4 Months Old

Yesterday, August 10th, my sweet Walker turned 4 months old. I've been a bad Mama and haven't taken any new pictures of my babes lately, so this old one will have to do for now...I kinda like the "pouty Walker" look, though!

Walker had his 4 month check-up today and it was a doozy! First, he measured 27 inches long which was off the chart...literally! I was shocked! I was also shocked to hear that he weighs only 15 lbs (60%)...I say "only" very loosely because I know it is still pretty big, but it is concerning because he went from the 75% at 2 months to 60% now. The drop in percentiles along with the fact that he still eats very frequently raises some concern that my body isn't providing enough "nourishment" (as my Grandmother calls it) for him. So...he needs some supplementation from formula to get where he needs to be...the only problem with that is that he WON'T take a bottle! So, we devised a plan: bottle bootcamp**! Yuck. Dreading it!

Oh yeah, his head circumference was 16 3/4 inches but I can't remember the percentile...maybe 50% or so? And for those of you who wonder how Walker's measurements compare to Jake at the same age, Jake weighed 17 lbs, was 25 3/4 inches tall, and had a head circumference of 16.5 inches. Walker is obviously a lot taller at this point and a lot skinnier...whose child is this? Tall and skinny?? Ha!

The other concerning part of the checkup was about Walker's unequal pupils. We are going to get his pupils checked by a pediatric opthamologist here at UAB because they should have been equal by now. We'll see. I'll keep you all posted as soon as we know something. I'm trying not to worry, but I think it is only natural to. :(

Otherwise, Walker is way ahead of where he needs to be for 4 months, so Dr. Dudgeon was very pleased. And I'm very pleased as well! Thank goodness for a healthy baby!

TMI (too much information) WARNING: STOP READING HERE, DAD!
**For those of you who want to know more about bottle bootcamp, here is our plan: Cold turkey stop breastfeeding and give him nothing but a bottle (via another caretaker). It may take days (and lots of screaming from my hungry baby), but he will eventually take the bottle. Unfortunately, there is no going back to breastfeeding since he has proven so difficult and stubborn with the bottle. (I will pump, though, so he will still be getting some breastmilk.) I knew this was coming anyways (despite the lack of "nourishment" issue) because Walker starts Mother's Day Out in September and has to be able to take a bottle. Anyways, that's bottle bootcamp. It's gonna be a rough few days as we get through this, so please pray for my sanity and Walker's nourishment. My mom is going to help me out and be the one to actually give him the bottles, so pray for her, too. :)