The Harvey Family: Blake

Blake had his 4 month doctor visit earlier in the week and he seems to be on track with his development. The only thing he is cutting it close on is rolling over. He started doing it last week a little but certainly hasn’t mastered it. He seems to be really focused with it and wants to get on the floor and practice instead of sitting in his swing and taking a nap in the evening. At the doctor he was all smiles as she checked him and talked to him to see his development. Then it was time for the oral vaccine which was given to him too quickly and he spit out part of it. Then the shots didn’t make him very happy, but at least they were quick. He calmed down pretty quickly again this time and we gave him a little Tylenol as soon as he got home and he seemed to be fine the rest of the day. He’s such a strong boy! At 4 months, Blake weighed in at 15lb 11oz (55%), 25 ¼” long (55%) (we think he’s taller but I think he got a bad mark on the table since he was squirming) and his head circumference is 16.75in (78%).

It seems like the Zantac has helped a lot. We've been giving it to him twice a day and even had it flavored with grape to try and make it easier to eat. He doesn't love it by any means but we can get it down. So far so good. He still has the "silent spitup" where it goes into his mouth and he swallows it again, but now it doesn't make him cry at least.

This week, Blake:

gave us a scare. We thought he had a seizure when he started grunting really loud and straightened his legs super straight and his hands and arms all tensed up, but then he started doing this more often so we think he's just working out his muscles. I hold him so he can stand and he does this same thing with his legs all straight. His legs are still getting stronger and can stand without me holding his weight (I still hold my hands there so he doesn't fall over) for a decent amount of time. It makes it easier to put him up on my shoulder when I'm sitting since I can let him stand while I get the burp cloth adjusted and reposition my grip on him.
was able to do tummy time on me in addition to on the couch! It seems like the Zantac has helped his acid reflux enough to keep him from being in as much pain on his tummy. Now he fusses just because he is trying so hard to roll over. There is a lot of grunting involved in tummy time these days.
grip strength has increased a lot. He can hold onto a toy for a long period of time and even shifts it around in his hand to get the best grip on it with all his fingers wrapped around it. He also can really pull those toys on the gymini and get the whole thing moving.
will actually stare at himself in the mirror instead of shying away from his reflection. He'll looks into his own eyes and study himself. He's not quite to the point where it makes him smile, he's just curious.
still wants everything in his mouth, but I don't see this changing for a while. I put him in his bumbo seat on the gymini so he could play with the toys from a different angle and he scooped up all he could and put it all in his mouth at the same time. He even gets kind of ravenous about it and shakes his head.
pulls his legs up and does tummy crunches when he's on his back in preparation for rolling over I think.
will turn his head to look at sounds. He'll bend over backward to look at the tv, and actually will turn his head to follow mine or Chris's voices.
had an issue taking his bottle a couple times this week. Since I had cut out all dairy and soy, I had to try a few different foods (ie: apple cider vinegar as salad dressing) that he might not have liked the taste of in my breast milk.
took a couple more walks in his big boy stroller and seemed to really like it. He looks around a lot more now that his vision has gotten much better. He even did a really good job at the store!
started moving his toys from one hand to the other. I handed him a rattle in one hand, then looked up at something and when I looked back down it was in the other hand. I think he's starting to realize that the rattle will make noise if he shakes it, so he shakes it whether or not he's hitting himself with it... sometimes in the face. I made the mistake of having my hand and face too close to him while he was shaking it around... guess he showed me.