Four Months and Counting!

I took Ethan to a new doctor's office yesterday-- Valley Oak Pediatrics-- and loved it. They have 13 providers in the building, and are open every day of the year. They even have evening/urgent care hours from 5-7 Monday through Friday. How cool is that? His former pediatrician was open 8:30-12 and 1-4:00 Mon-Fri; not very flexible hours. And the real problem was that I just didn't feel any connection to his doctor *at all.* She seemed so cold, distant, uninterested in him or us, and that isn't what I wanted from my baby's doctor. I have friends whose children still want to go to their doctor even past their teenage years, because they have built such a close relationship with them-- that's the kind of connection I want for Ethan.

So, the results are in: Ethan is doing GREAT!! At four months old, he weighs in at 15 lbs. and measures 25 inches long. That means he has doubled his weight and gained half a foot in length since he was born. How awesome is that? For a baby who took sooo long to regain his birth weight, and who had such a difficult time learning how to eat, he has made amazing strides.

And I think that the time has come for a major step forward for me: I am finally ready to give up the charts and schedules, and just let things be. It's time for Ethan to just be a baby, and for me to just be a mom, and for both of us (all three of us, including Joel) to just enjoy this adventure for what it is. He's healthy, and happy, and progressing so well, that there is no reason to keep worrying about things so much. I threw away the schedules last night, and what a relief it was! I thought I would really feel anxious about not being able to track his food/diapers/sleeping, but no such thing. It was like a weight off of my shoulders to let go of that and just enjoy him instead of constantly watching what he's eating and making sure he finishes bottles and so on. Schedules were necessary in the beginning to make sure he was eating enough and not sleeping all the time (which is what he *wanted* to do), but they have served their purpose, and it's time to let them go. Hallelujah!