong! He is so happy and such a good baby, we have been so blessed. We go to the doctor on Tuesday and I can't wait to see the progress he has made.

Developmental milestones:
-He brings his hands together now, and then to his mouth. He will reach for a toy if I put it in front of him. He brings his hands together slowly and calculated so he can grab it. Its so cute to watch him try so hard. He's not that into chewing on anything other than his fingers though. He loves that thumb!

-He is really great at tummy time now. He sits there up on his elbows just looking all around or trying to suck his thumb. He will lay there for much longer than he used to. I have to trick him into rolling over, it doesnt happen quite naturally yet.

-His legs continue to be insanely strong. When he's on his tummy, his bottom half will go up into a crawling position and actually push him forward. His arms dont understand what is going on though and he face-plants or drags his face across the mat. I try to support him under his chest so his legs can get a little workout but he usually gets pretty mad that he cant crawl. I can't wait to show the doctor this trick!

-He is sleeping great. He's out by 8pm each night and sleeps 8-12 hours. I'm trying to lengthen his daytime awake/nap periods, as they are still really choppy and about 45min-1hour long still.

-I didn't know this was a skill, but my friend posted that her baby did it so I was happy to know Kellis was doing it too. When he's in the bathtub or propped up on the couch, my lap, his chair or pretty much anywhere he always lifts his head and tries to sit up, doing a "baby crunch." He does it all the time now, working on those abs!!! He will sit in the bumbo chair but is not at all interested in sitting on the floor or couch or me. He prefers to "lounge" as I call it, or just lean back. I'm trying to work on that.

-I'm letting him pet Raider once or twice a day. When Raider is calm but not sleeping I go sit by him and let him lick Kellis' feet while Kellis pets him (I put his hang on him, he doesnt get it yet). Kellis loves being close to Raider and watching Raider so its really important to me that Raider learns to love him and be gentle with him. Scott plays really rough with Ray, so I am a bit worried he wont understand and be rough when he gets to playing with Kellis. Of course Kellis is never alone with Raider but could be in the future if we had a babysitter or something.

Halloween outfit: bib, onesie and socks. (finger in mouth) laughing at Raider running around.