4 months old!

Health and Growth

Elsie now weighs 12 lbs and stretches to 24.25 inches. That lands her in the 40 percentile for height, and 8th for weight- she's a skinny one, just like her daddy! She is still wearing most of her 0-3 month clothes...mom is getting anxious for her to get big enough to fit into her warm 3-6 month wardrobe. :)

Though she hasn't actually sprouted any teeth yet, the copious amounts of drool she is suddenly producing make her mom and dad think that they are just around the corner.

Elsie has been very patient with her parents while they developed a new bedtime routine for her; she now usually goes to bed between 8:30 and 9:30, and only wakes once or twice to eat in the night. She likes to get up around 7 am, play for an hour or two, then take an hour long nap. The rest of the day's sleep is less predictable, but mom and dad are excited to have even a little bit of routine back in their lives.

Elsie still needs to be swaddled when she sleeps, but bouncing on the yoga ball has been almost entirely eliminated from our sleep routine (she still prefers to bounce when eating, though!).

Activities

Elsie attends a baby-and-caregiver class with mom twice a week, and has started to really enjoy watching the other infants in the group. She also has a pretty consistent weekly walking date with her 7-month-old Paraguayan boyfriend, Nico. When Elsie gets upset on walks, watching Nico can sometimes distract her enough to make her happy. It helps that Nico is almost always smiling!

When she isn't walking with Nico, Elsie spends a good deal of time playing on her play mat and practicing her hand-eye and foot-eye coordination. She is getting very good at grabbing toys when she wants them! She has also been trying very hard to master the back-to-front roll, and finally succeeded a few days after her 4-month birthday. Now that she can roll back-to-front and front-to-back, she can pretty much get anywhere she wants to go. She still gets frustrated when she can't reach her toys, though, so mom and dad help her out every once in a while.

Personality

Elsie's happy personality is really starting to emerge now that she is getting over her colic. She greets mom with big smiles and coos after every nap, and loves to engage in "conversation" with any willing participant. At 4 months old, her eyesight is almost 20/20 and she spends a lot of her day with a very serious expression on her face, trying very hard to take in the world around her. She is content to lay by herself and play with toys for five or ten minutes at a time, letting mom grab a quick shower or bite to eat.

Mom and dad are loving the little person Elsie is growing into, and can't wait to see what each new day will bring!


One Week


One Month


Two Months


Three Months


Four Months