BABY WINTER’S MONTHLY UPDATE: 4 months old
Baby’s Age: 4 months old
Height: 24.75 inches
Weight: 14 pounds 7 ounces
Head: 41.2 cm
Diaper Size: Size 2
Clothes Size: 3 month & some 3-6 month
Here is a look back at the past few months:
If you missed her previous updates, you can check out:
Here is Winter in her Bumbo:
What Winter is Like at 4 Months: Winter is the epitome of a happy baby. She is always in a good mood. This girl rarely has fussy times. Don’t get me wrong, she does occasionally get cranky and fuss a bit, but as a whole she is a happy spirited gal. When she starts to get tired and it’s nearing naptime, she rubs her eyes and starts to whimper a bit. People are always commenting on how pleasantly tempered Winter is. Eric and I feel so blessed to have such an “easy” baby. At the same time, I don’t think it’s purely luck — I think that she has been trained to be happy because we have her on a schedule that allows her the gift of getting GOOD SLEEP. I think this is so important. I sometimes wonder if she would be such a happy baby if we didn’t follow Baby Wise.
At this age, she has really discovered how fun it can be to play with toys. EVERYTHING goes into her mouth! She always sucks on her hands. She picks up her toys and instantly puts them into her mouth. She shakes her rattle and keys. She bats at toys hanging down. We have some ring links on her carseat that she always holds on to. She even falls asleep with a firm grip on her rings.
Winter has quite the personality. She loves getting attention from anyone and everyone. She loves to sing songs and read books. She loves to watch mommy and daddy be silly. We dance around and act crazy because she likes it. She babbles a lot and often talks at a volume that almost makes us wonder if she is screeching in happiness or if it’s a cry, lol! She has got a LOUD volume to her talking.
She is going to the church nursery regularly now. She really has a fun time away from mommy. She LOVES other babies. It was hard for me to leave her the first few times, but I realized I need to be able to enjoy church again. I now can sit down and pay attention and fully enjoy the time at church without entertaining a baby. I miss her, but I think the time she is in the nursery is beneficial for both her and I.
We are really enjoying this age. Winter is so much more interactive and playful. She is so interested in everything she sees in the world around her. It’s fun to watch her learn and do new things. She is so smart. I feel like she is smarter than other babies her age…but maybe that’s just the proud mommy in me. Playing with her is so much fun. We always are being silly and goofy to make her laugh and giggle. She is so much fun in our lives!
Milestones: At the end of January she rolled over for the first time (tummy to back)! She also laughs & giggles. On her tummy she can lift her head really high and put her weight up onto her shoulders. She “talks” a lot — and she has discovered how LOUD her voice will go! She is overall very strong, but her favorite position is to stand. I can hold onto her hands and she stands for an endless amount of time without her knees buckling.
Sleep: She is a pretty solid sleeper. She still sleeps through the night, typically 9-10 hours straight without waking to eat. She occasionally wakes up around 5:00 am and fusses a bit until we give her the pacifier and she goes back to sleep until about 7:30 am. She doesn’t do this all the time, but at least once per week she wakes up like that. Her usual routine is sleeping from 10:00 pm to 7:30 am. During the day she takes naps. She gets at least 2 or 3 solid naps (around 1.5 or 2 hours) and maybe a few shorter cat naps (45 min to an hour).
Best Moment: Snuggling in bed after our first morning feeding!! When she wakes up each morning, I always go get her from her crib, bring her into bed with me and I nurse her in the side lying position. This is my favorite nursing session of the day. After she finishes eating, we lie in bed and cuddle for a little while and I just love this time together. After we cuddle, I get out the breast pump and she hangs out with me while I pump (we play and I sing songs to her while pumping)…then we get out of bed and start our day!
Worst Moment: Shots at her 4 month appointment. It is SO HARD for me to watch my baby scream because she is in pain!
Health: Her pediatrician couldn’t stop praising Winter. She says that Winter is in excellent health, is strong, smart, growing fantastically and doing superb. Winter is such a healthy and happy little girl. She is always content and is easily brought to a smile.
Eating: Breastfeeding is going great! We are nursing 6 times per day. She typically eats at 7 or 7:30 am, 10:30 am, 2:00 pm, 5 or 5:30 pm, 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm. She usually eats every 3 or 3.5 hours, though I think she is probably ready to push back to at least 3.5 hours and sometimes even 4 hours. I’m going to adjust our schedule soon to dropping to 5 solid feedings with consistently 3.5 and 4 hour intervals. I think she is ready for that. As far as nursing goes, she is very efficient at draining the breast quickly now. She usually finishes eating within 10 minutes tops. She eats about 6 or 7 minutes on the first side and 3-4 minutes on the other side. What a great eater–nursing is SO EASY! We have not introduced any solids. I want to hold out to closer to 6 months. As of yet, she is 100% exclusively breastfed and has never once received any formula or food.
Likes: Smiling, laughing, singing songs, sucking on her wabbanub pacifiers, reading books, putting her hands in her mouth, playing with toys, putting ANYTHING into her mouth, taking a bath, feeling textures, getting tickled, standing up, looking at her reflection in the mirror, getting her hair brushed, getting thrown up in the air, watching the dog & cat.
Dislikes: She gets tired after too long on her tummy & gets mad.
How Mommy is doing: I am doing great! Life as a stay at home mom is really going great. We have a good routine going. Every day I always do some sort of exercise (mostly running these days since I’m training for my upcoming half marathon). I’ve gotten involved with a lot of other moms. I am going to my MOPS group and getting together for playdates. I’ve joined another moms group that is for moms of ONLY babies, which is so awesome for me!! I love having other new moms to hang out with and talk to about baby related things. We get together for stroller walks and baby playdates. It is such a good outlet for me. I love making friends with other mommies and watching Winter play around other babies her age.
Photos of Winter and Our Family:
Baby Lute x3 
