Happy Together: 4 Months!

Last Friday Annie turned 4 months old! I am loving this age! She is so aware, and we can literally see her learning and growing right before our eyes! Our sweet girl is a real joy, and we are loving getting to know her more and more. Here are a few notes about her over the past month.

-Annie went to her 4 month appt. today. Let me just say that when we got there, and I was going to get her undressed to be weighed, she had a major diaper that was everywhere! Ugg! She always surprises me:) Nurse Michelle and I had to do a total wipe down and set change before starting the process. Ha! Being a mother is never dull. Annie's stats were: 13lb 14oz-50th percentile (which probably would have been more had it not been for that diaper incident just prior!!), 27 inches long-over 98th percentile (long baby-both doc and nurse commented!!), and 39 inch head circumference-10th percentile. I asked if her tiny head was indicative of intelligence, and she assured me it was not! I already knew that, of course. :)

-While she had slept through the night several nights in a row, she is no longer doing so! I am trying to be patient with her, but it is a little frustrating! She still wakes up at least once (this time varies now...I can't really figure out a pattern), then wakes up pretty early (anywhere from 5-7am) to eat again. One night recently, I fed her at 10, she woke at 12:30 and I fed her, then she woke at like 2:30 and I worked for a long time and got her back to sleep without feeding her, then she woke at 5:00 and I fed her again!! This cannot go on. I was exhausted the next day, and there's just no reason she can't sleep more solidly (I hope anyway!!). She takes a shorter morning nap (this varies...if we are home it is longer, but we are oftentimes out and she just naps however long she can in the ergo), then a big nap in the middle of the day (sometimes 4 hours??), then at least one late afternoon nap. I think sleeping through the night will come before too much longer, but it is just hard since H slept consistently through the night at 8 wks old. I guess he spoiled us.

-Update: Over the last few nights I have been re-thinking Annie's sleeping, and I've realized there are some things I am doing that might be hindering her. I tried to remind myself of all the "baby wise" things we did with Henry that worked so well. I'll be the first to admit she isn't on a stringent feeding schedule like he was. I am now trying to push her to 3 hours between feedings to hopefully teach her stomach it can wait that long. So far, so good. I have also been trying to let her self-sooth. This is a tougher one, but I know she can do it. I am trying to lay her down when she gets groggy, but before she actually fall asleep so she can learn to fall asleep on her own. The paci thing is tough-since Henry didn't take one it is uncharted territory. Right now, I kind of feel like I want to ween her off of it. She doesn't need it all the time anyway, and I kind of feel like it is almost a hindrance in the night. Sometimes I feel like we push it on her when she doesn't even want it that much. When she wakes up I go in and give it to her, but when it falls out the process starts all over again! We will see, but right now I am kinda thinking about just using it if I get desperate. Also, I have put her in her crib for her naps to get used to a flat surface more consistently. I had been using the bouncy and rock and play sleeper with her for naps (and the sleeper a lot at night, too), so I thought she might be getting to used to that inclined position. I was ready to get her out of our room anyway:) For a few weeks I'd been trying to start her out in her crib, then when she woke I'd bring her into the sleeper in our room. I was hoping it would be a good way to transition her. Lastly, just the last 2 nights I have decided to let her cry when she wakes up (after trying to sooth her and do all the normal things first). I thought it might take forever, but last night it was just a few minutes (of course it felt like forever), and she actually went back to sleep on her own, paci-less! I hope this trend continues, because she just might be on her way to sleeping through the night at this pace. I've seen improvement over the past few days, so that gives me encouragement to keep it up. I really feel like she can do it, but I've just not been as conscientious about it as I was with Henry. I believe she can be "taught" to do it! Plus, I CAN'T continue these interrupted nights...I feel for moms who go through this for long periods of time!

-Update#2: I wrote the above about a week ago, and I've been implementing ever since, and it is working! While Annie is not sleeping a solid night, I am not longer feeding her in the middle of the night. She eats at about 10pm and then again at about 6am, then every 3 hours after that. She still gets restless a few times in the night, so I go in and try a paci which is sometimes enough to get her to get settled. A lot of times it just amounts to her grunting and groaning and then fussing for a minute. If not, I let her work it out. She does fuss/cry, but it is not extreme, and she settles herself pretty quickly. The main issue has been that when she "works it out" on her own, she is loosening her swaddle, and she will come out of it completely in the night. If that happens, all I have to do is re-swaddle, and she goes right back to sleep on her own. I never pick her up from her crib now. She is doing SO much better, and I am SO encouraged! I can handle this, because I am seeing improvement. I put her in her crib for all night and the majority of her naps now. I guess our next hurdle will be going rogue with no swaddle at all. Eeek!

-Annie is still super smiley, and we eat them up! She still does the scrunchy nose smile, and it's so funny!

-I think she is starting to notice the difference between people she "knows" and people she doesn't. She always smiles at us, but just a few weeks ago I noticed she started to cry when she stared at Grandma and the same thing with the doctor. It is a funny look-she stares them down and tries to figure them out, then pokes out her bottom lip and tries to pull herself together, then just looses it! It's amazing how early recognition starts.

-She is pulling her head up and looks around all the time now out of her car seat, swing, bouncy, etc. It's like she's saying, "Hey, what's going on?" I love that curiosity starting already!

-We have seen some improvement with her in her car seat over this past month!! Whoohooo! While she's not consistent yet and still has her moments, she is SO much better. We can actually ride around town running errands without her squalling the entire time! She is learning to sleep in her car seat which helps I think. When she gets sleepy she cocks her head to the side-just like Henry used to do. If she does cry, Steven and I have learned that we can roll the windows down and this stops her (we are VERY thankful for the nice fallish weather because of this!!). We aren't sure if she is enjoying it or just trying to cope with it, but whatever it is, we will take it!!

-She's starting to kick and splash during bath time-so fun!!

-Annie has very "busy hands" as we call it. When I feed her they are never still and keeping the cover on me is difficult. She always has a handful of my hair or is swiping her hands across my chest as she eats. She is seriously reaching for toys at her play mat, and we got her a toy bar to go across her car seat (maybe this helps some with distracting her in the car, too??) that she is constantly grabbing. She's also been doing a funny thing with her arms where they just kind of float up in the air with her hands open. I know she's just trying to figure out how to use them, but we are pretty entertained by it!

-She is for sure teething-lots of drool and everything is going into her mouth. She pulls my hands to her mouth all the time and wants to gnaw on them. Poor baby!

-Annie has started giggling/laughing this month! I've found her ticklish spot on her neck, and when I kiss there she has the best belly giggle and just cringes. Precious!

-She blows LOTS of bubbles and will just talk and talk and blow bubbles over and over. It's very cute and sweet and I can't believe a baby wants to communicate like that so early.

-She's loving to stand now and will lock her legs and just stand as straight as a bullet. Big girl!

-Annie seems to prefer tummy time to being on her back. She raises up and looks all around. She tires of being on her back on a blanket more easily than she does on her tummy (probably because she's in that position so less often). I haven't really seen any strong urge for her to go from her back to her tummy, but I know it won't be long. She will pull over onto her side if Steven or I are laying beside her talking to her so she can see us. With some practice, I'm sure she'll get the hang of it. I'm honestly in no hurry:)

There's so much more, but I will stop. We love you, sweet Annie! You are a delight!

Look at that wild hair do! She's lost most of the dark, newborn hair (although she still has that lovely row in the very back!), and it is growing in fairly light blonde. This makes her look like she is bald in pictures, but there are still some long wispy ones on top!!