Baby Kaylee {4 Months old}

 

Kaylee has had a roller coaster of days this past month. I think with me returning to work, going back and forth between the sitter and grandma watching her, her schedule has just been completely turned on its head. Just when she got into the groove of things we changed it up on her! There is a phenom called "4 month sleep regression" or "The wonder weeks" in which babies are just learning so much about their surroundings that they get overwhelmed and over stimulated. This makes for a very cranky baby! We've had some rough days but luckily we have more good, smiling days and the icing on the cake is all the new things she has learned to do!

Again, I can't believe how time flies and my tiny little newborn is a growing baby interacting with her environment and us! I'm enjoying each stage of her life and this one is so fun! She is able to play with us and "talk" to us! It's amazing to watch her grow!

4 Month Favorites::

This month she has been learning to interact with things (and people more) so her favorites are becoming more interactive!

1) Bouncer - She has finally warmed up to the bouncer. She will even take a short catnap in it occasionally.  

2) Television - Call us bad parents but her favorite thing to do in the morning (or anytime) is watch cartoons! She is mesmerized by all the lights and colors. 

3) Sun hat and glasses - She's not too fond of the bright sun we've been having. We have to make sure we have her hat on her if we are going to be outside. I also love to put her sunglasses on her but those don't tend to stay on long! 

4) Oball Rattle - She loves to grab on to this! It's perfect for her little baby fingers to grab onto and she loves the sound it makes when it rattles!

5) Swim suit - She went swimming for the first time last weekend at the indoor pool at our rec center. She is going to love the water and be a swimmer like her daddy (and unlike her mommy!)

6) Mommy - In her progress through the "wonder weeks" she has become very clingy to me. She usually cries when anyone else tries to hold her. She will usually let Chad hold her and my sister too, but she is definitely a mommy's girl (and I'm not complaining!) 

7) Open Mouthed Kisses - This may be a mommy favorite but she opens her mouth wide and gives us big slobbery kisses! I know that she is probably trying to eat our faces since everything goes in her mouth these days but I like to think she's kissing me =) 

8) Old Favorites: Pacifier, Activity Mat, FINGERS, Teethers, Bathtime. All of her old favorites from the past months have kind of rolled over and she loves them more and more the older she gets. We can't get her fingers or the pacifier out of her mouth, ever! She is constantly sucking on something! She loves to lay on the activity mat and play with the dangling toys and mirror (or even just lay on a blanket on the floor and play with mom and dad)! She can't quiet hold them herself yet but she loves to chew/suck on the teethers we put in her mouth. Bath time just may be her favorite time of day besides waking up in the morning. She has started to splash around and just loves it!

Stats::

12.4 lbs :: 15th %
23.5in :: 15th %

She has thinned out and lost some of those baby cheeks but she is just as cute as ever and still has her baby rolls!

Milestones::

I can definitely tell how much her BRAIN is growing this past month. She is interacting with things so much more and learning new things all the time! She is one smart cookie!

{Rolling over}

She rolled over for the first time a couple of weeks ago! I was so excited, I jumped up and down! Also, I was very happy that I was there when she did it for the first time! I was worried she would never roll over because she hates tummy time so much but oddly the past couple weeks she doesn't cry right away when we put her on her stomach. Sure enough one day I put her down on her belly and within a minute she rolled right over! I called Chad (who was on his way home from work) and was cheering and yelling! He got home a couple minutes later and she did it again so Daddy could see! 

{Grabbing}

A couple of weeks ago she started reaching for things we place in from of her. She has this Oball rattle that she loves! When we shake it in front of her she immediately reaches out and grabs onto it. She will put it straight in her mouth and hold onto it for a couple seconds before letting go. 

Sleeping::

{Night time}
This month has been pretty crazy, she has had good nights and bad (just like her days). On a good night, she will go 6 hours before waking to eat. She eats and goes right back to sleep. She gets up 2 times to eat and is up for the day around 7! We have had a couples nights where she gets up every 1.5-2 hours and doesn't want to go back to sleep and gets up for the day around 6... luckily we have more good nights than bad! Those nights are really rough! We moved her bedtime back to 7:30 because she wasn't able to stay up until 8 anymore and was getting really fussy before bedtime. That has seemed to do well except that she has started to want to get up for the day around 6 instead of 7. I'm really hoping once she gets these "wonder weeks" out of the way she starts to sleep a little longer each night and starts skipping a feeding (or two)!! 

{Naps}

What are naps? She was on a roll taking a good 2-3 hour nap in the morning and then several cap naps (45 minutes) after that. Now, we are lucky if she takes that long nap. She has been cap napping a lot lately and those are usually our bad days. I would love to get her on the schedule of 2-3 medium length (1-2 hours) naps a day but this girl is stubborn (like her momma) and decides what she wants to do each day no matter what mom's (or dad's) plan is. 

Eating::

She is still exclusively breastfed. She does very well with it. She eats about 6x a day and 2x at night. Her bottles the sitter gives her during the day are around 4oz each. I would like to start stretching her to every 4 hour feedings (she is currently nursing every 2-3 hours, except at night).

Misc::

{Baby Sitter}

Kaylee started going to the baby sitter this month since I went back to work. She loves looking around at all the kids playing. She comes home worn out from all the fun she has and I really think she likes to be there and "play" with the other kids and of course she loves Ms. Tracy! I think it is really important for her to get some social interaction with other kids (even this young). Also, I think it builds up those immunities early and hopefully she won't be a sick kid! 

{Mother's Day}

I celebrated my first Mother's Day with my sweet girl. Chad let me sleep in and took her to the grocery store. He brought me home Starbucks and we had a nice little afternoon together. Then we went to the park to meet up with some family. It was a great day and I got to spend it with my two favorite people!