4 Months Already!

Today, Charlie turned 4 months old. I seriously can't believe it. He's already 1/3 of the way to one year old! Sniffle...WHAT?! How did this happen!? This month, he really chunked up all over - bigger belly, legs, cheeks - and it's SO cute :D Here's the comparison picture:
This last month has been full of fun and festivities. Unexpectedly, but wonderfully, my parents drove out from NC and I got to see my whole family for a couple days (and my mom stayed a little longer to play and help out yay!). Here are three generations of handsome men:
My mom had this fun idea to put C in his Bumbo seat and let him play with toys while sitting up and he just LOVES it!

On Valentine's Day, my mom helped C and me create a sweet construction paper valentine just for his Daddy. We took pictures and sent them to him while he was still at work :) These two pictures really just crack me up. Oh the drool. And in that second picture... the heart stuck to his head with nothing other than (yep, you guessed it!) DROOL!Some stats about Charlie at four months old:

• Favorite toys are anything that has a cute smiley face (Mr. Monkey [sock monkey], Mr. Frogs, Mr. Owl, Mr. Buzz Bee, Mr. Moon, etc... you see the theme?)
• Excellent with his hands. He's very intentional with them now, and really likes to help me try to hold the bottle when I feed him. He pulls the bottle to his mouth when hungry, and pushes it out when he's done!
• Sleeps through the night consistently! Woo hoo! This is one of my favorite skills that he has. He goes to bed between 8:30 and 9:00pm and wakes up between 7:45 and 8:15am! If he wakes up during the night (which I think happens all the time), he's able to quietly just fall back asleep on his own.
• Eats 5 (or a bit more) ounces, 5 times a day... usually totals 25-26 ounces per day
• Sized up to size 3 diapers in mid-February! I can't believe how quickly he keeps sizing up, but I hear he'll be in 3's for quite a while.
• Rolls over - and LOVES to do it! Learned rolling from back to tummy first, and then just a few days ago, he figured out how to roll from tummy to back! Yay! It's funny because he only knows how to roll to his right... so if I put him on one side of the room, he'll keep rolling until some piece of furniture stops him. And then he gets mad. He LOVES to move around!! We could have an early crawler on our hands, especially because he's getting good at pulling his feet up underneath him... uh oh! ;)
• Hates when he tries to turn over and can't... it makes him really really whiny, especially when he's getting tired.
• Sometimes when he coughs, it totally sounds like he is just hamming it up... like he thinks it's fun to cough, so he forces the issue. So funny!
• Loves to chat (when he's in the mood). No one can make my little boy talk quite like his Daddy. They have little man conversations and it just melts my heart!
• Such a happy boy - big smiler!! His face lights up when he sees me, and it's the best in the morning when he first wakes up and has sleepy morning eyes ;)
• Is starting to act a little hesitant when others are around that aren't mom or dad... it takes him just a little while to completely warm up to strangers, but once he does he loves to give big smiles.
• Loves other kids. Loves to watch them play and talk, and I think he just wants to be a big kid already (don't grow up too fast little cutie!!).
• It's hit or miss as to whether he'll sleep in his car seat. I've had better success with this since sewing a car seat cover.
• Not the greatest napper. There's no schedule, really. Sometimes he'll nap for 20 minutes, sometimes it's up to 3 hours... so I can never really plan. Hopefully this evens out over the coming months and it's a bit more predictable. The good news is that sometimes those 20 minute cat naps are all he needs to put him back into a better mood!
• Over the last week, we've been trying sleep training. It's been totally all over the place. First try: cried for 20 mins with intermittent soothing from me, and then finally fell asleep. Second try: just grunted and fussed a little, then fell asleep (I'm feeling pretty excited at this point). Third try: cried himself into hysterics (even with soothing from me) and I finally had to pick him up and help him calm down, taking probably 15 more mins to finally fall asleep... sooo I give up! Haha ;)
• Still wears mostly 3 month clothing, but these are definitely getting tight, so we're moving into the 3-6 month and 6 month realm! Big boy!
• Starting to enjoy his pacifier a lot more. Knows how to keep it in much better, and actually accepts it happily, and it helps him calm down and sleep. I'm so grateful! It's also cute when he grabs for it, takes it out of his mouth, and then tries to put it back in (usually unsuccessfully). I'm sure he'll get much better at this over the next month! I can't WAIT until he can find his paci in his crib when it falls out and put it back in...
• Bought him a jumperoo today for his new toy to play with. It'll teach him better how to jump and stand... and of course let him get out all of that energy he has! I'm so excited about it!
• Still waiting for a little laugh to break through......... come on Charlie!! I can't wait ;)

My sweet little man just gets cuter and more fun every single day. It's amazing how much room you have in your heart to love such a little thing. <3