**Disclaimer - I wrote this over 3 months ago and I have yet to get the pictures off my camera's memory card so it's a post without pictures...but the info is there and that's the important stuff, right?
One,
Two and
Three month updates have already been written and now it's time for FOUR months! I can hardly believe my baby Norah Jane is four months old and is actually becoming more and more fun by the day! She has, for the most part, outgrown the "newborn fussiness" phase which is GREAT! I feel like now I can leave her for an afternoon with the grandparents and not worry so much about whether she is crying hysterically the entire time!
Jack and Norah continue to develop the cutest relationship. He really is going to be a great big brother and I can't wait to see how he reacts once she becomes a bit more mobile! His favorite and "go-to" phrase continues to be, "Hiiiii! Hiiiii! Hiiii Baaabbyyyy Nooorrrlaaahhh!" It's so funny!
Eat - Norah is still eating 7 times a day at this point. She takes 4.5 ounces at each bottle. Some days she hardly spits up and other days she is an ever-flowing fountain, so we just keep working with her reflux and she will eventually grow out of it and be able to keep more down at each feeding and then, then she will hopefully sleep through the night! At her four month well baby visit Dr. Mijares said we could start solids whenever we wanted, I plan on holding off until closer to 6 months. I think Norah is more than ready, but why rush it and why mess with her little belly? Really, at this point the food is only for practice and I do not believe one bit in the whole "Food makes them sleep theory!"
Sleep - Norah is going to bed anywhere from 6:30 - 7:00pm for the night. She still wakes to eat around 11:00pm and 3:00am and then is up for the day at 7:00am. She then usually has a shorter, maybe one hour nap in the morning and then a longer 2.5 - 3 hour nap in the afternoons. I know some people have already sleep trained their babies at this point using the CIO method or other sleep training methods, but I just don't really get that - at least not at this age. We never really had to do any sleep training with Jack, but I do know we never let him fuss himself to sleep until he was way past 6 months old and even then it was fussing, not full out crying. I just can't do that for hours on end, so for now we respond to her hunger demands and feed her when she wakes! We are also still swaddling Norah at night time and for naps and she is still in her Rock N Play sleeper - I know we need to break these habits, but I just can't imagine messing up her sleep routine and the doctor said as long as the blankets we are using allow her hips to move and for her to be able to pull her legs up or straighten them then it's fine and we use The Miracle Blanket which has a pocket for the feet and then is really only tight around her arms and chest so she said that was fine! I need to look online and see if there are such a thing as "Arms Only" swaddle blankets/wraps?!? She is almost too big for the RNP but she really still needs the angle for her reflux, I'm contemplating moving her big crib into our room and using pillows or blankets to create the incline and then using a rolled towel in a "U" shape under the fitted sheet as kind of a seat or anchor for her to "sit" in so that she doesn't slide down the hill? IDK, until she can't fit in the RNP at all anymore I'm leaving her - she loves it!
Health - Norah faired pretty good this month when it comes to the health front. She did have to get more vaccines at her well baby visit - 2 shots and 1 oral. She did great and hardly cried once I picked her up. I was sure she was going to be a mess for a good 3-5 days following the shots because she was a basket case after the first round, but she did great! She never really fussed or anything, we did have one night, I think 2 nights after her shots, that she was randomnly awake from like 9:30pm to 2:00am. She wasn't fussy though, she was just awake and wanted to play. It was odd and this Momma did not appreciate it at all!
Play - This month Norah is obsessed with her play mat and all the toys that dangle from it! She has mastered reaching for toys and studying them and then they usually head straight in her mouth! She is becoming more and more vocal and loves to laugh at her big brother! The bath tub continues to be another one of Norah's favorite places to play, she loves floating on her raft and kicking her feet and making the water splash!
Learn - Norah has definitely started recognizing familiar faces. She loves to stare at her Daddio. I think she is thinking, "I'm pretty sure I know you? Yup, I do know you!" she will stare at Chris for a good 5 - 10 minutes at a time from across the room. It's really funny! She loves to give smiles, giggles, and feet kicks to anyone that shows her attention though! Still no rolling over (I guess I'm doomed to never have a rolly-polly baby, oh well), but she is tolerating tummy time a bit better these days and can push up really high on her arms. She also started a new move, when she is on her back, she puts her feet flat on the floor and then pushes up and back and kind of makes an arch, like a back bend, and then scoots back a few inches.
Grow - Norah's official 4 month stats from her well baby visit were 15lbs 4.5oz and 25 inches - she was in the 75th percentile for her age, weight and height! She is wearing all 3-6 and 6 month clothing. She is in size 2 diapers during the day and size 3 at night! She is growing like a little weed!
