Even though I loved having a newborn, things got really fun once we hit four months. We really did have a 4th trimester, and I think you spent the first three months adjusting to the world. You're much more comfortable now and to be honest, so are we. I wrote about this last month too, because these changes started to occur around 3 1/2 months. I continued to see this progress this month.
Here's a review of the last month:
Likes:
- High pitched "talking" and happy screams
- Jumperoo - playing with the toys and jumping
- Magic Sleep Suit (I should have mentioned this last month as well)
- Stroller Rides
- Weather Shield on your stroller, which allows us to get outside even on these chilly days
- Splashing in the bath and kicking your feet
- Your feet - you love holding them in your hands, and they have started making their way into your mouth
- Toys that you can spin, push or pull
- "Flying" in Momma or Daddy's arms
- Being kissed on your cheeks and neck - this makes you giggle, especially if Daddy does it.
- Sitting in your high chair
- Sofie the Giraffe and your MAM chew ring - really you love to chew on just about anything.
- Pressing your face against mine when I carry you, or putting your mouth on my face - which makes burping you exciting :)
- Singing - you still love hearing me sing to you. A new favorite this month is "On Christ the Solid Rock," so we sing it a lot.
Dislikes:
- Daylight Savings Time!
- Going to bed at night - although this got better later in the month
- Staying asleep in the evening
- Changing the routine - you do best when we follow the routine
- Loud people
Big Moments:
- Road trip to Chicago to visit Great-Great-Aunt Lil
- Stayed at the McCart's house
- Grandma Pegelow came to visit when Daddy traveled to Lexington. She could tell a huge difference in how comfortable you were with other people besides Momma holding you now. You let her play with you and hold you, and she ate it up!
- 1st play date - you were the youngest and wanted to be held most of the time, but you really observed the other kids and seemed to enjoy it.
- Auntie Kim came to visit. I think she was worried you weren't going to like her, but you had so much fun with her. You even stayed on your schedule pretty well when she was here. I think you're getting used to having visitors.
- Rolled from back to front - at the very beginning of the month you started playing on your side, swinging your legs over and getting to your tum, but couldn't quite get your head up. About half way through the month, you figured it out and got yourself all the way up! You don't do it frequently though.
- Bearing weight on your legs - you love to bounce if I stand you up on my lap (Daddy is proud of your strong leg muscles). You also really bounce hard in your Jumperoo now.
- You found your upper register - you love high pitched "talking"
- You have started to work on your pincer grasp. You've begun to use your thumb and pointer finger to control the toys on your Jumperoo.
- Your hand-eye coordination is progressing well. You are getting better and better at putting your paci in your mouth yourself.
- You can really push up now during tummy time, and you are starting to put your bum up a bit - both things that are preparing your muscles for crawling
- You let other people hold you now, something that used to make you very nervous.
- You can sit with us through most of the church service. You like the singing at the beginning and usually watch the choir (one week you moved your head so that you could see around the tall person in front of you - it was very cute), but you only make it about half way through the sermon. Then Momma usually holds you and we watch through a window outside the sanctuary.
- You've started to tripod sit, but just for a second at a time.
- You rode in your stroller without the carseat - you did pretty well, but you're not quite as relaxed as when you ride in your carseat. You also rode with the weather shield on, which you didn't seem to mind at all.
You increased your awake time by 30 min this month. I'm seeing a pattern develop: we get a good routine down, then it goes haywire and you start taking very short naps, then you are ready to increase your awake time. You quit taking your 2 hour afternoon nap, and then a few days later I couldn't get you to stay asleep for your 2.5 hour morning nap. Then daylight savings time hit, so we had a couple rough days of sleep. But we increased your awake time from 1 hr 30 min to 2 hours, and we were back into a rhythm. You are very sensitive to your awake time; if it's too long or short, you take short naps. After you showed me you could handle 2 hours of awake time, I tried to putting you down at the 2 hours 15 min mark to see if you could handle it, and you cut your afternoon nap in half. The increased awake time allowed us to get out of the house a little it more, so sometimes we go visit Daddy at his office.
Here's what your schedule looked like at the end of the month:
7:00 wake up
7:00-8:00 Get dressed and play
8:00-8:10 eat
8:10-9:00 play
9:00-11:30 morning nap*
11:30-11:40 eat
11:40-1:30 play
1:30-3:00 afternoon nap
3:00-3:10 eat
3:10-5:00 play
5:00-5:30 cat nap
5:30-5:40 eat
5:40-6:30 family walk at the Science Building**
6:30 Daddy bathes you and gets you into your jammies
6:50 eat
7:00 Momma puts you in bed***
You still eat twice at night around 11pm and 3am
*You go down for naps wide awake with a very short wind down routine. You usually don't fuss when you go down, although sometimes you chat for a few minutes before falling asleep.
**Every evening we drive to the science building (or as we call it the science museum) and we push you around in your stroller. It's the biggest building on campus so there are lots of hallways to stroll around, and we can look at the plants and birds.
***Night times are very difficult. You usually cry when I leave the room, but it did get better towards the end of the month. We shortened your awake time before bed and that seemed to help. You have started having frequent evening wakings though, and you cry until we rock you back to sleep. This is unusual for you; even though we used to bounce you to sleep when you were very little, you've never really been rocked to sleep, and you are typically pretty good about putting yourself back to sleep with just the help of your paci. We've softened and will rock you because it doesn't happen every night.
I say this every month, but you really are such a happy baby. A lot of days I realize that I haven't heard your cry at all, at least not until bedtime. You are very content but still make your preferences known, so I can't really call you laid back. One funny example of this is with nursing; you developed a favorite side this month. You will only nurse on the side you don't like briefly, and when you think you've done enough, you throw your head back and arch away from me. When I turn you to the other side, you often start grunting like a little cave man, like you want to reinforce that I'm doing the right thing. Another example is that you won't take your evening cat nap if Daddy tries to put you down. You'll just cry in your bed, so we find it's best if Daddy comes home after you have already started that nap. You give him the biggest smiles when you wake up from that nap and realize he's home though. He doesn't have to ease into things with you as much as he used to.
Your mind is working so hard. Not only did you learn how to coordinate your movement so that you can roll from your back to your tummy this month, but you've also realized that rolling is even easier if you find a stationary object to grab onto and use it to pull yourself up. Momma was so proud the first time I caught you pulling on a toy hanging from your play mat to ease yourself over, because even though it's "cheating" it seemed so clever, Little Man. I'm amazed by how much you are learning and taking in, and how much you respond and interact with us. You listen to the noises we make and laugh if one of them is funny. You watch where we go and what we're doing. You want to touch everything around you and see how it works.
Little Man, I love seeing your personality emerge a little more each month. You are laid back and you are opinionated. You can play independently but you are so affectionate. You are lighthearted and you are serious. You are no longer a newborn but you are still all baby. I am so thankful for who you are and that you are ours. You're exactly what we needed.
