I’m a little bit late with Gabe’s update this month – if you’ve read any of my posts over the last week or so you’ll know we’ve all been ill with various coughs and colds and unfortunately blogging just hasn’t been top of the agenda. Also, I blame Barry who has got me into playing Fallout 4 on the PlayStation so if I do have a spare half hour in the evening then that’s what I’ve mostly been up to!

Anyway, contrary to what I usually say, it actually feels like quite a long time since I wrote Gabe’s three month update. Although I still can’t quite believe that he is already four months old!

After needing to be held almost constantly for the first two months of his life Gabe has now turned out to be a rather chilled out baby. He’ll now quite happily sit in his bouncer or lie wriggling on his play mat while I get on with things around the house or when I’m occupied with Toby. He still has times when he being held is the only option – he has especially liked to show his daddy this side at 4 am over the last week!

Gabe is feeding and napping in more of a regular pattern now too. He usually wakes up once in the night for a bottle, which is OK apart from that he then often seems to wake up again a couple of hours later (at around 5:30) and be ready to start the day. He then has four bottles through the rest of the day, two or three naps and is in bed asleep by 7 pm. I try and make sure he gets at least one of his naps at home in bed and he sleeps for anything from 30 minutes to two and a half hours!

He is still taking Gaviscon and ranitidine for reflux although I’m actually not entirely sure he needs them. He certainly doesn’t have the same severity of symptoms that Toby had. Gabe still has some days when he’s really sick but quite often he seems fine. I’m thinking of trying him without the ranitidine after Christmas – there’s really no way of knowing whether he needs it or not other than trying it.

I don’t know how much Gabe weighs now – the last time he was weighed was at 14 weeks and he weighed 13lb 7oz so I’m sure he’s well over a stone by now. He’s definitely long like his brother – I’ve just had to move him into 6-9 month sleepsuits, although most of his other 3-6 month clothes still fit.

He’s full of personality these days and pulls the funniest faces sometimes. He’s such a chatterbox, he gurgles and babbles much more than Toby ever did. He’s full of smiles too, big grins that are so adorable! It seems he  hasn’t inherited the dimples that Barry and I have like his brother did.

Gabe has developed massively with his gross motor skills this month. He loves grabbing at the toys on his play mat or bouncer, he’s really close to rolling over too. He’s definitely found his hands this month too and can often be found with several fingers (or a whole fist) stuffed in his mouth.

He is totally fascinated with his brother too. He sits and watches him as he plays, and quite often if he’s getting a bit grumpy waiting for a feed he’ll stop crying when Toby goes over to him. And as for Toby, he is definitely more tolerant of Gabe now, although he’ll still often tell me to put Gabe in his bouncer or put him in bed when he wants me to himself. I think he’s starting to get a bit more interesting for Toby now too so I’m hopeful that he will continue to interact with Gabe more over the next few months.

I think that’s probably about it for this month, I can’t believe that in another couple of months we’ll be starting to think about weaning and it won’t be long until Gabe’s on the move then the chaos will really start!