Anna ~ 4 Months Old

Little Miss Anna had a big fourth month!  We finally both kicked our never-ending colds/sinus infection/etc and felt MUCH better.  At her four month check-up, Anna weighed 11 pounds 15 ounces and measured 25 inches long.  Her weight fell from the 50% to under the 20%, but her height jumped up a few curves to the 75%, so the doctor isn't worried about her growth at all. 

She has been waking up quite a bit at night (STILL!), so we decided to try feeding her every two hours during the day instead of every three.  Whew!  That's a lot of eating!  In fact, she's never eaten that often, even as a newborn!  But what do you know, it worked like a charm the past few nights ~ she's only been waking once around 4 a.m.....Yippee!!

Anna's favorite sleep position.

Speaking of sleep, she is too cute when she's getting sleepy.  She doesn't fuss or anything, as long as she's somewhere comfy like the Boppy seat, and has her left arm free to put on her forehead.  If I see her striking this pose, I know it's time to put that sweet baby in her crib!!  She sleeps like this all the time!

She's really started "talking" more and laughing a lot,which is just the best sound ever!  A day after she turned four months, she rolled over, too!  Anna doesn't seem to mind tummy time as much as some babies, and she's already pulling her legs up like she's trying to crawl....oh my goodness, time is flying by!!!

We don't really have a set schedule "by the clock", but in the past few weeks, I've noticed a pattern where Anna basically gets sleepy about 2 hours after she last woke up.  So, she naps for an hour or two, then is awake for about two hours and we do it all again, all day :)  Then it's time for bed around 7 or 8:00 and she wakes up one more time to eat before midnight, and then hopefully just the once in the middle of the night.  Then it's up with the rest of the family around 6:30 or 7 a.m. to start our day!

Here's a picture of our sweetie without a bow in her hair...Daddy likes the "no bow" look better, saying she's so pretty already, she doesn't "need" a bow :)  Well, I agree that she's the most gorgeous little girl I've ever seen and she certainly doesn't need a bow to be beautiful, but Mama can't help herself sometimes...this girly stuff is so much fun already!!

Anna truly is a precious little girl, and these past four months have been heaven!!  I think a lot about how fun it's going to be to have a daughter, and I hope one day she loves her mommy as much as I love mine!! :)

* Sweet Cheeks *

Bathtime with Daddy ~ Ben's favorite time of day....

Tall and HANDSOME!

Everyone keeps telling me what a loooooong baby Ben is, and how tall he is, etc. Well, they were right! At his 4 month check-up, he was 26 inches tall....that's the 90th percentile!!! He weighed almost 14 pounds, which is almost the 50th percentile, where he's been for the past few months. Aside from those mean shots, it was a great check-up. He ran a low-grade fever and was fussy for about a day, but that's it.

Ben's 4th month has been very busy! We went to Chapel Hill, NC for our annual family reunion, and he did GREAT. He napped and slept in his Pack-n-Play for the first time like a champ! Luckily, Mason and Chandler were in the backseat with him to entertain him for all those hours of riding because with a baby, a 4 hour trip magically turns into a 6 or 7 hour ordeal! On the way home, we took a detour and he got to meet his Great Grandmother Brackett for the first time!

Here he is, cheering for the Tarheels!

Visiting Timberlake, NC to see Great Grandma B...

The next weekend, we were off to Gastonia, where he was the guest of honor at a "Sip-n-See"....lots of grandmother Mimi's friends came to sip a beverage and see little Ben. I was sooooo proud of him (and RELIEVED) for how well he did considering the party time went through his nap time and into his next meal time a little. Whew! Mama was glad we got through that with no tears :) In fact, everyone just couldn't believe what a sweet, happy boy he was and most of all, how HANDSOME!!!

On the way to Gastonia, we stopped in Black Mountain, NC for a night for our first "getaway" since having Ben. Again, he did really well, and we had a nice time hanging out in the mountains. Thanks Aunt Jane for letting us stay in your tree house!

Four Months Old!

Whoops! I was drafting a "6 Month Stats" post on what Ben's been up to when I found the one from 4 months that I never posted! So, even though this is old news, I wanted to post it anyway so when I look back I can remember what our days were like at that age :) Not too exciting, but wait! I'm hoping to post a video soon - Blogger.com is having technical difficulties right now, but is supposed to resolve them soon, so stay tuned!

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Wow! Mark and I can't believe how much Ben has changed in just one month. He's really starting to show his little personality in ways that are so, so fun!! I am absolutely loving every single day I'm home caring for him, and feel so very blessed to have such a sweet baby boy to love :)

At four months, Ben is....

• still wearing size 2 diapers


• wearing size 3-6 months clothes


• trying SO hard to sit up...in the carseat, the bouncy seat, when he's eating, etc...!


• sleeping from 8:30 or 9 o'clock until around 5:30 or 6:00 a.m., with the 11:30 "dreamfeed" of about 3 oz of formula (Daddy's job!)


• still sleeping swaddled. I've tried a few naps with one arm out, but they end up being much shorter, so I guess we're not ready to drop the swaddle yet.


• still nursing about five times a day! I can't believe we've made it this far...but still hanging in there week by week.

Here's how our typical day goes:

• 5:30 - wake up, Mama gives Ben a paci several times to get him through to breakfast time.


• 7:00 - nurse, hang out and watch Mama eat cereal, play a bit


• 8:30 or 9:00 - nap until 10:30 or 11:00


• 11:00 - nurse while watching The Price is Right, hang out and watch Mama eat a sandwich and/or get a shower. Time for Ben to get dressed before his nap.


• 12:30 - nap about 45 minutes or an hour


• 2:00 - nurse again


• 2:30 - play, maybe a stroller ride, read a book, etc.


• 3:30 - nap again, hopefully until 5:00


• 5:00 - nurse, eagerly await Daddy to get home! Possibly nap before bath.


• 7:45 - Bathtime ~ Ben's favorite part of the day!


• 8 or 8:30 - nurse again, then to bed around 8:30 or 9:00


• 11:30 - "dream"feed