The Ozinga Outlook: Man Cub: 4 Months

Precious Boy,

Our joy increases daily because of the goodness the Lord shows us through you. We already see God using you to show people His love, and we rejoice greatly each day because of this. Your smiles, giggles, and coos have earned you a Nyanja nickname of Chemwemwe, and you are beginning to learn it means you! This month has been an adjustment on all of us as I've gone back to work, but you adore staying home with Daddy. The bond you two have is incredible, and I am so thankful. You have one more month of Daddy and your Mama taking care of you before you'll start going to Mrs. Kim's house. We are so grateful for how God is providing for us even when we don't like our circumstances.

We love you more each day!

Sleeping:

Two weeks ago you began sleeping through the night. It's amazing! Now you go to sleep between 7:30-8:00 at night and sleep until 7:30 or 8:00 the next morning. I still have to get up to pump in the night sometimes, but that's ok. You pretty much fall right to sleep without any help, even at nap time. We do still let you take your short cat naps in the swing. During the day, you take one 1.5-2 hour nap morning and afternoon and one 30-45 minute nap morning and afternoon.

Eating:

You love to eat! About the only time we see you fussy is right before meal time. You eat almost exactly every 3 hours during the day. You nurse with me before I go to work if you're awake. If not you get three pumped bottles during the day, and then we get to nurse twice more before you go to sleep for the night. Based on what I can pump at a time, you're getting between 25-30 ounces. We tried giving you larger bottles (5-5.5 ounces), and you started spitting up, so we know your little tummy just can't take more than that. Mommy is a bit on the prideful side that you are exclusively breast fed. Your Mama did it with your uncle and me, and I was not about to be outdone! Lucky for both of us, you've had no issues despite Mommy getting a bout of thrush and mastitis this month. We pressed on and were no worse for the wear.

Tricks/Activities/Accomplishments

You now growl at us. Lovely. Actually, it's honestly pretty cute, and we have no idea how you learned that. You just do it! You now roll from your belly to your back and from your back to your belly. You can scootch yourself just about anywhere you really want to be, though mostly you use your scootching skills to turn in circles. You can hold your own bottle. You love sucking your pointer and middle fingers together-either hand! Your exer-saucer is your new favorite hang out. Anything that goes in your hands now goes in your mouth; your hand-eye coordination is excellent. You will 'sing' to us, and you love to talk to us too. Bouncing and standing are still favorites of yours. You can now track where sounds are coming from and look around to find them.

Likes:

Bath time, baths with Mommy, puppy kisses and cuddles, being outside, music, being sung to, your swing, the Bumpo, the excer-saucer, time on your playmat, when your grandparents and great-grandparents sing and talk to you, laughing, cooing, drooling, squealing, being flown around like Super Man, being tossed in the air, the Bjorn, eating, sleeping, and grabbing anything you can reach