Clarke Family Adventures: 4 Months!

Cali is 4 months old!

At 4 months Cali is...

Still sleeping well (knock on wood...salt over shoulder...). She has a pretty late bedtime - about 9:30-10:30pm, depending on when I go to bed. Then I either nurse her to sleep or if she's not interested put her in her cradle with her paci and she falls asleep within a few minutes. She usually spits her paci out within a couple minutes of being asleep and then doesn't use it again (unless she has a particular fussy patch when she's still asleep but restless, then I give it to her again to settle her and again it's out within a few minutes). It's a pretty laid-back routine for our laid-back little lady. Then she usually sleeps until around 3am or so, wakes for a feed, falls asleep eating, and then goes back in her crib until around 7-7:30am. Sometimes she'll eat again and then go back down until about 8-8:30am, just depends on the day. Occasionally she won't wake up to eat until closer to 5am, which is awesome. We hope to eventually try an earlier bedtime by putting her up in our room by herself a bit earlier, before we go to bed, but since we're travelling to America in a couple weeks and will have to face the time change we figure there's no rush.

Napping pretty well too, but also not on any schedule. She has a wake time of about 1-1.5hrs, occasionally longer. Her naps are anywhere from 20min - 2.5hrs, just depends on the day. Usually she'll have one long nap, often in the afternoon, and then many 25-45min naps sprinkled throughout the rest of the day. She's so easy about it though - falling asleep in her bouncy seat while we're getting Ceci ready for bed, in her bed watching her mobile while I'm putting laundry away, on the changing bench after swim lessons, in the car seat, in our arms, in the stroller - if she's tired she goes to sleep. And if she falls asleep in our arms I can put her down in her swing and she'll stay asleep. It's pretty stellar. So I'm not so fussed about a routine (whereas with Ceci, if we didn't put her to sleep by rocking her or putting her in a carrier she wouldn't fall asleep, would get overtired, and would have massive meltdowns!).

Still exclusively breastfed. Like her sister, she's a champion eater. She eats about every 2-3hrs, more often in the evening before bed, and further apart overnight, and feeds last about 2.5-6 minutes. They've gotten a bit shorter recently, I think both because she's gotten more efficient and also because she's easily distracted. Unlike Ceci, she won't eat just because I offer - if she's not hungry, or too distracted, she'll just turn away. She's packing on the weight though - she was 15lbs3oz at her official weight in a few days ago - so she's clearly getting what she's needs.

Getting so strong! She can lift her head clear off the mat during tummy time and has rolled from front to back several times. She's very close to rolling from back to front but always stops on her side to play, haha. She also loves trying to sit up when in our laps or the bouncy seat or swing, and is obsessed with standing up when we hold her!

I'm standing!

Interacting with her toys so much more. She loves being on her play mat and in her bouncy seat and she reaches out, grabs and pulls toys to her mouth. It's so crazy to see how differently she "plays" now.

Still so chilled out. It's crazy. She'll lay on her playmat and talk to herself, chew on toys, bat at toys, and just hang out for 30+ minutes. She'll hang out in her carseat or in the stroller if we're out and about. It's a whole new world for us, and it's amazing.

Hanging in her car seat out to dinner

Typical morning - Ceci eating, Cali playing on her mat

Hanging in her bouncy seat with her big sis

Kicking it to the side in her downstairs bouncy seat

In the early stages of teething. Nothing is showing yet but she is chewing on EVERYTHING. All. The. Time. Her hands, our fingers, teething toys, my shoulder - anything in reach.

Sophie the Giraffe is one of her favorites right now

Still talking a ton. She's constantly babbling, especially when she's chewing on something. It's so cute. She's also recently learned to blow raspberries and she's a huge fan. She laughs a lot too - if we tickle her or if she hears us laugh. So adorable.