I Adore Month Four

New this month, Margo has started waking in the night occasionally. Some of the time she is rolling onto her back and if I turn her over and pat her back, she immediately goes back to sleep. I am also reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and trying to better establish her naps. Currently, Margo likes to cat nap and take little 30 to 45 minutes naps in between each feed. According to the book, it is much better to have two long naps in the AM and PM, so I am working on this by trying to give her time to fall back asleep when she wakes. Fortunately, Margo is a very easy baby and I have not yet had to try crying it out (knock on wood). Usually, if I put Margo into bed drowsy and not asleep, she will soothe herself to sleep. I am also working on this and she is back to almost consistently sleeping through the night and is getting better at taking long naps.

She is eating about 30 oz. a day and taking five bottles of about 6 ounces each. I add brown rice cereal to her morning and bedtime bottle, which she loves. I am a huge lover of the Happy Bellies brand of rice cereal and think the added probiotics make it easier for her to digest. She is starting to last a little longer than three hours in between feedings, so I may have to start adjusting her schedule a bit, so that we can maintain the same bedtime.

Every night before bedtime, we have a fun ritual that I always look forward to. She likes to be undressed before I put on her jammies and I blow raspberries on her tummy and tickle her belly, feet and neck. She laughs and laughs and laughs—it is hilarious. (I've included a funny video where she couldn't decide if she wanted to laugh or cry.) After her last feed, we always read a bedtime story and she is getting increasingly interested in books, which I love. My favorite right now is It’s Time to Sleep, My Love, which has neat illustrations and is very soft and soothing. It is by one of my favorite children’s authors who also wrote On the Night You Were Born, which is beautiful and brings me to tears. I read her fun stories too during the day when she has to sit upright after her feeds. It is a great way to kill time during those 20 minutes.



This month we introduced Margo to the doorway jumper which is a hoot! She picked up on it on her first try and loves to bounce away… I swear I could probably leave her in it for an hour and she’d be content, but I don’t want to damage her legs or hips.



We also had a funny moment this month when Margo decided to poop in the bath that I was taking with her—what luck! It was so gross, but fortunately it went right down the drain without spreading all over the place. I saw her making the poop face and screamed for Cary to come get her, but it was too late—ha ha! Ahhh, the adventures of parenthood! What joy it brings to our lives… unlike anything I could ever imagine. We are incredibly blessed!