Dear Larkin,
Today you are 4 months old! Before you came along four months seemed like such a long amount of time, but the past four months have gone by so quickly! Before we know it you will be eating solid food and crawling!
The biggest change of this past month is that I feel like you have really become a little boy. Sometimes when I wake you up in the mornings you even seem to just look visibly older! I also feel like I've learned more about you and your litte routine- things you like and dislike, what different cries or expressions mean, etc. Still, you are always changing and once I feel like we have a little system down you are changing again... always keeping mommy on her toes!
Highlights of this month:
You celebrated your first Halloween. We dressed you up as a dragon for a few playdates and then walked the neighborhood with daddy and Piper that night. We saw lots of neighbors and friends on our walk but you were ready for bed halfway into our little stroll.
You are laughing so much more. Especially when mommy spins you or bounces you up and down. You think it is hilarious.
You still are a little charmer. When I'm grocery shopping I love looking down at you, you will just shoot me the cutest little smiles almost like you know you are so charming. My favorite is your "shy smile" where you duck your head and smile like you are pretending to be bashful.
You are sleeping through the night! It started about two weeks ago. This past week you went 4-5 days all the way through (after dream feeding you at 10:30). Now you have regressed a little and will wake up but seem to do fine when I put the paci back in or sometimes you will cry and go back to sleep on your own. However, the past few nights this means I am awake longer, watching and making sure you are getting back to sleep okay but I am reminding myself this should help you in our long term goal to sleeping through the night... So we press on towards that goal!
You are taking 3 naps a day. Sometimes you will squeeze in a fourth cat nap but consistently there are three naps. The first nap is always the best and it is still after only an hour of wake time. Mommy has tried to push that longer but you are too sleepy and will get fussy. The next two naps are around 12 and 3 but that is very flexible - a rough estimate. I go more by your sleepy cues. The fourth nap, unless mommy is walking you and you fall asleep in your carseat is pretty nonexistent. You love to sleep on your belly. We lay you down on your back and you either turn to your side or your belly - or every once in a while a combination of the two- like the pic below!
Square One is over but now we have our play group where you've met some new friends. You really like that time and seem to enjoy watching the other babies and mommy loves that time too.
You and daddy seemed to have bonded even more this month which has been really fun to watch. You seem to be more aware of daddy and enjoy being held and playing with him even more. He is really good with you and mommy still looks forward to the weekends because he is such a big help. You are also entertaining yourself more. One morning I felt like your nap was particularly long. When I looked in the monitor you were just playing around with your feet, looking up into the camera, smiling and just keeping yourslef entertained. This has happened on several occasions.
The past few weeks in particular have been fun watching you as you explore the world. One of the funnest things of this past month has been watching you learn new things especially playing with your toys it's neat to see the connections happen as you watch the cause and effect of what your little hands and feet can do.
This Month's Challenges:
Bedtimes were very hard at the beginning of this month. Although you usually would go down great for naps, at bedtime it was harder to get you down. This made for really long days especially when daddy was working late. Recently I moved the time up earlier and feed you first before bathing you and that has helped. The past week or two you have gone down without too many problems.
Before this month, when you were still waking up to eat at 4, you would always sleep until 8. However with this new progression of "sleeping through the night" (or going back to sleep after crying a little at 1, 4, etc.) you are now waking up a little earlier so mommy, if she wants to get her workout and reading done in the morning, has to wake up earlier or do one during your first nap.
Carseat- When we are in the car you are ALMOST always screaming
unless I have just fed you. I think it started when people would ride in the back with you. You
loved that and so family when they visited or mommy and daddy when the other was driving would go back there with you. But now, unfortunately, I think you realize what you're missing so there is constant SCREAMING when I'm driving and you are back there by yourself. This is just made worse if you are tired and it is really challenging for mommy when she drives.
Tired- Even though sleep is SO much better now than a few months ago, mommy is still so tired. It's as if my body is still trying to make up for all of the lost sleep!
Knowing when to let you cry, when to give you the pacifier and when to just get you up. This is a tricky thing for mommy and daddy and we are trying to get on the same page and I am praying for wisdom each time before I go in knowing if I should just let you cry and self-soothe or if it is a time I need to intervene.
And lastly, your 4 month appointment stats:
Weight - 13.1 lbs 26%
Height - 90%
Head 75%
You were so brave when you got your shots, buddy! Mommy and daddy love you so much, Happy 4 month birthday!
Love, Mommy and Daddy
