Most mothers sing sweet lullabies to their babies. I sing the 1999 hit, "Big Mama (Go Big Girl)" to Ann Bennett. Our no chin, rolls for days, jolly girl is four months old and is weighing in at 15 pounds, 8 ounces (76th percentile) and is 26 inches long (96th percentile). And that head of hers…it's a whopping 42.6 centimeters (88th percentile). She's a daddy's girl in more ways than one. I kid, I kid. Kind of. I am just happy we have a healthy, growing baby girl. Praise God!
We have made some changes this month to AB's diet. Her feedings are now spaced out every four hours and she is taking anywhere from 6-9 ounces per feeding. I dropped my morning pump session and now exclusively breastfeed her at 7:00. I nurse her again at 11:00, but supplement with formula afterwards. At 3:00 and 6:45 she gets a bottle of formula. She loves her bottle so much that she gets feisty when we try to burp her. I remember Brooks doing this, too. I usually let her finish the entire bottle without burping her to avoid a dramatic meltdown.
During month four, we also decided to move up her bedtime to 8:00 p.m. and later moved it up even more to 7:00 p.m. on December 1st. This doesn't follow along with the Mom's on Call schedule, but AB was not napping well in the evening and would fall asleep during her bottle. I knew that it was time to go ahead and change schedules, so we switched to the MOC TODDLER + BABY 4-6 MONTHS on December 3rd. She started sleeping from 7:00-7:00 this month, which was wonderful. However, it was short-lived. Little bit started breaking out of her swaddle, which would wake her up. We decided to go cold-turkey and take her arms out, but that was a disaster. We re-swaddled her while I waited for the Zipadee-Zip to arrive. Then, the dreaded four-month sleep regression happened. Holy smokes. I have never prayed so much for sleep and good rest in my life! After a few bad nights of getting acquainted with the Zippy, I am so utterly happy to announce that she is sleeping throughout the night again. She still wakes at times, but soothes herself back to sleep. I will occasionally go into her room to pop her pacifier back in when she gets really worked up, but those nights are few and far between. It also helped that I turned the volume on the monitor on the lowest setting…
Her hair is still thinning out. I noticed a good bit of it on the washcloth during tubby time, on her sheets, and the changing pad this month. I can't believe how dark and long her hair was during the first few weeks! I don't think she is going to be a blondie like her brother, but it's definitely not going to be as dark as Daddy's hair like we initially thought.
Speaking of Daddy, every. single. person. that knows John says that she looks just like him. She is identical to his baby picture. Shug always says, "I always knew John would make a pretty girl!"
And pretty girl, she is. I cannot even handle her cuteness these days. Her smile is contagious. That sweet grin captivates me! She is such a happy baby. So much so, that I cannot believe we haven't gotten a laugh out of her, yet! She is ticklish and loves a silly face, but will not giggle! I have gotten a tiny chuckle out of her, but we are still waiting to hear that sweet little sound.
The last date that I want to remember is December 8th (Daddy's birthday!) because AB rolled over from her back to her belly! She mainly just rolls onto her side, but this day was an exception. And surprisingly, she pushed herself right back over. I didn't get to witness it, but John did. What an awesome birthday present!
Ann Bennett, you are a content, go-with-the-flow baby. For this, I am thankful. Minus the lack of sleep this month, it was a good one, and will always be a good one with you in our lives. Thank you for loving Mommy so well. Happy Four Months!
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