Four months.

Four months has brought some fun times in Baby Hanna’s life {and in the life of her parents!}…we returned to the east coast, moved, spent lots of time with friends, and met many new people. Let’s look at some statistics!

How old: four months

Weight: at her appointment on Monday she was 13 pounds ten ounces {& 25.5 inches long}…this baby is on the slow end of weight gain but has always been consistent; about a pound a month

Likes:

·      Her play mat; she grabs onto the hanging things now and pulls them to her mouth.

·      Facing forward in the stroller; we started using an “umbrella” stroller that is much lighter and more compact than the big jogging stroller/car seat duo we had always used for her.

·      A pacifier! Yippee!! This came after much prodding from mom. I hadn’t wanted our child to like a pacifier but that was before we had a child. It buys us some quiet time here and there {in the car if someone’s next to her to pop it back in when it falls out} and seems to calm down Hanna Lu a bit so that’s Good.

·      Watching mom and dad eat; we put her in the Bumbo seat at meal times and she’s very interested in our actions…we won’t start her on food until closer to six months but I’m hoping this interest is a good sign of a happy food-eater.

·      Holding onto toys, especially soft ones.

·      I let Hanna Lu see/play with a tow we received as a gift that plays music and has lights; this was a big hit. I try to shy away from electronic toys mostly because I have an irrational fear of them turning on on their own ala some horror films. This one has an “off” setting but I’m still uneasy, though the child was very happy. It’s hard plastic so it’s not the easiest for her to manipulate {since it’s not a soft blankey type toy} but she was very content holding onto it and accidentally playing the different songs.

·      Watching people as they talk/have conversations; especially daddy. This is new in the past week or so. Hanna Lu’s always been pretty aware for a tiny baby but she can look super involved in someone else’s conversation, though she’s not adding to them yet. BUT! She does have little “talks” with us where she’ll coo, we reply, and she coos back. This is adorable.

·      She’s into the dog now; she especially likes feeling his fur though we monitor the interactions very carefully {obviously} and really make sure she isn’t grabbing onto/pulling Guinness’ hairs too hard.

·      Library story/singing times; these are a Hanna pleaser. We’ve gone once since returning. She also likes the new moms’ group I go to much more now than before; she’s totally into flirting with people and other babies and I think that’s why.

·      Bath time; she has a foam mat we put in the bathtub and though I thought it would be too thin it’s perfect {& affordable - $5 ish} for her to be able to feel the water all around and kick and splash as much as she wants. Usually she’s tired at bath time so there’s fussing when she gets out {the cold probably doesn’t help} so I try to lotion her up while still holding her, get a diaper and jammies on quick, and swaddle the kid before she gets too worked up.

·      Sitting up; Hanna Lucy loves seeing what’s going on around her.

·      Her new “room”, which is our giant walk-in closet. We decided to stick with a one-bedroom for the time being which isn’t that bad considering how spacious/full of storage this place is compared to our last apartment, and this little closet baby situation actually works quite well for us right now – the door cracked open a bit for air circulation, her white noise machine, the pitch black, and her pack n’ play all seem to work well for sleeping little one…she’s actually taken some decent naps this way, better than any prior, so we’re all happy so far. And she’s still really close to us. We can switch to a two-bedroom in our same apartment building/management group pretty easily when we’re feeling like moving again {never…but not really}.

Dislikes:

·      The car; she screamed {not cried} the whole way to her doctor’s appointment on Monday and was totally chill when we arrived and got out…though the saddest thing I’ve ever seen was when we parked, she was making little whimpers in her sleep and had on her “sad face” {when the lips are turned upside down}.

·      Being cold after her bath.

·      Being left alone for too long; I feel as though she used to be a bit better with “independent play” but she might be feeling a wee off these days or perhaps the precursors of teething are starting which could explain it, or she could be way more into keeping an eye on us, which I’m sure is a phase she’ll grow out of eventually.

Milestones:

·      Moving into her pack n’ play from the bassinet when we got home from our travels.

·      Her four-month vaccines; she had a sad afternoon that we mostly napped through and has seemed OK since then {this was four days ago}.

·      Her first BBQ party with friends.

·      Her first Fourth of July and fireworks; we watched them from afar on our rooftop so she wasn’t really aware.

·      Wearing size two in disposable diapers and three-month or three-to-six month clothes quite comfortably.

·      Sitting in the Bumbo.

·      Taking her baths in the big-person bath-tub; prior to this month it had been sink baths all the way!

Sleep and eat:

·      Eating every one to three hours…as far as how much she eats at a time, she took six ounces in a bottle last night but it’s hard to say how much she takes in when nursing.

·      There’s been some crummy sleep – waking up when we put her down, waking up every hour or two, only sleeping well in bed with us – and we had decided to do some serious training this week but the past few nights she’s been doing quite well on her own in her little closet-crib set up so we’ll see.

·      Napping several times a day; she’s tired right after she wakes up in the morning basically and usually has around two hours of good awake time before a nap is neede.

Miscellaneous:

·      I go back to work on August 18^th, her five-month day…so little girl has one more month of all-mom-all-the-time…let’s make the most of it!!

xoxo, natty ♥