Claire - 4 months!

Happy 4 months to Miss Claire!  You are definitely favoring your brother as you get older.  She reminds me a lot of 4 month old Jack in this picture.  Do you think there's a resemblance to 4 month old Elise?

Stats:  Claire's 4 month appointment is next week.  She is about 13 lbs (25-50th percentile) and 25.5 inches (90th percentile).  This is actually the same height that E and J were at 4 months, but they were both heavier.  She is definitely working on the big belly and thigh rolls and her hair is finally growing in.  She wears size 3-6 month clothes and a size 1-2 diaper.  No cloth diapers this time around... too much laundry.

Sleeping:  We dropped the swaddle about 3 weeks ago at the recommendation of her physical therapist (for torticollis), and she wasn't fazed at all.  I was so nervous that this would mess up her night time sleeping, but she didn't even miss a beat.  Girlfriend likes to suck her left thumb as a result :)  At 4 months, she now sleeps 11 - 11.5 hours at night and takes about 4 naps a day.  She had a growth spurt for several days this week and woke up one night to eat around 4:30.  I'm hoping that was the extent of the typical 4 month sleep regression.  The last several nights she's come very close to sleeping for 12 hours.  For naps, she's still sleeping well in her car seat for the 5-6 days a week that we go somewhere in the morning.  This has been such a blessing!  I have this Jolly Jumper cover on (it's freezing here!) as well as a dark blanket (a Rosk Woobee Plush that I got for a great deal on babysteals... love it) tied to it so that we can extend the life of the car seat nap as long as possible.  She must be a third child :)

So, our rough schedule is:
Sometime between 7 and 8 - wake, eat
8:45ish - nap #1 (usually in car seat)
10:15ish - wake, eat
11:45ish - nap #2
1:15ish - wake, eat
2:45ish - nap #3 (always in crib)
4:15ish - wake, eat
5:45ish - nap #4 (always in crib and always 45 minutes)
6:30ish - wake, eat
Eat once more around 7:30 or 8 and in crib between 8 and 9.

She usually puts herself to sleep with very little (or no) fussing.  Sometimes she wakes up at the 45 minute mark during a nap.  If that happens, she sometimes sucks her thumb and goes back to sleep on her own.  If not, since Mama doesn't have time (or a quiet house) to try to get her back to sleep, I feed her and she has wake time and we move on with our day.  She's still happy :)  So, on average, she sleeps for 2 full naps and 2 short (45 minute) naps each day.  After reading about Elise and Jack at 4 months, I'm thinking it may be time to experiment with three naps a day and an earlier bedtime.

Eating:  She's still nursing well (especially in a dark, relatively quiet room) and takes about 20 minutes to eat and get a new diaper.  The last feeding of the day can take longer.

Playing:  Claire is such a happy little baby.  It's so easy to make her laugh and smile.  She loves the activity mat, bouncer, a blanket on the floor, sitting or standing with assistance, etc.  Her face lights up when someone comes over to talk to her.  She's discovered her voice a lot more this month and often "squawks" happily at us or her toys.  Though she loves to chew on her fingers and will pass a toy from one hand to the other,  she has not started mouthing toys.  As mentioned in my previous post, she used to roll over but has apparently forgotten all about it.  She will stay on her tummy for quite a while before she fusses for us to turn her back over.

Events:  Claire recently "graduated" from physical therapy for her torticollis.  It only took about a month of "exercises" to help stretch her neck muscles and she now has full, 180 degree range of motion while on her back and no longer tilts her head.

Claire, you are such a joyful little baby and we all adore you!  Happy 4 months!

Jack "sharing" his fire truck