four months.

Franz turned 4 months old on Thursday! I can't believe how much more alert and aware he is of his surroundings lately. Just in the last few weeks, he's started looking at you when you call him by name, and he reacts when you talk to him or sing to him from across the room. 

This stage is definitely the funnest so far. He's still such a smily baby (even though most of his pictures don't agree), and still has hair that sticks straight up and a tongue that's always sticking out. 

At four months, Franz...

• can blow raspberries whenever he wants to (as opposed to doing them by accident), and he does quite often, which results in a spit bubble beard.
• has mastered rolling from his back to his belly, and does it every time we lay him down. Then gets mad because he hates tummy time and can't roll back over yet.
• is still in size 3 diapers.
• still fits in his 3-6 month clothes, but is slowly starting to fit in 6-12 month clothes and shoes.
• loves being sung to. His favorite song right now is "My Heavenly Father Loves Me."
• got a taste of his first real food: an piece of apple that mama let him lick. He liked it, and then hated it, and then liked it again.
• has become so vocal, and his baby vocabulary is growing more and more every day. It's nice to hear different sounds instead of just the screaming he did when he was younger.
• has started sucking on his fingers and thumb, instead of his entire fist.
• is 17 pounds and 14 ounces, and 26 inches long.
• does fake coughs that often end in sneezes.
• wants to be held about 95% of the time, and will cry if you put him down.
• loves grabbing/resting his hands on things, especially other peoples' hands.
• is still so good at nursing, and will eat anytime I offer him the boob, even if he's not hungry. Also, nursing is the only thing guaranteed to cheer him up when he's crying.
• has started waking up more often at night (about every 2 hours... thanks, 4-month wakeful period), and has been refusing morning naps the last few days.
• did his first belly laugh while papa was talking to him on the changing table.
• laughs more for papa than mama (but does laugh for mama!).
• is getting really good at grabbing things and putting them straight into his mouth (or eye).
• has recently started refusing his binky.
• loves the outside.

I know this is so cliche, but I really can't believe how big he's growing! It's going by so fast; it makes me sad. But seeing him learn and grow and watching how much more fun he is is sooo worth it! I'm so excited to introduce him to the outside world (we've been staying inside most days because of the cold). The trees and grass and animals. We're also getting ready to start him on solids in the next few weeks, and I'm so excited to see his reaction to real food!

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