The Novack Family: 4 months

The book The Happiest Baby On The Block says that the first three months of a baby's life is more like a fourth trimester. What the author means is that the first three months the baby behaves the same as he/she did in utero (eat, sleep, poop, fuss, wants to feel snug). After that the baby's personality begins to blossom and get more interactive and fun. Boy, or in our case, girl was he right. This past month has been so full of all kinds of interaction that I'll have to start blogging more often just to keep up!!

Blakelyn has discovered her hands.

Whoa a left hand.

Not in the sense of what her hands can do, but in the sense that she can self sooth by sucking her fingers! She used to take a pacifier (and still does from time to time), but now that she has her fingers, we rarely ever need to get a pacifier. Blakelyn doen't just suck any fingers, well actually yes any fingers will do, but she is inclined to her left hand middle and ring fingers. Does that mean we may have a lefty in our midst?

We have noticed all along that Blakelyn likes to nap with her arms up or out, more like cheerleading moves than restful slumber.

(Not going to lie, she does look like Austin Powers in this one)

We usually let her nap however she wants to during the day and swaddle her only at night (and when she needs to calm down for a nap).

Fighting to fall asleep, literally. You can see her fist, left hook.

One morning I went in to get her and noticed Blakelyn's left hand peeking out the top of the swaddle. She had a big smile on her face as if she was saying "look what I did mom!!!" By the time I got the camera the excitement had passed and her expression was more of a "buzz kill, you took too long, I'm done."

Since birth we haven't had to use the baby monitor since Blakelyn's room is across from ours and that her "voice" is loud enough to catch our attention. She has also slept in her own room since birth since she is a loud sleeper and often grunts throughout the night. One night I heard Blakelyn grunting exta loudly at 3:30a. Loudly enough that I wanted to check on her, but as soon as I got dressed, she stopped. That morning when I went in to get her, I found this:

Left arm free!!

So that's what she was doing at 3:30a! Since then we have not swaddled her and haven't heard any grunting. I guess she never liked sleeping swaddled!

Stats from her 4 month checkup:

Weight: 12.3 lbs. (25th percentile)

Height: 25.25 inches. (90th percentile)

Head circumference:

Her check up went well. Blakelyn was calm when we got there and through most of the appointment. However, when she got pricked for her immunizations... She noticed something hurt. Her eyes shot wide, she paused for a second, then began whaling! No fear a few minutes later she was calm and fell asleep. Way to take it like a WOman, Blakelyn!

Here's some random pictures taken this month:

Went for a walk on a rather chilly evening with our snow bear: