oh, this 4th month

yes, i know, i have bragged and bragged and bragged about my amazing baby. i told you about how she sleeps through the night and how she has slept through the night since day one. i have talked about her calm personality and her ability to be thoughtful (like Pa) even as a newborn. i have told you time and time again about how she never really cries all that much. at all. now i am starting to think that i should have kept my mouth shut!

months 1-4 were amazing. they brought true all of the things that i write about above. tons of sleep, very little crying, and calmness all around. month 4 has been a tricky one. it started out with a bang on our trip to Michigan for 30/40/30. Harlow was amazing on the flight. true to form, she slept almost the entire way and then smiled through the landing. she barely even made a peep and charmed all of those around her. the first few days in Chicago she was great as well just as she was the first few days in Michigan. then all seemed to take a turn at the end of the Michigan stay. she was fussy, screaming all the time, starving, and clearly in pain when trying to eat. i chocked it up to teething but i think there may have been a yeast issue in there somewhere as well. regardless, it seems to have been a rough spell since that trip. while still a generally calm baby that takes things in thoughtfully (again, just like Papa) she has been much more fussy this fourth month. and much more demanding of what she wants. she is also going through a change in her sleeping habits. while she used to go to bed around 11pm and sleep right through until the next morning...she is now demanding to go to bed earlier each night and then waking up fitfully at all sorts of wee hours of the morning. sometimes she wakes up and i can feed her back to sleep. but, more increasingly, she wakes up and then just wants to lay between us and "talk" for a few hours. super cute but super tiring. also, i must say that we have swaddled since birth and i have feared the end of the swaddle since that time as well. i swear by it and know in the depths of my heart that that is why she has slept so soundly all of those months. now, she suddenly wants no part in it. girl wants to move and flail. we have decided that starting today there will be no more swaddle. yikes. yikes. and yikes. but we do have to make that transition. better now than later. and since she is asking for it, i suppose that means she is ready. i am also wondering if her swaddling as inhibited her development in learning to roll over. she still has no interest in rolling but is doing great sitting by herself and standing if you give her something to hold.

these last few days before she turns 5mo have me praying that we revert back to those easy baby days/ways.

on the flip - she is ever adorable and learns more every single day. we started doing the sign for "milk" just a few days ago with her and she already understands it. she will be crying but if you do the "milk" sign in front of her face she will cease crying, smile, and look at the bottle/breast. it's pretty amazing to see.

as per usual, i am still completely smitten. in fact, i get mkore so each and every day. who knew you could love something so much?





and...i have just been informed that there is a thing called the "four month wakeful." who knew??? clearly not me. a light bulb just totally went off.