4 months – Such smiley times

And just like that, our little girl is 4 months old.

Hard to believe right!!

Charlotte

This last month, despite seeming to disappear in the blink of an eye, has been quite a wonderful one.

Lots of smiles, laughs and chatter from this cute little daughter of ours, that never fail to bring a smile to my face.

Her eyes are a bright, sparkling blue, and her little wisps of hair are starting to lighten.

And I kiss her chubby cheeks no less than 100 times a day!

Oh and her latest trick?

(haha mid raspberry)

Blowing loud, slobber-filled raspberries, and looking ever so proud when she does so!

And with the new talent of blowing raspberries, came the drool – so Miss C is most certainly a bib baby now! Luckily, due to the generosity of friends, we have so many gorgeous bibs to choose from.

 

While last month she discovered her hands, this month C certainly learned how to use them. C grabs anything and everything that happens to be near her – and promptly puts it in her mouth – so bibs, necklaces, hair and earrings beware!

And somewhere amongst this obsession with her hands and mouth C discovered her thumb. So it is now fairly common to see her with thumb in mouth – something we are trying to discourage but with limited success.

What we have been encouraging, however, is tummy time, and C is certainly starting to get better at it. I don’t see her rolling anytime soon, but she will now tolerate much longer periods on her tummy.

Her neck strength is also getting better, so much so that we have been using the bumbo seat in short doses.

She actually really likes it, and looks so cute in it!

Feeding

Breastfeeding continues to go well, and Charlotte continues to be really efficient.

Bottles? Still no interest. Although I do have some sippy cups that we are trialling also. So far its been without success, but the effort continues.

Sleeping

C has 3 to 4 naps throughout the day, and will pretty much go to bed for the evening at 7.00pm.

A few weeks ago she started waking 3 to 4 times overnight again, which was difficult and tiring. While she would generally feed when she woke up, I began to notice that some of these feeds were really short and suspected that she was not waking for food – but perhaps more for company.

With that in mind, I have been trying to encourage her to self settle with some success, and I am hopeful that the night periods will start to improve soon.

Milestones and achievements

Like last month, this month also had quite a few “firsts”.

First road trip to Sydney.

First time in the Baby Bjorn facing forward – which she LOVES!

First AFL match…

First time meeting her Jonpa.

 

First signs of a tooth.

Yep – that’s right! My little girl has a tiny sharp white bump that has made an appearance on her bottom gum – which is most certainly the start of a tooth pushing through!

While she doesn't seem too bothered by it for now (aside from gnawing on anything she can get her hands on) I suspect we will have a fun month ahead of us.

Me – the physical and the emotional

Well, what can I say. With my return to work, this month I have been feeling a little stretched. I actually wrote about it here.

Stretched a little thin as I try to find the right balance between being a Mum, a wife, a daughter, a sister and a friend. All while working part time, blogging, and trying to ‘keep house’.

And trying to keep sane.

Physically I am mostly recovered – although the  postpartum hair loss has well and truly made an appearance, and I actually developed another infection just recently – resulting in my 6th course of antibiotics since C was born.

Exercise continues to be hit and miss – as we have limited daylight hours, have had visitors in town and travelled ourselves (and I have to wait until I have someone to look after C before I can head out for a run / ride). So needless to say, there have not been that many runs or rides to speak of in the past month. We were, however, given a jogging pram, so I am hoping that when C is a little bigger I can take her along with me!

Emotionally, I am really enjoying my new role as a Mum. I love watching C grow and learn, and she makes me smile and laugh no less than 1000000 times a day! Every day is a new adventure, that’s for sure.

Stay tuned for an updated ‘day in the life’ post – which I hope to prepare next week.