Month Four

I was fortunate to stay home with you a lot during this past month. The South had some crazy winter weather and my office was closed probably more than it needed to be. Atlanta basically shut down, but all of our friends and family were safe. The winter storms brought us your first snow! Like the fantastic parents we are, we did not play in it or get any pictures with it. It totally kills me that we did not take advantage of this, but we both had pretty bad colds and your father was adamant about not taking unnecessary chances. I was also told by your teachers at school that we are their favorite parents. Assuming they do not tell everyone this, J and I had to laugh about it. Their reasoning is that we are totally honest and upfront about things and not delusional. This is very, very true. They seemed to enjoy hearing about how your father said I looked like a meth addict who had been up all night when he saw me the next morning after the night from hell. You are doing so well at school and we have been very happy with it so far.

Sleep: Sleep is such a sketchy thing. You started off month four sleeping through the night (for the most part). Then you began waking up to eat around 4-6 AM, which was not so bad since your dad gets up around that time to go to work. Four months to the day you were born (literally), you started waking up twice during the night. You would wake anywhere from 11 PM to 1 AM. I honestly attributed it to the shots you had that day or even the four month sleep regression. We moved you into a convertible Wombie sleep suit because you started rolling from back to belly. The first few nights were crazy with you occasionally sleeping on your stomach and sometimes it would wake you up. Since it’s been a few weeks, it’s gotten so much better. I am sure you would be fine in your Magic Melin suit, but it’s so fluffy that it freaked me out with the whole rolling skill. We put you to bed either asleep or somewhat drowsy. If we put you down and you are still awake, we may give you a paci. You continue to not be a good napper. Yesterday at school you slept for forty minutes around lunch and forty minutes in the afternoon.

During this month we also experience what your father and I lovingly call the night from hell. Your dad fed you and then you screamed your cute little head off and refused to go to bed. Mom came in to nurse you and you continued to scream. Your tummy felt gassy (or so I thought because really I have no idea what a gassy tummy feels like) so we gave you gas drops. Then you proceeded to throw up all over me. You would only quiet down if we held you and walked around the house. About the time we realized this, I received word that work was closed for the next day so your father escaped to the bedroom to get some sleep. I cannot walk for hours on end and you started crying again. Dad and I put you in the car to drive around. Yes, we were those parents and it worked - until we came back home and tried to put you in your crib. At this point, your father moved us downstairs and he went back to bed as he had work in a few hours. I walked you around the house for a while and finally was able to settle into our recliner with you sleeping on my chest. That lasted for a couple of hours until you work up screaming. I walked around with you a bit more and then decided to try the swing. You fussed for 15 minutes as I gave you a paci to use and then you were out! When dad came down to go to work we moved you into your napper and went back upstairs so I could sleep in my bed. Finally. You woke up a few hours later like nothing and happened and you were all smiles. Really?! Since my office was closed for the day, but school was not, I took you to daycare and told your teachers “good luck!” The point of this long novel is to pay attention when you feed a baby with a bottle. If the baby finishes the bottle and is sucking in air while you watch Netflix on your ipad, you too can experience a night of hell with a gassy baby.

Clothes and Diapers, etc: You are pretty much in 3-6 month clothing. There are very few 3 month pants that fit you. We also moved you up to size 2 diapers. Forget Soothies or Wubbanubs! I never really wanted to get you hooked on pacifiers, but in reality you are not too fond of them. Your favorite pacis are the plain, basic ones. You pretty much chew on Wubbanubs when we give you one. We truly do not offer them to you a whole lot except maybe in the evenings if you fuss while we eat dinner or get ready for bed.

Bath: Bath time has become a much happier time for every member of our family. With the random cold weather, your skin was getting very dry so we started using Burt’s Bees lotion and now use lotion from the Honest Company. Thanks to the prescription shampoo you used, the cradle cap seems to have gone away. We also discovered that you and G Daddy have the same prescribed shampoo. Weird. It the cradle cap continues to stay at bay then we will go back to using the shampoo/body wash from the Honest Company.

Medical: At the beginning of this month you caught a yucky cold. At first we were convinced that it happened to get too cold in your room and we did not dress you properly for bed. Everyone else liked to blame school. You had a very stuffy nose and bad cough so we had to squirt saline up your nose and suck everything out. You loved it! In actuality, you despised it. We happened to be in Atlanta that weekend and Granny Fox and I caught the cold. About a week later, your father woke up with a horrid stomach virus. I threw you into the car and took you to school to get away from our house. That Friday evening, I caught the stomach virus and seriously wondered how on earth either of us could take care of you without you getting sick. J woke up feeling a bit better and I stayed away from you pretty much all day. You managed to miss out on the stomach fun and I am SO thankful you did!

Food: You are still EBF. I try and nurse you in the morning before work and in the evening before bed. Sometimes we will give you a bottle before bed depending on the time. Around 15 weeks, you had a crazy growth spurt and started to cry when you finished your bottles. Plus, you nursed a ton and I was constantly starving. We increased your feedings to 4.5 oz – such a big girl you are! I also changed to level 2 nipples for your bottles and you seem to be handling that well. We have the go ahead to try rice cereal, but since you show very little interest in food we are probably going to hold off for a bit longer. We attempt to put you in your high chair so you can sit with us at the table when we have time to sit and eat together. Some nights are better than others.
Stats: You weigh 14.6 lbs and are 24.5 inches long. Your head is 39.9 cm.

Development/Mannerisms: You have started to grasp objects and love your orange ball because you can easily grab it. Everything goes in your mouth and I mean everything. You chew on your hands like it’s going out of style. It was confirmed at your doctor’s appointment that your bottom gums are swollen so the teething process has begun. It makes sense because you are a drooling mess. You started off the month by rolling on your side and at 17 weeks you rolled onto your tummy. Thank the Lord it was literally right before bed. I came upstairs and your father was like “Hey. She just rolled on her stomach so I rolled her unto her back again.” I flipped out and he was all “What is this a big milestone?” I went over to you in the crib and you did it again! We put you into your convertible Wombie sleep suit as I was afraid that Magic Merlin suit would somehow be bad for you since you were rolling.
Appearance: You were born with a head full of dark brown hair and luckily your hair has remained. It has changed from dark brown into a much lighter brown color – more like your fathers. He said his hair turned blond when he was younger so we shall see if yours will too. Since you have spent so much time laying on the floor, in a swing, napper, etc. the hair on the back of your head has started to fall out. I will not lie to you – it is kind of awkward looking. J Your eyes are gorgeous! They are a beautiful, deep blue color. I know eyes can change colors (as mine did when I was younger), but J has amazing blue eyes so there is a chance yours may follow suit. Your eyebrows are still very light in color, but your lashes have started to grow. Woo hoo! The nails on your fingers grow so quickly and can get very sharp. In my humble opinion, you have a lot of ear wax as well.

Likes:
Play Mat at school and home
Your father – you love looking at him and have the biggest smiles for him
Chewing on anything and everything

Dislikes:
Gas – maybe dairy?
Your swing in the evening
Naps



All About Mom:
- Down 33.5 lbs from pregnancy. Still not sure when I will be able to use that gym membership.

- My awesome, long finger nails have disappeared.

- I am losing so (and I mean SO) much hair. It falls out all the time now. I knew this could happen and it started for me around 3 months post-partum.  

- Confession: I miss dates with my DVR. As soon as I get home in the evenings I am trying to get dinner ready, finish getting dinner ready or eating. Then it’s time to feed the foos, wash and sterilize bottles and pump parts, get pump bag packed, make labels and bottles for the next day, pack breakfast and lunches, get the coffee maker ready for the next morning, etc. We both get E ready for bed and one of us will feed her and put her to bed. Around this time, I usually take a shower and J gets in bed since he works such early hours. I may watch a bit of tv or Netflix while I pump before bed and then it’s lights out. I thrive on having a schedule/check list for the evenings, but the day is literally over before I know it. J helps out SO much. I have no idea what I would do if I was by myself or if he did not help. Guess I will find out in the next month or so since it is grass cutting season! It is totally worth it, but I sometimes daydream about the time I will have when I am no longer your food source. Oddly enough, it saddens me to think about it.