Noah's 4 Month Update
Noah Bear,
You are quickly becoming your own littler person who is aware of their surroundings. You love standing up, assisted, checking yourself out in the mirror, and your toots are so stinky. We took you to your 4 month well-child visit and you weigh 13 pounds 1 ounce (16 weeks), which means you’re around the 12th percentile. For length, you were in the 50th percentile.
This month, Sophia started going to preschool 5 days a week instead of 3. We sure miss her when she is gone, but are so thankful she is having a great experience at the Christian school. We love when she comes home singing new songs or talking about her new friends.
Your daddy and I have been reevaluating our priorities and how we want to spend the limited non-working time that we have. One of the things we started doing this month is parent-kid dates. for the first one, Daddy took Sophia on a walk to get coffee and hot cocoa. I took you to Starbucks and wanted to sit outside but everything was wet, so we went home. You of course fell asleep. You’re a great date. ;)
Another month, another leap. You entered leap 4 with a bang, and within days of starting, you’re already exhibiting some of the skills. You’ve started grizzling when you’re tired; aggressively sucking on your hands; getting more efficient at drinking milk; and you rolled over twice (10/25 and 10/27) from your back to your belly. A few days shy of 4 months, you became really intentional about grabbing toys. It’s so fun seeing you start to (sorta) play.
Feeding continues to go well. Since we weren’t consistently giving you a bottle, you currently refuse to drink out of one. I am trying to give one to you a few times a week to make sure you’re used to it before going to daycare. Hopefully this goes well as Sophia was not a fan of the bottle.
Since you’re getting close to rolling over consistently, we started transitioning you to a sleep sack. We started by leaving 1 arm out and the other one swaddled, moving to both arms out after a few days, and finally with no sleep sack. It’s hard to say if you’re sleeping worse because of not being fully swaddled or if it is because of your developmental leap, but so far the transition hasn’t been too bad.
On 11/4, we started actively trying to teach you to fall asleep independently. We are hoping that this will lay the foundation for good sleep, especially for the 4 month sleep regression. After only a few days of the Taking Cara Babies S.I.T.B.A.C.K. plan, you’re consistently able to fall asleep for naps and bedtime on your own. That is, until the 4 month sleep regression hit around 11/9 (maybe even earlier?). If you ask me first thing in the morning, I’ll tell you that this regression is horrible. If you ask me after I’ve fully woken up and had some coffee, I’ll say it isn’t too bad.
You’ve been waking up around 3 AM, needing to be calmed back down. We let you cry for a few minutes, then try to shush you while putting our hand on your chest. Usually those two things don’t work, so we then give you the binky, which you love. You’re also waking up around 5, so I’ll calm you down again and occasionally give you a few minutes on the boob so you’ll last till our wake up time. Naps haven’t been affected, thankfully! I’m really hoping this is the extent of the regression and that it is over with soon. I find it so funny that I’ve been so focused on you learning to sleep independently so that the 4 month sleep regression isn’t as bad, but I didn’t connect the dots that you were already in your sleep regression until a week or so after it started. The next day you had a harder time going to sleep for your naps and wouldn’t settle down for bed for over 30 minutes. That very night you slept almost 9 hours without waking us up at all. Maybe this is the end? A few days before turning 4 months, you began taking a longer first nap, which means you’re getting more than one sleep cycle and you’re able to transition through those cycles by yourself! Good job.
Your sleep habits are so different than Sophia’s were. Aside from following Babywise, I don’t remember having to teach her to fall asleep independently. We just put her in the crib and she would fall asleep pretty quickly. It wasn’t until almost a year that she went through a regression (completely skipped the 4 month regression) and we had to actively try different ways to help her get back on track.
I started putting you down for a few naps a day in Sophia’s room, to help you become familiar with her room. Once you’re sleeping through the night we plan to move you out of our bedroom. Sophia is ready to share her room (or so she says) and we are ready to have our room back to ourselves.
On October 23rd, we were able to dedicate you to The Lord at our church (Mannahouse). It was so special standing up there with our close friends who are also in this same season of life.
Grandma Karen came for a long weekend and treated us to a beach house vacation at Rockaway Beach. We had a great time hanging out and walking along the beach. While there, you slept one of the nights in your own room and Sophia shared a bed with Grandma, which Sophia loved. A week or so after Grandma Karen left, Grandpa Danny came for his visit. We kept it low key and hung out at home most of the time. He was a huge help with you while I had an appointment and some work to get done.
The rest of the month was spent seeing some of our friends for Friendsgivings, enjoying the sunny weather, taking family photos (shoutout to Diana Gula Photography - she’s the best!), and getting ready for Thanksgiving.
We’ve settled into a good routine with Sophia’s preschool schedule and your nap schedule. I feel like we’ve finally hit our stride and things have been fairly smooth sailing the last few weeks. We are looking forward to your First Thanksgiving, where I plan to give you a few “tastes” of some yummy food; and our trip to Utah in December. You’re such a light to be around and we are so Thankful God gave you to us.
Love,
Mama and Dada
