Luciana: Four months

I had been a little nervous about this month. The famed fourth trimester was over and maybe we had to start thinking about being more careful with how we treated Luciana, now no longer a newborn. However, it seemed most of the things that could have been troublesome she had already taken care of for us. She already had started putting herself to a nap in her chair instead of in my arms and her interest in the world kept her from snuggling with me all day long. Once we got there, I felt I didn't actually have to worry.

On her four month well-baby check-up on May 9, she weighed 10 pounds and 12 ounces, was 22.5 inches tall/long, and her head was 15.5 inches around. Precisely double her birth weight! Part of the reason I like my pediatrician so much is that he doesn't talk a lot about percentiles. Moms do enough comparing and worrying about their babies - I don't want that to be encouraged in me; I prefer to let Luciana be Luciana. She is growing well and eating well, and even getting a bit of chunk on her!

At her appointment she was very alert and her usual social self, and the doctor was very pleased with her interactions. She showed off her awesome EC skills and peed in the sink on cue before getting naked to be weighed on the scale. The doctor teased her about being so social he needed to do some six-month tests and that with her potty skills she must think she's two years old!

The most exciting thing that happened this month was that she started sleeping one 4-6 hour stretch every night, and sometimes two long stretches. It's amazing how much better a night is when you get to sleep a long stretch - I had forgotten what that was like!

She sucks on her hands a lot, sometimes so hard that she gags herself. She also stares at them so intently her eyes cross.

She still loves to stand whenever possible. Her daddy can get an adorable giggle and laugh out of her, and they continue to enjoy interactive conversations. She and I spend a lot of time singing, which every once in a while she will initiate. She now notices her hanging toys and sometimes reaches for them.

She loves smiling at herself in the mirror. Her adorable little smile is no longer a full-head experience, but it still involves her tongue, which is so cute. She is starting to put everything in her mouth that she can and we often find her with her tongue out.

She can't roll over yet but she often rolls to her side and then gets frustrated. When she is sleepy, her eyes still get red, but now she knows how to rub them.

This was not a super-happy month, especially for the first few weeks as she went through a growth spurt. Lots of fussing, relatively speaking. On the other hand, she has become very interested in her environment and spends lots of time looking around.

I still wear her all wrapped up which we both enjoy. She's starting to get a little too big to wear at church - when I sit at the piano the microphone is right where her head is!

We are getting used to our new patterns around here, and I personally am starting to feel back to some kind of normal - something I realize I haven't really felt since before I was pregnant. I finished up an incomplete at school, and have played several gigs. We've gone to the beach a few times and planted our garden.

Overall, it's more or less back to normal life around here, we just have another little person with whom to enjoy it.