Emelia at four months

She’s four months. FOUR.

She’s been feverish after her vaccines yesterday, so I didn’t want to rock the boat and put her in something cuter than these sleeper pjs. Besides, she’s been sucking all over today, so may as well keep the standards going.

Due to daycare conflicts, Olivia came with me to the pediatrician and I was expecting a total shit show, but she did well. She did talk the ears off of both the medical assistant and doctor, but that’s to be expected. She did NOT like it when Emelia got her shots, so I found myself trying to get a screaming baby to nurse afterward, with one arm around my four-year-old while sweat dripped all the way down my back into my pants. OMG, I hate these visits. Emelia cried A LOT. And it broke my heart A LOT.

While we were waiting for the MA to come back with the vaccines, Emelia kept fussing and crying and I knew she was hungry, but I didn’t want to make it worse by starting to nurse her only to probably unlatch her again to get shots. I was walking her around and shushing her in vain when Olivia started singing “Lullaby and Goodnight” and I swear that baby stopped crying immediately and even gave some laughs of encouragement for Olivia to keep going.

Such a good big sister, that Olivia.

Nicknames: Meals, Squish, Squishy, Squeaks, Mealie, Mealie Moo

Weight: 14 lbs 3 oz (51st percentile)

Length: 25 inches (74th percentile)

Head circumference: 15.9 in (47th percentile)

Diaper size: 1

Clothing size: 3 months, but she moved into her 3-6 month clothes just yesterday.

Eating

More on her sleep below, but she’s up nursing every 2-3 hours now at night EXCEPT FOR LAST NIGHT IN WHICH SHE SLEPT EIGHT SOLID HOURS THANK YOU GOD AND VACCINE FEVERS. The Eating and Sleeping categories are hard to separate sometimes because they directly coincide with each other at this stage in life. I’ve only been pulling her into bed with me to nurse laying down and this is the only way I’m getting sort of good sleep. I don’t know if this is a growth spurt or what, but it’s been this way for a good two weeks now. Otherwise, she’s nursing maybe every three hours during the day, sometimes more, but she’s frustrating (if I can call a baby frustrating) because she’s constantly latching and unlatching until she really gets going or she’s tired. I think this is due to the crazy flow issues we’ve been having, so I feel bad, but it’s also really annoying nursing her at times.

I haven’t used a pump since we brought back the hospital-grade Medela right before she turned two months. I used my Haakaa pump on occasion, but I think overall the boobs are adjusting to her needs, so I don’t leak as much. Weirdly, I’ve noticed I leak more during “ovulation” (yes, I got my period back last month officially and I use ovulation loosely because who knows how much I even ovulate?) I should use the Haakaa more if I’m not going to pump daily because I really do want to build a stash to supply her with milk from a sippy cup after she turns a year, but getting the motivation…

Sleeping

See above. It sucks. Nursing laying down is saving my sanity, but it also means I’m waking up more at night. Take a night last weekend for example. I got in bed at about 9:15, since I’ve been sleeping like crap over the last few nights. She woke at ten to be topped off, and I put her back in her side-car. Then she was up at 2:00, but I woke up at 3:00 again to put her back to bed. Then she was up at 5:00, and I woke again at 6:00 to put her back in her bed. Then she was up again at 8:00 to nurse. So I was up…five times that night? The good news is she’s like her sister was and will always fall asleep again if she’s nursing. Bad news is she only nurses on one side, falls asleep and refuses to wake and nurse on the other side, so it’s just a lot more frequent wakings. I don’t know really what else to do and think it’s just her and how she wants to nurse at night.

Putting her down at night has been more challenging lately. (Though in the last few nights it’s been much better.) While I’m glad we’ve established a bedtime routine, I usually have to sit in my room in bed propped on my pillow in the dimness for the better part of an hour until she falls asleep nursing or just in my arms. And then I lay her in her bassinet and usually will spend another 20 minutes laying next to her to make sure she’s not going to freak out and I have to come back in anyway and nurse her again.

I am implementing more structured naps and keeping her in her bassinet in our room with the white noise, instead of switching her back and forth to her crib. She’ll take a (usually shitty) morning nap and then again in the afternoon, which usually is a longer stretch. But this has definitely been a month of the littlest sleep possible (for both of us).

Milestones

A few weeks ago she laughed for the first time. She had been getting so close to it when we’d talk to her and then one day while I was changing her diaper I made her laugh and it made me cry. I took her downstairs and got her to laugh again with Chris. Then when we were in the tub, Olivia and I got her to laugh again. She’s done it a handful of times now and it’s my favorite thing to do with her (which normally means I sound like a moron doing whatever I can to get rewarded in baby laughs).

Four months brings more neck control and lots of sucking on fingers. Lots of sucking. She loves to use her legs to push up and stand (even more so when she’s done with life and it’s out of frustration). She will sort of hold onto toys, but it’s still pretty minimal. She loves to look at them, and so far has made some attempts to grab at them. I know I need to be better at doing more tummy time, because that’s her big opportunity to practice. She just has been hating it lately and will hardly even attempt to push her upper body up, preferring to scream and cry miserably into the blanket. She comes close sometimes, but still isn’t rolling from her tummy to back. I brought this up to her pediatrician but she’s not concerned about that as much as the overall muscle tone, which she said was fine.

Her favorite noises are “Ooooo!” and she loves when Olivia will howl like a wolf and Emelia will join in and then she’ll let out this little squeak of excitement.

Health

Her reflux and gas have gotten so much better. She’s not even on her probiotic since she refuses to take a bottle with me, but so far so good. Her pediatrician didn’t seem concerned with the weird choking episodes that she’d randomly do, but both of us attributed it to reflux.

We’re going every two weeks now to the chiropractor to work on her torticollis. It’s improved, but she still very much favors her left side. Her pediatrician noticed some flattening on her left side, not too bad, and she has good muscle tone, but did recommend physical therapy for it so it doesn’t get to the point of needing a helmet, especially where her one hemangioma is located. I’m also going to try putting her the opposite way in her bassinet hoping she’ll turn to the right because that’s the side I sleep on. I did put her that way for her nap once we got home, but no dice. She’s fast asleep on her favored side.

Personality

This girl is all smiles. Smiles for everyone! Smiles for days! Sing to her? Get a smile! Tell her she’s adorbs? SMILES! Make a face because she’s pooped? OMG THE SMILES.

She continues to be a pretty chill baby now that the evening fussiness is mostly gone. She loves to just look around and take everything in. She does this thing when she’s really excited where she beats her hands around and kicks wildly, so I always tell her she’s dancing a jig.

Likes

Looking at faces, and looking at Toby. Being sung to. Being held. Laying in a blanket to kick her legs. Baths. Getting her diaper changed. The bedroom ceiling fan and light. Lights in general. Looking at herself in a mirror. Her elephant lovie and giraffe with all the tags. Being swaddled. Car rides. Sucking on her hands. Nursing. Sleeping with me. Olivia.

Dislikes

Tummy time. When you don’t pick her up in time. Falling asleep upright on my chest. Refuses to do it anymore. Doesn’t have time for skin to skin lounging when there’s so much other stuff to look at. Being hungry.

Undecided about

Walks in her stroller (while in her car seat). Going to bed. Toys. I don’t think she’s grasped the concept of them yet. Sitting at the table with us for meals.

Looking forward to

I can’t wait to hear her laugh more on a regular basis and start to play with her toys more. I think she’s really interested, and it’s been so much fun watching her try to brag her toys with her tiny little hesitant hands.

This baby. Four months seems so crazy. I keep calling her my three-month-old, but she’s four months and that blows my mind.

Past monthly updates

One month

Two months

Three months