The Bell Family Blog: Adalee Rose: 4 Months

Stats:
We had our 4 Month Checkup with the pediatrician on April 2nd, which just happened to be exactly four months after Miss Adalee was born! How convenient...I wonder which crazy parent made that happen? Anywho...Adalee weighed in at 14 pounds and 3 ounces, and measured 24 inches in length. However, I do think they got her length measurement wrong. She is definitely longer than what she measured. Miss Adalee is now wearing all 6 month sized clothing. She is still in size 1 diapers but is about to make the shift to size 2. We are still working on improving her dry skin - mostly on her face, hands, and arms - but otherwise, we have a very healthy and happy little girl!

Eating:
Miss Adalee is still on the same eating "schedule" as she was at three months. She typically nurses once in the morning, usually around 6:00am, before we leave for work/childcare. She then takes three bottles during the day - approximately every three hours (9:00am, 12:00pm, and 3:00pm). The only difference is that now these bottles are 5 ounces instead of 4 ounces. When we get home from work/childcare, she nurses on demand throughout the evening, until bed time at 7:30pm. We are still only giving her breast milk - no formula supplement yet. It has definitely been getting harder to pump all of the milk that she needs - especially on busy days at work! We have started to use the milk in our freezer stash to help fill the gaps. At our appointment, we were given the go-ahead to start cereal! So we will probably begin that adventure soon!

Sleeping:
Miss Adalee is consistently sleeping through the night! Yay! She has always been a great sleeper, but now she is even better! Adalee usually goes down between 7:15pm and 8:00pm, and then sleeps through the night until 5:30am-6:15am. Because she sleeps so much at night, she is awake for most of the day - usually taking 3-4 cat naps that last only 15-30 minutes.

First time I caught Miss Adalee sucking her thumb!

She has recently started sucking her thumb, usually when she is tired or is needing comforted. Prior to this point, Adalee did very well with her pacifiers, but now she is all about the thumb. She just pushes pacifiers out of her mouth with her tongue when you attempt to give her one. She has learned to rub her hand down the front of her face in order to find her mouth and her thumb. She shows a definite preference toward her left thumb, which you can easily see by the callouses forming on her hand.

Playing:
Miss Adalee has been awesome this past month! She loves to laugh, smile, coo, blow bubbles, and even squeal when she is really happy. Just don't bring out the camera, because all the smiles go away at that point! Her best time is in the morning when she just wakes up. She almost can't contain her excitement when she sees mommy or daddy come into her room to get her from her crib. Miss Adalee has become an excellent "stander" - bearing a lot of her weight on her legs when she is held upright. She stands on the floor, on mommy and daddy's laps, on the tables, etc. It has become her new favorite position! She no longer likes to be held "like a baby" - she likes to be upright and facing out so that she can see everything that is going on. Still has great neck/head control, and can lift her upper body during tummy time. Still loves to roll over, and is getting better and quicker every day!

Miss Adalee still had no interest in toys. She doesn't reach for her toys or follow them with her eyes when moved in front of her. Pediatrician is not worried about it though, because she does so well focusing on people and can follow faces from side to side. Maybe next month her interest in toys will grow!