FIVE MONTHS -- this has been the month of change! Since the day she turned 4 months, things have been changing with our adorable baby girl.
Weight:
I'm not sure... but at her 4 month appointment, she was 13 pounds, 13 ounces (in the 39th percentile)-- she has officially doubled her weight since birth. So, she's probably a little over 14 pounds now.
Length:
At her appointment, she was 25.6 inches (in the 88th percentile)... but the doctor said that length/height isn't really reliable until the child can stand. But I will say, she's longer now than she was at her appointment, because she has grown out of more sleepers -- in the length -- since that appointment.
Clothing size:
Officially out of almost all her 0-3 month clothes. She can still wear a few 3 month outfits, but we're beginning to transition to 3-6 month/6 month clothes.
Eating:
She is still fed exclusively with breast milk (I really don't know how much, because we're off of bottles since I've been home for the summer), but she has had a few tastes of solid foods this month. We have let her suck on a slice of pear, and a dill pickle. For both, she made a very disturbed face at first... but then liked the second taste. We think she didn't know what to make of the texture. At some point we have to actually begin feeding her solids... but not this month.
Sleeping:
This month was a little different with sleeping because very soon after she turned four months, we took her out of her bassinet, and she's been sleeping on the lower level of her pack-n-play... not the bottom, but the lower level. She LOVED the freedom of being out of the bassinet, and we had a few nights where she had trouble going to sleep.
All of a sudden, she could play with her feet and roll side to side (we saw a huge jump in her development when we removed the bassinet, because she was able to really play, and grab her feet, and start to roll, and sleep on her side). This meant that the nights of seven straight hours of sleep disappeared as we adjusted to this new world stretched-out sleeping.
This month, with sleeping in the pack-n-play, we have worked on teaching Tracey Ann to soothe herself and be able to put herself to sleep. We have opted to NOT make her "cry it out"... which means much of my evenings have been spent trying to help her learn how to soothe herself. We are definitely making progress, and we're working on a regular bedtime routine -- bathtime, feeding, pack-n-play.
It has been SO sweet to watch her learn how to soothe herself -- she likes to sleep on her side, and she likes to pull a lion toy or a blanket up to her face. She generally falls asleep between 7:30-9:00 depending on our night, and sleeps until around midnight/1:00am when she awakens for a feeding. Then, once or twice she has slept from midnight-8:30am... which was A-MAZING. But usually, she wakes up again around 4:00 or 5:00am, and then sleeps until 9:00.
She is still sleeping in our room... and now we are traveling for the summer, so she is in her travel pack-n-play/play yard, and she has done great transitioning from home to this. The travel pack-n-play will remain in our room as we travel... then at the end of the summer, once she is six months old, I will have to bite the bullet and begin to transition her into a crib in her own room.
All of a sudden, she could play with her feet and roll side to side (we saw a huge jump in her development when we removed the bassinet, because she was able to really play, and grab her feet, and start to roll, and sleep on her side). This meant that the nights of seven straight hours of sleep disappeared as we adjusted to this new world stretched-out sleeping.
This month, with sleeping in the pack-n-play, we have worked on teaching Tracey Ann to soothe herself and be able to put herself to sleep. We have opted to NOT make her "cry it out"... which means much of my evenings have been spent trying to help her learn how to soothe herself. We are definitely making progress, and we're working on a regular bedtime routine -- bathtime, feeding, pack-n-play.
It has been SO sweet to watch her learn how to soothe herself -- she likes to sleep on her side, and she likes to pull a lion toy or a blanket up to her face. She generally falls asleep between 7:30-9:00 depending on our night, and sleeps until around midnight/1:00am when she awakens for a feeding. Then, once or twice she has slept from midnight-8:30am... which was A-MAZING. But usually, she wakes up again around 4:00 or 5:00am, and then sleeps until 9:00.
She is still sleeping in our room... and now we are traveling for the summer, so she is in her travel pack-n-play/play yard, and she has done great transitioning from home to this. The travel pack-n-play will remain in our room as we travel... then at the end of the summer, once she is six months old, I will have to bite the bullet and begin to transition her into a crib in her own room.
New things/discoveries:
- She has officially discovered her feet. She had started grabbing them just as she as turning four months, but now she LOVES them! She is grabbing them, pulling them, and trying to chew on them all the time.
- Sleeping in a pack-n-play -- not a bassinet
- Blowing bubbles/raspberries with her mouth -- it is adorable, and she does it frequently
- Reaching for things, grabbing them, and trying to put them in her mouth -- trouble is coming
- Reaching for our faces/mouth/eyes, nose -- sometimes depending on the angle, it seems like she is turning our faces to look at her
- Playing in her jumper/swing
New Accomplishments:
- Reaching for people when she wants them to hold her -- sort of flapping her hands when she sees them, and leaning their way
- Riding along in the jogger while Mama is actually jogging -- she had been in jogger walking, but we got the go-ahead from her pediatrician at her 4 month appointment that we could start jogging with her in it. :-D
- First time riding in the jogger, with Mama jogging... and Lloyd on a leash (yes, her Mom is wonder woman -- and modest) :-D
- Sitting up steadier and steadier... she still falls over, and needs to lean against things... but she also puts her little hands on her feet and can sit for a minute or two unassisted.
- Rolling from tummy to back, and from back to side
- Holding her own bottle -- although we don't see that very often because she never gets a bottle when I'm able to feed her
- Tasting solid foods for the first time -- just tastes... not a real introduction yet
Likes:
- Playing with her feet
- Being high in the air
- Bathtime/showertime
- Blowing bubbles
- Playing in her exersaucer
- Playing in her jumper
- Swinging in her jumper
- Looking in the mirror
- Lloyd
- Being worn -- like in my Mobywrap, or Backpack
- FaceTime
- The song "Let It Go"
Dislikes:
- Her pascifier these days -- it still soothes her, but I have to sort of trick her into taking it
- Being in the car seat for prolong periods of time (yes, this summer road trip might be interesting)
- Being cold
- A sore leg from her 4-month inoculations
Places She Went:
- Go-Pro Mountain Games in Vail
- Attended her first wedding
- First trip to Cabela's
- First time hosting dinner parties for friends since Tracey Ann was born
- Met a few of my students at the end of the school year
- Meeting Olympic Skier Gold Medalist, Lindsey Vonn
- Going back to the Go-Pro Games with Tracey Ann wearing the onesie we bought last year at the games, when we had just found out we were pregnant
- First Fathers' Day celebrating Daddy (and Grandpa and Papa -- but we were only with Daddy that day)
- First time staying in the Vail condo for an actual vacation (she had spent the night there before, but not when we were on vacation)
- This is definitely the month when I feel like she went from an infant to baby -- in church, she used to sit quietly, sleep, and nurse -- this month, suddenly she is chattering, and blowing bubbles, and squirming around. She is such a source of joy.
- This is the date, exactly one year ago, that Hubby and I saw Tracey Ann for the first time at the doctor's office, and heard her beautiful little heartbeat. In some ways it feels like yesterday. What an amazing, blessed year it has been.
- Tracey Ann
- Tracey
- Baby Girl
- Beautiful
- Pumpkin (pronounced Punkin)
- Punky
- Little Spitter
- Fuss-o (when she's fussy)
- Munchkin
- Munchkers
- Pretty Girl
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