Luke at 4 months

Little man turned 4 months old last week! 

Luke's baby skills at 4 months:

-Reaches and grabs toys and puts them straight to the mouth

-Rolls over both ways (sometimes we find him on his belly in the mornings)

- Identifies strangers

- Laughs at loud (not a ton, but he can if he wants to!)

-Smiles nearly all day. Seriously.

- Follows objects well

- Squeals and talks a lot

-Lights up when Mommy, Daddy, Caleb, or Jacob walk in the room :)

Since his surgery, his incisions are healing pretty well and he's been introduced to his helmet. He's not a fan, but we are making progress. By the end of the week he should be wearing it 23 hours out of the day, but in these pictures he was taking a break :)

 He really is such a joyful, smiley, happy baby. He smiles so much I think his cheeks must hurt. He is SO happy that when I think of him, I immediately think of the joy he has. 

Even despite his happy self, this past month and presently have been the most challenging and stressful of my parenting life. Since Luke turned 2.5 months old, we have had so much difficulty getting him to eat. He has refused to nurse since then and I've had to quit nursing and am currently weaning, which has been hard for me. He seems to be disinterested in nursing or bottles and we have had countless doctors visits to find out why. We still are in the dark about why his intake has taken a drastic fall. 

 All of the stressors (surgery, helmet, feeding issues) have taken a toll on me and there are days I feel down and discouraged. Then there are days I feel hopeful and trusting of the Lord to help me care for him. I DO know that I do not want to let lack of weight gain and barely touched bottles to get in the way of me enjoying him and his babyhood. I'm thankful he is laid back and easy if we don't count the eating part :)

His pediatrician is pleased with his development and we are grateful for this happy bundle of joy. Happy four months to our sweetie pie!