C's fourth month

Third Girl turned four months old in April. Some of the simplest repetitive things we do make her laugh. One of her favorite activities is when make her hands clap as I recite Pat-a-Cake (no, she does not uncurl her fingers). She loves it when someone holds her, looks at her, and has a conversation with her. She makes the sweetest little "uh" sound. She looks like she's really concentrating on me whenever I slowly ask, "Can you say Mama?" She doesn't do an m, but she can say words like nn-guh and thih. 

I have nursed my babies on demand and after the first month or so I don't write down the start times. I don't really have them on a schedule. We've been really blessed that they've each slept about 7+ hours every night by the time they are two months old. As a four-month-old she typically sleeps more than 10 hours at night. She wakes up for the day after 8 a.m. Her first nap starts between about 10:00 a.m. and noon and it often lasts for at least two hours. She has probably a couple more naps, likes to cluster nurse (have a few feedings closer together) after 6 p.m., and is asleep for the night as early as 8:30 p.m. but usually after 9:30. Sometimes I put her to bed and she wakes up after 10 p.m. just to eat and be changed. I read the information our pediatrician gave me at the four month check-up, and C's temperament is definitely not Slow-to-warm-up or Difficult. It's Easy: "positive, happy, regular patterns to eating and sleeping." She's a little anxious around strangers now (she cried when she saw the pediatrician), but calms down quickly.

At this age she reaches out and grabs items, like the linkables or necklace that someone is wearing, without a person putting it in her hand. My favorite thing is that while she nurses she holds my hand or the top of my shirt. Also, she now brings the linkables and other things to her mouth. She sucks on her fingers or hand -- probably mainly when she is hungry.

I know her eyesight is more developed because she looks way up at light fixtures in our chapel. She's great at following at object with her eyes.

Over a month ago I started bathing her in the regular tub instead of the sink. She likes lying on her back in the shallow water with a washcloth over her torso to keep her warm. She also likes to have her diaper changed promptly; when she's fussy I check the diaper first.

Easter and her blessing (more on that later) took place during her fourth month. Here are the photos I took of her with her pink teddy bear:

14 weeks

15 weeks

16 weeks (I put a sponge curler in her wet hair before taking this picture. My dad bought the dress in Costa Rica, for Second Girl)

17 weeks

4 months!

Her four month stats: 13 pounds 2 ounces (more than double her birth weight, and 38th percentile), height 44th percentile, head 89th percentile. I love the collage below. I adjusted the photos to make the teddy bear the same size; does that mean she's really this much bigger? The head growth amazes me. She's been able to hold her head steady for a few weeks -- she probably could do it by age 3 months.

I was sad when she outgrew her newborn cloth diapers, which I'm guessing was after she turned two months. She wears the size small Very Baby diapers now, and prefolds and covers. We used a few disposable diapers because some were given to us; I think size two would fit her better than size one now. Most 0-3 month clothing still fits her, as well as the Carters 3 month size. Some outfits I remember our older daughter(s) wearing are missing and I want them! But I got out the 3-6 and 6-9 month clothing and there's a cute 6-9 size skirt she's already worn. The outfit shown below, worn by our younger girls, is size 0-3.

I'm glad C's daddy gets to experience her at this age, since he missed all but two and a half weeks of Second Girl's first ten months due to being deployed. It's also really fun to see how helpful and playful five-year-old First Girl is with her baby sister, and how Second Girl softly touches her. We love our chubby little girl so much.