Monday 7 November 2011

Dear Baby - Month #4

Dear baby,

Today, you're four months old. You're currently laying on me, making it a little hard to type - but I shouldn't really complain, it's nice in its own way that I can get you to settle a lot of the time when others can't.

You had your four month needles today. I was a little worried about it because I knew you have more of an idea of pain now - I accidentally clipped your thumbnail too short last week and you made it very clear that you were in pain. And even though it only lasted half a minute or so, you were putting little blood dots on your cheek and your bib and your outfit for half an hour, and my guilt lasted well in to the night. So far, you've not been too bad today. Last time, you were a bit ratty on the Wednesday, so I'll try not to count my chickens too early.

Sleep this month has been a little worse than last month. You did have two good nights when we were down the coast but it must have been the sea air. Last night was the worst in a while - you woke up six times between 2 and 6am. Each time, you were crying with your eyes closed and settled as soon as I popped a dummy in - I'm blaming gas.

As the months go on, my 'bad' days are fewer and further between. You go roughly two hours between naps, and we're getting better at making use of this time - you're better at sitting in your chair while I tidy, or you're happy enough in the pram. We play more, now that you grab on to toys and can steer them towards your mouth, and you've restarted your raspberry noise which brings an extra level of chattiness with you. You're starting to copy the noises we make sometimes - you were imitating my 'yeah!' noise after each raspberry yesterday, because I made it for you each time you stuck out your teeny tiny tongue.

Tomorrow, you're getting an ultrasound on your hips for potential hip displaysia. I hope it's nothing. But all we can do is see what they say. Maybe you're just like your mummy and prone to hypochondria?

We've started solids now too. In the last few days I've given you some pear in a mesh chewing bag on two different occasions - you were a big fan of it! Yesterday you even cried when it was no longer in your mouth. It's pretty crazy to know that you're piecing together that cry = unhappy, not just cry = everything that you are feeling. We were advised to start solids from four months to help us out while I'm in plaster this month - because we had no potato or rice cereal in the house, your first actual solid was sweet potato. You weren't that big of a fan... but then, I can't really compare it to anything else as it's the first time you've had anything other than breast milk to actually eat! We'll try the rice cereal on Thursday, then I vote for potato before we look at greens.

Your feeding has sped up, and we can get you fed and changed within half an hour, 90% of the time. This gives us more play time, and also lets me feel less of a dairy cow, and more able to 'enjoy' feeding time, rather than resent the fact that I'm parked for an hour with only two hours of 'free' time before I have to do it again.

It's hard for me to step back and see what has been most the most important events this month. You're doing lots of little new things across lots of different skill steps. You had your first laugh, though just the once - there's been a few 'almost' laughs since then, but not quite the same. I hope we get more of this before Christmas!

I'm hoping that this month will also bring on the rolling - though to be fair, I need to get you on the floor more for that to happen. Maybe that will be my deal with you... you sleep more and I'll help you develop?

I put you in your bassinet after that last paragraph and now I can hear you raspberrying through your dummy - you're awake.

Best go shower so I can be in bed to feed you again, in hope of settling you down for the night....!

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