4 Months ::

So I'll say it again... 'how can it have been that long' and 'it's just going all too quickly', but it really is. 4 months is closer to 6 months than I would like, 6 months means crawling (maybe) and real food and I'm just not ready for all that yet that. Namely because Milo's current favourite playthings, lego and marble runs, do not mix well with adventuring babies, I expect a playpen will be in order. But also because I'm just loving being a mama to this little girl, we have our ups and downs, of course, but for the most part it is absolute joy.


We have been through all 3 sets of jabs now. All but the last were fine and even then she was just a bit more unsettled than usual and required extra cuddles. No more until she's one now which is a relief.
I took her to be weighed on Friday at the local Children's Centre. It was the first time since her 6 week check. I just decided I didn't really need the worry of all those constant weigh ins. She's obviously content and feeds well, so avoided watching her go up and down that chart for a little while. I'm pleased I did, she's still sitting just below the 25th centile at 12lb 10, but I expect there would have been weeks where she was under that.
I'm still breastfeeding and don't see that stopping anytime soon really, now we've mastered it I can't imagine feeding her any other way. Johnny and sometimes Milo will give her bottles of breastmilk, which she happily accepts, as long I'm not too close by.


As for sleep, she sleeps well but we don't have much routine. She tends to have a morning and afternoon nap, but not always both and the duration of these varies a lot. In the evenings she tends to be up until I go to bed. I've tried putting her down earlier but it doesn't matter how fast asleep she is when I lay her in her moses basket, if I'm not in the room she awakes within 30 minutes. However when I'm in the room, she now sleeps right through to morning, so it's not all bad. Usually that's around midnight until 8-9.
I tried starting a bedtime routine last night, bottle with Johnny, bath, pyjamas, story, feed, then to bed. Except she fell asleep in Johnny's arms before he even managed to give her any of the bottle. She only snoozed for around 30 minutes so then we tried again. All went well, but within 20 minutes she was awake as suspected because I had gone back downstairs. Once I put her back down and stayed in the room she slept until morning.
I guess I'll just keep trying, maybe doing the whole routine before I go to bed myself so she understands more that it means bedtime, but I'm not going to get myself too worried about set routines just yet. They're only little for such a short time, I don't want to spend that time stressing us both out with rules and routines.
We've just started venturing out to baby groups and really enjoying it. Especially anything that involves singing. Plus I've discovered we are both so much happier if we actually get up and dressed and out the door before the 3pm school run!


Some things I'd like to remember for this stage ::
Effie currently has 2 favourite toys, this gorgeous gingerbread man and a lovely colourful giraffe that was handed down to her.
She can roll unaided from front to back with ease and has accidentally gone back to front on a few occasions now.
She is still in her moses basket despite appearing too small for it weeks ago. If she sleeps well I guess she must be comfortable!
She smiles with recognition at people she knows well, laughs when tickled, talks a lot, roars (thanks to Milo) and generally makes a fair amount of noise.
She adores Milo and the cat, I have a fantasy in my head that her and the cat will become best friends but we'll see how that goes once she has sticky, grabby toddler hands.