Four months old

I missed Rosie's three month blog post because, well, June happened (seriously, it rivals December as the craziest month of the year for us) so we're skipping ahead to four months old as of today!

Rosie is still one of the happiest, calmest, most patient babies I've ever met. (Maybe I just haven't met enough babies?) She wakes up smiling, she gets super excited when she sees someone she recognizes, and she's pretty content to sit and watch us for long(ish) stretches. She has the biggest, happiest smile that just lights up every part of her face and we absolutely adore it.

Rosie also just rediscovered her tongue and sticks it out on purpose now. So stinkin' cute.

Rosie has discovered her voice. Sometimes she yowls just to hear herself; other times, it indicates an annoyance that she's not being held or fed or whatever. Sometimes she's been loud enough that from a different room, I've wondered if I'm hearing Georgie! She also still "talks" to us with lots of cooing and baby sounds. She loves songs and rhymes, especially "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" and our version of the Rosie the Riveter theme song we filled with words about her.

Less adorably, my wonderful sleeper of a baby seems to have disappeared, hopefully only temporarily. She went from sleeping through the night to waking up twice a night like she used to do when she was like, two months old. No bueno. It seems that keeping her swaddled is the key, but she always always gets her arms bent before I can wrap them straight. I tried unswaddling one arm, but she stopped sleeping altogether. Ugh. So we bought more batteries, learned a new swaddling technique, and let her rock all night in her swing. This has produced two nights of uninterrupted sleep, and on the third she got an arm free and woke up once, but I am encouraged. Good habits do not trump getting sleep at this point.

Rosie still eats like a champ and so long as I remember to give her her medicine, her reflux doesn't bother us too much. We've had to increase the amount we're giving her twice, but hey, it's still working! She very suddenly decided not to drink from a bottle and I haven't had any luck changing her mind for about six weeks. This makes my life hard and is hugely disappointing. (I was determined to have a baby that would take a bottle this time so it kind of breaks my heart.) (She doesn't take a pacifier either, but this is less distressing to me.) She actually likes tummy time and she is fascinated by the baby she sees in the mirror. She hasn't figured out rolling over yet (no complaints here) but she'll curl up on one side, so that's a good start. When you hold her hands, she stands up very well and very frequently, and loves loves loves to suck on things. Mainly on fabric (blankets, soft toys) and people (she'll slobber your hand if you're holding her). And most exciting, she's on her way to sitting up! If she's got something to give her a little balance, she can sit for quite a while on her own. Meaning, I can put her on my lap, help her find her balance, and then only have to steady her a bit here and there. It's so fun!

And tonight as I rocked my (tightly swaddled) four-month-old darling, she looked up at me with a beautiful smile in her eyes as I gave her little kisses all over her face. She poked her tiny tongue out and practiced cooing with l's at the front of them, and I marveled again that she is mine to love and hold and delight in. And that is Rosie at four months.

Is there anything better than a summer haircut?

I submit that there is not!

Before:

 After:

P.S. Rosie's hair needs a shout out, too, I think. 

Still growing in very light and it sticks up and out on the top no matter what I do, so I usually try to work with that. The big questions is, will it be curly like Georige's? The answer: Dunno. It could go either way. Georgie's didn't get mega curly until it got longer so we'll just have to wait and see!

All about Georgie's hair

I frequently have people ask me how much time I spend on Georgie's hair, usually as an amazed response to seeing her mess of curls. The answer is, I don't, but I thought I'd document the process to show exactly how little I do.

First, I wash Georgie's hair during her after-dinner bath. It still holds a little curl, even when wet.

Then I towel it off to dry it a bit and the curl pops out again.

Then I brush it straight back. (Georgie really wanted to see the camera.)

The ends start to ringlet a little.

Approximately twelve hours later, this is what she wakes up to.

And that's it. Her hair's actually comparatively tame in these pictures. When it gets really wild, I'll brush it and put it in pigtails (sometimes just one ponytail, but I can't quite catch all the hair yet). There is a spot in the back that is always matted because of how she sleeps on it and I occasionally try to brush it out. But seriously, that is the extent of  her hair care currently. I envy her curls pretty much everyday!

P.S. Georgie tried some acrobatics while I was taking pictures - funny girl!