Dear Alyssa – Month 4

Dear Alyssa-

On Monday you turned 4 months old! That’s 1/3 of a year- crazytown! Here’s what’s been happening in your world for the past month. I took you to the doctor on Monday. You’re just over 15 pounds and 26.25 inches long. That’s 72nd percentile for weight and 97th percentile for height. You appear to be taking after your mama and becoming a long and lean string bean-type baby.

You’re wearing mostly 6-month clothes with a few 6-9 month options, mostly because you’re so long, and size 2 diapers.

This month you started spitting up a ton and arching while feeding so we tried the same reflux meds we tried a few months ago and this time they are helping a little bit. Mostly they’re addressing the spit up issue, which is good. But you still cry a lot. Ohhhhh baby girl do you know how to cry.

While things have improved slightly since last month, you’re still a lot of work. I stopped eating dairy to see if that would help and although it’s certainly not hurting…maybe even helping a little, it definitely wasn’t a magic fix.

You’re starting to have some eczema issues like your brother had when he was younger….but mommy hasn’t been very good about putting lotion on you so I’m trying to be better about it to help that out. You like baths and you hate wearing socks. You also don’t really enjoy your car seat, which is unfortunate for you because you have to spend a lot of time in it. Good news is you’ve discovered Mortimer the Moose and enjoy chewing on him while you’re sitting in there.

Although you still do your fair share of crying during the day, you have gotten better in the evenings. I can usually nurse you to sleep by 9pm or so. You have a sleep sack to keep you warm and I think you’re starting to get used to the fact that when I put it on, it means it’s time to go to sleep. You sleep in the pack and play in our room and usually make it until about 3am when you wake up to eat. Then you and I go downstairs. After you eat you go back to sleep for a couple more hours on a good day, but not always.

You’re not a great napper. If I’m lucky, you take a morning nap in your car seat around 9:30 when we head to the gym, but there are plenty of days that I coach the class while holding you. Afternoon naps are hit or miss and there are many days when you’re awake from 11am to 9pm with the exception of a quick 20-minute catnap. LONG days 🙂

That’s ok though. We have fun during our afternoon time together while your brother naps. You’re starting to smile at people if you’re in the mood and doing some talking. Not a ton, but I’ve noticed that even in the last week or so it’s started to pick up.

Pretty much you’re happy as long as mommy is holding you. You hate being left alone, don’t especially like it when other people hold you and don’t like being put down. Occasionally you’ll sit in one of your jumpers for a little while, or in the Ergo….but you usually just want to eat if you’re in the Ergo, unless I turn you so you’re facing out.

You spend a lot of time getting dragged around your house while your brother plays and I try to sneak in some tummy time every day, although it’s not your favorite. You did, however, roll over from bellly to back for the first time on Monday, after rolling from back to belly on your 3 month bday.

I have a feeling you’re going to be much happier when you can crawl!

Nursing is still going well. You eat a lot and I pretty much feed you whenever you want to eat. You’re starting to get a little more easily distracted and tend to pop on and off sometimes, which isn’t great for me, and we dealt with a cut nipple this month. I spent a lot of time having flashbacks to the abscess I had with your brother, but luckily I was able to get it healed and under control.

You love your brother. You immediately react to the sound of his voice and follow him around the room all day with your eyes. We’re actually going to take you to get your hearing tested in a week or two. You react best to loud noises right in your ear, like a hair dryer noise and when the music is up full volume at the gym it usually puts you right to sleep. Although you passed your newborn hearing test, the doctor suggested getting it checked again because if you have some trouble hearing, it could be contributing to why it’s hard to comfort you. Or you may just like loud noises 🙂 So we’ll see!

You’re constantly trying to sit up when you’re lying on your back and your way to be held is sitting straight up and facing out. You don’t do much lounging but it’s nice when you do! You’re still working on sucking your thumb. You know how to find it, or your fingers, but you’re still not doing it on a regular basis. I’m still holding on to hope that you’ll figure it out soon!

Mommy loves you, little one. Even on the hardest, loudest days. They just make the good days even sweeter. I love that youre personality is slowly starting to come through and can’t wait to see what next month brings!

Love,
Mama

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