Highway to the Baby Zone: 4 Months Old!!

On April 4th, Ronan turned 4 months old! I have been saying it every month, but it's hard to believe it's been so long already. We're already one third of the way through his first year. Wow! He's a little ball of joy and the best baby in the whole world! What a difference 4 months makes.

1 Day Old - December 5th, 2011

4 Months Old! April 4th, 2012

Ronan started daycare full time last week. Boo. It's been a very hard transition to go back to work, BUT it's not *as* bad as I thought it was going to be. Getting up two hours before I have to leave is a challenge, and forcing myself out the door and saying goodbye to him for the day is gut wrenching. However, once I'm at work and doing things, it's a bit easier. Pumping at work is very hard; taking 3, 30 minute breaks to pump each day is time consuming and doesn't allow me much time for a lunch break, but at least it makes the days fly by so I can get back home to my little man. I already feel overwhelmingly busy, but that's a good thing because it keeps my mind off my little sweetie as much as it can. It's nice to be back out there, having a reason to get myself going in the morning, and earning moola for the family. I'm not going to be naive in the fact that there will be many days where it's extremely hard to leave him (like today, for instance, since he had shots this morning), but I'm hoping it should continue to get easier. It also helps that Ronan is adjusting to daycare very well...in fact, he seems to love it! I think his infant teachers are great, especially his afternoon teacher. I can tell she adores him, and says he's the best in the class (of course). It's comforting to know that he trusts them and is comfortable there. I hate, hate, hate that he spends so many hours a day there, but I'm happy for him to have some time with other people (and babies!) and build some social skills a bit early.

His school was closed on Good Friday, as was Rob's work, so I went ahead and took Friday off to be with my family and help ease myself back into work. How great is that - gone for maternity leave for nearly 4 months, and then come back for 4 days and take a day off. Ha! I bet they were just thrilled with that. But, I didn't care....I wasn't going to miss an opportunity for cuddles with my boy. And it's a good thing, because poor Ronan was under the weather on Friday. He woke up at 4 a.m. that morning, much earlier than usual. After feeding him and unsuccessfully getting him back to sleep in the crib, I took him downstairs and he napped in his swing while Mommy napped on the couch. When he woke and I took him out of the swing, he felt hotter than usual and was extremely fussy (very unlike him). We decided we better take his temperature, just in case. Turned out it was 100.1! Not considered a fever, but he made it obvious he was very uncomfortable. We called the doctor and they gave us the go ahead to give him Tylenol. And thank goodness for that because it took his temperature down quick. I felt so bad for him; it's really tough to see your baby feel bad and you can't do much about it. He slept most of the day and seemed to be back to himself by Saturday. I'm really happy it was short lived.

This morning Ronan had his 4 month checkup! I was soo excited to see his progress. His official 'stats' are:

Weight - 13.7 pounds (25th percentile) - 2.7 lb weight gain since 2 months old
Height - 26 inches (80th percentile) - 2.75 inch growth since 2 months old
Head Circumference - 16.5 inches (45th percentile) - 1 inch growth since 2 months old

Still our long and skinny lad!

Dr. Hubbard had nothing but great things to say about his progress. She was impressed that we haven't had to feed Ronan formula once, especially now that I'm back to work. Luckily, my body got used to pumping a long time ago, otherwise, I might be in more trouble. Let's hope my supply holds up! She wrote on his progress sheet that he is "so cute and happy and he is ready to roll any time now". Rob and I are very proud of our smart, smiling, handsome little boy. However, poor baby did not take his shots well today. He screamed and cried. It was terrible. Luckily he calmed down pretty quick. I wanted nothing more but to keep him home with me today!

Ronan is the absolute light of our lives. He's growing and changing so quickly. He is grabbing at and holding toys, finding his feet, pushing up on his arms during tummy time, smiling and cooing constantly, and his latest trick - grabbing at faces! He loooooves to grab cheeks, chins, lips and glasses. It's the cutest. By his 6 month appointment, we can expect him to most likely be sitting up and she wants us to start cereal and a veggie at around 5 1/2 months. It will be fun to see his reaction to his first food. Let the messiness begin! We'll have a crawler on our hands and be child proofing the house and before we know it.

We spent my last weekend before I returned to work together relaxing as a family; it really helped to spend lots of quality time together before I had to leave him everyday. Saturday we went to the Bishop Arts District in South Dallas and enjoyed brunch outside in the beautiful weather. Then we ventured over to a local restaurant & bar patio to people watch. Ronan loved being outside and was completely zonked after a day of taking in all the new scenery.