4 Months

I'm not sure if my life just shrunk drastically after having a baby, or if I had absolutely no life before and now I have a small one. At any rate, I seem to never be able to think about anything to write about these days other than her. Maybe I should join a book club or start political ranting or something of the sort. HA! I think not, at least to the latter. Anyway, for now I'll just write down a bunch of 4 month ramblings and this will be boring so feel to not read it.

At 4 months (on the 14th) Aleah:

-- weighs 17 pounds and is 24 inches long (oh, correction, as I was sitting in church this morning I remembered that the scale was in pounds/oz, so she would be 16 pounds 9 oz.) - clearly above average weight and slightly under-average height. Her head is also rather ample sized but I don't remember the exact measurement.

-- She's been a bit of a guessing game lately. At times she seems to be in a lot of pain after eating and doesn't want to lay down. I'm trying to figure out if it's her reflux, me eating dairy, when she's overtired, or a combination of more than one of these. I started eating more dairy and around that time it got worse, but she also had had less of her medication around that time. I'm giving her the meds and staying on dairy for a few days to see what she does.

-- She never ever wants to be held to go to sleep. = ( Some might think that's wonderful but it's sorta sad to me. I always liked when she'd let me rock her to sleep, but even when she was really tiny, she didn't always like it better than just being laid down. I had hoped to do both so she would remain a flexible and easy child in this area. HA! When she's tired, she wants to be in bed and that's that. It's nice when were at home, not nice when we're in places such as... oh... airplanes and such... and church, which used to be a nightmare, but now she goes to the nursery and sleeps in a pack and play.

-- We've gotten on more of a routine, but the times are still very flexible. She usually takes 3 naps a day but lately hasn't been always taking the evening one, which is okay, because then she goes to bed at about 7:30. So yeah, no complaints here. If we've been gone for the morning and she hasn't slept much, it's also not at all uncommon for her to sleep 3.5 - 4.5 hours in the afternoon. Insane, I know, and I shouldn't let her, but it never messes us her night sleep. so I do. She has slept 4 hours on quite a few occasions.

-- Speaking of sleep, I realized again this morning how my expectations regarding her sleeping habits are a bit ludicrous at times, but based on what she normally does, so I'm not a complete nut case. I will likely have to adjust them for future offspring. But then I look at her father and think, no, all our kids will probably be wonderful sleepers, if genetics has anything to do with it. = ) I find myself all up in a tizzy, for instance, if she has ONLY slept 10 hours one night. I start thinking, what in the world is her problem, she's never up this early, I need to start eliminating all food from my diet...bla bla bla. Then I think that some parents might like to stone me if they heard me uttering such things. At any rate, she usually sleeps about 11 - 12 and sometimes 13 hours at night. I feed her right before I go to bed, but she sleeps right through it. (I take no credit for it, by the way. She's always been a great night sleeper without too much intervention from me)

-- Also speaking of sleep, she seems to be a rather light sleeper. = ( I'm sure this one is my fault for not being loud enough during her formative days. She'll take long naps and all but if I try to cover her up when she's sound asleep, for instance, she'll jerk around and open her eyes as though I blew a fog horn in her ear. hello kid, it's a slight tug, get over it! And she stirs at the slightest noises. arg.

-- I'm rather intrigued by her little mannerisms and ways she puts herself to sleep and it makes me want to have a pile more kids just so I can see how they're the same/different. On second thought, maybe I'll just take a poll of YOUR kids. She always sucks her left thumb and then with her right hand she tucks the thumb back like she's holding up 4 fingers, and puts puts it up over her face/eyes, and holds the thumb-sucking fingers. It's really cute, but just make me wonder what makes them come up with the things they do? If her right hand is free when she's eating, she does the same thing - reaches up and puts that hand over her face, esp. if she's tired. But she'll never do it with the other hand

-- She still barely rolls over. She's never rolled front to back and has rolled front to back a few times, but doesn't make a habit of it. I'm sure it's not easy rolling around when you're wider than you are tall. She makes a great paper weight though - pretty good at balancing when sitting up, but doesn't sit entirely on her own for very long.

-- Has a great belly laugh

-- How in the world can size 3 diapers be tight? They're supposed to go up to what is it, 28 pounds? I guess they don't plan for all the 17 pounds to be concentrated around the middle.

-- I'm in love with this age! For the most part, she's a lot easier than when she was teeny tiny, not as much crying, and oh so sweet and lovable. And not destroying the place yet. = )

-- oh dear, I need to get ready for church!

-- now I'm back from church. oh my, we stayed for the picnic. why oh why? It's such a nice idea. They do them in the spring and fall. But yeah, fall here is like 95 degrees which is around what it was today. hot, hungry, tired baby. hot, tired, cranky wife, blissfully happy husband wondering what's wrong with us... anyway, we survived and lived to tell about it. The pain of the memory is dulled by the now peaceful afternoon sitting in the AC, child sound asleep, me curled up with the laptop... ahhhhhhhhh

-- I figured I post a few bonus pics just for the hairy of it. I'm doing them in a different post and I don't know which one will post first, so anyway, enjoy. if you want to. otherwise scowl at them.