Every month before I write these, I go back and read about Thomas’s siblings at the same age (Mary Virginia, David) and here’s what I’ve learned:

Thomas is big like his brother, sweet like his sister, and like both of his siblings, he looks great in blue. He looks enough like his siblings that I’m hoping I can just interchange their baby pictures so none of them can accuse me of taking more pictures of the others.

Thomas weighs in at a whopping 18 pounds. No wonder my hands are going numb and I have shooting pains in my wrists from holding him. On the day he turned four months, I pulled out a 9-month outfit he hadn’t worn yet. Once we finally got it on him, it was so tight he looked like he was wearing sausage packing.

If he keeps gaining at this rate, we’re genuinely worried that he might pop.

With all that heft comes adorable, delicious baby rolls. His rolls are so generous, I don’t have to carry a diaper bag anymore because I can just stash everything I need in the rolls in his thighs and neck.

Thomas is a smiley, happy, content baby. Every time he looks at me he smiles and wiggles like, “YOU! AGAIN!? I was just laying here hoping you’d show up and HERE YOU ARE!!! I’M SO GLAD!”

He is, for sure, my most laugh-y baby. Last week I took him to the preschool parent’s night and wore him in my carrier. Every three seconds or so, he’d look up at me and start laughing. As a result, none of the other parents listened to David’s teacher explaining the schedule because nothing is more distracting than a chubby baby laughing for no reason whatsoever.

He’s so ticklish under his neck that it’s impossible to give him a bath. Whenever we start washing him, especially under his neck, he starts giggling and wiggling. It’s so adorable that we get so carried away tickling him that we completely forget what we were doing.

Thomas usually wakes up twice a night to eat, and sleeps until between 6 and 7:30 a.m. He takes three to four naps a day, and I recently realized that the key to a good dinner and bedtime is letting him power nap around 5 p.m.

Thomas has started to grab and suck on toys. He loves playing with Mama’s hand, and his favorite toys are Mary Virginia’s dolls. My big kids love brining him toys and are delighted if he actually plays with them.

Recently, he started scooching down in his bouncy chair so he could kick and play with the little toys on it.

Thomas is incredibly patient, content, and happy to go with the flow.

Maybe that’s because as a new mom for the third time, I’m a little more go-with-the-flow, too. Who knows. But the other thing I learned when I read my other kids’ four-month updates is that their personalities at four months are only a glimmer of their personalities as toddlers. Sure, there’s enough foreshadowing that Mary Virginia would be a terrible sleeper that it’s hard to read. And David is already starting to emerge as the stubborn, opinionated boy I know today. But that’s all, just glimmers.

For now, I have a feeling that I’ll smile when I read this in two years and think, “Wow, Thomas was sweet and loved to laugh back then, too.”

Dear Thomas,

A few days ago I was changing your diaper and you were fussing. I was going as fast as I could, fumbling with the Snappi and the diaper cover and trying to work as fast as I could while you fussed and kicked and made everything hard for me.

At some point in the struggle, you accidentally grasped my ring finger, and as soon as you did you stopped crying, looked at me, and smiled. The change was so sudden, so complete, that I laughed, and you laughed back at me.

We held hands like that for a while — your fingers clasped around my ring finger — until I lifted you from the changing table and held you to my chest, nuzzling my face in your sweet, soft neck.

Dear sweet boy, I’m so glad that God gave you to me, and me to you. Anytime you need me, I will be here. Reach for me.

Love,

Mama

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